The Bloody Piece of Apron Redux

[curious4]

Abortion

Heart-breaking, Jane. I knew two girls who needed abortions in the 1960s, one managed to scrape up enough money to go to a private doctor (there was an underground list of names of doctors who would perform abortions, although it was very secret), the other underwent the knitting-needle treatment and would have bled to death if she hadn´t been at work when she started to bleed heavily. It was touch and go as it was. It is very sad that this method was still being used eighty years on.

Best wishes,
C4

[Jane Coram]

HI,

I found this when I was trawling through the papers. The full account is in the Sat 10th Oct 1888. Here is the abridged version. Really sad story.

A SOMERS TOWN MURDER.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF A FACTORY GIRL IN HER FRIEND'S HOUSE.

The Doctor Declares that Abortion was Procured - Her Sweetheart Protests his Innocence - The Coroner and Jury Both Complain of Perjury - Curious Mental Wanderings of the Girl.

Coroner Westcott held an adjourned inquest last evening which lasted four hours on Emma Wakefield, aged 20, a spinster, daughter of a cabdriver, of 17, Haverstock-road, who died on 29 Sept., at 60, Aldenham-street, Somers Town. The deceased, who was described as a good-looking, well-conducted girl, worked at Mr. Homan's, shell box manufactory, 93, Charrington-street, Somers Town, where she earned 9s. per week, and was engaged to be married to Thomas Price, a young man employed at Messrs. McCorquodale's printing works, Cardington-street. With the latter's married sister, Mrs. Burrow's, the deceased lodged for six weeks prior to her death during the absence of her mother in the country.

On Sunday evening, the 23rd ult., after being out with her sweetheart an hour and a half, she returned to the house of Mrs. Burrows, 60, Aldenham-street, and retired to her bedroom ill. The next night she consulted Dr. Kennedy, who treated her for a severe cough and cold, but she gradually got worse, and expired on the following Saturday. A post-mortem examination revealed that the deceased had been enceinte, and Dr. Kennedy and Dr. D. R. Jones (the latter the medical officer of Mr. Homan's factory, who had suspected the girl's condition and ceased to be consulted by her), were agreed that

BLOOD POISONING FOLLOWING ABORTION
caused death, and that an instrument, which inflicted wounds, had been used. - Thomas Price said he had "kept company" with the deceased five years, and they were to be married next Whitsuntide. He earned £1 per week and helped to maintain his mother. He emphatically denied that he was responsible for the deceased's condition, and added that he was wholly unaware of it until after the post-mortem examination. He had no reason to suspect that she was on terms of intimacy with any other man. - Mrs. Burrows, whose husband, an ailing man, had died, as she said, from "shock" since the opening of the inquest, was in attendance upon the girl during her illness, as were Mrs. Price, witness's mother, and a Mrs. Pite, witness's cousin.


The jury having deliberated in private found that the deceased died from the effects of blood poisoning following abortion, caused by the illegal use of instruments, and they were of opinion that some person or persons at present unknown were guilty of causing her death. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the evidence of some of the witnesses, and added that they attached no suspicion to Mr. Johnson. The Coroner: Your verdict is tantamount to one of wilful murder. I think perjury has been committed.

Hugs

Janie

xxxx

[curious4]

me old cxxk sparrow.

Hello Carol,

Nice to hear from another Kentish exile! I do so miss the Kent countryside!

Yes and what about ****-a-doodle-doo, stopcock, poor old **** robin and that scottish staple ****-a-leekie soup lol.

Best wishes,

C4

[Archaic]

Hi Carol! Glad to see you posting again!


Archaic

[Carol]

Hi curious4 and Jane!
I was born and brought up in Chatham, Kent, and I can remember 'me old ****' being a common expression in the far-off days of my youth. It was always used in a friendly way. I think your idea that it might be an abbreviation of 'me old **** sparrow' very likely to be true.

I'm enjoying this thread!
Love
Carol

(I can't remember typing in lots of asterixes). 'The **** crowed at dawn'. 'The **** sparrow fell off his perch'. 'The young man was very cocky'. (The last one seems O.K).

[curious4]

Old cxxk!

P.S. Just Googled it and think it may be an abbreviation of "me old **** sparrow"

All the best,
C4

See - they did it again!! What are you allowed to call a male chicken (or sparrow) these days!!

[curious4]

Old cxxxk!

Hello Jane,

I am also a cxxkney by birth - although due to the house next to the nursing home being bombed, not for long! All babies and mothers were bundled off to Hampstead, with the result that my mother almost ended up with the wrong baby!

I am sure that the expression was (and is) still used in the East End, but perhaps on the Kentish side of London? - I grew up in Kent. The quote about cxxks and East London is from a book called "London is London",from the 1940´s/1950´s which gives accounts of London from the Middle Ages onward written at the time. (In a poem written in the Middle Ages, London is referred to as the "Myghty Carbuncle", which I love!) Unfortunately the book has gone walkabout, leaving only its jacket behind, so I shall have to wait until it turns up in my untidy and bookstrewn home!

I have a sister living in Camberwell - I can ask her if it is familiar. I lived in London for seven years from the age of nineteen and am sure it was commonly used, also remember hearing it in my youth! Could be that old age is playing tricks on me!

Best wishes,

C4

[Jane Coram]

Hi Curious,

I think that was a compliment to us Cockney's. Lol.

Kate came from the area of Wolverhampton, so I suspect it might be a Northern expression. I've never heard it as a Cockney expression, but it could possibly be a more generic London expression, as even between different parts of London different phrases were/are used. A South Londoner has a different accent to an East Ender. I can tell if someone was born within a few blocks of where I was brought up, it just sounds slightly different to someone from other parts of the East End.

East Londoners would generally call someone "Duck'; 'Love','Sweetheart'; "Darling'; Mate; or 'Gel' (girl). There are quite a few others, but I'm brain dead today.

Just going back to the post about the noise level in Mitre Square and whether or not the sound of ripping fabric could have been heard. PC Pearce and his wife were in the front bedroom of a house that was quite close to the murder spot and they didn't hear a thing. I should imagine though that the sound of ripping fabric must have been pretty audible in a nigh on silent square. They must have had their Horlicks. Lol.

Hugs

Janie

xxxxxx

(Horlicks is a bedtime drink in the UK )

[curious4]

Old cxxxk

I have noticed that this word has been censured. Please - not a "rude" word at all, but a term of endearment or affection. It is most probably the origin of the word cxxxney!

[Archaic]

Hi Jenni, nice to see you here!

Glad you are enjoying this oddball little thread of ours. (It was sort of an orphan, so we took it in.)

I know you're busy with the magazine, but please come back and join in the discussion when you can.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we all look forward to enjoying any future contributions you care to make.

Best regards,
B.

[Jenni Shelden]

Wow, this thread is so interesting!!

You guys know such a lot about this side of things.

Bravo

Jenni

[Archaic]

link to new thread: "Prostitution- Medical Journal Articles c.1880's

Hi guys. Errata, I have no idea how this thread morphed either, or even how many times, but I'm glad it has because it's become really interesting and informative. I'm glad others are choosing to participate, like Edward just now.

(Hi Edward. There was a past thread on the subject of whether sounds could be heard in Mitre Square. Not sure if it's located in the Victims Forum under 'Catherine Eddowes' or elsewhere...perhaps someone will remember.)

I wanted to let you guys know that I just started to post some of my collection of LVP Medical Journal articles relating to the subject of Prostitution. I decided to start a new thread rather than post them here because I have quite a few articles and being from contemporary scientific journals they take a very different approach to the subject of prostitution than we are doing here.

We are taking a humanistic approach that is concerned with the everyday realities of impoverished women in the LVP, whereas the medical profesionals attempted to "scientifically study" prostitutes as if they had no individuality at all, but were instead countless identical cells of a deadly "social bacteria" grown so massive that it posed a threat to Civilization itself!
(Yikes! But I guess the End has always been near...)

The thread is in General Discussions and is titled "Prostitution- Medical Journal Articles c.1880's"

Here's the link: http://forum.casebook.org/showthread...524#post164524

Hope you enjoy it. Looking forward to hearing everyone's responses.
Best regards,
Archaic

[Edward]

Curious that nobody heard anything

Hello All –
Something that I find interesting is that nobody in the immediate area of Catherine’s murder heard anything. Okay, so you dispatch a semi-drunk or at least hung-over woman, and nobody hears a thing. Then, the killer cuts through, and/or tears her clothing in order to access the victim’s abdomen (and tears her apron). The tearing of cloth makes noise. There’s no way to stifle that. Even if Jack is hovering over the victim and (marginally) muffling the sound, tearing something up still makes noise. A location like Mitre Square, with buildings all around must have been a very quiet place. And through it all, nobody noticed. Go Figure. I imagine that the warehouses were quiet at that hour.

Edward

[Errata]

You know, I have reread this entire thread and I'm still not exactly sure how we got to pessaries (you are correct Archaic), birth control, and abortionists.

Not complaining, just marveling at conversational evolution.

[Carol]

Archaic, I wish I could feign surprise. Anything that can be monetized is monetized. The idea of systemic values in capitalist society is laughable. If someone can even dream of some balderdash reason you should give him money or buy his product, it is fair game. I am currently making plutonium necklaces of Christ that "glow" when you love him. Did you want to pre order? Dave

I gather you are not a Christian, Dave. I am. I think it is very sad when people use Jesus as a joke. He has done so much for us all.
Carol