Room 13 Miller's Court

[perrymason]

Since this seems to be nagging people I thought Id try once again to offer a solution to the issue of what a "partition" in this case refers to. The room was said to have been a parlour or sitting room, with a fireplace....although Chava has suggested it could have been a kitchen, there is no foundation that I have seen or read for that conclusion, no offense my LI friend.

The room had four walls, and an entrance to the parlour, that was located about where Marys head is, but on the wall behind her. I have personally seen a blowup of the faded remains of what seems like stenciled numbers, or the fresh wood under metal ones, that are "2" and "6". Sam has also, and likely has access to that shot easily.

One door....just one, "partitioned" off that room...and it was sealed in place in the old entranceway to the parlour, plastered I'd assume, and perhaps papered on both sides. I believe cracked plaster might account for the cracks that Elizabeth can see light through.

Best regards all.


editted: The doorway that leads into the courtyard was to my eye, created after the house was built. I would suggest that the time it was added was when the room became part of Millers Court and not 26 Dorset. Why would they have a second door on that wall when they had one under the archway to the stairs already?

[Sam Flynn]

The doorway that leads into the courtyard was to my eye, created after the house was built. Why would they have a second door on that wall when they had one under the archway to the stairs already?

Mary's door could have been the original "back-door", Mike - ideal if the room were originally a scullery or wash-house. No need to worry about wrestling with a basket full of laundry in that narrow passage-way if you had a door that opened directly onto the garden. I see no reason to suppose that it wasn't there from the start.

[Sam Flynn]

I believe there was very little furniture in the room. So where did Blotchy Face sit and where did Kelly sit while she serenaded him for that long period of time?

There were two chairs, Chava.

[perrymason]

Mary's door could have been the original "back-door", Mike - ideal if the room were originally a scullery or wash-house. No need to worry about wrestling with a basket full of laundry in that narrow passage-way if you had a door that opened directly onto the garden. I see no reason to suppose that it wasn't there from the start.

Hi Sam,

Of course that sounds convenient, but from the pictures Ive seen, the doorway seems too close to the corner of that wall to be a part of any legitimate building plan, and its the reason I believe that the "latch method" could be employed so easily by Barnett.

Since everyone that lived at 26 Dorset had to use that doorway under the archway when Mary lived there to cart themselves and their belongings into number 26, and from that time on, and since we dont know if anyone ever had a garden out in the court, or whether a single family was ever using the entire house, as has been suggested, I dont see myself why it would ever have been placed there by builders, at the houses inception. The square footage costs for a doorway and door would exceed those of a continuous, unbroken brick wall in its place....and for that same reason, my bet is that there was only one window originally on Marys alcove wall...as evidenced by the different sizes of window frames, and the difference in the height that they are cut at. I believe the window closest to the corner, the window Barnett uses, is that new window.

In fact......as to your suggestion of making a doorway to access some garden that may have existed in the court at some point....doubtful in my personal opinion, or for the pump, why wouldnt it be on that windowed wall?

Why would you have a doorway that forces occupants of 26 Dorset to enter into the traffic path that is used by Millers Court tenants...instead of placing one where the water is, and perhaps this Secret Garden that may have existed.

The room, to my knowledge, was a parlour...a sitting room.. without an exit other than the one to the stairs and the door under the archway, ...which probably donated its old door to Marys partition wall, and a single window looking out at....a 2 storey wall, a bin and a pump. Not much of a view to need a second window for.

Best regards Sam.

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Mike,

It wasn't always a court-yard: there were gardens out the back during the first half of the 19th Century, as Fiona Rule's book records. John Miller, who gave his name to the Court, built the "cottages" in which Cox, the Picketts and the Keylers lived, sometime in the late 1840s. These cottages were cheap dwellings from the outset, so I doubt that Miller would have gone to the expense of knocking a large hole in the side of "Number 13", replacing it with a neat arched doorway - when a square/flat lintel would have cost less and done the job just as well. The fact that Kelly's doorway also seems to match nicely the design of the arched passageway leading to the Court also suggests that it had been there all along.

[Chava]

I've seen scores of older houses in the UK which have a side door running out into the garden from the scullery. That having been said, I'm pretty sure that a lot of surgery went on when they opened up that alleyway from Dorset St through to Millers Court. That would not have existed when the houses were built. I assume they were terraced and that the passageway was hived off from the front rooms on either side. Which is why it was so narrow.

As for bringing effects and furniture in, I commented on another thread that there had to be some way to bring this stuff in that wasn't via the alley because that was too narrow. I am assuming it would come in via #27.

There is too much stuff going on around Kelly's key and Kelly's method of giving herself some security etc for me to believe that she left her door open on a regular basis. I don't think this has anything to do with the murders, but I do think this might lend some credence to the idea that she was allowing other prostitutes to bring their punters back, and she would take part of the proceeds. This, by the way, might have got her into substantial legal trouble, as she could be done for living off immoral earnings. The police seemed to be more interested in going after pimps and madams than going after street-hookers.

As for the kitchen, it might have been in the basement if there was a basement. Failing that, I'm certain it would have been at the very back of the house so that any unfortunate smell and noise would not disturb the nice folks at the front. And the very back of the house is Kelly's room. Of course, all this would have been switched around in 1851, when Millers Court was built.

Gareth, I'd be surprised if that alleyway was original. It doesn't make any sense to have it there as it's too narrow for anything except walking through to the back. Which, since both original houses would have had egress to the back via the back door, wouldn't have been an issue until Millers Court was built...

[Sam Flynn]

Gareth, I'd be surprised if that alleyway was original.

Not so sure, Chava - can you imagine what a major undertaking it would have been to create a "tunnel" several feet long through the fabric of two terraced houses, especially if they weren't of the most robust construction to begin with? It hardly seems worth it from a cost perspective; especially if, by so doing, your investment collapsed in the middle like a failed flan.

[Stephen Thomas]

I'd be surprised if that alleyway was original. It doesn't make any sense to have it there as it's too narrow for anything except walking through to the back. Which, since both original houses would have had egress to the back via the back door, wouldn't have been an issue until Millers Court was built...

Hi Chava

I might be wrong but I think that the passage was there all along, probably designed as a tradesman's entrance. If you look at the 1928 photos taken from Dorset Street showing the frontages of #26 and #27 you'll see that the upper floor windows are spaced differently, indicating that the two houses were not an exact mirror image of each other, with the upper floors of #27 being 3 foot wider than those of #26, that is occupying the space taken up on the ground floor by the arched passageway.

[Stephen Thomas]

Here are the photos.

Upper window of # 27 over front door. Ditto #26 not.




And while I'm here, just for jolly, here's my Mary and Joe mock-up.

[John Bennett]

Gareth, I'd be surprised if that alleyway was original. It doesn't make any sense to have it there as it's too narrow for anything except walking through to the back. Which, since both original houses would have had egress to the back via the back door, wouldn't have been an issue until Millers Court was built...

Fiona Rule's nifty little book 'The Worst Street in London' has some fascinating information about the genesis of Miller's Court.

Basically, the court was originally spacious gardens, accessed by the passageway between 26 & 27. Batty's Gardens in Berner Street had a similar means of entry.

John Miller owned No.30 and 26 and 27 before McCarthy and was responsible for building over the gardens by 1851, when they were known as Miller's Rents.

Many later courts and passageways started out as orchards or gardens before they were built on. A number existed in Flower and Dean Street and Thrawl Street, I believe.

[Sam Flynn]

And while I'm here, just for jolly, here's my Mary and Joe mock-up.

...and here she is with Hutchinson.



(Just for Ben )

[Ben]

Ta for the Christmas present, Gareth!

He's also a match for Lewis' description; not tall, stout, and wore a cricket umpire's hat.

[perrymason]

Thanks for posting those picture again Stephen, it reminded me that another unusual facet of the structure is windows for a "shed" that faces Dorset. If a shed is made for storing goods, why on earth would anyone want to place windows there...unless selling the goods out those windows maybe. Considering the nature of Dorset Street, I doubt that windows would be the choice for a street view....so the shed likely was a livable space at one time.

There are elements of the design in 1888 that show as Chava indicated, some surgery had been done to that house since its orginal building, and a few rooms at the time of Marys death were not being used as intended when the structure went up. Since to my knowledge there is not often a door to the outside within what is commonly referred to as a "parlour", which in and of itself is a quiet, private enclave within a home..but there is if possible a fireplace and a window looking out, and since this is the rear of the original building, I would think this room fits the traditional parlour model very well.

It even exits into a transitional space, where you can go forward in the house....at one time, out the side door, or up the stairs, another facet of a well placed parlour.

Best regards and Ho Ho's.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Michael,

These photos were taken around 1929. By Leonard Matters, I believe.

There's an 1888 drawing somewhere on Casebook showing 26 Dorset Street with some sort of gated front, which would have been necessary in order for "the shed" to accommodate costermonger barrows and the like.

Have a Jolly, Holly Christmas.

Regards,

Simon

[Sam Flynn]

another unusual facet of the structure is windows for a "shed" that faces Dorset. If a shed is made for storing goods, why on earth would anyone want to place windows there...

... because it wasn't a "shed" to begin with, Mike. McCarthy merely re-purposed the "lounge" to store stuff in.