The Curious Case of Mrs Colville

[Robert]

Yes, Baxter got around. It's fascinating to observe these links and connections.

[David Orsam]

Thanks Simon. Regrettably, I never made a copy of them but the Ordinance Survey maps at the British Library (and slightly less detailed versions at the Tower Hamlets library) do show the locations of all three mews, indicated by a cross for the gates.

[David Orsam]

North and South Mews are such dull names that they were ripe for re-naming by the locals. It would have been nice to have found an independent reference to "Handley's Mews" but in the absence of that it seems a reasonable conclusion. I would also like to have known who was living in South Mews in 1888. Regarding Benjamin Pegram, who was living there in 1881, a little titbit of info. He died, aged 45, at the London Hospital on 28 June 1889 - at which time he was a carman living at 16 Great Garden Street, Whitechapel - and his death certificate states the cause of death as being "Violent - Peritonitis the result of a kick during a street brawl - accidental". The coroner at the inquest (held on 1 July 1889) being none other than Wynne Baxter.

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Sorry it's not much use but here's the 1888 Post Office map of the area -



Regards,

Simon

[Robert]

Thanks David. I think you're probably right that it was Handley's Mews - they had certainly been around long enough for their name to become attached to the mews, and it had either been corrupted to 'Honey's' or else the reporter simply misheard.

Here they are in 1851. William and John were father and son. Josiah Simmons was running the pub next door.

[David Orsam]

Just to add a little to the Handley knowledge. He was described in the 24 May 1893 Commercial Gazette as a "corn and coal merchant". I have the birth certificate of his son, William Alfred Frederick, born on 12 July 1888 (at 63 Brady Street), and registered on 22 August 1888, in which his occupation is given as "Hay dealer". His wife's name was "Elizabeth Catherine Frederica Handley, formerly Mathias").

[Robert]

Thanks for that, David. There is certainly evidence for a long Handley presence in that part of Brady St which supports your idea that Honey's Mews was really Handley's Mews, even though the mews was a few yards up from where they lived. This site shows a 'Handkey' taking over the Duke of Wellington pub in 1859 (I've checked the Era and it is of course 'Handley') :

http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/BethnalGreen/DukeWellingtonBrady.shtml

In 1861 John is living next door to William and it would be strange if they weren't related, even if they were born in different counties. Unfortunately the numbering system is just as crazy as in 1871.

[David Orsam]

[B][I]The exception referred to was Mrs. Celville [Sarah Colwell]

Hi Jerry,

As Robert has said, "Sarah Colwell" is indeed a modern interpolation and does not appear in the Echo's article from 1 Sept 1888. Also, the Echo doesn't actually say "Mrs Celville" although it certainly looks like it. From comparing other instances of the letter "o" in the same paragraph, e.g. in the words "probably", "neighbourhood", "one", "nobody", "only" etc. we can see that it should definitely be "Mrs Colville".

[David Orsam]

I have looked at this stretch of the street in 1881, 1891 and 1901, and at no point can I find signs of the enumerator turning down a mews from #51 to #63. However, something does seem to happen in 1871 but it is so confused (or I am) that I am leaving it for another time.

Hi Robert, just to confirm that my "53" was not a typo for "63" and North Mews was between 51 and 53. I only managed to confirm this from the Bethnal Green Valuation List for 1900. This contains an extremely helpful list of residents of the Bethnal Green part of Brady Street, in house number order, in that year. The two relevant extracts from my notes are as follows (making any allowances for me not deciphering the handwritten entries correctly):

Occupier & No.

Kentish, John - 39
Calmer - South Mews
Cohen - 41 (House & Shop)

Kalynsky - 51 (House & Shop)
Teetgen & Co - North Mews
Shurbridge, Wm - 53

The owner of all the above, other than 53, is said to have been "Ponder" while the owner of 53 was "Button".

"Shurbridge" should probably be "Shoobridge" as William Shoobridge, hairdresser, is listed at no. 53 in the PO Directory for that year.

From the same PO Directory, Teetgen & Co Ltd were a tea merchants who occupied "2 to 12 & 11" on the East Side of Brady Street and "11 & 2 to 12" on the West Side. For that reason I suspect they also occupied Westrup's Mews. In 1888, the same premises on both sides of the street were occupied by Walker & Dalrymple, wholesale grocers, so they probably used Westrup's Mews in that year while William Handley presumably had the use of North Mews.

In short, it looks to me like North Mews was industrial rather than residential and no-one ever lived there.

By 1901 the Handleys seem to have left to be replaced by a Samuel Barron, corn dealer. And guess who is living at #63. Yes, you guessed it : Thomas Lechmere, meat carter, aged 24 - he is probably Charles Lechmere's son and it looks like he could be living with his in-laws.

I wouldn't have guessed! Of course, If the murderer had any connection with one of the two mews in 1888, and he committed the murder outside one of them, it might explain why he would have moved the body (if he did move it).

[Robert]

Hi Jerry

I suspect the Sarah Colwell in square brackets was a transcriber's explanation, but I don't have access to the Echo.

Re Amelia, she was only a Cross by marriage. She married Edward as Amelia Bootle, and was already a widow, so her maiden name was something else again.

[jerryd]

The Colville Myths

Now, two myths seem to have attached themselves to this story in the literature on the case.

The first myth is that Mrs Colville’s/Colwell’s first name was Sarah. There is actually an entry for "Sarah Colwell" on this site. Yet none of the newspaper reports provide the woman’s first name. From an internet search, it seems that the myth of Sarah Colwell goes back to at least 2001 when she had an entry in "Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopedia" by John J. Eddleston. I have no idea where the name "Sarah" came from and wonder if anyone else does. Maybe someone identified her back in the twentieth century although I somehow doubt it.

Echo
London, U.K.
1 September 1888

PROBABLY KILLED IN A HOUSE

It is not unlikely that the deceased met her death in a house in or near Brady street, for some persons state that early in the morning they heard screams, but this is a by no means uncommon incident in the neighbourhood, and, with one exception, nobody seems to have paid any particular attention to what was probably the death struggle of the unfortunate woman. The exception referred to was Mrs. Celville [Sarah Colwell], who lives only a short distance from the foot of Buck's row.
According to her statement she was awakened by her children, who said someone was trying to get into the house. She listened, and heard a woman screaming "Murder, Police!" five or six times. The voice faded away as though the woman was going in the direction of Buck's row, and all became
quiet.

[jerryd]

Hi All,

And in 1888 the landlord of the Duke of Wellington public house on Brady Street was Mrs Amelia Cross.

Regards,

Simon

(From David O's original post)

Charlotte Amelia Coldwell was born on 17 July 1877 at 13 Cumberland Street, Shoreditch, the daughter of John and Caroline Coldwell.



Maybe a stretch, but with Mrs Coldwell being a Cross.. maybe Amelia Cross was a relation of hers and she used Amelia's first name for her daughters middle name?

Hopefully I didn't miss something along the way here and this has already been figured out.

[Robert]

If anyone wants to look at the 1871, search on Joseph Elves born 1838, and then go forwards and backwards.

[Robert]

Hi all

Yes, Edward remarried directly after the 1881 census. He died soon after and his wife ran the pub.

I have looked at this stretch of the street in 1881, 1891 and 1901, and at no point can I find signs of the enumerator turning down a mews from #51 to #63. However, something does seem to happen in 1871 but it is so confused (or I am) that I am leaving it for another time.

David's Handley family (corn merchants) occupied 61 and 63, right next to the pub from 1881 onwards. And there was a William Hanley (sic) there in 1871 (presumably William Handley senior).

By 1901 the Handleys seem to have left to be replaced by a Samuel Barron, corn dealer. And guess who is living at #63. Yes, you guessed it : Thomas Lechmere, meat carter, aged 24 - he is probably Charles Lechmere's son and it looks like he could be living with his in-laws.

[GUT]

The keeper of the Duke of Wellington public house on Brady Street in 1882 was Edward Cross.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Hi All,

And in 1888 the landlord of the Duke of Wellington public house on Brady Street was Mrs Amelia Cross.

Regards,

Simon

Was Amelia Edward's wifey?