My Family and Jack the Ripper!
Pat Hase
By the time you get this journal I will have given a talk about this latest twist in
my family history research. It was in late 2010 that I discovered that Frances
COLES, a first cousin of my great
grandmother, Rebekah COLES, had been
murdered in Whitechapel and there was
considerable press speculation whether
she had been a victim of the notorious
Jack the Ripper. In fact the debate
continues to this day and in August 2011
a book was published in America
retelling her story – “Carroty Nell – the
last Victim of Jack the Ripper” by John
E Keefe. There are a few inaccuracies in
the details about her family which I have
been able to correct!
This drawing of her was taken from the
Penny Illustrated Paper Feb 28th 1891
From the Weston Library Web Page I used my North Somerset Library card to
access the 19th Century Newspapers
which gave verbatim reports of her
Inquest and comments from people
who knew her and used drawings to
illustrate some of the people involved
in her death.
This drawing of Thomas Sadler who
was arrested for her murder but later
released was taken from The Lloyds
Weekly Newspaper Mar 1st 1891 and shows him at the Police Court.
Using these articles, censuses, workhouse records and parish registers etc., I
have managed to piece together her life leading up to her death.
It has been an interesting exercise getting to grips with researching in the
London area helped tremendously by the records of the London Metropolitan
Archives available on Ancestry. These included the Poor Law Records from
London Workhouses which, although not indexed, I was able to search to
discover information about members of her family who were in Bermondsey
and Lewisham Workhouses. I was particularly interested in the very different
life being led by Frances when compared with her cousin in Bristol.
Frances’s father James William COLES was born in Publow in Somerset in
1819 and was the elder brother of my great great grandfather John COLES.
Their father Charles COLES was a Millwright and John followed him in this
trade. He was employed by his uncle, James WILLIAMS, who at one time
owned the Shot Tower in Redcliff Hill and also Iron Mills in Cheese Lane in
Bristol. When James WILLIAMS retired the firm was taken over by Sheldon
Bush and John COLES remained in their employ as their foreman.
James William COLES, on the other hand, had become a master boot and shoe
maker. In 1841 he was in Nailsea; but by 1851 both he and his younger brother
Charles, were shoemakers in Bermondsey, the centre of the leather trade.
Presumably they had left Somerset to better themselves but within a couple of
years Charles returned to Somerset and he died in Publow in 1852, aged just
25. Left in Bermondsey, James William COLES can be found on the 1861
census with a wife and 3 children, the youngest being Frances who was born in
1859. They were living at 18 Crucifix Lane which was where Frances had been
born.
Name
Rel
Cond Age
OccupationWhere Born
COLE, James Head Mar
39
Boot Maker Pensford, Somerset
COLE,
Ann
MaryWife Mar
31
COLE,
Ann
MaryDaug
9
Scholar
Bermondsey, Surrey
COLE, Selina Daug
4
Scholar
St Johns
Surrey
Southwark,
COLE, FrancesDaug
2
St Johns
Surrey
Southwark,
Armagh, Ireland
Back in Bristol, John and his family were living at Cheese Lane at the Iron
Mills.
Name
Rel
Cond Age Occupation Where Born
COLES, John Head
Marr 36
COLES,
Cherity
Wife
Marr 36
COLES,
Rebekah
Daug
Un
Millwright
Publow, Somerset
Pensford, Somerset
16
Milliner
Publow, Somerset
COLES, AlfredSon
J
14
Scholar
Publow, Somerset
COLES,
Madeline
Daug
10
Scholar
Stanton Drew, Somerset
COLES,
Frances L
Daug
8
Scholar
Bristol St Philip
COLES,
Francis J
Son
2
Bristol St Philip
It is interesting to note that both brothers had a daughter called Frances. They
may have been named after the wife of their uncle James WILLIAMS whose
name was also Frances.
I do not know how close the brothers were or whether John COLES was aware
of the conditions in the east of London where James and his family were living.
James never married Mary Ann CARNEY who lived with him as his wife and
gave him 4 children – they also had a son, James William Charles COLES in
1862. The family was still together in 1871 but had moved to a crowded Court
off Bermondsey Street but James was still described as a Master Boot & Shoe
maker.
It is so easy to read a census, see what looks like a normal family but have no
idea at all of their way of life, their concerns, their attitudes or even their
capabilities for overcoming any difficulties.
Much has been written about the conditions in London during this time.
Charles Booth’s Survey into life and labour in London (1886-1903) was
particularly helpful. This map was produced by Charles Booth to indicate
where the poorest of the Londoners lived and worked. He used different
intensities of colour to differentiate between the areas.
The area where the COLES family lived is the dark area at the bottom of the
map. On the original it is dark blue which Booth
used to denote “Very poor, casual. Chronic want”.
The maps and the index to his notebooks can also be
seen online at http://booth.lse.ac.uk/
The first indication I found that all was not well with
this family was in the records of St Olave’s
Workhouse. September 1879
The London, England, Poor Law Records, 18341940 can be searched on Ancestry but are not
indexed so do take some time to use.
This entry was under Southwark > Bermondsey > Miscellaneous > Saint
Olave´s Workhouse, Parish Street, 1879-1886
1879-Sept 8th
Selina Cole
17
from 37
Selina Cole
4 weeks
Snows
Field Destitute
father James W Cole, shoemaker, earning 25/- a week
(The 2nd time this woman has come in with an illegitimate child)
NB: Selina was actually 20 at this time, having been born in 1859
I later discovered that her first baby, also called Selina, had died aged 7 weeks
in Sept 1877. This second child also died and both babies were buried at
Woking Cemetery.
By November 1879 the family had moved again and the Workhouse Records
show that Selina had been readmitted to the Workhouse
But this was just the tip of the iceberg as the story of Frances COLES and Jack
the Ripper gradually unravelled, while my family stayed comfortably (or so I
thought) in Bristol.