It's a very interesting story, that of my great great aunt Catherine Sugrue, for her husband Joseph Read proclaiming to be Jack the Ripper, and not only that, and so I made a tikok about her. The story: my great great grandfather, Thomas Seagrove, had a sister, Catherine Sugrue. They were of a very dysfunctional family, totally, in the newspapers for thefts, in prison and in the workhouse. Their father Bartholowe was in and out of the workhouse and died there, coughing up blood from tuberculosis. Catherine got in trouble as a girl, when she saw coal by the riverside and took some, because it was cold and she wanted her family to be warm, they being very poor. Because of this she was taken for the rest of her childhood to a Roman Catholic school for wayward girls run by Saint Francis nuns, a place where destitute children could be guided to a better future. She's a beautiful lady and hers is the only photograph I have of my family from that time. Catherine's life was tragic. She worked in a lead factory and died from the lead poisoning. She herself had described it as 'killing work' and that was what it was indeed. Catherine's husband, Joseph, said there was white powder in his food, which could well have been the lead powder that Catherine would have brought home on her clothes. Joseph went completley crazy and believed himself to be Jack the Ripper. Maybe Catherine believed it too and that's why the white lead was in his food. Joseph was obsessed that he was Jack the Ripper, and that was in 1888, when all those girls were being killed by him, and when Joseph went into the asylum that was the end of it, so who knows. I'm contemplating resuming book writing now and that Bartholomew's Garden should not be about him after all, but about his children and specifically the friendship between brother and sister, Thomas and Catherine, and all their struggles, and yes this Jack the Ripper theme. Well, my astrology hints that I can write books. But can I really?! Even I made a tiktok briefly putting my writing ideas out there, hopefully by this to find motivation, encouragement, guidance, anything by which inspiration may come. For this idea about writing a book, I've had it for a long time now, having the ideas but now knowing how to solidify them into something that would really work as a complete story. As I share on tiktok, I am a genealogist, and I'm finding social history so fascinating, and of how my family had really been in it with their poverty and all the consequences of that, which were quite dramatic. Like I do think this could be an interesting book. I've got two families who became connected in Greenwich. Grandfather Barton was a war hero, from the battle of Trafalgar to Egyptian sea battles, and he ended up his life at the Greenwich hospital and his wife Hannah was a nurse there. It was their daughter Eleanor who was put into an orphanage in Whitechapel in London. She would die of tuberculosis as a young mother, and it was her daughter, Maria, who would make friends with another family, the Sugrue's, who were Irish settlers and who were very scandalous. they had come to England during the potato blight that just was tragic for Ireland. So they'd come to find a new life in London. But their life was full of scandal, really big scandal, one of the littlest children dying when their mother was in prison for theft, and the father being blamed for that, for neglecting his family, the children then being put into the workhouse. The children of these two families, Thomas Sugrue and Maria Harrison, ended up in love and making a life together. Thomas's sister, Catherine, as we have seen, died from lead poisoning in the factory she worked at and as I have also said, her husband was talking of being Jack the Ripper. Despite my inspiration to write a book, it is yet again genealogy work that I deeply immerse in, whereas the book writing I postpone. The fascination for genealogy that I have needs to envelop this book project too and to be non-different from it. On researching a little about Jack the Ripper, looking through old newspapers of the time, one theory proposed for the identity of the killer is that he was a Russian, who before the London killings began, had been doing much the same in Paris, for which he'd been put into an asylum, and upon his release moved to London, which is when the killings began there. His belief was that prostitutes could only atone for their sins by being killed. This theory had been presented in a Russian newspaper, the Novosti, and the man they'd named as Nicolai Vassilyeff. He was born in Tiraspol, it is said. Well I see there were two Tiraspol's, one in Belarus and one in Moldova, but the Moldova is more likely as that is nearer to where he studied in university, at Odessa, in Ukraine. It is said that he was a 'fanatical anarchist'. In the 1870's he had moved to Paris, where he'd become crazy and was placed under restraint. But before being lodged in an asylum, Nicolai murdered several unfortunates in Paris under conditions somewhat similar to those of the Whitehchapel crimes, for which he was arrested and thereby ended up in the asylum. This had happened 16 years previous to the Whitechapel killings. Nicolai, known as the 'Mad Russian', had been dismissed from the asylum as cured, after which he moved to London, moving in with the lower classes of his fellow countrymen. After the first Whitechapel murder Nicolai was lost sight of. This subject I made a popular tiktok about. I was on a roll with this tiktok creativity, making another one talking of Jack the Ripper, again in relation to newspaper articles I was seeing. Jack the Rippers identity is an unsolved mystery that has captivated the imagination up to the current day and in it's own time too. So many crazy stories I was discovering from way back then. One article was about four Spanish sailors being out and about with knives and attacking a woman, who in response was calling out 'Murder', for which four other men came to her rescue, who also got attacked. I read of a Whitechapel gang apprehending one woman, who on coming out of a concert had the company of a man walking along with her for a while, who then grabbed her by the throat and pulled her to a place where there was a gang of both women and ruffian men, the first man holding a knife up against her throat and they all stealing her things. In regard to the article about the Russian possible Jack the Ripper, it is believed by researchers that maybe the story was fabricated or elaborated upon. It's actually difficult to know what information shared at the time was authentic and which was put out by journalists to keep the interest of the public and which was sensationalised.
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I continued my mission, while in London, to visit places specific to my ancestors and that involved a considerable amount of working around, 19 klms in full. My first port of call was the orphanage with my ancestress Eleanor Caroline Barton had grown up in, close to where I was staying in Whitechapel, at 66 Great Prescott Street. Nothing is as it was. Modernity has crushed all that was for my peoples homes. Just a grand building with no antiquity. The man at reception knew nothing of the history of this place. I carried on retracing the steps of my ancestors. I was excited to at last approach the church of St Sepulchre, family church to my Bartons, when they had lived in Cock Lane just beyond. Quite a lovely church, associated with blessing those being taken from the jail to their execution, the bell which rung for them still to be seen in a glass case. A grand organ. The fine baptismal font with its faces of cherubims where our Barton babes were baptised. Cock Lane was again ultra modern and lost to its past, although one building retained the name of an old inn 'The Saracens Head' and at the other end of Cock Lane was reference to another old pub 'The Fortune of War', a golden statue of a naked boy high up there on a plinth, he being a symbol of gluttony (it was gluttony which was thought to be the cause of the Fire of London). This last mentioned pub had been a hang out for former body snatchers. As I had researched, body snatching was quite a thing locally in days gone by. The pub had a special room in which the dead bodies were laid upon benches around the walls, bearing the names of those who had stolen them from whichever graveyard, awaiting surgeons to come and buy whichsoever they wanted. Cock Lane was not only famed for its ghost called 'Scratching Fanny', but was another locale associated with prostitiutes. One prostitute, named Clarice, born in 1732, was early on educated in the finer arts of the profession (a courtesan one may say then) and was the areas most famous 'harlot'. She died of the pox at the age of 43. Just a little further along was the old Smithfield live animal market (now of dead animals only). This used to be the place of execution. Even wives would be sold here till as much as the early 1800's. Further beyond still was Cowcross Street, where also my people had lived. Cocks and cows, all connected since very old times to livestock sales. More of my families lanes I now walked, again all modernised and lost to their past - the former Field Lane where had lived my Bartons and Bunneys. Only their family church of St Andrew had kept its historical roots. I had another church to visit, that one overlooking Trafalgar Square, St Martin in the Fields, which by the time I got there was closed. This was where my Hannah Bunney married her sailor Philip Barton in 1814.
I looked at the astrology for my ancestress, Eleanor Barton, born 10th October 1833 in Greenwich, raised in an orphanage in Whitechapel, and died as a young mother of tuberculosis. As a Libran, she would have had a love for that which is beautiful and aesthetic. Moon conjunct Mars - she would have been strong willed, not one to give up easily and having abundant energy. Sun conjunct Mercury - a good mind, one to enjoy conversations, talented in handiwork. Sun opposite Pluto - she could get into conflicts and enjoy a good battle. Sun square Neptune - self deprecating and vulnerable health. Sun trine Uranus - fond of the new, for that which is exciting and presents variety, tolerant of those different from herself and even attracted to them as she would have liked exposure to different ways of life. Moon in Virgo - cheerful but serious, when something needs doing she gets it done and takes care it is done properly. She likes neatness and order, is health conscious and is a good worker. She likes to help others, although some shyness if there. Moon conjunct Venus - enjoying of comfort and pleasure, affectionate, liking to acquire beautiful things, such as nice clothes which she will work for to get. She would have been much into her beauty. Moon trine Jupiter - this is one of the pleasantest of aspects, by which she would have had no fear to truly be herself, being outgoing, generous to others, taking care of both people and animals, helping whosoever is in trouble and protecting the weak. She was one to respect honour and honesty and would have been religious, although not in a puritannical way, but in kindness and helpfulness. Mercury in Libra - moderate, not one to go to extremes. Mercury conjunct Mars - thinks for herself and will argue her point, she knows how she feels and cares not if others agree, she is true to herself and stands up for what she believes. Her tongue can be sharp. mercury opposite Pluto - others would disagree with her and would put her ideas down. Mercury square Neptune - pursuit of fantasies which are unreal to others so that they don't understand her. But she is one to have a creative and beautiful mind. Putting all that into words is not easy. She is one who needs peace and serenity around her, to keep away anxiety. Mercury trine Uranus - very creative and a quick mind to understand new ways of thinking. Intuition is good so that understanding comes as if from nowhere, which would confuse others, and yet in time people would observe her insights to be true. Mars Libra - a strong sense of fairness and justice, hating to see anyne treated unjustly. Mars opposite Jupiter - Positive energy and optimism which is attractive to others. A competetiveness which is spirited and not abrasive. A need for freedom and dislike for restrictions. She is one who needs her space. Mars square Neptune - she can get discouraged, when all seemingly defeats her, which she then sees as due to her unworthiness. In such times religion provides for her an escape. Susceptibilty to infections and illness. Mars trine uranus - very independant, she knows that with freedom she has control of her own destiny, she knows she has to be herself and go her own way. Saturn Libra - she takes time to make up her mind. At first she has reserve with someone, but once committed she stays and is loyal. She respects duty and keeps her agreements. Saturn opposite Pluto - life challenges come along, whether by lifes restrictions or others expectations. Saturn trine Neptune - ideals as well as realism, as she is disciplined, hard working, religious, and is prepared to make sacrifices for the greater good. Jupiter Taurus - She aims to find stability and security on her lifes journey. She needs hugs and a show of love, being herself a warm person who gives to others. Jupiter square Neptune - a dreamy sort who prefers to see the best in people and to ignore the bad, even when it hurts. She is non-judgemental and accepts people with their flaws. Her ideals are high and for this the world can be a disappointment. Yes, the astrology of the ancestors is one of my interests. I'm not sure if anyone else has explored into this as yet. For doing this astrology reading I have come to know all the more my ancestress Eleanor Barton. The orphanage she grew up in happens to have been in Whitechapel, where my daughter also named Eleanor now lives, their homes but a short stroll away from one another.
Two Eleanors of Whitehchapel. I see now that Eleanor Barton would have been inspired by Christian principles throughout her life, she having done Bible studies while growing up in the orphanage. Her husband, John Harrison, would so have treasured her, for she was pretty and educated, principaled and tidy, nicely spoken, kind, and able to overlook his foibles. For losing her to tuberculosis, yes, that's maybe how it is that he came to lose his mind. I've seen that just two years after her death there was a John Harrison in the Greenwich workhouse who was attacked by one of the other inmates for being crazy. This could have been our John. Eleanor was his everything and without her he was lost. |
AuthorSusie Harrison and her hobby of genealogy, always looking into her own and her friends family trees. Categories
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