A mystery

[username3678]

I found a grave and wondered if anyone could give me a clue as to how to find out more about it
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/236752563/somebodies-darling

There's no name, it's just called Somebodies Darling, date of death is 28 August 1878, Maldon Essex

This obviously peaked my interest. I'm assuming that a body was found and a rich person took it upon themselves to bury them or the council did.

Regarding the death certificate. Apparently on a Victorian Death Certificate information included:

Name

Date and place of death: The date and place of death, which may be an address rather than an institution's name

Sex, age, and occupation

Cause of death: The cause of death, which may be a euphemism for something else - no idea what this means but why does it say Mother present at birth?

Informant: The name and address of the person who provided the information, and their relationship to the deceased.

Registration: When the death was registered and the name of the registrar

More info:

Before 1874, it wasn't required to include a cause of death on a death certificate. Between 1858 and 1874, the certificate would indicate whether a doctor certified the death.

Maybe it means Louisas mother
surely it’s not the obvious 🤣

I believe it means Louisa was present at the death but I'm not sure why that's on the death certificate. Normally it has the reason for the death.

It does have the reason for the death - diarrhea. The registrar also asks the person who registers the death whether they were present, and if so, that is added to the certificate. It's still one of the qualifications for registering a death.

I couldn't read what that said. Thank you for clearing that up.

Yes, it is difficult reading the old handwriting.

"I'm not sure if I can find out more than you as I'm a novice."

I'm just trying to give some examples of how you might do things yourself when you're researching your own family tree, especially if you get stuck when searching for somebody. I always found it easier if I had examples to copy.

"I believe that the demolished houses in front of the church were cottages. I may have a picture of them."

It would be really interesting to see that if it's not too much trouble for you.

"I've got no idea why Bradwell is called the East End as it's Essex,"

There's a tiny village just east of Bradwell called "East End" going out on East End Road - have a look on google maps. Back then there seems to have been about six houses (either that or five houses and a pub).

After that there was East Hall and Eastlands (large properties both now demolished) and East Hall Farm which is, today, a Grade II listed property (photo below).

I think it likely that it was East Hall Farm where the Richardson sisters were visiting in 1851.
.

Just thinking about the wider context of their lives, they were born a few years before Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was published in 1813 (although she did write it in 1797) and you might think of them as the generation following the Bennet sisters.

The Richardson sisters are clearly not quite up to the level of the Bennet sisters in terms of family wealth but they are a lot closer to them than they are to a family of butchers or bakers.

In Pride and Prejudice, a minor character by the name of Mary King inherited £10,000 and it was more than enough to persuade Mr Wickham to propose marriage. We don't know how much the Richardson sisters inherited but they still had almost £4,000 left in 1891 after at least 50 years of living off their inheritance.

Oops, didn't attach the photo of East Hall Farm

@Another2Cats Again thank you so much.

I looked up East End road, I'd never heard of it. You've really brought these people to life, you're amazing.

If I can get hold of the photo of the cottages, I'll post it.

Ah
Present at death…yes
It always says that on death certs if the person registering the death was present.
I was present when both my parents died and insisted I was the one to register their deaths just so that my name and ‘present at death’ could be on the death cert. I didn’t want it to look like they died alone.
I know that sounds like a weird thing to be thinking of but having done lots of family history research it always seems so sad when I see a family member death cert without this and I’m wondering if they died alone.

I had no idea. I've never seen a death certificate and didn't know why it would mention her being there. Thank you for the clarification.

I've been doing some digging. I found Edith's death notice in two Essex newspapers. She is called Edith Maud Allen.

I also tried to find the trial details for the Louisa Allen who went to Newgate Prison. I can't seem to find them it's very frustrating. The Old Bailey has a searchable database of trials but I can't find Louisa's trial.

They have a lot of detail on cases. I also tried to find articles on the incident but couldn't find anything.

I looked through the marriage certificates for any Louisa Allens but also couldn't find anything.

Wow, fascinating research.

Perhaps Louisa’s case wasn’t unusual enough for the newspapers.
I’ve looked some more at Louisa’s background. It does perhaps seem most likely that the Louisa Another2Cats identified at Newgate is the mother of Edith.
This Louisa seems to be the daughter of George Allen and Elizabeth Anderson.
George and Elizabeth married in Colchester in October 1838, and went on to have at least nine children. These included Elizabeth, born in 1842. It seems that by 1858, Elizabeth had become a prostitute in Chelmsford – see attached cutting.

And even more detail - very sad:

Hope that wasn't too small to read!
George was a fish dealer and a licensed hawker.
In 1857, he became an insolvent debtor, but seems to have recovered.
In 1862, his wife died, aged just 42.
In 1868, he was taken to court by a Mrs Ann Hay Pattisson. Mrs Pattisson’s son took his mother’s property (a military saddle, a riding saddle, two pairs of stirrups, a pair of driving reins, a martingale, four ladies’ bags, and a box of dominoes) and sold them to George. George said he gave the bags to his daughters, who were living in London.
Then, in 1871, George assaulted one of his daughters and a neighbour. Was this Louisa, or another daughter? See attached:
In 1882, he was charged with being drunk and riotous at Eastwood.
George died on 29 July 1887, aged 81, leaving £37 9s 10d in his will, which was proved by son George Thaxter Allen, fishmonger.

I'm not sure this is correct. I understand that Louisa's mum had died when she was 10.

The article below is about a mother Elizabeth, going to Chelmsford to rescue her 17 year old daughter from a pimp or brothel.

Interesting though!

Yes, it's Elizabeth the mother, going to rescue her 17-year-old daughter, Elizabeth - Louisa's older sister - in 1858.

Oh I see. I thought it was meant to be about Louisa. I wonder why her daughter's turned to prostitution?

Sorry I was a bit confusing 😀 It looks like they had quite an unhappy home life, as the dad was obviously inclined to violence, and liked his drink. From the article, it looks like the older sister got into debt, and of course the father had recently been an insolvent debtor, so money would have been tight. Maybe she was desperate for money, and ran out of other options. She was so young though. Then Louisa followed the same path.

I haven't found Louisa after Newgate. Maybe someone else will turn her up. She does seem a likely candidate for Louisa, mother of Edith.

You may already have this, in which case apologies:
Register number 268
Allen, Louisa
Date and place of committal: May 27 Guildhall May 31 1879
Assault
Sentence: 2 months
Age: 18
Trade or occupation: Prostitute
Religion and Birth Place: P (?), Spinster, Malden, Essex
Date of discharge and remarks: 31 May 79 at Guildhall
(Source Newgate Prisons, London: Register of Prisoners)

I just checked in the newspapers again, using those dates, and found her court case 🙂

I'm shocked that there are Brothels in Chelmsford

I know, who'd have thought 😂

Here's the illustration from the front page. Poor Louisa.

Why would that be shocking?