Ellen Elizabeth Armitage (1904-43), mental patient.

Ellen was a cousin of my mother, Grace Evelyn Taylor nee Ivall (1921-2006). Ellen’s father was Robert Melton Armitage (1881-1916), the elder brother of my grandmother Emma Ivall nee Armitage (1883-1970). There is an article about Robert’s life on this blog.

Robert Melton Armitage married Ann Maria Godfrey on 8 February 1903, at St Matthias Church, Stoke Newington. Robert (occupation given as cabinet maker) was aged 22 and Ann was 25.

Ann and Robert’s children were Ellen Elizabeth (born 27 Feb 1904 in Stoke Newington), Florence Annie (born 1906 in Edmonton, died in 1906), Doris Winifred (born 1912 in Hackney, died in 1914) and Marjory (born 12 Dec 1915 in Edmonton). Robert’s daughter Ellen Elizabeth was baptized at St Matthias’s Church, Stoke Newington on 3 April 1904. The register gives Robert’s address as 85 Shakespeare Road.

Robert was a soldier in WW1 and was killed fighting in France on 24 May 1916. Ann, his wife, received a pension of 21 shillings a week from December 1916. Ancestry has a transcript of the WW1 Pension Ledger listing the names of Ann Maria Armitage (born 11 July 1877) and her daughters Ellen Elizabeth and Marjory.

In 1920 Ann married Frederick Francis Taylor in Edmonton. The 1921 census shows them living at 119 Fairview Road, South Tottenham. Frederick was aged 33, born in New Cross (in S London), a shipping agent. Ann was 43, occupation “home duties”. There were no children are listed in the household.

My mother told me that one of Robert and Ann’s children (who was known as Dolly), was mentally disabled. A family story was that visitors took her a rice pudding and she put in on her head ! The 1921 census shows Ellen Armitage aged 17, as a patient at Napsbury Mental Hospital, St Albans. The 1939 Register lists Ellen Armitage, born 27 February 1904, as a patient (incapacitated) at Napsbury Hospital, St Albans. The date of birth shows that this is Robert and Ann’s daughter.

Napsbury Hospital was a mental health facility near St Albans in Hertfordshire. It was initially known as the Middlesex County Asylum. Following the construction of the numerous buildings and extensive grounds, Napsbury opened on 3 June 1905 and was in continuous use as a hospital until its official closure in 1998. The site has since been redeveloped for residential use.

The death certificate of Ellen Elizabeth Armitage says that she died on 16 July 1943 at Napsbury Hospital, St Albans, aged 39. The  address recorded for her was 119 Fairview Road, South Tottenham. She was a spinster of no occupation, daughter of Robert Melton Armitage, a postman, deceased. Cause of death was 1(a) Bronchopneumonia 1(b) Status epilepticus. The informant was A. Taylor, mother, in attendance. Her address was The Lodge, Tottenham High School for Girls, High Road, Tottenham.

Status epilepticus is a medical condition consisting of a single seizure lasting more than 5 minutes, or 2 or more seizures within a 5-minute period without the person returning to normal between them. Previous definitions used a 30-minute time limit. Status epilepticus is a life-threatening medical emergency, particularly if treatment is delayed.

Ellen is buried in Tottenham Cemetery. Records show that she was in Napsbury Hospital in 1921, 1939 and 1943. It was quite common at this time for mental health patients to be in hospitals or asylums for long periods. Ellen's death certificate shows that she was epileptic. Her two sisters and father died before she was 13. Perhaps this also affected her mental health ?

The 1933 Electoral Register shows Frederick Francis and Ann Ellen Taylor at Tottenham High School, High Street, Tottenham. This is the address given for her mother on Ellen's death certificate. The 1939 Register lists them there with Frederick (born 8 December 1887) shown as a school keeper. Ann's date of birth is given as 11 July 1876. Electoral registers show both of them at the address in 1945 and 1949. Ann uses Ellen (instead of Maria) as her middle name in all these records.

Death of Ellen Armitage nee Pinnuck

Ellen (born in 1855) was my great grandmother. She married Robert Melton Armitage in 1876 and they went on to have 12 children, of which 7 (3 boys and 4 girls) survived into adulthood, including my grandmother Emma Ivall nee Armitage (1883-1970). The article about Robert on this blog contains information about their lives together and his suicide in 1910.

It has recently become possible to order a digital image of a death register entry from the General Record Office website for only £2.50. This covers deaths in England and Wales from 1837 to 1957. I used this service to obtain information about Ellen’s death.

The death register shows that Ellen died on 12 May 1913 aged 57 at 92 Milton Road, Stoke Newington. She was the widow of Robert Melton Armitage, a milkman. The cause of death was asphyxia due to oedema of the larynx. A post mortem was performed and the death was certified by R Guthrie, Deputy Coroner for North East London, after an inquest held on 14 May 1913.

Oedema is a build-up of fluid in the body which causes the affected tissue to become swollen. Laryngeal oedema is a common feature of acute inflammation, but it is particularly important because swelling of the epiglottis and vocal cords can obstruct the laryngeal orifice, resulting in asphyxiation. Laryngeal oedema can be caused by trauma, improper endotracheal tubing, inhalation of irritant gases (e.g., smoke), local inflammation and allergic reactions.

I looked for a newspaper item reporting the inquest, but did not find one.

Ellen was buried in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington. This is a large cemetery opened in 1840 where about 200,000 people are buried. The section of the cemetery where her grave is located was overgrown when I went there and I did not find a headstone with her name on it. It is quite likely that her grave is unmarked. The grave of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, is nearby.

The mourning card for Ellen.

Hugh Gater Jenkins (1908-2004), Baron Jenkins of Putney.

Hugh Gater Jenkins was a Labour MP and government minister, who later became a member of the House of Lords. His biography is on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Jenkins,_Baron_Jenkins_of_Putney

This article contains information and text from the Wikipedia biography. I am grateful to my second cousin Val, who told me that we are related to him.

Hugh was a grandson of Jessy Pinnuck (b1846), who was a granddaughter of Richard Pinnuck (1759-1841), via his son George Pinnuck (1808-1858). I am also descended from Richard Pinnuck, but via his son James Pinnuck (1799-1836).

Jessy Pinnuck married John Edward Gater in 1871. They later had 6 children (5 girls and boy). One of their daughters was Florence Emily Gater, who married Joseph Walter Jenkins in 1903. Their son Hugh Gater Jenkins was born on 27 July 1908 in Enfield.  The 1911 census shows Joseph Walter Jenkins (aged 31, a dairyman, born in Aberystwyth), Florence Emily Jenkins (aged 32, assisting in business, born in Enfield) and Hugh Gater Jenkins (aged 2) living at 161 Lancaster Road, Enfield. Hugh later went to Enfield Grammar School. In 1930 he got a job working for Prudential Assurance, who were his employers until 1940.

On 18 July 1936, Hugh married Ethel Marie Crosbie at St Andrew’s Sudbury (between Harrow and Wembley, in NW London). The marriage certificate shows that Hugh, aged 28, was an insurance official and that his father Joseph was a tobacconist. The bride, who was known as Marie, was also aged 28. Her father was Ernest William Crosbie, a RAF Squadron Leader. The 1939 Register shows the couple living at 2 Holtye Crescent, Maidstone.

During World War II Hugh served with the Royal Observer Corps and the Royal Air Force from 1941, becoming an air traffic controller and flight lieutenant, mainly based in Nottingham (2). After the war he worked at Rangoon Radio until 1947, where he was director of English language programmes.

Hugh Gater Jenkins (1)

An ardent left-winger, Hugh was active in the Prudential Staff Association, the National Union of Bank Employees and the actors' union Equity, of which he was assistant general secretary 1957–64. He and his wife, Marie, became active in the politics of his local community in Croydon, Surrey. Hugh chaired his local Upper Norwood Labour Party and stood for the council. Marie was elected to Croydon Council in 1949. He stood for Parliament without success in Enfield West in 1950 and Mitcham in 1955. Hugh was involved in the Victory for Socialism group opposed to the 1956 Suez War and had been a supporter of CND and nuclear disarmament since its foundation in 1957. In 1958 he became a London County Councillor for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, serving until 1965, and he served on the London Labour Party executive in 1962.

Hugh became MP for Putney, where he and Marie had moved, in the 1964 election and became involved in the Tribune Group of MPs. He was made Shadow Arts Minister in 1973 and became the Arts Minister in 1974, being sacked in 1976 by the Prime Minister James Callaghan. While in office, he abolished museum charges, sought to shift the emphasis of subsidy away from minority interests, like opera and ballet, in favour of improving majority pursuits such as film and television, and tackled the thorny issue of authors' public lending rights (2).

He lost his seat in the 1979 General Election to David Mellor of the Conservative Party, and became Chair of CND in the same year. He was made a life peer as Baron Jenkins of Putney on 14 May 1981. He attended every day at the House of Lords when it was in session and he was in good health. Jenkins was highly active in the House of Lords. So skilfully did he exploit the informal procedures of the Upper House that a limit had to be imposed on the number of questions a peer could ask each day. He circumvented the government's ban on the publication of Spycatcher by reading lengthy extracts from it to ensure it was on public record in Hansard.

Hugh Gater Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Putney (1)

Hugh was a long time anti-nuclear campaigner and supporter of CND. His anti-nuclear activities before the formation of CND led to rightwingers within the Labour Party attempting to block him as a parliamentary candidate. He was CND Chair from 1979 to 1981 and vice-chair from 1981. As a Member of the House of Lords, he was chair of the Lords CND group. This was the period in which CND underwent a major revival known as the 'Second Wave'.

Hugh’s wife Marie died in 1989 aged 82. In 1991, when aged 83, he married Maria Helena Pavlidis, who was 65. She died in 1994.

Hugh continued to write pamphlets and radio plays, serving on the board of the Royal National Theatre. His later plays were typed on an early Amstrad 256. He said he became 'computerised' late in life. His parliamentary correspondence and speeches continued to be typed on the same Amstrad 256 until he entered a care home near the end of his life in 2004. He died on 26 January 2004 aged 95 in Richmond upon Thames.

Hugh lived in Kenilworth Court, Lower Richmond Road, Putney. This is a block of flats near Putney Bridge. On the building there is a blue plaque that is inscribed

“Lord Hugh Jenkins, 1908 - 2004, Putney MP, 1964- 1979, Minister for the Arts, lived at Kenilworth Court. The Putney Society.”

Notes 

1. The photos in this article were licensed from the National Portrait Gallery website.

2. Info from obituary in The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jan/28/guardianobituaries.obituaries

Ernest Henry Armitage (1879-1942)

Ernest was the youngest child of Edward Armitage (1839-80), who was an elder brother of Robert Melton Armitage (1846-1910), my great grandfather. There is an article about Edward’s life on this blog. Edward’s children were first cousins of my grandmother, Emma Ivall nee Armitage (1883-1970).

Ernest’s birth was registered in Q1 1879 in Hackney. There are no other Ernest Henry Armitage births in FreeBMD. His father Edward (then a police constable) died in 1880, when Ernest was aged 1. The 1881 census shows Edward’s widow Mary (aged 42, a laundress) with her children John (6) and Ernest (2) living at 5 Gainsboro Square, Hackney.

I can’t find Ernest in the 1891, 1901, 1911 or 1921 censuses. However, he is listed in Metropolitan Police records as a Constable (warrant number 91064) who joined on 5 Sep 1904 and left on 20 May 1919.

Freemasonry records show that Ernest, a Constable in the Metropolitan Police, was initiated into the Carnavon Lodge, Havant on 1 Oct 1912 age 33 and continued to pay his annual subscription there until 1921.

Ernest married Frances Carey on 1 Jun 1913 in Southsea.

The First World War began in August 1914. Ernest volunteered to join the army on 23 Apr 1915. He gave his address as 8 Peel Terrace, Stoke Road, Gosport and his occupation as motor lorry driver. He was assigned to the Army Service Corps, 268 Company and was sent to France arriving on 21 Jul 1915. Ernest was seriously injured in an accident on 8 Mar 1917 and invalidated to the UK on 12 Mar 1917. A Court of Enquiry into the accident decided that Ernest was in no way to blame. Ernest was sent back to France after he recovered and demobilised on 10 Feb 1919. He was assessed as 5% disabled and assigned a payment of 6s a week. He gave his address for this as 48 Cambridge St, Victoria, which is where Ernest’s sister Mary Emma Armitage lived.

Ernest married again in 1924. His second wife was Elizabeth Jones and they were married in Steyning (in Sussex). Electoral registers show them living at 58 Woodville Road, Hendon between 1929 and 1934. In 1938 and 1939 they were at 636A Finchley Road, Hendon. Birth records indicate that Ernest did not have children with either of his wives.

I can’t find Ernest in the 1939 register. He died in 1942 in Hendon aged 63. He doesn't seem to be listed in probate records.

Car crash involving George Henry Armitage

George Henry Armitage (1898-1936) was a passenger in a car that collided with a tram in May 1935. One of the other passengers (Florence E Beale, aged 36), died in the accident. The following item was published in the Reynold's Newspaper (5 May 1935) :

This incident must have been upsetting for all those involved in it. Perhaps it was one of the factors that resulted in George's suicide "while of unsound mind"  some 15 months later in August 1936.

Frances Elizabeth Weiste nee Paul (1874-1959)

Frances was a cousin of my grandmother Emma Ivall nee Armitage (1883-1970). The mother of Frances was Sarah Sophia Paul nee Pinnuck (1854 – 1916), who was an elder sister to Ellen Armitage nee Pinnuck (1855-1913), Emma’s mother. 

Sarah Sophia Pinnuck married Luke Paul on 8 June 1873 at St Andrew’s, Enfield. She was aged 19, he was 27, a labourer. Their only child, Frances Elizabeth Paul, was born on 3 February 1874 in Enfield. Luke joined the Metropolitan Police in 1875.

The 1881 census shows Luke (aged 34, born in Thetford, Norfolk, a police constable), Sarah (26, born in Enfield) and Frances (7, born in Enfield) living at 34 Catherine Street, St Paul Covent Garden, Strand in London. Also listed at the address were Luke’s brother William Paul (30) as well as Sarah’s brothers Alfred (18) and George (14) Pinnuck.

In 1891 Frances (aged 17, a milliner’s apprentice) was living at 3 Tenison Street, Lambeth, which was a lodging house run by her mother. Also listed at the address were Frances Pinnuck (67), mother of Sarah. There were 8 lodgers (including 3 actresses) staying there. Tenison Street no longer exists. Its site (near Waterloo Bridge) is now occupied by the Hayward Gallery. The census shows that Luke Paul (44) was a patient in Charing Cross Hospital. He left the Metropolitan Police in 1896 and moved to Hitchin, Hertfordshire with his wife Sarah, where he ran The Highlander pub, 45 Tilehouse Street.

Frances Paul married Diedrich Franz Felix Weiste on 9 January 1899 at St Mary’s Hitchin. She was aged 25, he was 28. He was born in 1871 in Tulse Hill, Lambeth. He is listed in the 1881 census, living in Beckenham with his father John Diedrich Weiste (aged 44, a warehouseman, born in Germany), mother Clara (38, born in Germany) and siblings aged 12, 11, 7 and 1, all born in London. Diedrich was initiated into the Freemasons in 1898, when his occupation was “manufacturer’s agent”.

Frances and Diedrich had a daughter Helene Clara Selma Pauline, born 22 November 1899. She was baptised at Holy Trinity, Penge on 3^rd February 1900. The record shows the family’s address as 29 Honley Road, Catford and Diedrich’s occupation as manufacturer’s agent. They had a second daughter, Dorothea Eileen W, born in January 1901. The 1901 census shows the family (with a domestic servant) living at 65 Byne Road, Sydenham, a pleasant suburb of South London.  The house still exists and looks to be quite spacious.

In 1911 the family, still living at 65 Byne Road, consisted of Diedrich Weiste (aged 40), Frances (37), Helena (11) and Dorothea (10). Diedrich’s occupation is hard to read, but it seems to be “Rope turner, yarn and mat agent”. He is shown as an employer. The house had 7 rooms. Also listed was Frances Pinnuck (18). She was a daughter of Alfred Pinnuck, Sarah Paul’s brother. Alfred died in 1897 and his wife Harriett died in 1901, so Frances Pinnuck was an orphan. She had gone to live with Sarah and Luke Paul in Hitchen in 1901 and married George Henry Kemp in 1914. An item about the life of Frances Elizabeth Kemp nee Pinnuck is on this blog.

The 1914 Kelly’s Directory for London lists Diedrich Weiste & Co, Twine and mat agents, 30 Little Trinity Lane, City of London. Electoral Registers indicate that Diedrich and Frances were living at Blair Gowrie, South Benfleet (a village in Essex between Basildon and Southend-on-Sea) between 1918 and 1922. The 1921 census shows the family living at this address, which had 7 rooms. Those listed in the household were Diedrich (aged 50), Frances (47), Helena (21) and Dorothea (20) Weiste, also Ethel Mott (27, a domestic servant) and Gladys Mott (4). Diedrich and Frances are both shown as manufacturer's agents, with their place of work being 30 Little Trinity Lane.

Electoral Registers show that Deidrich and Frances moved to Orchard House, Oak Road, Green Street Green, Farnborough, Kent in 1923. This is now in the Borough of Orpington, on the SE edge of London. Deidrich’s business address changed to 63 Queen Victoria Street in 1925.

A 1930 passenger list shows Dorothea Weiste, aged 29, on board a ship travelling from Liverpool to Rangoon in Burma. It gives her occupation as lecturer and says that she intends to reside in Burma. I can find no more British records relating to Dorothea, so it seems that she did not return to the UK. Burma was a British colony until 1948.

The 1938 Kelly’s Directory shows that Frances was running a shop (listed under Domestic Stores) at 1 The Parade, Poverest Road, St Mary Cray, Orpington.  

The 1939 Register shows Diedrich (born 17 March 1871, a twine and carpet manufacturing agent), Frances (born 3 February 1874, a shop manager) and Helena (born 22 November 1899, a shop assistant) living at Orchard House, Oak Road.

Diedrich died on 27 January 1955 aged 83. Probate records give his address as Orchard House, Oak Road. He left £933 and the executor was his daughter Helena, who was a spinster. Frances died on 9 January 1959 aged 84. She had the same address and executor, the estate was £319.

Helena died on 7 February 1985 aged 85. She was living at Isard House, Glebe House Drive, Hayes and left £53,415. I don’t have a record of Dorothea’s death.

Photo of Frances Elizabeth Kemp nee Pinnuck

This blog contains an item on the life of Frances Elizabeth Kemp nee Pinnuck (1892-1930). Her great grand-daughter Val has recently found a new photo of her, which she has kindly sent me.

The photo, taken in 1915, shows Frances with her first child Elsie Lilian Kemp.