0
0
b.1878-d.1911
“He had been strange in his manner for three months”
There is no evidence that Edward Charles Linstead’s parents ever married. I can trace no marriage certificate for the couple, but his parents were Edward Charles Linstead and Hannah Augusta Lea. They lived as husband and wife until Edward senior died.
Edward Charles senior was born on 16 July 1855 in Southwark to William John and Selina Jobling.
Hannah Augusta Lea or Lee was the daughter of John Edwin Lea, a Bookbinder and Martha Augusta Waters and she was born 15 April 1857 in the St Pancras area.
Our subject Edward was born on 20 June 1878 at 67 Tilson Road in Camberwell shortly followed by a sister Hannah Selina in 1879.
Edward Charles senior died on 7 August 1880 aged only 24, leaving Hannah with two very young children. His brother William had died the previous March 1880 aged only 20 of Tuberculosis. Longevity for the men of the Linstead family was not to be enjoyed or endured.
The death certificate of William Linstead, our subject’s Uncle, who also died at a very young age.
Edward Charles senior death certificate. He died at Guy’s Hospital of a ruptured abdominal Aortic Valve and Dilatation of the left ventricle. It seems as if he suffered from heart problems.
1881
The census shows that Hannah Linstead, now widowed at the age of 22, was living at 8 Luke Street in Lambeth with her two children Edward Charles aged 3 and Anna (Hannah) aged 2. Also living at the same address was Hannah’s sister Alexandra Lea aged 13. Hannah was working as a Collar Turner.
Young Hannah Selina died in October 1881 and was buried in Camberwell leaving Edward Charles alone with his mother Hannah.
On 31 May 1886 Edward Charles aged 7 was admitted to Ruby Street School on the Old Kent Road. It was a new school that only opened the previous year. It stated he had a guardian named Charles Ormonde. The surname Linstead has (Ormonde) in brackets by the side of it. He had previously been at Arthur Street School. He stayed there until 11 April 1891 when he left aged 12 years old and was readmitted on 21 September 1891. I have not been successful in tracing who Charles Ormonde was or what connection he had to Edward Charles. It is possible he was his mother’s partner at that time.
1890s
Edward Charles’s mother Hannah Augusta married William Squirell Brooke on 22 March 1891 at St Mary Magdalene Church in Southwark. William hailed from Ipswich and was only 20 years old at the time of the marriage. Hannah was 14 years older than her spouse. This is probably why she describes herself as a spinster aged only 28 and using her former surname of Lea. Given that if she had been married to Edward Charles Linstead senior who had died nearly 11 years beforehand why would she do that? It gives more weight to the fact she may never have been married before.
1891 Census
The census shows the newlyweds living at 24 Bagshot Street in Newington. William Brooke aged 24 from Ipswich is a labourer and Hannah aged 28 is from Kentish Town. As previously stated, these are not their correct ages. Edward Charles aged 12 is living with the couple described as a scholar. There are 7 people living at this address covering 3 households.
1901 census
The family have now moved to 15 Brymer Road in Camberwell. William Brooke is now aged 31 working as a Bricklayer, Hannah is aged 41 and Edward Charles, aged 22, is a Bricklayer’s Assistant. He is possibly working with his Stepfather William. There are 10 people living in the same house which consists of 3 households. It was described as a mixed area by Booth where the houses were 3 storey buildings with narrow backs.
Marriage
On 5 September 1903 Edward Charles married Bessie Cane at St Mary Magdalene Church in Southwark. The address they gave was 6 Mellon Place. Bessie was aged 22 and her father was Nathaniel Cane, a Leather grinder. The witnesses were Nathaniel and Polly Cane.
Bessie’s parents originated from Somerset and they arrived in London about 1880.
Their Son
The couple had only one son who was named after his father and Grandfather. Edward Charles Linstead junior was born on 5 April 1904. He was baptised at Christ Church, Camberwell on 28 April 1904. The family address was given as 27 Nutcroft Road in Peckham.
The Electoral Register of 1908 shows Edward Charles living on the top floor of 1 Hyndman Street on the Old Kent Road.
The Reception Order
In the unindexed records for Wandsworth Infirmary, we find the Reception Order for a Charles Linstead. On 10 January 1909 he was examined and deemed to be of an unsound mind. His illness had started 3 months prior to this date, and this was his first attack. He had been living with his wife Bessie and young son at 7 Worslade Road in Tooting. He was clean and in good bodily condition. There was no family history of insanity.
The Doctor commented.
“He appears to be suffering from weakening of the mental faculties. Is depressed, quiet and low spirited. Shows symptoms of early General paralysis affecting his speech and communication. He has no recollection of his threats of violence to his wife”.
His wife Bessie stated, “he had been strange in his manner for 3 months; he had threatened to throw her out of the window and downstairs and had frequently assaulted her”.
It sounds a sad situation with Edward Charles’s violence spiralling out of control with the diagnosis of the early stages of General Paralysis of the Insane. This was caused by Syphilis and in those days, there was no cure and accounted for about a quarter of the deaths of the residents of asylums.
On 14 January 1909 he was admitted to Long Grove hospital. His delusions and condition would only deteriorate.
He was to survive for a further 2 years and 11 months before he died on 16 November 1911 aged only 33.
Interestingly Edward’s mother was given as his next of kin and not his wife Bessie. He was buried on 21 November 1911 in grave 1315a in Horton cemetery.
Bessie and young Edward Charles
The 1911 census entries would suggest that Bessie and her son were separated after her husband’s admission to Long Grove. Bessie can be found working as an Office Cleaner at the Gas Works. She was residing at 44, Sandgate Road, Peckham living in just 1 room. Her son Edward aged 6 can be found as a patient of Hornemans Home, Park Road, Worthing in Sussex.
After some research I believe this is the John Hornimans Children’s Convalescent Home. John Horniman was a Quaker who had made his money as a Tea Merchant. In 1890 he set up a trust to open a Convalescent home for disadvantaged children and by 1892 it was up and running in Worthing. It seems as if the young Edward Charles Linstead found himself here in 1911, hopefully enjoying some sea air.
Just before Edward Charles Senior’s death at Long Grove, Mother and son, now reunited, entered Westmorland Road Workhouse on 1 November 1911. The following day Edward junior was sent to Southwark Children’s Receiving Home. Bessie would remain at Westmorland Road until 7 November 1911 when she was sent to St George’s Workhouse in Mint Street, Southwark. On 16 November 1911 her husband died in Long Grove and on the following day she was discharged. It is hard to say whether the two events were connected.
In April 1915 Bessie married John Thomas Wilson, a Ledger Clerk and a widower aged 45 who originated from Newcastle upon Tyne. He had a son named Aubrey John Lawrence Wilson who had been born on 21 July 1902 and so was a couple of years older than Bessie’s son. One hopes they were company for each other.
In 1918 Bessie and John were living at 53 Boscombe Road in Mitcham, Surrey according to the Surrey Electoral Register.
The 1921 Census shows the family living at the same address: John Thomas Wilson, aged 49, described as an accountant in State Insurance; Bessie, aged 38, engaged in domestic duties; Aubrey, aged 18, a clerk; Edward, aged 17, a shop assistant and an adopted child, Douglas Henry Sullivan, aged 1 year and 10 months, born at 1 Clonmere Street. Douglas’s mother appears to have been a single woman named Ellen Sullivan, a Telephonist from Hampstead.
It is unclear if there was a family connection or how they came to adopt Douglas. I have been unable to find out anything else about him.
The Electoral Registers show that in 1925 Bessie, John, Aubrey and Edward were all still living at 53 Boscombe Road in Mitcham. Edward married Dorothy Lilian Holman in October 1926 and Aubrey married Ettie Florence Thomas on 18 April 1927.
The following Electoral Registers up to 1932 show Bessie and John Wilson living with Edward and Dorothy at 53 Boscombe Road and 13 Uckfield Grove in Mitcham.
The 1939 Register shows Bessie and John living at 8 Masefield Close in Mitcham. John describes himself as a Retired Accountant. Bessie died aged 59 in February 1940.
Edward Charles Linstead, the third of his family to carry that name, died in 1988 in The Grove, formerly Long Grove. The very same place where his father had died some 77 years before.
Author’s Thoughts
This story really illustrates the fragility of life for the generations of people born during the Victorian Era. There are three generations of Edward Charles Linsteads, the first dying aged only 24 of heart disease in 1880, the second, our subject, Edward Charles dying aged 33 of General Paralysis of the insane in 1911 and finally the third Edward Charles who died at the good age of 83 in the same hospital as his father. The advances of medicine from the days of his grandfather and father meant he could live a longer and healthier life.
