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b.1862-d.1902
Jeremiah, the youngest son of Irishman Jeremiah Sullivan and his wife Mary Ann, was born around 1862 in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales. His older siblings were Cornelius, born 1857, and Honora, born 1859.
From his siblings’ GRO birth entries it seems their mother’s maiden name was Daly. There is not, however, a GRO birth entry for Jeremiah with the same mother’s maiden name, nor is there a marriage between his father Jeremiah Sullivan and a Mary Ann Daly. It is possible that Mary Ann, who appears on the censuses, was Jeremiah’s second wife and had a different surname.
A Move from Wales to London
The UK censuses give us tantalising ten yearly snapshots of how life changed for the Sullivans. When the 1871 Census was taken, Jeremiah and his wife Mary Ann, along with Cornelius, Honora, and Jeremiah, had moved from Wales and were living at 26 Moss Alley, St. Saviours, London, where Jeremiah’s father, born around 1837, was working as a labourer at the Iron Wharf. Mary, his mother, was recorded as having been born in Sheerness in Kent around 1834.
Jeremiah’s brother Cornelius married Margaret Cronin in 1879 and moved out to raise a family of his own. When the 1881 Census was taken, Jeremiah and his parents were living at 12 Princes Square, Lambeth. Jeremiah and his father were both recorded as working as labourers while Mary, his mother, was working as a furrier. His sister Honora’s whereabouts is unknown. This is the last census that Jeremiah senior appears in and so it is surmised that he died sometime between 1881 and 1891.
Jeremiah Marries
In 1883 Jeremiah, aged 21, married 19-year-old Catherine Hayes. Their marriage was solemnised in St George’s Catholic Church in St Saviour Southwark, where they both gave 2 Red Cross Court as their address.
In the first seven years of their marriage there may have been babies born to them who died, but when the 1891 Census was taken on 5th April, there was only one child recorded, 3-day-old Jeremiah. Jeremiah was recorded as working as a general labourer and the family address was 14 William Street, St George the Martyr.
In and Out of the Workhouse
There are potential entries to the Greenwich Union Workhouse, Vanburgh Hill. On 22nd January 1893, a Jeremiah Sullivan was admitted and was later released on March 13th 1893. If him, this suggests that the epilepsy later diagnosed was evident.
Catherine gave birth to their second son William on 12th May 1893, and when the two brothers were admitted in 1896 to the Orange Street School, the records stated that they were by then living in Charlotte Street. The entry to the school gives young Jeremiah’s birth date as 3/4/1891.
There is a record of Jeremiah Sullivan being released from Greenwich Union Workhouse, Vanburgh Hill as ‘well’ on 9th March 1895.
He was readmitted on 23rd September 1895 and discharged himself on 30th September 1895.
The Southwark Workhouse records that on 2nd July 1899 Jeremiah was admitted to them by the police as ‘a lunatic’. It would later transpire that he was in fact an epileptic. It was noted that he came from St Georges, and that he was a Roman Catholic. His labourers’ occupation was recorded as a ‘Paviour’, a person who laid paving. He was later discharged to his wife Catherine on 10th July 1899.
On 22nd July 1900, Jeremiah was admitted to the Greenwich Union Infirmary, Greenwich, from where he was transferred on 28th July to Banstead Hospital in Banstead, Surrey. He was discharged as ‘recovered’ on 21st September 1900 and returned to his home in London.
1901 Census – and indication of poor health
On 31st March 1901, the Census recorded Jeremiah and his family as living at number 1 Warwick Square, St George the Martyr, London. His occupation was recorded as just being a general labourer, while Catherine, who was recorded as Kate, worked as a ‘fur puller’. At the end of Jeremiah’s entry line, there is a tick in the end column under “Lunatic etc., etc.”.
On 23rd June 1901, Jeremiah, aged 39, was once again admitted to St Georges Workhouse, Southwark. The same information was recorded – that he was married, a Paviour, and a Roman Catholic. On 3rd July 1901 he was again discharged into the care of Banstead Hospital where he stayed until he was discharged as once again ‘recovered’ on 23rd August 1901.
On 8th May 1902 he was admitted to the Horton Hospital in Epsom, suffering from what we now know was epilepsy.
Died from Exhaustion
From his death certificate it was recorded that his wife, Mrs C Sullivan of 9 Pollock Place in Bermondsey, was at his bedside when he died from exhaustion from epilepsy on 28th May 1902. Further information from the certificate confirms that he was a stone paviour, and that prior to his admission he had lived at 20 Warwick Street in Southwark.
Jeremiah was buried in grave 18 in Horton Estate Cemetery, Epsom, Surrey, on 3rd June 1902.
After Jeremiah’s death
His widow Catherine remarried in 1904 but the marriage to John Henry did not last long. By 1911, although she was listed as married and being the head of the household, she was living with just her son William at 24 King James Street, Southwark. Her other son Jeremiah was a ‘Warehouse Assistant’ and living away from home. Catherine was still working, with her occupation recorded as ‘Skin Pulling’, and William’s as a bottlewasher.
Sadly, Catherine’s son Jeremiah may have also suffered from epilepsy as records show that he was admitted to Banstead Hospital in 1915. In 1918 the hospital was renamed Banstead Asylum, Hundred Acres, Sutton Lane, Banstead, Surrey. His death certificate states that he was aged 48 and had died in 1940 from general peritonitis and ulcerative colitis.
Catherine and her son William continued to live together and by 1921 they were living at 3 Gordon House, St George the Martyr, Southwark. This census recorded her as a widow and working as a ‘Fur Puller’. She had also reverted to being ‘Catherine Sullivan’. William was still single and working as a ‘Fur Skin Dyer’.
Catherine died aged 75 in 1938.
