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b.1878-d.1920
Chrissie Bedford has proved to be a fascinating research subject but very difficult to pin down at times. The following is a summary of everything found to date; there are some interesting circumstantial pieces of evidence which allow us to piece together her life.
Take note of the following before we embark on this story:
- Although her name is given as Cassie in Horton Cemetery records she was known throughout her life as Chrissie (sometimes spelled ‘Chrissy’)
- When arrested in 1895, Chrissie is recorded as being specifically from Hatfield Peveril, Essex.
- Her mother is recorded at her baptism as Louisa Lydia Matthews.
- We are told by Chrissie’s husband that she had been born illegitimately to a very young mother.
The story
Chrissie Matthews was born in 1877 in Witham, Essex in the 3rd quarter of 1877. There is a record of baptism on June 23rd 1878 for Ulting, All Saints, Essex and Chrissie’s mother is named as Louisa Lydia Matthews. This is just 5 miles from Hatfield Peveril.
Ater that point, we do not find Chrissie and Lydia together in the records at any point.
Who is Louisa Lydia Matthews?
Extensive, deep-digging research found that Louisa quite probably did have Chrissie illegitimately.
In 1891, we find Chrissie, aged 13 years, living as a ‘visitor’ at 139 Nounsley Green, Hatfield Peverel, in the home of Thomas and Mary A Valentine. The couple had a five year old child, Percy. Had Chrissie not stolen a Gladstone bag (later in this story) we would not have found this out.
It might appear, therefore, that the illegitimate child, Chrissie, may well have been sent to live in a different house in the village. From the 1881 Census, we learn that Thomas was deaf.
So, who was Louisa Lydia Matthews? She was the daughter of Jasper Robert Matthews (1835-1870), a builder, and Eleanor Lucking (1839-1908). They lived in Hatfield Peverel in a house which still stands today near to St Andrew’s Church.
We find Louisa Lydia with the family in 1871. She would have given birth in 1877 but there is no apparent trace of her in 1881 in the village. By 1891 she is living in Farnham and her illegitimate daughter, Chrissie, is residing with the Valentine family (as above).
Louisa Lydia had married Albert Howe, a warrant officer in the Royal Engineers, on May 1st 1890. He was a widower with several children. Eleanor, either her sister or her mother, witnessed the wedding which took place in Farnham, Surrey. Records suggest that Louisa Lydia gave birth to several children in South Africa and died in 1896 in Egypt.
Where were Louisa and Chrissie between 1877 and 1891? If they were in the village, I have not been able to locate them.
A regular visitor to Islington Workhouse
The next time we find Chrissie is when her contact with workhouses and asylums begins; she is 17 years old.
On July 17th 1894, Chrissie Matthews is admitted to St John’s Road Workhouse Infirmary Islington, aged 17 years and single. She is described as a servant. She was discharged the following day to the infirmary. There is a record to show that she was admitted again on that same day, July 18th 1894. She is discharged, at her own request, on July 23rd 1894.
On October 30th 1894, Chrissie is again admitted to Islington and is not discharged until November 9th when she is transferred to Claybury.
She is discharged from Claybury, as ‘recovered’ on April 13th, 1895.
The next time we find Chrissie is in the newspapers for theft!
Chrissy steals a Gladstone bag
On May 31st, 1895, there is a newspaper article about a Chrissy Matthews in the Essex County Chronicle. Given that she was born in Essex, this might explain the interest in a theft which took place in Wimbledon.
She was charged with stealing a brown Gladstone bag valued at 18s. 6d. from a pawnbroker’s shop. A police officer questioned her about the bag, and she said a man called Fred Smith had bought it for her, but she did not know where he lived.
The same incident is recorded in the Wimbledon News on May 25th, 1895. Chrissy is described as a girl of about 18 years, who ‘looked like a gypsy’ and is described as of Hatfield Peveril, Essex’.
She tells the officer that he has a ‘tidy cheek’ to stop her and ask. Her story unravels and the officer says he will take her to the station. She then offers the officer the bag if he will let her go! Luckily, the article tells us that ‘the heart of the man of law and order was hard as adamant and the prisoner paid a compulsory visit to the police station’.
Once at the station, it transpired that Chrissy had also stolen a book from a different shop and had been seen loitering around the area. She was remanded.
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Admission to Brookwood?
This may be our Chrissie or not…
On June 7th 1895, Crissy Matthews is admitted to Brookwood. She is described as a domestic servant, Church of England and had previously been at the Kingston Workhouse. She is described as having mania and this attack had lasted 16 days. Her first attack had been when she was about 15 years old. She was discharged on February 14th, 1896.
On June 15th, 1904, Chrissy was admitted to Leicester B and was discharged on October 18th 1904, ‘not improved’.
(There is a Christina Matthews admitted on July 3rd 1896 to Bow St Infirmary, suffering from a venereal condition which they cure and they release her on July 17th. Christina Matthews is admitted to Fisherton on December 15th 1896 and she is released on May 4th 1897. She is then admitted to Claybury on May 4th 1897. She is discharged as ‘recovered’ on October 26th 1899. This may be our Chrissie).
Chrissie marries Frederick John Bedford
Chrissie Matthews married Frederick John Bedford in the second quarter of 1912 in Lambeth.
It has proved tricky to find either Chrissie or her husband in any dwelling after their marriage. Thus far it has not been possible to locate either of them in the 1911 Census.
When Chrissie is admitted to Manor Asylum in 1914, their address is given as 12 Willington Road, Stockwell. In the Census of 1911 there was just one man living at that house, a Mr Thomas Chivers who is a postman. He remains living there for several years and we can suppose that Chrissie and Frederick were lodgers. Later in her case notes, Cissie refers to being frightened in her own home by a postman!
Admission to Manor Asylum, Epsom
Cissie was admitted to Manor Asylum, Epsom on December 7th, 1914 from Lambeth parish due to ‘prolonged mental illness’.
On entry, Cissie said, “She will not go home because of a man who frightens her”. She says she was also frightened when in the country, although she was not able to say by whom. She had reported her husband to the police because there was a ‘mystery’.
Cissie’s husband was able to provide more detail…
We know that Cissie was 5ft 1in and that she had blue eyes. There is reference in the notes to Cissie having had an illegitimate child 20 years previously, which coincides with the first entries we have into the workhouse infirmary. There was no evidence of a birth in the records, though.
Cissie describes herself as a ‘rare bloody woman’! She says that she has done just about everything except murder but does not provide details. She asks that the nurses do not pull her hair.
From the Case Notes
Cissie refers again later to being frightened in her own home, by a postman. She wants to be sent to a prison not to an asylum. She is sullen, abusive and apparently in poor health. Specifically she asks to be sent to Holloway Prison. Chrissie spends time in a padded cell.
By January 1915, we find Cissie in much the same agitated state – her language is filthy, her habits dirty and she is resistant to anything being done for her.
Cissie declares herself to be a princess and that her prince is a force soldier. At this time, she had again spent three days in a padded cell.
In June 1915, Cissie spends four days in bed, her memory much impaired, accusing the nurses of trying to murder her. On July 10th she is transferred to ‘Ward A’ and then two days later to ‘Ward C’. In October, a tumour is discovered in her groin, which apparently disappears when she is lying down.
Chronic Mania
By November 5th, her case notes record a heavily underlined ‘chronic mania’; she says she knows the King, Queen and the Prince of Wales and that she is the Princess Royal.
In April 1916, Cissie is transferred to Cane Hill, perhaps for some treatment.
Arrival at Manor Asylum and death
Chrissie’s notes next place her in Manor from August 10th, 1916. She is being quite regularly medicated, with many references to he being prescribed chloral, a sedative. After this, her notes are only periodically updated and by February 20th 1918, Chrissie is described as very demented, wet and dirty. The same pattern continues in the notes right up until October 1919, where we learn that, despite her mania, she is in fair health.
From March 1920 her notes become very elaborate, keeping close track of her bowel and bladder movements. There are some considerable concerns and by June 27th we learn that Cissie is ‘very feeble’.
She dies at 5.20pm on July 29th, 1920; the cause of death, ‘carcinoma of the uterus’. The duration of the disease is recorded as unknown but at least three months.
Chrissie was just 42 years old.
Comparing family photographs
Can we see a family likeness to link Chrissie with the family she never appeared to live with?
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| Chrissie in 1914 | Louisa Lydia Matthews, mother | Eleanor Matthews, née Lucking, maternal grandmother | Harriet Matthews, aunt |
The family, or at least her grandmother Eleanor, must have knowingly come across Chrissie in such a small area of the country. What degree of awareness she would have had that she was related to the Matthews family is unknown. What contact she had with her own mother is unknown.
How this impacted on her is also unknown, but she lived a life of turmoil.
