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b.1878-d.1911

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/201247488/family?cfpid=362626940999&invitetoken=ECvF3Jfxn3lU_5wA5mYLccWXtM7LXR9AwSOFXQb65_A%3D

Introduction

Jane was a long way from home when she died but details from her death certificate helped to identify her and where she came from.

Jane was born in East Suffolk in the village of Little Glemham  in the March quarter of 1878. The village is still a small settlement just off the A12. Her parents were William Cole and Mary Ann Brightwell. Its population around the time of Jane’s birth was just under 300 people.

Her parents were married in the July quarter of 1875.Both parties were aged around 33, which was considered quite late in life to be marrying for the first time in the 1870s.

1880s

In 1881 at the time of the census the family were living in Basketts Lane in Little Glemham. William was then aged 39, and an Agricultural Labourer. He, Mary Ann aged 38, Jane Ann aged 3 and Jemima Cole (Jane’s widowed Grandmother) aged 75 were all living at the address. The couple at that time had already lost a son named William John, born in the September quarter of 1876 who died the following year.

1890s

By the time of the 1891 Census the family had moved 1½ miles to the nearby agricultural village of Marlesford. William’s age was given as 48 and he was still working as an Agricultural Labourer. Mary Ann aged 46 was working as a Washer Woman. The children were Jane aged 13 and her younger brother William aged 5. 

1900s

The 1901 census shows the family had moved to the village of Charsfield near Woodbridge in Suffolk. At this time the population was around 400 people. It was predominantly an agricultural area specialising in fruit growing.  William aged 60 was continuing to work on the land, Mary Ann was aged 56, Jane Ann aged 22 was working as a Domestic Servant and William aged 15 was working as a Stockman on a farm. There was also a Grandson named Samuel. A check of his birth certificate reveals this was Jane’s son.

Samuel’s death occurred 2 years later. A victim of Bronchopneumonia. His Grandfather William Cole was present at his death. Little Samuel was buried in Charsfield churchyard on 29 March 1902.

Poor Jane.  This must have been hard for her to bear. It seems as if she remained in the area, possibly with her parents. Quite when she became ill is unclear but the next thing we hear of Jane is that she is admitted to Suffolk Asylum on 4 May 1908. This is confirmed by the Lunacy Patient Admission records. She was then transferred “Not Improved” to Fulham Road Workhouse in St George ‘s Union in Westminster on 3 March 1909. She is stated to be a single person working as a Servant. The next day she is sent to Long Grove Hospital. Quite why this route was chosen for her is unclear. Did she need assessment of her mental health or was it purely a place to stop on her journey to Long Grove? Records may exist to answer this but at this present moment in time they are not available to me.

Suffolk County Asylum in Woodbridge. Lately known as St Audry’s.

1911

The 1911 Census confirms she can be found as a patient at Long Grove. It also confirms she came from Little Glemham. It states she has been judged to have been a “Lunatic” since she was 30 years old. This coincides with her admission to the Suffolk County Asylum.

Jane’s parents were still alive at this point aged 69 and 68 years old. They were still living at Charsfield, Wickham Market. They reported they had had only 3 children during their marriage and now only 2 were alive. That would have been Jane and William junior.

Jane died on 13 May 1911 at Long Grove aged 33.

Jane’s death certificate reveals she had General Paralysis of the Insane for about 3 and a quarter years. This takes the onset of her symptoms to around the beginning of 1908. GPI as it was known was a result of untreated late-stage Syphilis which caused a neuropsychiatric disorder. Patients normally died within 1 to 5 years of the first onset of symptoms.  It seems however, that Jane was probably carried off by Pulmonary Tuberculosis which she contracted 4 months before her death. This was a common cause of death in the asylums as it was highly contagious.

Jane’s brother

Jane’s only sibling was her younger brother William John born in 1886 who was the second William John born to her parents. The first child of this name died in 1887 at the age of one. The census returns show that this William John lived with his parents until after 1901 but I cannot trace him in the 1911 census. 

In early 1921 William married a young widow by the name of Eliza Gertrude Mead née Peck. Her husband William was a casualty of World War 1 who died on 25 September 1917. She had 3 young children, William, George and Frederick and the Pension Ledger documents of 1918 state that a William Cole is guardian of these children. In 1924 William and Eliza had 2 sons, Russell Bernard born in 1921 and Ernest Edward Cole born in 1924. Sadly, Eliza died in 1927 aged 39.

In 1921 the family were living in Charsfield where Willam had no regular work but when he could get work, he worked on the farms or as a carman. It must have been hard for him to maintain the family.

In 1928 William married the twice married and recently widowed May Ethel Emeny née Mereday. She also had 3 very small children, Lilian, William and Joseph Emeny who seem to have been brought into the Cole household. In 1928 William and May went on to have a daughter Jeanette Alice May.

Russell Bernard Cole William’s son died in World War 2 on 19 September 1944 although it is more likely to have been 12 September. Russell was a private in the Suffolk Regiment. He had been captured by the Japanese and was a Prisoner of War. He met his death whilst on the Transport Ship Rakuyo Maru to Burma. The ship was torpedoed by Allied Forces who had no idea that Allied troops were on board. Along with the sinking of two other ships it became the deadliest maritime disaster of World War 2. Russell is commemorated on Column 54 of the Singapore Memorial in Kranji in North West Singapore. He was only 23 years old.

William John sadly had a lot of grief in his life. His only sister Jane died at the age of 33 whilst his only nephew had died years before when William was a teenager. His first wife Eliza Gertrude died at the age of 39 leaving him with 5 young children. Finally, he had to endure the death of his son in such horrendous circumstances.  William John Cole died in 1958 in Suffolk aged 72.

Author’s Thoughts

When I initially looked at this story, I thought it was a tale of a country lass who came to London for work and fell on hard times. I found an admission to Fulham Road Workhouse in 1909 but this was a complete red herring. Jane remained a country girl until her admission to the Suffolk County Asylum the previous year.

 Her story is all too familiar.

 The daughter of an Agricultural Labourer living in rural Suffolk she went into Domestic service as a Cook. She became pregnant and gave birth to a little baby boy. The identity of the father may have been known to just Jane or been common knowledge. In the relatively small village, there could have been a lot of stigma attached to this and Jane may have experienced hostility or rejection by the locals. Her parents continued to support her at home and baby Samuel was safe in the family home. Safe until he became a victim of Bronchopneumonia and died aged 2.

She appears to have stayed in the area, possibly with her parents and sometime during early 1908 she became ill and on admission to the Asylum system she was diagnosed with General Paralysis of the Insane. We will never know whether this was the case as “GPI”. In my experience this diagnosis was freely given due to the lack of understanding around mental health illnesses. 

Sadly, there was no cure and Tuberculosis took her life. This disease was prevalent in the Asylums. Perhaps it was a happy release for this young Suffolk woman who had never experienced life outside her rural bubble until mental illness took its toll on her.

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