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b.1869 – d.1913
Birth and childhood
Esther Maud Cooper was born in Southwark in the third quarter of 1869 to John & Amelia Louisa Cooper (née Mannin). Esther’s parents had married at Christ Church, Southwark on 5th July 1854; the marriage gives John’s age as 33 (b.1821) and Amelia’s as 17 (b.1837).
At the time of her birth, Esther had 5 older siblings: Amelia, Emma, John, Henry and Alice.
The first census that Esther appears on (1871) shows her living at 243 Waterloo Road, Southwark with her parents, James & Emma and siblings.
In June 1878, Esther’s eldest sister, Amelia married Arthur Edward Baldwin, a mercantile clerk, at St. Stephen, Walworth.
In Camberwell in 1881
On the 1881 Census, Esther is 11 years old and living at 37 Park House Street, Camberwell with her parents John & Amelia and her siblings Emma 24, John 22, Henry 17, Alice 15 and a younger sister Jessie aged 4. Also living with them is Esther’s widowed maternal grandmother, Mariah Mannin.
Sadly, Emma’s father is shown as an ‘unemployed’ clerk. This must have made things very difficult for the family, but her mother is working as an ‘artificial florist’ and her four eldest siblings all have jobs which likely provided some financial stability.
A Late Baptism for Esther
Unusually, Esther’s baptism didn’t take place until 18 years after her birth on 6th May 1888 at St. Augustine, Lynton Road, South Bermondsey (now closed).
In 1891, Esther is living at 176 Westmoreland Road, Newington with her parents, John & Amelia and sisters Emma, Alice and Jessie. John, now 70, is no longer working but Emma aged 53 is an ‘artificial florist’. Emma, Alice and Esther are all working as ‘dressmakers’. The family are sharing the house with a widow and her son and listed as a visitor to them is Esther’s 85 year old grandmother, Maria Mannin.
Marriage and children
On 22nd April 1893, Esther married John Robert Gask at St. George, Camberwell; John is a ‘solicitor’s clerk’. John Robert had been born in Hoxton on 30th November 1868 to John & Ann Gask.
Esther’s husband’s father was John Cooper Gask, and his mother was a Cooper. Did Esther marry a cousin perhaps?
On 31st January 1894 Esther gave birth to a son, John Reginald Cooper Gask and on 18th September 1895 another son, Henry Oswald Gask was born. [Henry’s school admission record gives is DOB as 15th August]
In 1901, the young family were living at 34 Cowan Street, Camberwell (south of today’s Albany Road). John is still a ‘solicitor’s clerk’. In August of 1901, Esther’s son, John, was admitted to Mina Road School, Camberwell where he continued his education until 1904. Youngest son Henry also attended Mina Road School, being admitted in July 1900 and later he went to Hither Green School.
John Booth’s poverty map below shows Cowan Street as “fairly comfortable”.
1911 Census
Esther’s husband, John Robert Gask aged 42 is living at 50 Vaughan Road, Camberwell with sons John Reginald 17 and Henry Oswald 15. All three are ‘law clerks’.
Deterioration in health
The earliest indication that something is wrong is at the time of the 1911 Census when Esther can be found as a ‘patient’ in the Camberwell Infirmary. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the date she entered the infirmary or when she was discharged. However, over the next 18 months, there are several records showing her entering Greenwich (Woolwich Road), Lambeth (Renfrew Road) and Camberwell (Constance Road) workhouses.
When Esther was admitted to Greenwich infirmary in July 1912 she appears to have been sent there from Holloway Prison.
Following a stay at Camberwell workhouse, Esther was discharged to the Horton Asylum on 6th December 1912.
Arrival in Horton Asylum
The diagnosis on arrival was “general paralysis of the insane” (i.e. syphilis). On 2nd January 1913 the notes mention her being “put on anti-syphilitic treatment and being kept in bed”; then on 17th she “accidentally slipped and fell ….. sustaining severe sprain of left ankle”. Although she recovered from this injury, her health was deteriorating and from 10th February she was given “Paraldehyde [sedative] every night”.
Five days later on the 15th February, Esther died. She is buried in Plot 371a.
Esther’s family after her death
A few months after her death, Esther’s husband married Ethel Kathleen Cook on 30th August 1913 at St. Matthew, Brixton. Their marriage was fairly short however because John died on 16th November 1917.
Esther’s eldest son, John served in WW1, firstly as a Gunner with the Royal Field Artillery and then with the Army Pay Corps; he served in France from 17.3.1915. He survived the war and married in 1919.
Esther’s youngest son, Henry Oswald also served in WW1 but with the London Regiment, entering theatre on 23.1.1917. After the war he married and moved to Cheshire.
