Catherine DOWNEY
The starting point for researching Catherine Downey came from the excellent evidence provided by a visitor book record for Manor Asylum, Epsom. From this, Catherine’s family members emerged and, from that baseline, we were able to piece some of her life together.
It is comforting to know that Catherine was very well supported by friends and family during her stay in Manor:
- Her daughters, Ellen Kelly and Mary, who is Mrs Coleman
- Her sons, Timothy and John.
- Their wives, Ellen and Alice respectively.
- Her grandchildren, Mary Kelly, Mr J. Coleman and Mrs N Noakes.
We find out later that Catherine had a large family with numerous grandchildren. It is a bonus for a researcher to have access to so many clues about a person’s life. However, as we will see in this story, people can still disappear for years on end.
Born in Ireland
Catherine was born in Kerry, Ireland. She married Patrick Downey and they had three children before making the move to London sometime between the birth of their son, Timothy, born in Kerry in 1859 and before John was born in Camberwell in 1863.
In 1871 we find the family living in Beckett St, Camberwell. Patrick was working as a market gardener. The children Mary, Ellen, Timothy and John are all listed.
By 1881, Catherine and Patrick have moved to 13 Shards Square, Camberwell, just off the Old Kent Road. It remains there today as an alleyway.
Both sons are living with them but not the daughters. Patrick is now an unemployed gardener.
Patrick Dies
On Christmas Day 1887, Patrick dies of peritonitis, aged 61 years. It is not difficult to imagine the sense of loss, particularly on such a key date and the impact that would have had on Catherine. At the time Patrick died at 24 Waterloo Street, which we learn from the 1891 census was a grocer’s shop. His son John, of 14 Sarah Street, is the informant.
He is buried on December 28th 1887 in Camberwell Old Cemetery in grave 10704.
Catherine’s children marry
John In 1891, John and his wife Alice and their 10 year old son, John are living in Islington. By 1901 they are in Poplar. By 1911, they are John was living in West Ham, London.
Ellen In 1881 Ellen, married is living with her son Morgan P Kelly in Bird in Bush Rd in Camberwell. In 1891 she is still in Camberwell, her husband not present and with three more children. Her husband is Joseph Michael Kelly, who she had married in 1876. In 1910, Ellen gives her address as 80 Branksome Road, Camberwell.
Timothy In 1891 he is with his wife Ellen and three children in Rivett St, Camberwell
Mary In 1901 we find Mary with her husband John Coleman and nine children living in Camberwell, By 1911 they have moved to Willesden. They had married in 1881.
Could this be Catherine – a talkative old woman?
Catherine seems to disappear in the records after 1881 up until 1910, or at least, we have not yet conclusively found her. She was not living with any of her children.
There is a widow named Kathleen Downing in the 1891 census in Kimpton Rd, Camberwell. This could be her if the census script is inaccurate.
It is quite possible that this is her in 1903 in the newspaper. The location is very close to where she was living in Camberwell.
It references church and we find out later that religious mania had been an issue for Catherine in the year before she was admitted to Manor. She is drunk and incapable and ordered to pay a fine of half a crown, to which she replies,
“Oh I say, I didn’t do anything”
Admission to Manor
Catherine arrived in Manor Asylum, Epsom on February 9th 1910.
The notes completed for her on arrival tell us more about her mental state and just how difficult life must have been for her and her family for at least the previous six years, when Catherine’s symptoms had first emerged. We are told that Catherine is poorly nourished and in a distressed state.
Later case notes state that Catherine believed she was in a convalescent home. Whether it is imagined or a memory, Catherine speaks of being on a cart which ended up in a canal. Various references to drowning are mentioned.
Catherine’s Death and Funeral
In December 1914 Catherine had a fall and dislocated her femur. It was not possible to relocate the hip and so Catherine became confined to bed. A general anaesthetic to correct the injury was not an option given her poor health.
On January 15th 1915 at 12.30pm, we read that Catherine ‘succumbed’. Her death certificate gives senile decay and valvular disease of the heart as the causes of death. Her son John registers the death.
Catherine’s funeral took place on February 3rd 1915. 
Her funeral was attended by her daughter, Mrs Mary Coleman and her son, John.
She was buried in grave no. 619a aged 79 years. Perhaps the family continued to visit their mother’s grave in the cemetery.
We can only imagine their reaction if they knew what had happened to the cemetery 60 years later.
I had the support of another researcher, Shaun, with this story. He reviewed the story and it was his honed research skills that managed to track down documents which had eluded me.