John Edward SLUMAN
John Edward Sluman
born Qtr 4 1863
died 20th September 1912, buried 26th September aged 49 – Plot 1689b
Trace document:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/invite-ui/accept?token=hc6qSODfePd3KYn_xfqlbokZzyPNb5OpR_ZwfmSs8U8=
John Edward SLUMAN was born in St. Andrews, Plymouth in the 4th Qtr. of 1863 to George & Anne Elizabeth SLUMAN (nee Bowden). At the time of John’s birth his father was a ‘sawyer’.
John’s father George had married Anne Elizabeth BOWDEN in the 4th Qtr. of 1846 in the Totnes, registration district of Devon. John’s father was born in the village of Ugborough and his mother in Dittisham – both small villages in Devon.
The first census that John appears on is the 1871 census and shows him as 7yrs old living 2 Owen’s Cottages, Plymouth with parents George (45) & Anne (43) and siblings Albert (14), Hannah (12), Lorenzo (5), Florence (3) and Richard (1month). John’s father is a ‘sawyer (unemployed)’.
John’s Siblings:
(William) GeorgeQ1 1846 Totnes – served with RN
Mary LouisaQ2 1850 Totnes – m. Richard HUTCHINGS
John HenryQ2 1848 Totnes
Frederick James25 Oct 1852 – served with RN – died 1946
Henry/Harry Thomas17 Apr 1854 Totnes
Albert21 May 1856 Totnes
Hannah Eliz.Q2 1858 Totnes
Susan AmeliaQ1 1861 Totnes
John EdwardQ3 1863 Plymouth
Lorenzo BowdenQ3 1865 Plymouth; died 1907 Hackney
Florence LaviniaQ1 1868 Plymouth
Richard HutchingsQ1 1871 Plymouth
Naval Career
On 30th April 1879, John joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class, training on the shore-based ship HMS Impregnable. At this time, he was 5ft 1in tall with brown hair and grey/hazel eyes. His record states he was born on 13th January 1864 (but the GRO entry is for 1863).
On 26th September 1880, he joined HMS Tourmaline (photo below) and when the 1881 census was taken, the ship was docked in Simon’s Bay, on the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
Once he qualified as an Ordinary Seaman, on 13th January 1882 he agreed to serve for 10 more years. Records show that John undertook gunnery training on another shore-based ship, HMS Cambridge and later trained at Devonport’s Torpedo and Mining School (HMS Defiance).
Tourmaline was part of the third flying squadron having sailed to South Africa at time of the First Boer War and then sailed to Australia, Japan, Singapore and Egypt, before arriving in Alexandria in time to participate in the Anglo-Egyptian War. John remained aboard this ship until the end of November 1884.
In total, he served on over 12 different ships, some more than once and on average spent just a year or so on each one; these ships included: HMS Hyacinth, HMS Immortalite and HMS Jason.
John is absent from the 1891 census, probably because he’s serving with the RN Channel fleet.
At the time of the 1901 census, John now aged 37 is serving aboard HMS Salamanda which is moored in Malta. John is now a ‘Petty Officer’ and the entry states that he’s married although I have been unable to confirm this; his Horton record states that he’s single.
John continued to serve with the Royal Navy until 1st February 1902 when he transferred to the Reserves.
Life After the Royal Navy
By the time of the 1911 census, John has moved to London and is listed as a boarder at Kenbury Mansions, Kenbury Street, Lambeth. He gives his place of birth as King Lane, Plymouth, states that he’s single and that his occupation is a ‘Naval pensioner/house porter at offices (Admiralty)’. The head of the house (landlady) is Agnes STALKER.
The Asylum
John was admitted to Horton on 25th April 1912 from Lambeth Infirmary. The records confirm that he was 47 years old, single and a RN pensioner. Furthermore, it states that his present attack had begun 2 months ago but the supposed cause was unknown. Under relatives, it mentions his brother Frederick Sluman of 78 Ranelagh Road, Leytonstone and a friend (landlady), Agnes Stalker of 105 Denmark Road, Camberwell.
Under ‘History’, we’re told that John is one of 12 children, 8 of whom are still alive. It tells us too that he started walking and talking at 18 months. Its tells that his father & mother married at 21 and 20 respectively.
On admittance John “was in a very restless condition, wandering about the Padded Room and talking incoherently.” There is a statement from his Landlady “that lately patient has been wandering, does not dress himself properly.” Under Physical Condition, we’re told that John had a bruising of his right eye and that he had numerous small bruises on his arms, chest, abdomen and legs. His gait was also “slow and unsteady”.
Case Notes from the beginning tell us that he is suffering from general paralysis of the insane; he is “unable to give an account of himself … is unintelligible … and in a “state of dementia”. It also mentions again that he was married but without any children. The notes remain consistent until John’s death at 2:45pm on 20th September 1912. Following a post-mortem, the cause of death was given as general paralysis of the insane.