Got bit of a shock today when browsing using the free trial at Gale Newspaper Archives, entered my families name but no hits, so I decided to enter the Street they were living on Seabright Street, Bethnal Green to get a feel for the area. What came up nearly knocked me for six...seven or eight articles from London/Manchester/Edinburgh/Glasgow one even in Welsh all reporting the death of my 3 x Great Grandmother. They have her name down as Julia Susannah Bellinger, though it was actualy Julia Sarah Bellenger, it is definently her though as I knew the Quarter of her death, the adress is right, and lots of the famiy are named.
Here's the shocking bit she appears to have been abandoned by her husband, and then starved to death by her own mother!
Though there was plenty of deaths from starvation in Bethnal Green at this time, hers really did hit the news, front page in one case, was deemed 'the strange case of starvation of Bethnal Green' because her mother was by local standards fairly well off.
I've read and reread the reports trying to understand then why on Earth her mother would treat her like this. My first thoughts, much influenced by the coroner of the case, was she must have just been an evil old cow..but I really am beginning to wonder if it was that simple, whether there wasn't more to it than meets the eye?
The coroner said it was by far the worse case of emaciation he had ever seen, she was a virtual skeleton, and her stomach and intestines completely empty. Julias daugter seems to be the one mainly pointing the finger at granny, saying she took her starving mother a bit of meat and sausage roll, but granny snatched it away and gave it to the little brother. She then gave her some wine, and granny grumbled at the 'waste'. She then aked granny to have the fire on as her mother was cold and shivering, and she told her she would not 'it was her house she'd do as she pleased in it, and nobody had the right to tell her otherwise'. The Doctor also seems to point the finger at Granny, she refused to call a doctor because they were 'too expensive', and when a neighbour did call a free parish doctor in (after Julia had been in a coma for 3 days and which theyd been entitled to all along in any case), granny grumbled at him to not to 'waste his medicine on her', though he put her in her place clearly.
In the coroners inquest she seems to have done herself no favours, more or less refusing to answer their questions, telling them it was her business not their and telling them they shouldn't insult her. The coroner called her 'impertenent' and seems to have been utterly disgusted by the women, especially the fact she went on holiday 'to the sea side' for 3 months to Ramsgate and left her daughter 2 Pence a day to live on during that whole time.
Open and shut case of cruelty? Thing is if she really disliked her daughter that much why have her in the house at all? Why leave her any money? And grandaughter actually admits granny was kind to Julia (where it didn't hurt her pocket), cooked her a sunday dinner every weekend and fed her meat during the week.
For the final hearing two weeks later my 3x great grandad suddenly appears as he had read in the paper his daughter had said he makes a puond a week, and he wanted to make it clear he earned only 15 shillings. He claimed he had no knowledge his wife was in such need. They'd split up 7 years earlier, after she had become obsessed with jealousy towards a younger girl next door. Though he had indeed since moved in with another lady and had a child, he wanted to make clear also it was not the same woman, who was a married lady. He had in fact split with his wife as they'd never really been happy, and she wished him to break ties with all his old connections even his mother.
Though the coroner clearly didn't think much of the husbands testimony either, one thing he did say stuck in my mind..she was always skeletal, even though she ate enough for 'three men'. Granny was recalled and though it may be because she was perhaps now worried about charges being bought, she now claimed she fed her daughter a meal daily. Coupled with the fact even the daughter admitted she was at very least regularly fed sunday dinner and meat during the week, why was she SO emaciated, no food in her body whatsoever?
Of course I can't really know the truth, but I am wondering whether the husband and mothers comments point instead to someone with bulimia?
Here's the shocking bit she appears to have been abandoned by her husband, and then starved to death by her own mother!
Though there was plenty of deaths from starvation in Bethnal Green at this time, hers really did hit the news, front page in one case, was deemed 'the strange case of starvation of Bethnal Green' because her mother was by local standards fairly well off.
I've read and reread the reports trying to understand then why on Earth her mother would treat her like this. My first thoughts, much influenced by the coroner of the case, was she must have just been an evil old cow..but I really am beginning to wonder if it was that simple, whether there wasn't more to it than meets the eye?
The coroner said it was by far the worse case of emaciation he had ever seen, she was a virtual skeleton, and her stomach and intestines completely empty. Julias daugter seems to be the one mainly pointing the finger at granny, saying she took her starving mother a bit of meat and sausage roll, but granny snatched it away and gave it to the little brother. She then gave her some wine, and granny grumbled at the 'waste'. She then aked granny to have the fire on as her mother was cold and shivering, and she told her she would not 'it was her house she'd do as she pleased in it, and nobody had the right to tell her otherwise'. The Doctor also seems to point the finger at Granny, she refused to call a doctor because they were 'too expensive', and when a neighbour did call a free parish doctor in (after Julia had been in a coma for 3 days and which theyd been entitled to all along in any case), granny grumbled at him to not to 'waste his medicine on her', though he put her in her place clearly.
In the coroners inquest she seems to have done herself no favours, more or less refusing to answer their questions, telling them it was her business not their and telling them they shouldn't insult her. The coroner called her 'impertenent' and seems to have been utterly disgusted by the women, especially the fact she went on holiday 'to the sea side' for 3 months to Ramsgate and left her daughter 2 Pence a day to live on during that whole time.
Open and shut case of cruelty? Thing is if she really disliked her daughter that much why have her in the house at all? Why leave her any money? And grandaughter actually admits granny was kind to Julia (where it didn't hurt her pocket), cooked her a sunday dinner every weekend and fed her meat during the week.
For the final hearing two weeks later my 3x great grandad suddenly appears as he had read in the paper his daughter had said he makes a puond a week, and he wanted to make it clear he earned only 15 shillings. He claimed he had no knowledge his wife was in such need. They'd split up 7 years earlier, after she had become obsessed with jealousy towards a younger girl next door. Though he had indeed since moved in with another lady and had a child, he wanted to make clear also it was not the same woman, who was a married lady. He had in fact split with his wife as they'd never really been happy, and she wished him to break ties with all his old connections even his mother.
Though the coroner clearly didn't think much of the husbands testimony either, one thing he did say stuck in my mind..she was always skeletal, even though she ate enough for 'three men'. Granny was recalled and though it may be because she was perhaps now worried about charges being bought, she now claimed she fed her daughter a meal daily. Coupled with the fact even the daughter admitted she was at very least regularly fed sunday dinner and meat during the week, why was she SO emaciated, no food in her body whatsoever?
Of course I can't really know the truth, but I am wondering whether the husband and mothers comments point instead to someone with bulimia?
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