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victorianwhitechapel · 4 years

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Ada Wilson

Ada Wilson (b. Zoa Ada Bisdey Elbury)

Birth date: 1863 Attacked: March, 1888 (ca. 25, survived) & 25th June 1891 (ca. 28, survived) Death (age): August 24th 1952 (aged 89)

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: ? Height: ? Ocupation: Seamstress, tailoress, waterproof hand clothes making.

Resting place: ?

***

Early life

Zoa Ada Bisdey Elbury was born in 1863 in Bristol, to Henry Edwin Elbury and Emma Fry. They married shortly before she was born. He had been born and bred in Bristol, and she was from Somerset. Henry’s father and elder brother were both stoneware potters – he followed them into this occupation, and seemed to do reasonably well. By 1871, Henry and Emma had been married for eight years, and had three children – Ada, Charles and Henry – and a servant. They lived in what seems to have been reasonable comfort on Clarence Square, in Bedminster, Bristol.

In the circumstances, it is hard to know whether the family’s next appearance in the census – at 39 Stratfield Road, in Bromley St Leonard, signified a reversal of fortunes. If guests and auxiliaries were anything to go by, then they had a lodger in 1881, rather than a servant. There were more mouths to feed (Rose, Emma and Thomas) and Ada, now 17, was earning her living – as a tailoress.

1888 Attack

Ada Wilson lived at 9 Maidman Street, Burdett road, a small thoroughfare lying midway between the East India Dock and Bow roads in Bow, a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. On March 28, 1888, at 12:30am while she was at home she was attacked by a man of about 30 years of age, 5ft 6ins in height, with a sunburnt face and a fair moustache. He was wearing a dark coat, light trousers and a wide awake hat. According to Ada, the man was a completely unknown, and forced his way into the room and demanded money, and when she refused he stabbed her twice in the throat with a clasp knife and ran, leaving her for dead. It is reported that nearby neighbours almost captured the man, but he found his escape.

Witness and neighbour Rose Bierman, a young Jewess who lived upstairs with her mother at the same building as Ada, explained that she knew Ada was married but didn’t know her husband, and that she was always getting visitors. About the man who attacked her she said that “whether he was her husband or not I could not say.(…) Well, I don’t know who the young man was, but about midnight I heard the most terrible screams one can imagine. Running downstairs I saw Mrs. Wilson, partially dressed, wringing her hands and crying, ‘Stop that man for cutting my throat! He has stabbed me!’ She then fell fainting in the passage. I saw all that as I was coming downstairs, but as soon as I commenced to descend I noticed a young fair man rush to the front door and let himself out. He did not seem somehow to unfasten the catch as if he had been accustomed to do so before. He had a light coat on, I believe. I don’t know what kind of wound Mrs. Wilson has received, but it must have been deep, I should say, from the quantity of blood in the passage. I do not know what I shall do myself. I am now ‘keeping the feast,’ and how can I do so with what has occurred here? I am now going to remove to other lodgings.“

A couple of young women rushed up to two police-constables on duty outside the Royal Hotel, and said that a woman was being murdered. The two constables, Ronald Saw and Thomas Longhurst, immediately ran to the house indicated, and there found Ada Wilson lying in the passage, bleeding profusely from a fearful wound in the throat. Doctor Wheeler, from the Mile End road, was instantly sent for, who, after binding up the woman’s wounds, sent her to the London Hospital (Sophia Ward), Whitechapel, where Dr William Rawes ascertained that she was in a very critical condition.

Detective-Inspectors Wildey and Dillworth had charge of the case, and looked for the attacker. Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, April 1, 1888 issue reports that “subsequent enquiries … revealed the fact that a dispute arose between the woman and a man who she states is her husband … He was pursued for some distance by a neighbour … But the would-be murderer sharply turned a corner, and was soon lost in the labyrinth of streets.” No conviction was ever obtained. By the time Ada Wilson returned home from the hospital, on April 27 1888, all hope of finding her attacker – or of proving anything in a court of law – seemed to have disappeared.

Authorities at the time of the 1888 Whitechapel murders made no link between her attack and those murders and she never was questioned again.

Mrs Wilson

On 2 January 1889, a little over eight months after returning from the hospital, she married Samuel Wilson (she was already using his surname as many women did when lived with their common-law husband but weren’t legally married) at the registry office in Bristol. Samuel was older than Ada: he said that he was thirty-three on his marriage certificate. He described himself as an engine fitter. He abandoned Ada in or around February 1891; she returned to her parents’ house in time for the 1891 census, at which point the family resided at 78 Rounton Road, Bromley St Leonard. According to the enumerator’s records, Ada was married, twenty-seven years of age, and a “waterproof hand” – making waterproof clothing from India rubber. This profession – lightly skilled, but perhaps quick to be picked up once one had the job – perhaps suggested a degree of specialisation, but Ada was still firmly in the clothing-manufacturing trade.

Ada was attacked by her husband again on June 25 1891. He was drunk and asked her money, which she didn’t have, and he asked to live with Ada again, but the proposition failed to appeal to her. “Go to work,” she said, “and be different”. He was arrested. According to the Daily News, July 8, 1891 issue, “Samuel Wilson, 40, was indicted for maliciously wounding Ada Wilson, his wife” who was also injured with a knife on her neck. Her parents were also assaulted. When the case came to the Quarter Sessions at Clerkenwell on 7 July 1891, Samuel Wilson defended himself. The chairman Mr. Richard Loveland-Loveland, said that “the prisoner was a very dangerous character, and therefore he would be sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour.” She asked for a separation.

Little more is seen of Samuel, or Ada. Whether they ever took out their separation order is not known. In December 1898 Ada’s brother Henry had a daughter and named her Zoa Lavinia Elbury.

Later life

Zoa Ada Wilson died on August 24th 1952, aged 89 of a pneumonia, at the Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, London; she was the widow of engineer Samuel Wilson.

Aftermath

Authorities at the time of the murders made no link between her attacks and the Whitechapel murders. Samuel Wilson was never arrested for those crimes.

***

To know more:

Casebook website - Casebook Message Boards - Press report (from Casebook) - Press report (from Casebook) - Press report (from Casebook) - Biographic details from Casebook website - Wiki Casebook - Casebook Forums

JTR Forums

Jack The Ripper.org - Press reports (from Jack The Ripper.org)

Jack The Ripper Tour

The Jack The Ripper Tour

Jack The Ripper Map

Crimenes de Whitechapel (Spanish)

Jack El Destripador (Spanish)

Red Jack (Italian)

BEGG, Paul (2013): Jack The Ripper. The Facts.

BEGG, Paul & BENNETT, John (2014): The forgotten victims.

BEGG, Paul; FIDO, Martin & SKINNER, Keith (1996): The Jack The Ripper A – Z.

EDDLESTON, John J. (2001): Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopedia.

FIDO, Martin (1987, 1993): The Crimes, Detection and Death of Jack The Ripper.

HINTON, Bob (1998): From Hell… The Jack The Ripper Mystery.

JAKUBOWSKI, Maxim & BRAUND, Nathan (1999): The Mammoth Book of Jack The Ripper.

MATTHEWS, Rupert (2013): Jack the Ripper’s Street of Terror: Life during the reign of Victorian London’s most brutal killer.

RIPPER, Mark: Ada Wilson. Doubly Unfortunate, in Ripperologist no. 125, April 2012.

SCOTT, Christopher (2004): Jack the Ripper: A Cast of Thousands.

SUDGEN, Phillip (1994): The Complete History of Jack The Ripper.

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victorianwhitechapel · 3 years

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🌺💀🌺 Day of the Death 🌸💀🌸

The Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated in Mexico and elsewhere associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, and is held on November 1 and 2. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and to remember friends and family members who have died. It is commonly portrayed as a day of celebration rather than mourning.

We would like to celebrate the lives of the 21 murdered women in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London at the end of Victorian Times.

Margaret Hames (1833 – ?)

Annie Smith Chapman (1841 – 1888; 47 yo)

Catherine Eddowes (1842 – 1888; 46 yo)

Emma Elizabeth Smith (1843 – 1888; 45 yo)

Elizabeth Gustaffsdotter Stride (1843 – 1888; 44 yo)

Mary Ann Walker Nichols (1845 – 1888; 43 yo)

Alice Pitts McKenzie (~1849 – 1889; 39 yo)

Martha White Tabram (1849 – 1888; 39 yo)

Annie Millwood (~1850 – 1888; 38 yo)

The Pinchin Street torso (1849~59 – 1889; 30~40 yo)

Frances Coles (1859 – 1891; 32 yo)

Rose Mylett (1859 – 1888; 29 yo)

Emily Atkins Horsnell (~1861 – 1887; 26 yo)

Mary Kelly (~1863 – 1888; 25 yo)

Ada Elbury Wilson (1863 – 1952; 89 yo)

The Whitehall Mystery (~1864 – 1888; 24 yo)

Elizabeth Jackson (1865 – 1889; 24 yo)

Thames Mysteries of 1873 & 1874 (?)

Totthenham Court Road Mystery of 1884 (?)

The Rainham Mystery (?)

💐🕯🪦Gone, but Not Forgotten🪦🕯💐

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victorianwhitechapel · 3 years

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Ada timeline

1863 – Zoa Ada Bisdey Elbury is born in Bristol to Henry and Emma.

1871 – Zoa Ada, her parents, two younger brothers Charles and Henry, and a servant live in Clarence Square, in Bedminster, Bristol.

1881 – Ada, her family with three more younger siblings (Rose, Emma and Thomas) and a lodger live in Bromley St Leonard, London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. She works as a tailoress.

1888 – Ada works as a seamstress and is stabbed by her common-law husband Samuel Wilson at their home at 9 Maidman Street, Bow, London (March 28).

1888 – Ada stays at the London Hospital and she mades a full recovery (March 28 to April 27).

1889 – Ada marries Samuel Wilson at the registry office in Bristol (January 2).

1891 – Ada is living with her parents in Bromley St Leonard, suggesting that she and Samuel are separated, she works as a “waterproof hand”, making waterproof clothing from India rubber (February).

1891 – Ada is stabbed again by estranged husband Samuel, who also stabs her parents (June 25).

1891 – In the court case against Ada’s assault, she asks for her separation to Samuel (July 7).

1952 – Ada dies of a pneumonia at the Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, London. She was 89.

Your life was difficult. You were free at last… 🌼

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victorianwhitechapel · 6 years

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East End attacked women (fall XIX century)

Rainham Mystery

Birth date: ? Attacked: ? Murdered (age): ? Found: May/June 1887

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: ? Height: ? Ocupation: ?

Clothes at the time of murder: ?

Resting place: ?

~ ~ ~

Emily Atkins Horsnell

Birth date: Ca 1860/61 Attacked: November 5, 1887 Death (age): November 10, 1887 (26 or 27)

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: ? Height: ? Occupation: charwoman

Clothes at the time of attack: ?

Resting place: ?

~ ~ ~

Margaret Hames

Birth date: 1833 Attacked: December 8, 1887 (ca. 54, survived) & April 3, 1888 (ca. 55, survived) Death (age): ?

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: ? Height: ? Occupation: ?

Clothes at the time of attack: ?

Resting place: ?

~ ~ ~

Annie Millwood

Birth date: Ca. 1850 Attacked: February 25, 1888 Death (age): March 31, 1888 (38)

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: ? Height: ? Ocupation: ?

Clothes at the time of attack: ?

Resting place: ?

~ ~ ~

Ada Elbury Wilson

Birth date: 1868 Attacked: March 28th 1888 (ca. 25, survived) & June 25th 1891 (ca. 28, survived) Death (age): August 24th 1952 (aged 89)

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: ? Height: ? Ocupation: Seamstress

Clothes at the time of attack: ?

Resting place: ?

~ ~ ~

Emma Elizabeth Smith

Birth date: 1843 Attacked: April 3, 1888 Death (age): April 4, 1888 (45)

Complexion: Fair Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: Light brown Height: 5’ 2" (157 cm) Ocupation: Occasional casual prostitution (?)

Clothes at the time of attack: ?

Resting place: City of London Cemetery & Crematorium.

~ ~ ~

Martha White Tabram

Birth date: May 10, 1849 Attacked and murdered (age): August 7, 1888 (39)

Complexion: Dark Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: Dark Height: 5' 3" (160 cm) Ocupation: Cheap trinkets seller, occasional casual prostitution

Clothes at the time of murder: A black bonnet, long black jacket, a dark green skirt, brown petticoat and stockings, spring-sided boots showing considerable age.

Resting place: City of London Cemetery & Crematorium.

~ ~ ~

Mary Ann “Polly” Walker Nichols

Birth date: August 26, 1845 Attacked and murdered (age): August 31, 1888 (43)

Complexion: Dark Eyes colour: Dark brown Hair colour: Light brown Height: 5' 2" (157 cm) Ocupation: domestic servant, occasional casual prostitution

Clothes at the time of murder: A black Straw bonnet trimmed with black velvet, a reddish brown ulster with seven large brass buttons bearing the pattern of a woman on horseback accompanied by a man; a brown linsey frock (apparently new); a white flannel chest cloth; black ribbed wool stockings; two petticoats, one gray wool, one flannel, both stenciled on bands "Lambeth Workhouse"; brown stays (short); flannel drawers; men's elastic (spring) sided boots with the uppers cut and steel tips on the heels.

Resting place: City of London Cemetery & Crematorium.

~ ~ ~

Annie Smith Chapman

Birth date: September 1841 Attacked and murdered (age): September 8, 1888 (47)

Complexion: Pallid Eyes colour: Blue Hair colour: Dark Brown Height: 5′ (152 cm) Ocupation: crochet work, flower seller, occasional casual prostitution

Clothes at the time of murder: A long black figured coat that came down to her knees; a black skirt; a brown bodice; another bodice; 2 petticoats; a large pocket worn under the skirt and tied about the waist with strings (empty when found); lace up boots; red and white striped woolen stockings; neckerchief, white with a wide red border (folded tri-corner and knotted at the front of her neck. she is wearing the scarf in this manner when she leaves Crossingham's).

Resting place: Manor Park Cemetery & Crematorium, Forest Gate.

~ ~ ~

Whitehall Mystery

Birth date: ? Attacked: ? Murdered (age): ca. 24/25 Found: September 11/October 2 1888

Complexion: Fair skin Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: Dark Height: ? Ocupation: ?

Clothes at the time of murder: A broché satin dress; a black petticoat, ?

Resting place: ?

~ ~ ~

Elizabeth Gustafsdotter Stride

Birth date: November 27, 1843 Attacked and murdered (age): September 30, 1888 (44)

Complexion: Pale Eyes colour: Light grey Hair colour: Brown dark Height: 5' 5" (165 cm) Ocupation: Sewing and charring, occasional prostitute

Clothes at the time of murder: A long black cloth jacket, fur trimmed around the bottom with a red rose and white maiden hair fern pinned to it; a black skirt; a black crepe bonnet; a checked neck scarf knotted on left side; a dark brown velveteen bodice; 2 light serge petticoats; 1 white chemise; white stockings; spring sided boots.

Resting place: East London Crematorium & Cemetery, Plaistow.

~ ~ ~

Catherine Eddowes

Birth date: April 14, 1842 Attacked and murdered (age): September 30, 1888 (46)

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: Hazel Hair colour: Dark auburn Height: 5' (152 cm) Ocupation: tinplate industry employee, Penny Dreadfuls seller, hop picker

Clothes at the time of murder: A black straw bonnet trimmed in green and black velvet with black beads, with black strings, worn tied to the head; a black cloth jacket trimmed around the collar and cuffs with imitation fur and around the pockets in black silk braid and fur. Large metal buttons; a dark green chintz skirt, 3 flounces, brown button on waistband. The skirt is patterned with Michaelmas daisies and golden lilies; a man's white vest, matching buttons down front; a brown linsey bodice, black velvet collar with brown buttons down front; a grey stuff petticoat with white waistband; a very old green alpaca skirt (worn as undergarment); a very old ragged blue skirt with red flounces, light twill lining (worn as undergarment); a white calico chemise; a pair of men's lace up boots, mohair laces. Right boot repaired with red thread; 1 piece of red gauze silk worn as a neckerchief; 1 large white pocket handkerchief; 1 large white cotton handkerchief with red and white bird's eye border; 2 unbleached calico pockets, tape strings; 1 blue stripe bed ticking pocket; a brown ribbed knee stockings, darned at the feet with white cotton

Resting place: City of London Cemetery & Crematorium.

~ ~ ~

Mary Jane Kelly

Birth date: c.1863 Attacked and murdered (age): November 9, 1888 (25)

Complexion: Fair Eyes colour: Blue Hair colour: Blonde Height: 5' 7″ (170 cm) Ocupation: prostitute.

Clothes at the time of murder: Last seen wearing a linsey frock and a red shawl pulled around her shoulders; she always wore a spotlessly clean white apron.

Resting place: St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Leytonstone.

~ ~ ~

Catherine ‘Rose’ Mylett

Birth date: December 8,1859 Attacked and murdered (age): December 20, 1888 (29)

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: ? Height: 5'2" (157 cm) Ocupation: Casual prostitute

Clothes at the time of murder: a brown and black 'outer clothes'; a dark tweed jacket; a lilac apron; a red flannel petticoat; a red and blue striped stockings.

Resting place: Bow Cemetery.

~ ~ ~

Elizabeth Jackson

Birth date: March 18, 1865 Murdered and found (age): Ca. June 3rd 1889, June 5th 1889 (24)

Complexion: Fair skin Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: Sandy, light red or auburn Height: ca. 5′ 5″ (165 cm) Ocupation: Domestic servant

Clothes at the time of murder: A long ulster coat, dark skirt, white underclothes, ?

Resting place: ?

---

Alice Pitts McKenzie

Birth date: c. 1849 Attacked and murdered (age): July 17, 1889 (39)

Complexion: Freckle-faced Eyes colour: Brown Hair colour: Brown Height: 5′4″ (163 cm) Ocupation: Washerwoman and charwoman

Clothes at the time of murder: A black coat; a black skirt; ?

Resting place: Plaistow Cemetery, Bromley.

~ ~ ~

Lydia Hart (?, Pinchin Srteet Murder)

Birth date: ? Attacked: ? Murdered (age): ? Found: September 10, 1889

Complexion: ? Eyes colour: ? Hair colour: ? Height: ? Ocupation: Factory worker, prostitute

Clothes at the time of murder: ?

Resting place: East London Crematorium & Cemetery, Plaistow.

~ ~ ~

Frances ‘Carroty Nell’ Coles

Birth date: September 17,1859 Attacked and murdered (age): February 13, 1891 (32)

Complexion: Fair Eyes colour: Brown Hair colour: Dark Brown Height: 5′ (152 cm) Ocupation: trainee in the packing department of a soap and toiletries manufacturer, forewoman; powder packer; prostitute

Clothes at the time of murder: A second-hand black diagonal jacket, a black dress given by her sister that reached to her ankles, a black velvet ribbon around her neck, a new black bonnet trimmed with black velvet beads, her old bonnet pinned beneath her dress.

Resting place: East London Crematorium & Cemetery, Plaistow.

~ ~ ~

Check out our Victims page for more information.

If you have further information, please, don’t hesitate to contact me. thank you very much.

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