Abberline: The Man Who Hunted Jack the Ripper by Peter Thurgood Page B
Authors: Peter Thurgood
Ads: Link
their marriage, Annie’s father later became a domestic servant.
Annie Chapman was 27 years old when she married her cousin, John Chapman, a coachman, on 1 May 1869. They were married at All Saints church in the Knightsbridge district of London. They lived quite happily for a number of years at various addresses around West London, during which time they had three children, Emily Ruth Chapman, born 25 June 1870; Annie Georgina Chapman, born 5 June 1873; and John Alfred Chapman, born 21 November 1880.
The family moved in 1881 to Windsor, Berkshire, where John Chapman took a job as coachman to a farm bailiff. But instead of the idyllic lifestyle they had expected, this seemed to signal the start of their downfall. Their youngest child, John, had been born severely disabled, but instead of the country air and lifestyle helping him, it seemed to have the opposite effect, and he developed breathing problems. As if this wasn’t enough to break Annie’s heart, within months, their firstborn, Emily Ruth, developed meningitis, and died of it shortly after at the age of 12. There can be no denying that this tragedy, coupled with the ongoing effect of seeing their youngest child constantly gasping for breath, sent both Annie and her husband on the road to heavy drinking, and eventual separation in 1884.
John Chapman left the matrimonial home, leaving Annie to look after the two remaining children on 10 s per week, which he supported her with. Ten shillings doesn’t seem much by today’s standards, but it was enough at that time, especially in the country, to provide her with a reasonable standard of living. The one big problem was, however, that Annie was still drinking heavily, and within a short time, had her youngest child, John, taken into the care of a local charitable school. At around this time, Annie’s daughter, Annie Georgina, who by now was an adolescent, had also decided to leave the family home, and ran off to join a travelling circus in the French Third Republic.
Annie Chapman eventually moved to Whitechapel, where sometime around 1886, she moved in with a man named John Sivvey at a common lodging house at 30 Dorset Street, Spitalfields. It is unsure whether Sivvey was his real name or just a nickname, as he did work at making wire sieves. Whatever the outcome, Annie Chapman became known to many people at that time as Annie ‘Sievey’ or ‘Siffey’.
This relationship didn’t last long, however, as on Christmas Eve 1886, having not received her weekly 10 s from her ex-husband, Chapman made a few enquiries, and found, much to her misfortune, that he had died that same week of alcohol-related causes. Not only had she lost her only source of income at that time, but within days, John Sivvey also walked out, in all probability due to the cessation of her weekly 10 s income. One of her friends at the lodging house later testified that Chapman became very depressed after this and went rapidly downhill, drinking more than ever, when she could get the money that is. This in turn led to her friends calling her ‘Dark Annie’.
Chapman earned a little money from crochet work, making antimacassars, but this just about managed to pay for her lodgings; if she needed money to buy drink, which she often did, then the only way she knew of obtaining this was to sell herself as a prostitute. By 1888 she was living at Crossingham’s lodging house at number 35 Dorset Street, where she paid 8 d a night for a double bed. She had two regular clients, one known as Harry the Hawker and the other, a man named Ted Stanley, a supposed retired soldier who was known to her fellow lodgers as ‘the Pensioner’. As it later transpired, Stanley was neither a retired soldier nor a pensioner, but was in fact a bricklayer’s labourer who lived at 1 Osborn Place, Whitechapel.
The majority of people who knew her at Crossingham’s described her as very civil and industrious when sober, but added that she was often seen staggering and
Annie Chapman was 27 years old when she married her cousin, John Chapman, a coachman, on 1 May 1869. They were married at All Saints church in the Knightsbridge district of London. They lived quite happily for a number of years at various addresses around West London, during which time they had three children, Emily Ruth Chapman, born 25 June 1870; Annie Georgina Chapman, born 5 June 1873; and John Alfred Chapman, born 21 November 1880.
The family moved in 1881 to Windsor, Berkshire, where John Chapman took a job as coachman to a farm bailiff. But instead of the idyllic lifestyle they had expected, this seemed to signal the start of their downfall. Their youngest child, John, had been born severely disabled, but instead of the country air and lifestyle helping him, it seemed to have the opposite effect, and he developed breathing problems. As if this wasn’t enough to break Annie’s heart, within months, their firstborn, Emily Ruth, developed meningitis, and died of it shortly after at the age of 12. There can be no denying that this tragedy, coupled with the ongoing effect of seeing their youngest child constantly gasping for breath, sent both Annie and her husband on the road to heavy drinking, and eventual separation in 1884.
John Chapman left the matrimonial home, leaving Annie to look after the two remaining children on 10 s per week, which he supported her with. Ten shillings doesn’t seem much by today’s standards, but it was enough at that time, especially in the country, to provide her with a reasonable standard of living. The one big problem was, however, that Annie was still drinking heavily, and within a short time, had her youngest child, John, taken into the care of a local charitable school. At around this time, Annie’s daughter, Annie Georgina, who by now was an adolescent, had also decided to leave the family home, and ran off to join a travelling circus in the French Third Republic.
Annie Chapman eventually moved to Whitechapel, where sometime around 1886, she moved in with a man named John Sivvey at a common lodging house at 30 Dorset Street, Spitalfields. It is unsure whether Sivvey was his real name or just a nickname, as he did work at making wire sieves. Whatever the outcome, Annie Chapman became known to many people at that time as Annie ‘Sievey’ or ‘Siffey’.
This relationship didn’t last long, however, as on Christmas Eve 1886, having not received her weekly 10 s from her ex-husband, Chapman made a few enquiries, and found, much to her misfortune, that he had died that same week of alcohol-related causes. Not only had she lost her only source of income at that time, but within days, John Sivvey also walked out, in all probability due to the cessation of her weekly 10 s income. One of her friends at the lodging house later testified that Chapman became very depressed after this and went rapidly downhill, drinking more than ever, when she could get the money that is. This in turn led to her friends calling her ‘Dark Annie’.
Chapman earned a little money from crochet work, making antimacassars, but this just about managed to pay for her lodgings; if she needed money to buy drink, which she often did, then the only way she knew of obtaining this was to sell herself as a prostitute. By 1888 she was living at Crossingham’s lodging house at number 35 Dorset Street, where she paid 8 d a night for a double bed. She had two regular clients, one known as Harry the Hawker and the other, a man named Ted Stanley, a supposed retired soldier who was known to her fellow lodgers as ‘the Pensioner’. As it later transpired, Stanley was neither a retired soldier nor a pensioner, but was in fact a bricklayer’s labourer who lived at 1 Osborn Place, Whitechapel.
The majority of people who knew her at Crossingham’s described her as very civil and industrious when sober, but added that she was often seen staggering and
Similar Books
