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Henry Cook and Eleanor Dench © Born on the 29th August, 1823, Henry was the son of Richard Cook and Mary (nee Botting) 1. Henry was baptized, in the Cuckfield Parish Church, on the 2nd November1, the same year. This record indicates his father was a Currier. Throughout the different records held, Henry is referred to as both Henry and Harry. To-date Henry has not been positively identified on the 1841 Census and nothing is known of his early life. We first find Henry recorded as an adult on the 1851 Census2. He is listed as a Servant in the household of Thomas Warlters, at Heathfield Lodge, Addington, Surrey, ged 28, and born in Cuckfield, Sussex. Although he is listed with ‘wife’ Elinor age 26, and 6month old daughter Fanny, it appears that at this time Henry & Eleanor were not actually married. Eleanor gives her place of birth as Littlehampton, Sussex. The baptismal record1 for Eleanor show she was born in Littlehampton, Sussex. The daughter of William Nash Dench and his wife Frances (nee Hills) of Arundel, Sussex, she was baptized on the 17th October, 1824, at St Mary's, Littlehampton. Her father’s occupation is given as Tide-Waiter. Eleanor, a 15year old Dressmaker, appears on the 1841 Census2 with her father, William now recorded as a Boatman, her mother Fanny and two younger brothers, Alfred and Charles. Family documentation and parish records indicate that Henry and Eleanor had at least eight children: Fanny Ellen c1850-1937; Mary Elizabeth 1853, she married John Henry Mott 1874; Harry and Eleanor c1857; Clara c1858; Thomas George F T c1860; and William c1863. In 18612, Henry, age 37, is found in Paddington, London, his occupation is listed as Groom and residing at Queens Arms Yard Stables. With Henry was Helena his wife 36, and children: Fanny 10; Mary 9; Harry & Eleanor 4; Clara 3; all born in Addington, Surrey; and son Thomas 1, born in Islington, London. Henry and Eleanor’s birthplaces are as on the 1851 Census. Henry 50, and wife Eleanor 45, are recorded, on the 1871 Census2, as still living at No.2 Queens Arms Yard Stables, Paddington, Middlesex. According to the Enumerators Description of the District, ‘the Queens Arms Yards consisted of a number of stables with rooms over, similar to a Barracks’. With Henry & Eleanor are: Harry & Eleanor 14; Clara 12; George F. T. 11 (Thomas); and William 8 (born Middlesex Kilburn). On this record Henry gives his birthplace as Crawley, Sussex, and his occupation as Ostler. An Ostler is someone employed in a stable to take care of the horses. It is assumed that the flats were connected to the Queens Arms Inn and Henry was employed in the stables. Although Henry and Eleanor appear as husband and wife on the 1851-1871 Census2, it would seem that they didn't actually marry until the 23rd August, 18713. On this record Henry indicates he is 'Of Full Age', states he is a Bachelor, his occupation a Coachman, and his father Richard Cook, a Currier. Eleanor also recorded she was 'Of Full Age', states she is a Spinster and gives her father as William Dench, an Officer in H.M. Customs. Henry signed his name and Eleanor made her mark, both gave their residence at the time of their marriage as 23 Northumberland Street, Middlesex. The witnesses were Edward and Ann Edwards. A search of the 1871 Census2 shows no other Henry Cook or Eleanor Dench living in Middlesex at this time. Although their address doesn’t match the 1871 Census, all the other information recorded matches other documentation I have, and I am convinced this is the correct marriage record for this couple. However, I can find no information or clues which would indicate why it took them so long to actually marry.
It is not
known exactly when the family moved from Queens Arms Yard Flats, but research
indicates the Queen’s Arms Inn became tenement dwellings in 18734.
It is possible the accommodation at the Queens Arms Flats was tied to the Inn,
and possibly Henry’s job, and the cost of staying in the tenement was too high,
especially if Henry was no longer working. Records tell us that Henry entered
the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum on the 8th August, 18765,
so maybe that prompted the move. Whatever the reason was, the 18812
has Henry and Eleanor living at 1 Bridge Street, Willesden. Curiously, Henry is also on the Asylum records of the 1881 Census2. However, research indicates that in the event of a husband being institutionalized, it was common practice for women to continue to record the husband as being at home; this was supposedly done to avoid the shame of being alone, or as having a mentally ill partner. The Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum Colney Hatch Asylum Case Book5 tells us that Harry, age 59, a married Stable hand, husband of Eleanor of 2 Queen’s Arms Yard, was admitted to the institution on the 8th August, 1876, the supposed cause of his lunacy was given as ‘Drink’. The medical examiner at the time recorded that Henry was ‘Very vacant in manner & expression … completely lost in memory’. It is also recorded that when Harry ‘was placed in the padded room he fancied he was in the coach-room’. Other observations at the time of admittance indicated he was ‘a spare careworn looking man who has been a heavy drinker for many years … confused in his statements and labours under delusion … much impaired’. A few days later, when visiting him, Eleanor reported that Henry ‘had been queer for 7 or 8 months … getting more verbally violent’. By September, the Case Book Observations had various entries which indicated he was ‘Improving’. However, 0ver the next few years Henry’s condition was also recorded as being: ‘defective in memory’; ‘improvement & mischievous’; ‘aggressive & quarrelsome’; ‘no change in mental condition’; and ‘excitable & use of terrible strong language’. The Asylum casebook also indicates that by 1883, Henry had become ‘incoherent, but his health was fair’. On the night of July 8th, Henry is recorded as ‘demented and rather comical, stating that he was going to live for another 70 years or more’. But by the 21st August, Henry’s health had deteriorated and, following a medical examination, he was found to be suffering from an advanced stage of Pulmonary Phthisis (Tuberculosis). Less than a month later, on the 20th September, 1885, at 7.20am6, Henry died in the Lunatic Asylum, Finchley, Middlesex. His age was incorrectly recorded as 68years, he was only 62, and his occupation was listed as Stableman of Queens Arms Yard, Kilburn. The cause of death was Pulmonary Phthisis and Bright's disease, a chronic inflammation of the Kidneys. The Informant was Wm J Steward, the Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum7. It is not known where Henry was buried. A record of Henry’s Autopsy has been found in the Colney Hatch Autopsy Book5, and while it could be considered macabre, it is interesting to read. The Coroner noted Harry’s body was ‘much emaciated and showed signs of disease in his brain, heart, lungs and kidneys’. The building of Colne Hatch, the second Asylum to be built in Middlesex, commenced in 1849. When it opened in 1850 it was the largest asylum in Europe. Originally planned to hold 1000 patients, it was enlarged during construction to accommodate 1200 individuals. However, by 1856 there were 1500 patients and in 1857 further extensions allowed that number to rise even higher. Further annexes were built between 1857 and 1859, so that 2000 patients could be housed. By the late 1860s the hospital staff were unable to cope with all the new patients, and sadly they had to resort to the straitjacket, and other methods of ‘restraint’. The asylum had effectively become a small, overcrowded, enclosed town, with all the bustle and drama of the multicultural London streets that its patients had once left behind. An asylum day was long, rigorously organised and highly controlled, starting at 6.00am and finishing at 8.00pm. At the beginning of the day, patients were let out of their room, were washed, had their hair brushed and the state of their skin examined. At 9.00am, after breakfast, they were taken to the 'airing courts' and gardens while the wards were cleaned. At the end of the day, patients were locked back in their rooms, where they slept in long rows of beds that were two feet and six inches apart. The diet of asylum inmates was better than in many working households, with fish or meat and vegetables for lunch and bread and cheese supplemented by beer, cocoa and tea. In the London asylums, patients were encouraged to aid their recovery by keeping small allotments, with any excess produce sent to the London markets to generate income. Patients also had access to craft workshops which were managed by local artisans. As well as this, patients were employed in making boots, clothing, and staff uniforms onsite in tailoring workshops, and washing linens and clothing in onsite laundries. Records also indicate that patients kept canaries as pets, and cats roamed the estate hunting vermin9. In 1959, Colne Hatch Asylum became the Friern Hospital, and in 1993, the site was purchased by a development company, who turned it into 'Princess Park Manor'. Catering to a vastly different clientele, it is now an exclusive, luxury gated community containing 256 apartments. Set in 30acres of parkland, just 14km from the bright lights of London's West End, it has a gym and swimming pool. Occupants today include a number of high profile pop stars, sporting celebrities, and prominent business people8. It is not known where Eleanor lived after Henry’s death, but it is assumed she went to live with her daughter Clara. Eleanor died on the 21st June, 1888, at 3 Providence Place, West End Lane, Kilburn, Middlesex7. She was 64years old, the Widow of Henry Cook Coachman (Domestic), and the cause of her death is recorded as Bronchatic Asthma & Cardiac Dropsey, the Informant was her daughter Clara Cook. Eleanor was laid to rest in the Hampstead Cemetery, Middlesex, in Consecrated Ground, in Common Grave No. 19, Section D7, on the 25th June, 188810. A common grave is the general term for a grave which belongs to the owners of the cemetery, and in which no private burial rights existed. Common graves were filled over the course of a few days with the bodies of unrelated people who died during that period and who could afford nothing better. In Eleanor’s case five other unrelated people were buried in the same grave during the same week. As a Common Grave, there is no headstone.
References:
Other
Sources: English Heritage http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/ London Borough of Barnet http://www.barnet.gov.uk/ Oral Family History |
