Albert Cadosch

[Colin Macdonald]

Albert Cadosch - born 157 years ago today in Paris.

19, Stanwell Street, Colchester (one-time residence of Alice etc)).pdf

The above is 19, Stanwell Street, Colchester, one of the addresses occupied by Alice and her children after Albert left.

(Photograph supplied to me by a direct descendant - I don't know who took it originally).

[Gary Barnett]

I see in 1894, a 2-year-old Nellie Cadosch set fire to her bed at 33, Stanwell Street and was badly burned.

[Robert Linford]

Fortunately she was still alive in 1901.


I'm surprised Albert didn't put the fire out - surely he had the wherewithal.

[Gary Barnett]

Albert's wife, Alice French, was the daughter of a silk weaver and the granddaughter of a velvet weaver. Coggeshall was famed for its weavers and lacemakers.

I wonder how she ended up in the East End?

[Gary Barnett]

Albert's son Frederick is an interesting character.

He ended his life in Michigan under the name French (his mother's maiden name).

He started out as a postman before enlisting in the Army Service Corps in 1902, where he served until 1910 when he was transferred to the reserve. His army record is littered with small infractions and while stationed in Dublin in 1904 he was treated for both syphilis and gonorrhoea.

The name change was possibly effected to avoid being recalled into the army in WWI? He was certainly using the name French when he married his wife, Edith Haggitt, in Tendring, Essex in 1919. And he had apparently failed to report while in the reserve.

In August, 1923 he arrived in Quebec* and a month later he crossed into the US by ferry. At the time he was sporting a tattoo of the US flag.

He spent the next thirty years or so in Detroit where he worked as a die maker for Motor City Tool and Die.

He died in 1953 and was buried in Wayne County, Michigan.

* I think His sister Nellie may have preceded him to Canada in 1914.

[Gary Barnett]

Albert in the Essex Herald 29th April, 1890:

[Anna Morris]

The fence between Cadosh and the next yard appeared to be a weak fence. He said he heard something strike the fence. People wonder if this was Annie's body. I suggest if it was any strong action, like a person falling against the fence, Cadosh would have seen the fence bulge, wobble, shake, etc.

I do not mean to diminish his testimony. Something striking the fence could have been the killer's elbow, a reflexive movement by victim, etc. I just doubt the explanation could have been a body falling against the fence because I think that would have made a bigger impression on Cadosh.

[Robert Linford]

Anna, I suppose it depends on whether Annie just dropped or was pushed, or whether Jack kept hold of her and swung her to the ground.

[Anna Morris]

Anna, I suppose it depends on whether Annie just dropped or was pushed, or whether Jack kept hold of her and swung her to the ground.

You are right. It doesn't matter a great deal but sometimes I think about how things actually happened. I know a bit about fence building because I own a small ranch. I know about slapping up quick fences such as divided the yards.* I just had this impression that if Annie's body collapsed against the fence Cadosh would have had more to attract his attention.

*I know from practical experience that short of driving steel fence posts or making an extreme effort to dig deep holes, use concrete, etc., fences are somewhat weak.

[Scott Nelson]

Thank you Gary for #21. Looks like Cadosch killed Annie.

[Robert Linford]

Yes, they were probably cheap old rubbish fences. On the other hand (may be wrong here) wasn't it seriously debated at the time whether the murderer could have got over the fence and escaped that way? Which, given a normal height but flimsy fence, might have been expected to cause some damage.

[Anna Morris]

Yes, they were probably cheap old rubbish fences. On the other hand (may be wrong here) wasn't it seriously debated at the time whether the murderer could have got over the fence and escaped that way? Which, given a normal height but flimsy fence, might have been expected to cause some damage.

I have argued against the idea Jack went over the fence. To me that is ludicrous! Some have insisted it was a strong fence. It's just real hard to build a really strong fence unless certain things are done and I do not see those things in the pictures.

I suppose Jack had to have exited back the way he came and then lost himself in the nearby market.

[Jerry Dunlop]

I recall reading the fence was between 5' and 5'6" tall. I often wonder how Cadosch didn't actually see who was in the yard at #29.

[Anna Morris]

I recall reading the fence was between 5' and 5'6" tall. I often wonder how Cadosch didn't actually see who was in the yard at #29.

Annie was short and Jack was probably bent over? Or maybe Jack was short? Many men were only 5'6" at that time.

[Colin Macdonald]

Annie was short and Jack was probably bent over? Or maybe Jack was short? Many men were only 5'6" at that time.

Both Cadosch's sons were quite short so it seems reasonable to assume that he was too.