The Truth about Gertrude Conconi

[Jay Hartley]

Not a Maybrick, Robertson or Conconi.

https://jayhartley.com/the-sheer-truth-of-gertrude-conconi/

[Markus Aurelius Franzoi]

The strangest thing on the record is the claim that Christiana is Gertrude’s mother. If this were true, she would have had to have given birth to her when she was around 50 years old. The average age of menopause in the Victorian era was around 40 years old. Immediate red flag. Also, why claim Gertrude is her daughter but continue claiming Sarah is a niece?....

At some point in her life, this woman decided to hide the fact her own daughter was exactly that. It is apparent, however, that Christiana was a supporting force in Sarah Ann’s life right up until her own death. Why she chose not to declare her own daughter beyond the 1841 census publicly remains a mystery.

We know of examples of famous and infamous people who were raised in a household where the grandmother acted as the mother and the sister was the real mother, so the mother is claiming her son is her brother. I think both of those were to cover up illegitimacy. I'm thinking of Bundy and Jack Nicholson.

I suggested this before in the case of the elder Liverpool Mary Kelly whom I believe had her son-in-law's sister (and someone else) act as her deserting and then dead daughter, Liverpool Mary Jane Kelly. So the aunt took the role of mother of the grandson.

[Gary Barnett]

Excellent work, Jay.

Have you seen this?

[Jay Hartley]

Excellent work, Jay.

Have you seen this?

I hadn't. Thanks for that - i will update the post.

EDIT: Updated

[Gary Barnett]

It was from the Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle of 2nd June, 1875.

[R. J. Palmer]

Not a Maybrick, Robertson or Conconi.

https://jayhartley.com/the-sheer-tru...trude-conconi/

"The name Gertrude Conconi has bewildered numerous researchers into the life and times of James Maybrick. Her name first appears in the 1881 census as living with Christiana Conconi and Sarah Robertson. Strangely, she is listed as Christiana’s daughter whilst Sarah Robertson remains listed as a niece."


So, Paul Feldman wrongly believed Gertrude was a Maybrick, when she wasn't. Nor was she a Robertson or a Conconi, and neither Feldman's team, nor Chris Scott, could trace her.

It turns out she was actually the daughter of George Blakiston of Portsea.

I wish I would have thought of that.


Sarah Ann Robertson - the other Mrs Maybrick - Casebook: Jack the Ripper Forums


Post Number 12.

.
Seriously though, I'm glad you've kicked this can a bit further down the road from where I had it by noticing that Blakiston died shortly after 1871.

Since he is listed as a clerk in HM Dockyard, and Conconi was a paymaster in the Royal Navy, I suspect the two men knew each other and this is the connection.

Blakiston's wife's name, as you note, was Foster, and Conconci had a niece who also married a Foster some decades later. It could be a name coincidence, and I haven't bothered to check, not being all that interested, but maybe there is a further connection between the Foster and the Conconi and the Blakiston families which accounts for the intermarrying.

This is a long way away from James Maybrick being a serial-killer.

[Jay Hartley]

"The name Gertrude Conconi has bewildered numerous researchers into the life and times of James Maybrick. Her name first appears in the 1881 census as living with Christiana Conconi and Sarah Robertson. Strangely, she is listed as Christiana’s daughter whilst Sarah Robertson remains listed as a niece."


So, Paul Feldman wrongly believed Gertrude was a Maybrick, when she wasn't. Nor was she a Robertson or a Conconi, and neither Feldman's team, nor Chris Scott, could trace her.

It turns out she was actually the daughter of George Blakiston of Portsea.

I wish I would have thought of that.


Sarah Ann Robertson - the other Mrs Maybrick - Casebook: Jack the Ripper Forums


Post Number 12.

.
Seriously though, I'm glad you've kicked this can a bit further down the road from where I had it by noticing that Blakiston died shortly after 1871.

Since he is listed as a clerk in HM Dockyard, and Conconi was a paymaster in the Royal Navy, I suspect the two men knew each other and this is the connection.

Blakiston's wife's name, as you note, was Foster, and Conconci had a niece who also married a Foster some decades later. It could be a name coincidence, and I haven't bothered to check, not being all that interested, but maybe there is a further connection between the Foster and the Conconi and the Blakiston families which accounts for the intermarrying.

This is a long way away from James Maybrick being a serial-killer.

You're right RJ you should be credited with every piece of bitty research you do when you decide you "can be bothered". It's no great insight that Blakiston is on the marriage certificate. It was in Feldman's book before you "bothered" to find it.

The truth is the only thing that matters. I have no agenda but presenting facts. We can rule Gertrude out as being relevant.

Thanks for your input.

[Gary Barnett]

"The name Gertrude Conconi has bewildered numerous researchers into the life and times of James Maybrick. Her name first appears in the 1881 census as living with Christiana Conconi and Sarah Robertson. Strangely, she is listed as Christiana’s daughter whilst Sarah Robertson remains listed as a niece."


So, Paul Feldman wrongly believed Gertrude was a Maybrick, when she wasn't. Nor was she a Robertson or a Conconi, and neither Feldman's team, nor Chris Scott, could trace her.

It turns out she was actually the daughter of George Blakiston of Portsea.

I wish I would have thought of that.


Sarah Ann Robertson - the other Mrs Maybrick - Casebook: Jack the Ripper Forums


Post Number 12.

.
Seriously though, I'm glad you've kicked this can a bit further down the road from where I had it by noticing that Blakiston died shortly after 1871.

Since he is listed as a clerk in HM Dockyard, and Conconi was a paymaster in the Royal Navy, I suspect the two men knew each other and this is the connection.

Blakiston's wife's name, as you note, was Foster, and Conconci had a niece who also married a Foster some decades later. It could be a name coincidence, and I haven't bothered to check, not being all that interested, but maybe there is a further connection between the Foster and the Conconi and the Blakiston families which accounts for the intermarrying.

This is a long way away from James Maybrick being a serial-killer.

George Blackiston wasn’t ‘of Portsea’ was he? He worked there, and, it would seem, in Jamaica and Sheerness. The can has been kicked quite a long way.

The Portsea connection was what intrigued me because (yawn, yawn) some of my own ancestors were from there, shipbuilders who moved to the Isle of Dogs in the 1860s.

They were the Cappers, and my gg grandmother had the delightful name of Fanny Capper.

[R. J. Palmer]

It's no great insight that Blakiston is on the marriage certificate. It was in Feldman's book before you "bothered" to find it..

What do you mean "when I bothered to find it"?

I referenced Feldman's discovery in the thread that I revived after it had lay dormant for 13 years. I made no secret that I was following up Feldman's dead-end, and in fact I uploaded the relevant snippet from his book. Are you trying to imply otherwise?

I then simply noted that "Blackiston (sic) otherwise Conconi' made it a very easy matter to trace Gertrude back to George F. Blakiston and that she wasn't, as Feldman wrongly suggested, a Maybrick, nor was her identity any longer a secret.

That's all that interested me--the rest strikes me as trivia--the obscure genealogy of the extended family of a cotton broker's mistress--- but if Jay Hartley has found the subject interesting and has decided to take it further, I am gratified, since he normally sees no value in my thinking or my research into what is very obviously an audacious hoax.

Of course, that's why people post their research on the web, Gary, so others can kick the can further down the road if they want. By all means, kick away.

[Markus Aurelius Franzoi]

Isn’t Gertrude then a “foster” child taken in by the mother of James’ “wife” Sarah. Did Sarah use her to extort more money out of him?

I might ask the same about Margaret who was also thought to be a Maybrick.

[Gary Barnett]

What do you mean "when I bothered to find it"?

I referenced Feldman's discovery in the thread that I revived after it had lay dormant for 13 years. I made no secret that I was following up Feldman's dead-end, and in fact I uploaded the relevant snippet from his book. Are you trying to imply otherwise?

I then simply noted that "Blackiston (sic) otherwise Conconi' made it a very easy matter to trace Gertrude back to George F. Blakiston and that she wasn't, as Feldman wrongly suggested, a Maybrick, nor was her identity any longer a secret.

That's all that interested me--the rest strikes me as trivia--the obscure genealogy of the extended family of a cotton broker's mistress--- but if Jay Hartley has found the subject interesting and has decided to take it further, I am gratified, since he normally sees no value in my thinking or my research into what is very obviously an audacious hoax.

Of course, that's why people post their research on the web, Gary, so others can kick the can further down the road if they want. By all means, kick away.

I’m sure I speak for all the ‘can kickers’ on the WWW when I express my deep gratitude for your gracious permission for us to keep on carrying on.

Don’t stress too much about your lack of recognition, it’s not healthy.

[Markus Aurelius Franzoi]

Looks like I’m not the only one who reads Marcus Aurelius!

”Be like the vine that produces grapes without looking for reward…. And go on to produce more grapes season after season.”

[Markus Aurelius Franzoi]

I think I did read that Casebook thread when I was researching Peterborough Paul’s great grandmother Margaret Minetta Maybrick Edges and it helped me change my mind about her being a Maybrick.

And I was all set to believe he came home to his “Bunny” Sarah Ann, engaged to someone else and riddled with syphilis, and he still had to go and conceive a child with her!

[Jay Hartley]

...but if Jay Hartley has found the subject interesting and has decided to take it further, I am gratified, since he normally sees no value in my thinking or my research into what is very obviously an audacious hoax.

That's not true RJ. I have previously acknowledged when your research has directly assisted in my own. Sarah Robertson being Christiana's child for example. I will give the credit when I think it warrants it. On this occasion, I did not use anything you put in that thread. I followed an obvious path that you "couldn't be bothered" with. Some people do like conclusions RJ. Open ended questions and stringing things out for posterity are not in my interest. It's true, I do not value that from either side of this debate.

The "audacious" hoax is one such example. I have no desire to see this debate rage on for another 30 years - although I'm probably only part of a handful of people still interested in this subject that might actually have that long to see it through. I like conclusions and I don't like open-ended questions.

I feel one way or another, in my lifetime, we will know who penned the diary because it was no Michael Barrett or Anne Graham hoax. That's the only song you sing RJ.

[Debra Arif]

We know of examples of famous and infamous people who were raised in a household where the grandmother acted as the mother and the sister was the real mother, so the mother is claiming her son is her brother. I think both of those were to cover up illegitimacy. I'm thinking of Bundy and Jack Nicholson.

I suggested this before in the case of the elder Liverpool Mary Kelly whom I believe had her son-in-law's sister (and someone else) act as her deserting and then dead daughter, Liverpool Mary Jane Kelly. So the aunt took the role of mother of the grandson.

There's example of this happening in the same family -(not sure if this has already been mentioned or if anyone really cares)

When Edward Bingley Every Robertson, gentleman, died in 1895 in Australia the names of his parents were given as Alex [Robertson] and Sarah Pell, but at his baptism in 1830 it was noted that he was the illegitimate son of Sarah Elizabeth Robertson of Flag Lane, spinster, and the putative father was Edward Every Esq. Lieut 80th Regiment. A Sarah Robertson was a benficiary in his will, as were members of the Bradshaw family who were his half siblings.