Lord Orsam's Blog

[Gary Barnett]

Take a bow, Major* Clanger:



*I’ve no idea if that is the Major, the Clangers are another subject of which I am woefully ignorant; ditto Monro; ditto Spandex Ballet.

[Gary Barnett]

I have to say I was pleased to read that David had discovered precedents for the Cowan/Cohen confusion in the press. I’ve only been able to find one such (below) but David’s statement that this ‘sometimes’ happened suggests more than one occasion.



There must be more examples to justify David’s ‘sometimes’.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Gary.

The Sugar Cane, 1st May 1888.



Regards,

Simon

[Gary Barnett]

Hi Gary.

The Sugar Cane, 1st May 1888.

[ATTACH]21154[/ATTACH]

Regards,

Simon

An excellent discovery*, Simon!

So there was a sugar refinery on the corner(ish) of Deal Street and Hanbury Street run by Phineas Cowan whose family name David informs us was ‘sometimes’ mistakenly printed as Cohen in the press. And the last sighting of Pizer in connection with the ‘Church Street’ incident was outside the Leigh Hoy pub in Hanbury Street (formerly Church Street).

The idea that the refinery in question was Schwartz’s on the corner of Pelham Street seems increasingly unlikely.


*I wish I’d made it!

[Simon Wood]

Hi Gary,

Lieutenant-Colonel Phineas Cowan was also Jewish.

Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History -

Read on.



Simon

[Gary Barnett]

Hi Gary,

Lieutenant-Colonel Phineas Cowan was also Jewish.

Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History -

Read on.

[ATTACH]21155[/ATTACH]

Simon

Yes, I did look him up. The family soap works was originally in Whitechapel and as your clipping shows, he was politically active in Whitechapel in 1885.

Where the Cohen/Cowan mistaken crept in is a mystery. Was it eyewitness’s mistake or the editors/printer’s?

[Gary Barnett]

At one point I put a tentative name to ‘Eyewitness’.

His turning from Hanbury Street into Deal Street supported the ID, which is why this particular topic interests me. It connects tangentially to my family history. Monro doesn’t.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Gary,

Never mind Monro.

Who was "Eye Witness"?

Regards,

Simon

[Gary Barnett]

Hi Gary,

Never mind Monro.

Who was "Eye Witness"?

Regards,

Simon

At one stage I thought he might have been the reverend William Tyler who was connected to the Trinity Methodist church in Hanbury Street. The evidence of the letter suggests Eyewitness might have been a Sunday school teacher of some kind, familiar with the old name of that part of Hanbury Street and living somewhere within walking distance to the north of there. Tyler also had connections to Albert Street.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Gary,

As there is no direct transcript of the letter from "Eye Witness," it's easy to assume that in editorialising it a news sub slipped in the 'Cohen' detail. But if the news sub thought it was Cohen, why did he not know it was Cowan, who was a well-known East End political personality, rejuvenating a defunct sugar refinery. And the same goes for "Eye Witness."

Also, do you believe that somebody like the Reverend William Tyler might not have signed his letter as such.

Regards,

Simon

[Gary Barnett]

Hi Gary,

As there is no direct transcript of the letter from "Eye Witness," it's easy to assume that in editorialising it a news sub slipped in the 'Cohen' detail. But if the news sub thought it was Cohen, why did he not know it was Cowan, who was a well-known East End political personality, rejuvenating a defunct sugar refinery. And the same goes for "Eye Witness."

Also, do you believe that somebody like the Reverend William Tyler might not have signed his letter as such.

Regards,

Simon

I wouldn’t assume anything, Simon, but there was no ‘Cohen’s’ refinery in the area, so someone made a mistake. And a similar mistake was made about the long-established soap works by Hammersmith Bridge. (Several times according to David.)

Tyler was very much an establishment figure, involved in all sorts of good works in the East End and the main point of the letter is a criticism of the police for letting Piser go. I can imagine someone in his position not wanting to have a pop at the cops in his own name. Whoever Eyewitness was, it seems likely that he was a Sunday school teacher of some kind, although perhaps not on the same level as the ‘Nonconformist Bishop’.

[Caroline Brown]

If Cowan is pronounced Coe-wen [as opposed to Cow-an], it can sound very much like Cohen. Not surprised by the Jewish angle frankly.

Maybe Cowan/Cohen should have changed his name to 'Sugar', which sounds exactly the same as it does in 'Lord Sugar'.

Love,

Caz
X

[Gary Barnett]

More Joyousness

Apparently one of my clangers was to suggest that Major Clanger had ‘pointed out’ that Cowan’s refinery was across London in Barnes’.

‘...I didn't point out that Cowan's refinery was across London in Barnes,’ he fumed.

This is what he actually said:

So did the eye-witness to the verbal assault on the man accused of being 'Leather Apron' confuse a refinery in Spitalfields* with one across the other side of London in Barnes? Rather unlikely.

Perhaps that doesn’t count as ‘pointing out’ for some reason?

But did Simon mention that Barnes was ‘across the other side of London?’ I don’t believe he did - David added that to emphasise the unlikelihood of there being any connection between the Cowan firm of Barnes and the Hanbury Street refinery. Surely, there’s an element of ‘pointing out’ in David’s question?

As it turns out, there was indeed a connection - one that amazingly proved elusive to David’s peerless research. However, as he researched a little further he at least managed to discover several (?) examples of the family name of the Cowans being rendered as Cohen in the press, for which we should be eternally grateful.

We shouldn’t dwell too much on the unfathomable mystery of how such a clever researcher failed to unearth the evidence that Cowan had taken over the Hanbury Street refinery by April, 1888 and was still operating it in December of that year. Or why he fails to mention Phineas Cowan’s long-standing connection to the East End - and to Thomas Dakin. To do so would be to sink to his level. It might be considered unhinged

For all his faults, though, I must admit that The Major is a better researcher than Hallie Rubenhold. (Added for David’s sake, so he can maintain his farcical claim that I only ever criticise the author of The Five.)

*Or even one in Mile End New Town...��

[Gary Barnett]

If Cowan is pronounced Coe-wen [as opposed to Cow-an], it can sound very much like Cohen. Not surprised by the Jewish angle frankly.

Maybe Cowan/Cohen should have changed his name to 'Sugar', which sounds exactly the same as it does in 'Lord Sugar'.

Love,

Caz
X

Caz - you’re fired!

[Caroline Brown]

Thank you, Lord Sugar.