Mrs Rees 1888

[R. J. Palmer]

1881 Carmarthen. I stand corrected: only two daughters in Carmarthen, none of whom show up in 1871, 1861, etc. Elizabeth Watkins is listed as a visitor; the 'servant' is Sarah Jones. I'm guessing all four of these ladies, 18-22, are pregnant, but then I have a suspicious mind, based on Mary Jane #1's later occupation.

[R. J. Palmer]

Thanks. Her middle name definitely was Louisa though, going by the marriage certificate Nina mentioned and Paul posted?

Hi Debs. Yes, it would seem to be, if that is indeed the same woman, but then, again, I have no idea what this 1881 entry for Dr. Hopkins represents. It's a strange set-up.

I don't remember if they found Barbara anywhere else other than this marriage cert and the 1881 entry?

[R. J. Palmer]

It should also be remembered that this No. 11 Quay Street where Dr. H and these 4 young ladies were living in 1881 is the same address where Emily Cope was found dead in 1884, and Dr. H and Cope's lover were charged with murder for having conducted an abortion in the so-called "Carmarthen Mystery." Mary Jane Hopkins #2 gave testimony at the inquest, but denied everything, as did Dr. H. I don't recall if Barbara Hopkins was mentioned. Maybe Paul knows?

[R. J. Palmer]

August 1884: the Emily Cope affair. This was at 11 Quay Street, Dr. Hopkin's office. The reference to other enceinte women going to the same address casts the 1881 Census entry in a new light. Who knows if "Barbara Louisa" was even his daughter, or merely what Hopkins told the census taker?

[R. J. Palmer]

There was a Barbara Louisa Hopkins registered in Swansea in 1857, mother's maiden name Jones and she also had a sister named Mary Jones Hopkins b 1860.

Both these girls appear on the 1861 census (with middle names)with parents David and Elizabeth. David Hopkins is a either a boot or book seller and the family live in Swansea.

Maybe it's just a coincidence of names, or could David be a relation of Dr Hopkins?
Are these the same girls does anyone think?

Name: Mother's Maiden Surname:
HOPKINS, BARBARA LOUISA JONES
GRO Reference: 1857 D Quarter in SWANSEA Volume 11A Page 489

HOPKINS, MARY JONES JONES
GRO Reference: 1860 S Quarter in SWANSEA Volume 11A Page 500

I had a rethink during my morning motorcycle ride, and maybe this deserves further scrutiny. If the hypothesis is that Dr. John M. Hopkins kept two families, why couldn't this be one of them? We'd then have Mary Jane #1 in Llannon, and Mary Jane #2 in Swansea, and Mary Jane #3 of Miller's Court fame, allegedly a servant of Mary Jane #1. Both Mary Jane #1 and #2 seemed to help Doctor H. in the abortion trade; but it was Mary Jane Florence (#1) that ended up marrying Rees and landing in prison. Okay, this is complete speculation and bordering on bonkers, but could Mary Jane #3 also be Mary Jane #2? Making her the half-sister and 'servant' of Mary Jane #1? I don't know, and there's no evidence for it, but it's a mini-series that could successfully run opposite Rubenhold's The Five.

[Paul Williams]

To further complicate matters a Barbara Louisa Hopkins married in Swansea in the second quarter of 1879 to either William John or Frederick Trick.

The original Mary Jane Hopkins was alive in 1891, as head of the Goitre Wen household. All four sisters were still there as spinsters in 1901. I did find a possible marriage for one of them after that date but can't locate my notes now. One wonders if the family reputation was tarnished by their father's trial or by his extra-marital affairs and if this disgrace deterred potential suitors.

In 1901 the sisters brought a court case against a tenant James Lewis to stop him burning down trees. The following year Lewis was convicted of assaulting Octavia Hopkins and then he and William Smith, his cousin, were convicted of perjury after claiming that Mary Jane Hopkins had hit Octavia with a stone.

I believe that 11 Quay Street was Hopkin's surgery as well as his place of residence.

[Robert Linford]

Barbara Louisa Trick, 9 King St, Swansea, married, age 22 in 1881, born Swansea, occupation book (boot?) stitcher. Frederick seems to be somewhere else, but she had a 1-year-old son John and more were to come subsequently.

[Paul Williams]

Thank you. I suspect that this is the Barbara Louisa Hopkins born in Swansea, leaving us no closer to identifying the daughter of Dr. Hopkins.

[R. J. Palmer]

Do you think this Andrew Burch Watson is Andrew Alexander Burch Watson, born Plymouth in 1858 and listed as a railway clerk in Cardiff in 1881? His father is listed as a corporal in the Royal Artillery, so I don't know where the "hotel keeper" from the marriage certificate would fit in. The Hannah Dickie listed as a witness is Hannah Chapman who married a ship's joiner, and lived for many years on Grundy Street, Poplar, but I haven't found anything to associate her with either the bride nor the groom, beyond the fact that Watson lists himself as living in Poplar at the time of the wedding, 1882. It is a strange document, and not easy to reconcile with any other known info. I clawed and scratched around for quite awhile, and I still haven no idea who "Barbara Hopkins" is.

[R. J. Palmer]

I also finally figured out who the other witness on the certificate is; he is a Brazilian born hotel/restaurant keeper of No. 211 East India Road, Poplar. Probably nothing more than the hotel keeper where Andrew Watkins was crashing at the time of his strange marriage to the mysterious Barbara Hopkins. Albuquerque as in Albuquerque, New Mexico.



Francisco A. P. Albaquerque
Age:
51
Estimated birth year:
abt 1830
Relationship to Head:
Head
Gender:
Male
Where born:
(N B Subject), Brazil
Civil Parish:
Poplar
County/Island:
London
Country:
England
Street address:
211 East Ind Rd

[R. J. Palmer]

File under more worthless information. Francisco D' Albuquerque made his fortune selling ship's signal lamps in the 1860s before opening the hotel in Poplar. His lasting claim to fame is being a witness for Andrew and Barbara, somehow connected to the notorious Dr. J. M. Hopkins, abortionist.

[Robert Linford]

I don't know if this has been posted before but anyway :


Watson Jr married Mary Sullivan 1896. I think he died 1935.

[Robert Linford]

Here's Watson Jr 1911. He married Mary Sullivan 1896. Died I think in 1935.

[R. J. Palmer]

Meanwhile, the witness at Andrew's first marriage didn't come to a happy end.

[R. J. Palmer]

Hi Robert. You probably noticed something went wrong between Andrew's marriage to "Barbara Hopkins" in 1882 (I think the quotation marks might be appropriate) and the 1891 census. He's back in Cardiff, living with the folks, under the transcription error Andrew B Walson. I couldn't find a death certificate for anyone named Barbara Hopkins or Watson between 1882 and his second marriage to Mary. She's as elusive as a Yeti. I'm thinking the melodramatic Rees/Hopkins mini-series, which will run in opposition to Rubenhold's The Five, might turn out to be a two-season affair.


Edit: There was a Barbara Junita Hopkins who died in Fulham in 1883, but the age is wrong.