A Fateful Day

On 5th October 1893 our Great Grandfather Henry George Hooper was in the London Hospital, Whitechapel, pictured below. He was aged 42 and was seriously ill with septicaemia. A couple of weeks earlier he had been working in his butcher's shop in Green Street, Bethnal Green, where he had lived and worked for 18 years, ever since his marriage to Ellen Stent in 1875. While he was working, he cut his finger on a sharp bone splinter.  The cut became infected, and he fell ill with septicaemia after an abscess had formed. His condition gradually worsened and got so bad that he was admitted to hospital. He died on 6th October of "violent septicaemia". The inquest the following day recorded a verdict of accidental death.

 (By coincidence this was only a month or so after Charles Harris drowned at Ryde. )

Green Street

When Henry died he left behind his wife Ellen (35), and five children Alice (17), Alfred (14), Henry (10), George (5) and Albert (1), all living together at 225 Green Street, Bethnal Green.

Bethnal Green in those days was an urban area of housing, shops, schools and factories. A large proportion of the housing was what we would today call slums. Green Street was the main thoroughfare through Bethnal Green lined with shops and pubs. 

(In Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, Bill Sikes lives in Bethnal Green and Fagin has to cross Green Street on his way from Spitalfields to visit Bill.  Dickens describes the area as 'a maze of the mean and dirty streets which abound in that close and densely-populated quarter'.)

You can see the full story of  225 Green Street on its own page here.

Their Early Years in Green Street

Henry George Hooper and Ellen Stent  married in 1875. Henry was the son of Richard Hooper, the marine store dealer. Ellen was the daughter of Charles Stent, the carpenter. Their two families lived very close to each other in adjacent streets in Poplar, so it's quite likely that Henry and Ellen had known each other for some time before they married.

When they married Henry and Ellen moved to number 217 Green Street, and a few years later into number 225, which was probably more convenient for a butcher's  shop being on the corner.

They had several children over the years, not all of whom survived infancy. In 1888 when Ellen was pregnant with George, our grandfather, she would no doubt have been fearful of going out at night. This was when the Jack the Ripper murders were taking place not far away in Whitechapel.  And by an unwanted coincidence the last Ripper murder, of Mary Jane Kelly, occurred on the day George was born Friday 9th November 1888. He was their fourth surviving child. Their last child, Albert, was born three years later.

After Henry's death 1893-1900

Henry left an estate valued at a little under £300,  equivalent to about £25,000 today. Most of that was probably the value of the house and shop at 225 Green Street. The family continued to live there for a year or so after Henry's death, with Ellen and her eldest son Alfred (16) running the butcher's shop.  But it didn't work out. They moved out in late 1894 and over the next few years the family moved to a succession of seven different houses in Bethnal Green.  Whether Ellen was working or living off the money from Henry's estate we don't know. Rents in the area for the types of houses they were living in started at about  10 shillings a week. So £300 wouldn't last very long, perhaps three or four years at most. 

Early in 1895 Alfred joined the army (Royal Fusiliers).  He was still only just 17 but he lied about his age to make himself appear older. Later that same year the two youngest boys, George and Albert were taken into the care of the parish and sent to Hanwell Schools. 

1896 - 1900

From 1896 onwards that left Ellen with just two children at home, Alice (20) and Henry (14). Alice would certainly have been working, probably in service or in one of the many small factories in the area. Henry was also of an age to start working, so potentially all three could have been bringing in wages. 

Curiously, in 1897 Alfred bought himself out of the army for £18, after serving two years. Why? Was this to help his mother? Did she provide the £18 to buy himself out?  A mystery.

And then a couple of years later in early 1899 Alfred re-enlisted in the army, this time with the Royal Artillery at Woolwich. He probably went back to the army because he couldn't earn enough to support the rest of the family. 

At the same time their mother Ellen applied for help under the Poor Laws, so it would seem that by now their money had run out. . The Poor Laws were the Victorian equivalent of  today’s social services. Parishes were responsible for providing help to needy residents of the  parish, but only if the claimants had proof that they were entitled by having been resident in the parish for a few years. Thus the parish would undertake an  examination of an applicant to check their eligibility. We know from the poor law examination that Henry was earning  8/- a week, and Ellen was out of work. George and Albert were still in the care of Hanwell Schools. We don't know where Alice was, but by now she had probably left home altogether. She wasn't married though.

We don't know what relief she got from the parish, but she was certainly eligible. There is no record of her being admitted to the workhouse so any help she got would have been temporary financial aid.

Within a year Henry now aged 18 also joined the army - the 9th Lancers, a cavalry regiment based in Canterbury. And probably for the same reason as Alfred - to reduce the burden on the family. And the two youngest boys George and Albert came back home after boarding in the Hanwell school for 5 years.

1900 onwards

From 1900 the family are starting to split up and they are in various different places in  1901 at the time of the census.  Here's where they all were in 1901 - click on each name to see their  individual story after 1901. Use your back button to come back here.