Person:William Jennings (43)

William Jennings was born on 17th May 1849 at Park Street West in Luton, Bedfordshire, son of a dressmaker called Jane Jennings, formerly Bangs, and her husband Joseph Jennings, a plumber. William appears in the 1851 census living with his parents at siblings at Langley Street in Luton. By 1861 the family had moved to nearby New Town Street, and William's father was not at home on census night.

As a young man, William joined the army. The 1871 census finds him serving as a Private at a camp in Kent.

By 1882 William had returned to Luton and was working as a painter. He was married on 24th April 1882, aged 32, to Martha Linney, who was 37 and already had two children. William and Martha went on to have at four more children together, although one died young.

The 1901 census finds William working as a bricklayer's labourer and living with Martha, their three surviving children and one of William's stepdaughters at 22 Dorset Street in Luton.

By 1907 the family was living at 30 Windsor Street in Luton. From around 1905 William suffered with poor health, particularly gall stones and had to have an operation in London. He was left in considerable pain and became depressed. On the night of 26th September 1906 he appears to have left a note which said "Goodbye, God bless you my sons," and gave himself a fatal dose of laudanum. Martha found him and the doctor was summoned, but William died the following morning. He was 58 years old. An inquest was held, which returned a verdict of death from laudanum poisoning, taken whilst of unsound mind.

1. ↑ Birth certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT Luton
   1849 BIRTH in the Sub-district of Luton in the Counties of Beds and Herts
   No.	When and where born	Name, if any	Sex	Name and surname of father	Name, surname and maiden name of mother	Occupation of father	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   465	Seventeenth May 1849, 8 PM, Park Street West, Luton	William	Boy	Joseph Jennings	Jane Jennings formerly Bangs	Plumber	Jane Jennings, Mother, Park Street West, Luton	Fourth June 1849	W. Meed, Registrar

2. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1757; Folio 707; Page 13, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Langley Street, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Joseph Jennings, head, married, male, 47 [1803/4], Plumber, b. Guildford, Surrey
   Jane Jennings, wife, married, female, 44 [1806/7], Plumbers Wife, b. South Mimms, Middlesex
   Eliza Jennings, daughter, female, 19 [1831/2], Bonnet Sewer, b. Hanwell, Middlesex
   Emma Jennings, daughter, female, 13 [1837/8], Bonnet Sewer, b. Uxbridge, Middlesex
   Richard Jennings, son, male, 10 [1840/1], Scholar, b. Uxbridge, Middlesex
   George Jennings, son, male, 8 [1842/3], Scholar, b. Turvey, Bedfordshire
   John Jennings, son, male, 4 [1846/7], Scholar, b. Barton, Bedfordshire
   William Jennings, son, male, 2 [1848/9], b. Luton, Bedfordshire

3. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1013; Folio 27; Page 12, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: 5 New Town Street, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Jane Jennings, head, married, female, 55 [1805/6], Dressmaker, b. South Mimms, Hertfordshire
   John Jennings, son, unmarried, male, 17 [1843/4], Laborer, b. Turvey, Bedfordshire
   George Jennings, son, unmarried, male, 14 [1846/7], Laborer, b. Barton, Bedfordshire
   William Jennings, son, male, 11 [1849/50], Scholar, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Robert Jennings, son, male, 9 [1851/2], Scholar, b. Luton, Bedfordshire

4. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 1017; Folio 30; Page 4, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: District Camp 34th Foot, Cheriton, Kent
   [many soldiers, including:]
   William Jennings, soldier, unmarried, male, 20 [1850/1], Private, b. Luton, Bedfordshire

5. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 1516; Folio 133; Page 31, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 22 Dorset Street, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Five or more rooms occupied
   William Jenning, head, married, male, 52 [1848/9], Bricklayers Labourer, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Martha Jenning, wife, married, female, 56 [1844/5], b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Albert Jenning, son, single, male, 16 [1884/5], Iron Molder Apprentice, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Joseph Jenning, son, single, male, 13 [1887/8], Iron Molder Apprentice, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Maud Jenning, daughter, single, female, 18 [1882/3], Straw Hat Finisher, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Lizzie Linney, daughter, single, female, 23 [1877/8], Straw Hat Trimmer, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire

6. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Luton
   1907 Death in the Sub-district of Luton in the County of Bedford
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   210	27th Sep[tembe]r 1907, 30 Windsor Street, Luton USD	William Jennings	Male	59 years	Bricklayers Labourer	Laudanum poisoning / self-administered whilst of unsound mind	Certificate received from Gregory J.N. Whyley, Deputy Coroner for the County of Bedford Inquest held 28th Sep[tembe]r 1907	Thirtieth April 1907	Edward Barnard, Registrar

7. ↑ Luton Times and Advertiser
   Page 3, 4 Oct 1907.

   TWO INQUESTS AT LUTON.
   LUTON LABOURER TAKES LAUDANUM.
   Two inquests were held on Saturday afternoon at the George Hotel by Mr. G.J.M. Whyley (Deputy County Coroner). Mr. J. Muncey was foreman of the jury.
   The first concerned the death of William Jennings, aged 59, a bricklayer's labourer, of 30, Windsor-street. Deceased, it appeared, had for many months suffered with acute internal pains, and was unable to do any work. He became very depressed, but had never threatened to attempt suicide. On Thursday night he went to bed before ten, and an hour later, his wife found him very ill. She called her son and sent for a doctor. The latter concluded that he was suffering from the effects of laudanum, and was treated accordingly, but he died in less than twelve hours, early on Friday morning. A bottle which had contained opium, was found in his pocket, and a bit of an envelope on which was a farewell message, including the words "Goodbye, God bless you my sons." A verdict of death from laudanum poisoning, taken whilst of unsound mind, was returned.
   The following was the evidence taken:-
   Martha Jennings, deceased's widow, 30, Windsor-street, said deceased had not been in regular work for some time, owing to his health. He suffered from gall stones, and two years ago was in the Bute Hospital and also formerly in the Whitechapel Hospital, London, where he was operated on. For the last three months he had been very queer in his mind, and complained of the wound left by the operation. He slept little. On Thursday night he went to bed at 9.45 p.m. after having a cup of tea. He had been out for a walk in the morning. Witness went to bed an hour later,and thought deceased was all right except that he seemed to have hiccoughs. Witness turned the gas up, and then saw that he was very ill. She thought he was dying, and sent for a doctor at once. Witness's son Albert also came in and saw deceased. The doctor came very quickly. Witness sat up all night with her husband, but he got worse and died soon after 11 o'clock next morning, the doctor being present. Deceased had been in very low spirits lately, but had never threated to destroy himself. She had never noticed the bottle (produced) before, but he used to have various bottles about, containing medicine.
   Albert Jennings, deceased's son, corroborated. Witness thought the noise his father was making was similar to snoring. Just before the doctor arrived witness found the note (produced), written on a torn envelope, at the side of the bed. Its contents were not true, because their mother was the best they could have. Witness searched deceased's clothing and found the bottle produced, and sent it by his sister to the doctor. Deceased had never hinted that he would destroy himself; he had rather spoken against that. On Sunday he showed witness a newspaper paragraph about a man taking enough laudanum to kill several men, and he showed witness on a bottle how much would be sufficient to kill anyone.
   Dr. C. Maclean, locum tenens for Dr. Rose, said he was called on Thursday night about 11.30, and saw deceased in bed. He was very ill, and witness concluded that it was either from laudanum or internal haemorrhage. He treated him for the former. Later witness received the bottle produced. The symptoms were consistent with poisoning by laudanum. Witness had seen Jennings before at the surgery. The daughter brought the bottle to witness about 1 a.m. Witness thought it almost certain that deceased took the laudanum, of which two teaspoonfuls would be fatal. Witness went to see deceased again on Friday morning. In his opinion death was due to poisoning by laudanum.
   The Coroner said the name on the bottle was "H.E. Cocker."
   Detective Inspector Chamberlain said it seemed that twopennyworth was bought there by a man whose description seemed to fit deceased.
   The Coroner said the note was something about the goods deceased left, and did not concern them. The note said "Goodbye," and the bottle was found in his pocket, so that he (the Coroner) thought the poison must have been taken intentionally, though it might have been taken by mistake. The note also said "Goodbye. God bless you, my sons." Deceased had been in great pain and very much depressed.
   A verdict of suicide committed by taking laudanum whilst of unsound mind, was returned.