The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-07-18 00:00:00

A MOTHER'S INQUIRY FOR AN ABSENT

DAUGHTER.

At the Marylebone Police-court on Saturday, a poor
but apparently reslctirble woman renewed an appli-
cation to Mr. F. Cooke for his advice in regard to ter
daughter, whom, she said, she had not seen or heard
of since last May. A neighbour of hers, she informed
the magistrate, asked her if she would lite her
daughter to go out to service, and that if she did she
knew of a very nice situation. The girl was spoken
to, and after some con ultation applicant was per-
suaded to consent to the girl going to the place, which
was said to be at Croydon, the condition being that an
opportunity should be given her daughter, who was a
fairly good scholar, to write home to her parents once
a week. She left home to go the lady at Croydon on
Derby Day, and sht had not beard tidings of her
since. Her neighbour irad stated that she had received
a letter from the girl's mistress and a sovereign, and
that her daughter was quite well, but when she
(applicant) wrote to her daughter at the address
given, which was near Manceester, the letter was
returned by the Post Office officials as "not known."
When asked how it was that the girl should be at
Manchester, when it was clearly understood that she
was to live at Croydon, her neighbour said that the
girl's master was a commercial traveller, and
moved about a good deal. The applicant at this
point wept bitterly, and in broken sentences and with
a faltering voice said her dear girl was only 13 years
of age, and after having read what had recently been
published in an evening newspaper she greatly feared
some harm had overtaken her daughter. Mr.
Cooke: But do you mean to say that you let the girl
go away with strangers without having made further
inquiry than what you have just explained? Appli-
cant: Well, sir, she said I should hear from her
every week. Mr. Cooke: Then I consider it very
great negligence on your part. You know you are the
mother of the girl, and she is under age. By direc-
tion of the magistrate, Sergeant Carden (chief warrant
officer) made inquiry into the matter, and subse-
quently reported that he had ascertained that
the woman who had got the girl had been
at one time a fellow-servant of the appli-
cant's neighbour, that she had been in an infirmary,
that the Charity Organisation Society had helped her
into a situation, and that she had since got married.
The reason for the letter being returned by the Post-
office was that it had been addressed to a place near
Manchester, instead of near Winchester. The
matter was still unsatisfactory, and applicant's neigh-
bour did not know where the girl went to, except
that it was somewhere by Croydon. Mr. Cooke
directed that the matter should be further inquired
into.
Later in the day a representative from Lloyd's
Weekly Newspaper waited upon Mrs. Armstrong, the
mother, with a view of obtaining from her further
information which might perhaps lead to the discovery
of the girl. In addition to the details given above,
Mrs. Armstrong stated that her neighbour's name was
Broughton. When the girl had left for the situation
the mother thought it very strange that such a rough-
looking woman as the mistress appeared to be should
g• ive Mrs Broughton a sovereign for her trouble, and
the girl an entire new outfit of clothing. She did not
ask for the particulars of the girl's address, as she
thought her neighbour would always know it. The
female who took her daughter was a big woman, who
used to walk lame and go about on crutches. Pro-
ceeding next to Mrs. Broughton's house, the repre-
sentative found her room hung round with scenes
illustrating the station of the Cross, and the walls
decorated with crucifixes and portraits of popes and
cardinals. Mrs. Broughton and her husband were
evidently greatly troubled that such a stigma as that
of decoying a girl away should be attached to them.
Mrs. Broughton said that the maiden name of the
mistress- referred to was Rachel Jarrett, formerly
a servant at Claridge's Hotel, where she herself used
to go to do the laundry work. Rachel had the uns-
fortune to fall through a skylight and break one of
her thighs, and was thus for a long time an inmate
of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Afterwards she
became an inmate of the Margate Sea Bathing Infir-
mary and other homes. Mrs. Broughton here pro-
duced a number of letters written from these insti-
tutions, in which Jarrett alluded to the great kindness
she was receiving from Miss Morley, Mrs. Bonham
Carter, and several other ladies. In these letters the
writer hoped to get well, and to be able to pay Mrs.
Broughton for all she owed her for her board and
lodgings while she was out of service. On the Monday
before the Derby Day Jarrett came to Mrs. Brough-
ton, and told her that she had got married, and that
as she could not bend her knee she wanted a servant
girl. She said her name was Sullivan, and that her
husband was so particular she wanted a girl that
would not be too forward in her manner. She wanted
one between 13 and 14, but she must be over 13
years of age. She promised to try and get her a girl
by the following day, and she went to the house of
Mrs. Armstrong to endeavour to engage an orphan
girl living there. Mrs. Armstrong, however, inter-
posed, and asked her to get the woman to take her
girl instead. On the following day Mrs. Sullivan called
again at Mrs. Broughton's and Mrs. Armstrong was
fetched and her daughter brought in too. Mrs. Brough-
ton states that Mrs. Sullivan, otherwise Solomon, then
said, "Are you quite willing for your daughter to
go? You must be perfectly willing for her to go, or
I will not take her." The mother replied, "Yes, I
am quite willing." She then said to the mother, "Is
she over 13 ?" The mother replied, "Yes, lam sure
she is over 13." The woman then turned to the girl,
and said, "And are you willing to go? Because you
must be willing to go, or I cannot take you." The
girl then said, "Yes, I should like to go." The
mother then said, "But I think you ought to pay her
some wages the first month." The woman replied,
"No ; I will buy her new clothes to begin with, and
then pay her 2s. a week wages afterwards." The
terms were agreed to, and the girl was then taken to
some neighbouring shops, and new boots and new
clothes were obtained for her, which the women sat
down and made up. The girl was then dressed in her
new clothes, and left the house with the woman on
the eve of the Derby day. The first house the girl
was taken to, Mrs. Broughton stated, was a house in
Albany-street, near to the Albany Barracks, where
the woman was staying; and from there she heard
she was going to be taken to a house at Wimbledon,
where the woman was residing. in a week after-
wards she received a letter from Mrs. Sullivan, dated
from Hope Cottage, High Cliff, Winchester, stating
that they were all down there, and that the girl was
quite well. Since then she has heard nothing more
either of the mistress, or of the girl, so that the
mystery of her disappearance remains to be un-
ravelled. Mrs. Broughton avers, as the letterr would
seem to show, that the sovereiga was given to her Ny
Mrs. Sullivan, not for getting the girl, but as act of
gratitude for her kindness to her whilst out of a
situation.