James Fossey (1851)

Born 1851 in Stepney, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

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Biography

James was born in 1851 in Stepney, Middlesex the son of Charles Henry Fossey and Eliza Fossey. He had a twin brother John Fossey.^[1]

His mother died in 1851, perhaps in childbirth.

1861 Census on the 7th April 1861 James was living at 6 Salmons Lane, Limehouse, Middlesex with his father Charles and his father's second wife Eliza Leighton, and their children Isabella, Alexander, Thomas Ernest, Herbert and Jessie. Also living there were James' siblings from his father's first marriage, Eliza, William, Charles and John.^[2]

Attempted suicide

According to the Chelsea News and General Advertiser - Saturday 1st June 1867, James tried to kill himself:

DETERMINED ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE ON A RAILWAY. On Saturday evening a lad named James Fossey, son of Mr. Fossey, a pawnbroker, of Salmon Lane, Limehouse, made a desperate attempt to commit self-destruction on the Blackwall Railway. The lad, who was only eighteen of age, came to the Limehouse Station, which is only yards from his father's house, by the half-past seven o'clock train from London. He remained on the platform until the arrival of the next train, fifteen minutes afterwards, and as it was coming into the station raised his arms and deliberately threw himself on the line in front of the engine. No one expected to see him alive again; but, singularly enough, the wheels of the engine and tender never touched him, and he escaped the rails. The ash-pan under the engine caught his body and twirled it over and over until the train was brought a standstill, when his mangled remains were removed from the line, and he was conveyed by Mr. Barry, an inspector of police in the service of the Great Eastern Railway Company, to the London Hospital. On examination of the youth it was ascertained that both legs were fractured, and amputation followed soon afterwards. On Monday on Mr. Barry making inquiries at the hospital, he was informed that the lad was going on favourably, and that he was likely to recover. Young Fossey was in the employ of a silversmith in the City, with whom he quarrelled on the day he made the rash attempt. At home was described a lad morose and stubborn temper.^[3]

Residence

(7.4.1861) 6 Salmons Lane, Limehouse, Middlesex

Sources

1. ↑ England & Wales General Register Office, GRO Online Index Births. Name: FOSSEY, JAMES, Mother's maiden name: FOSSEY, GRO Reference: 1851 J Quarter in STEPNEY Volume 02 Page 570 GRO
2. ↑ 1861 Census Ancestry
3. ↑ Chelsea News and General Advertiser - Saturday 1st June 1867. Accessed from the British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000971/18670601/052/0006 accessed by Trevor Pickup on 13th April 2020