John Henry Grimwood and Eliza Baity Bromley by Bow

[raybradon]

Thanks Valda-the mystery continues

[Nigel Porter]

I've come back to the Grimwood family and the very useful http://grimwoodons.webspace.virginmedia.com/ site.  Tree 33 is the relevant tree and the site confidently shows that Thomas Grimwood was baptised on 20 Sept 1789 and that his parents were John Grimwood and Frances Hubbard.  However I can't find any evidence that he came from Suffolk, as his marriage record has few details and the baptism records of his children give no clues, so is the link an educated guess, or is there some proof that I've missed?

[raybradon]

Hi Nigel
I have just read a book "The Ripper of Waterloo Road" by noted true crime author Jan Bondesson which deals with the murder of Eliza Grimwood in 1838.According to the book Thomas Grimwood told the investigating detective  that the Grimwoods were respectable farmers from Stonham Aspal,Suffolk.Some of the family had remained in Suffolk but Thomad and Eliza's father had died young and that part of the family fell on hard times.Thomas became a builder and eventually moved to Brixton.

[Nigel Porter]

Hello Ray,

Looks like Eliza was the sister of Thomas Grimwood, my wife's GGG Grandfather, so thanks for the reply and at the risk of sounding morbid, it's great to have a murder to spice up the usual records that can be quite boring!  I shall investigate further.

[raybradon]

Hi Nigel
Thomas was my ggg.grandfather as well.I remember as a kid late 50s/early 60s that Janet's nan Nell would call in to see my mum, Marmy (Emily Maud), whenever she visited Edna who lived just around the corner from us in South Ockendon. In more recent times I tracked down Janet's cousin Vanessa who I found living ten minutes from me in Thundersley and got to know her-all as a result of family history research. At one of her legendary fancy-dress parties, she did show me a photo of Janet and yourself. Anyway, keep up the research.
Best wishes Ray

[Nigel Porter]

Hi Ray,

Good to hear from you and stay in touch as I have lots of research for Janet's family.  Since writing the question earlier this week I've done some more research and a witness account from a newspaper at the time was from Harriet Chaplin, who said she was the niece of Eliza Grimwood and this tallies with the information on tree 33, so I think that is enough to confirm the link.

[Nigel Porter]

Hi Ray,

Having done a bit more research, it appears that Eliza Grimwood was used by Charles Dickens as the 'model' for Nancy in Oliver Twist.  The author Rebecca Gowers has done a lot of research and is convinced that Dickens completed Oliver Twist (which was published as a serial between 1837 and 1839 and a book in 1838) once he had read about the murder and she has written a novel 'The Twisted Heart' based on her findings. 

Nigel