Julia Venturney née Cooke..... and Jack the Ripper!

[tilly56]

Thank you Jaywit, I shall order it.  I put Julia's name into the search engine on Amazon and several books about Jack the Ripper came up, so I might buy one of them, too!

Tilly

[miriamkinga]

Absolutely fascinating thread Tilly, I've really enjoyed reading all about it 

[Jool]

Tilly, Here's Julia's christening record.

Julia Cooke
Born 11 March 1840
Christened 14 March 1847
St. Pauls, Hammersmith
father Richard Dennis Cooke, mother Charlotte.

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NJ8Q-FFJ

Jool

[tilly56]

I'm glad you're enjoying it, Miriam - I certainly am!!

And thank you very much for the record, Jool - another brick in the wall

Had an idea this afternoon that when I go to England in a couple of weeks, I'll be staying with my cousin in London and I usually take him to see something to do with our genealogy - so I thought we could do a Jack the Ripper tour!  There are regular tours in London, and it could be fun!!

Tilly

[susan hemmings]

What a fascinating thread.  That tour sounds ideal for you tilly.

Well done all,

Susan

[cris2507]

Hi Tilly
I have just caught up with your post about Julia Venturney.
I have written two books which featured material about Julia - the first was "Jack the Ripper, A Cast of Thousands" and the second "Will the Real Mary Kelly..."
If you want i can send you the material I have on Julia if that would be of any use.
Chris Scott

[tilly56]

Good morning Chris

That would be very kind - thank you!

I saw your book "Will the real Mary Kelly..." on Amazon and it's one of the ones I thought of buying. I shall still do so!!

What do you think of the information that RootsChatters have found for me? 

Tilly

[cris2507]

Hi Tilly
This is a fascinating thread:-)
For starters here is the section on Julia in my 2004 book "Jack the Ripper  - A Cast of Thousands"
Hope it's of interest
If you want to contact privately my e-mail is chris.scott@btinternet.com

JACK THE RIPPER
 A CAST OF THOUSANDS
 BY CHRISTOPHER SCOTT
 (c) 2004

Julia Venturney

 At the Mary Kelly inquest, Julia Venturney, who was living at 1 Miller's Court, gave testimony that Barnett and Kelly lived happily together at No 13 apart from the occasional incident, such as the breaking of the pane in the window by Kelly when she was drunk. She also testified that there was another man called Joe, apart from Barnett, who was keen on Kelly and abused her because she was living with Barnett. If this is true, the most likely candidate is Joseph Flemming (q.v.), even though Venturney described his as a costermonger. Other sources claimed that Flemming carried on visiting Kelly after she was living with Barnett, and Mrs. Carthy claimed that when Flemming and Kelly were cohabiting she (Mrs. Carthy) thought that Flemming thought enough of Kelly to want to marry her.
 It was claimed in the press that Julia Venturney was this, coupled with her forename, has led to suggestions that she may indeed be the Julia mentioned by Barnett, the prostitute who actually moved in with Kelly and precipitated Barnett's leaving 13 Miller's Court.
 The bare facts about Julia Venturney are as follows. She was born Julia Cook in Kensington in 1841, so at the time of the murders she would have been 47 years old. She was the daughter of a carpenter called Richard Cook, born 1804. The date of her marriage, if indeed she did marry, and any details about her husband, remain unknown. By 1871 she was living in Fulham with her widowed father. She had borne by that date two daughters, Rosina, born 1864 and Charlotte, born 1868.
 The 1871 listing for Julia and her family is as follows:
 2 Little John's Place, Fulham London
 Head:
 Richard Cook aged 67 born Kensington - Carpenter
 Widowed
 Daughter:
 Julia Venturney aged 30 born Kensington - Professional
 Grand Daughters:
 Rosina aged 7 born Fulham
 Charlotte A aged 3 born Fulham
 Lodger:
 Harriett Thorpe aged 18 born Kensington - Servant
 I have been able trace the birth records for both of her daughters. The birth of Rosina Antonet Julia Venteney (sic) was registered at Kensington in March 1863 (Volume 1a Page 163). Her younger daughter was registered as Charlotta (sic) Ann Venturney at Kensington in March 1868 (Volume 1a Page 207). This discrepancy highlights one of the main problems with trying to trace Venturney. In the reports of the Whitechapel murders, her name is given as Venturney, Vanturney, Van Teurney and Van Turney. In the registration of her older daughter, we find yet another variant, Venteney. This probably gave rise to the incorrect press assertion that she was German although, as far as I can trace, her name (or rather that of her supposed husband) was more likely Dutch in origin than German.
 The birth certificate of her daughter, Rosina, gives the name and profession of Julia's mysterious husband. Rosina Venteney was born at 2 John's Place, North End, Fulham, on the 12 February 1864. On her birth cerificate the name of her father is given as Antony Venteney and his profession as a photographic artist. The mother's name is given as "Julia Venteney, formerly Cook."
 The only other record I have been able to find is a listing in the 1881 census for her father, Richard Cook. His details for that year are given as follows:
 Richard Cook aged 78 born London - Carpenter
 A lodger at 3 Bayham Street, London.
 Listed as unmarried.
 Head of household is Eliza Beales aged 66 born Sudbury, Suffolk - Dressmaker.
 In her testimony at Kelly, Julia Venturney gave two other items of information. She described herself as a widow and said that at the time of Kelly's murder she was living at 1 Miller's Court with a man named Harry Owen. Currently neither of these leads has produced any definite information.
 After the 1871 census I have as yet been unable to find any trace of Julia or either of her two daughters.

At this stage I had no info on Venturney's partner but I have since found two mentions of him - he is listed as Antoni Venteney and Antony Venturney and described as a photographer and a photographic artist.

[cris2507]

Here is one mention of the husband in the baptism record for the daughter Rosina. Here he is listed as Antonio