The Resilience of Aunt Bertha Maud Ingold
On July 11, 1917, 47-year old Frederick James committed suicide by hanging himself at his workplace, William Barker’s butcher shop. He left behind his widow, Bertha Maud Ingold, 6 children and a history of professional failures.
Below: 9 Chalk Hill, Bushey, UK where Fred James hung himself
Tragically, it wasn’t the first time Bertha had suffered the suicide of a loved one.
Twenty-two years earlier her father, Henry John Ingold drowned himself in an Edgware pond. Henry had been suffering from melancholia since the death of his wife and wrongly believed his business was failing. His suicide shaped the direction of Bertha’s life.
It was Bertha who found Henry’s suicide note. She was the chief witness at the inquest, and as the eldest child, she had to administer his estate and wind down his building business. At 23, she was already considered a spinster and in addition to weathering the suicide scandal, she had to take on responsibility for 7 younger siblings at home (ages 4-19), one of who was my grandfather, Walter George Ingold. Sometime between 1895 and the 1901 census, the Ingold family had to give up their home on High Street and scattered. Eventually, the two youngest, Frank Ingold and Charley Ingold, were placed in the London Orphan Asylum and the others were put out to work at 14 years old. As each sibling came of age, Bertha gave them their inheritance from Henry’s estate. Assuming the estate was equally divided among the siblings, each received the equivalent of $15,000 Canadian dollars in today’s currency.
Below: A terrible photocopy of Bertha provided by the Puddifant family. I can see the long, angular face and prominent nose of an Ingold.
A year after Henry’s death, Bertha appears in the 1896 London Trade Directory as a “builder”, reflecting her role in winding down her father’s business…
Beginning in 1901 and by virtue of occupying a house, Bertha becomes the first female Ingold in my family to get the vote. It was only the parochial and county vote, but a milestone for the women in the family
About Frederick James (1869-1917)
Sidenote: A few years ago, I corresponded with Fred and Bertha’s granddaughter. Marg Cortens described him as “a bad businessman who lost all his money”.
The red flags are in the UK census:
In 1891, Fred was running a shop in Islington, declaring himself a “master butcher” and employing 3 people. At the tender age of 21, he may not have been up to the task.
Ten years later Fred is no longer running his own business, but living in a Public House in Edgware and employed as a butcher at the Muddle family’s shop. This is likely around the time he met Bertha Maud Ingold.
Below: The Green Man Pub, home of Fred James in 1901
Fred and Bertha married in October of 1904 around the time her family responsibilities ended. She was 33 and he was 35. Given their daughter Ellen Maud was born the following March, Bertha was likely pregnant at the time of the marriage.
In 1905 Fred bought the Muddle’s shop. He seems to have had some animosity towards the family. Muddle Jr. was reportedly an alcoholic and unpleasant to be around.
Sidenote: my 17 year old grandfather Walter George Ingold was working as a butcher in Edgware according to the 1901 census, and I’ve often wondered if he was employed at the Muddle’s shop.
Fred James failed to make a go of the butcher shop. By 1908, he and Bertha and their growing family were living in Bushey, Hertfordshire where he was employed at “The White Hart”, a public house. Fred took over as landlord in 1911, but that didn’t work out either and he surrendered the license after a year.
Below: The White Hart Public House, Bushey, UK
Below: 1911 Census: Fred is listed as “Licensed Victualler” at “The White Hart. He and Bertha have 4 children at the time.
Who knows what transpired in the years between 1911 up until his suicide in the summer of 1917, but Fred’s death certificate provides a clue: Once a master butcher, he ended his life as a delivery man. (“butcher’s roundsman”).
Below: “Suicide by Strangulation by Hanging”
As for the long-suffering Bertha, she sent her eldest son, 13-year old George to Canada to live and work at his aunt Edith Puddifant’s family farm in Headingly, Manitoba.
Bertha’s brother, Frank Ingold directed his WW1 army pay to Bertha until he was demobilized. Frank was one of the siblings she shepherded through the London Orphan Asylum. Fifteen years older, she must have seemed like a mother to Frank.
The recent release of the 1921 UK census revealed that Bertha was operating a “tea and coffee room” at 266 High Street, and her 16 year old daughter Maud was contributing to the family by working as a tailor.
Below: 266 High Street, Bushey, Watford, UK
I lost track of the James family after the 1923 directory, but Marg Cortens told me a member of Fred’s family took in Bertha and her remaining children.
In the 1939 UK registry, Bertha was retired and living on Whippendale Road in Watford. Three of her children remained at home and were employed in lucrative war-time jobs.
Below: 22 Whippendale Road, Watford, UK
One final note, my late father, Frank Ingold, did a family history in 2007 and he got a lot wrong, including his belief that 4 of the Ingold sisters, including Bertha visited the Puddifant family in Canada around 1920. There is absolutely no proof of that, no travel records exist on either side of the Atlantic, and particularly in Bertha’s case is logistically impossible. It’s a reminder that family memories can be sketchy and some need to be taken with a grain of salt…
Bertha Maud Ingold James b. Edgware UK 1871 d. Watford UK 1953
Grave Digger 