Jessie Florence Crozier

Birth: July 1880 or 18/12/81 - Liverpool, England. or Pimlico, London. (Central London)
Baptised 13/4/04 at St John's, Kensington.
Married at Werburgh Parish, Dublin City.
Died 13/11/64. at Croydon. (South London, England)

Census 1881: Jessie F Staples
Age: 9 Months, Born In: 1881

(Census 1891 has these 4 children; Fanny then 36.)
Eldest daughter of Walter Staples and Fanny Maria. Siblings: Norman was 10 years younger, Eva 7 and Victor: a year younger than Jessie. Maybe was married or left home before Jessie did, as other records state there were 4 living children in 1911.

1901 Ireland census:
Residents of a house 5 in Carton Demesne (Maynooth, Kildare, Dublin) 31/3/01.
Staples, Walter. 44. Head of Family. Church of Ireland. B. Kent, England. Butler. Read and write. Married.
Staples, Maria. 48. Wife. Church of Ireland. B. Suffolk, England. Read and write. Married.
Staples, Jessie. 20. Daughter. Church of Ireland. B. England. Housekeeper. Read and write. Not Married.
Staples, Eva J. 13. Daughter. Church of Ireland. B. England. Scholar. Read and write. Not Married.
Staples, Norman. 10. Son. Church of Ireland
(Where was Victor? Aged 19)

Was hired as a nurse to care for the children after Marian (their mother) died in 1906. (Maybe connection came via Bishop Crozier as he was also Bishop at Kildare.)

Married John in 1908. Had 3 children within 2 years: John George, Beauclerc and Desmond; 1909, 1910, 1911.

1911 Ireland Census
Birth: Circa 1881 - England
Residence: Apr 2 1911 - Gortraw, Mullynagowan, co.Fermanagh, Ireland
Husband: John George Crozier
Children: Helena Inez Crozier, George Armar Crozier, John George Crozier, Beauclerc William Henry Crozier, Desmond Robert Crozier
Residence: Apr 2 1911 - Gortraw, Mullynagowan, Fermanagh, Ireland (aged 30).

Arrested evening of October 18th, 1912, with John (husband) for death of his son John Spencer Noel, aged 16, by neglect. (Starved.) He was given 5 years penal servitude: she 12. Found guilty of manslaughter.

21/12/12 was sent to prison in Sligo. Ireland. Prisoner #734.

.. COURT. PRISONERS’ DEMEANOUR. Mr. Justice Wright, at the Ulster Assizes sentenced Jessie Florence Crozier to twelve years' penal servitude, and ... ” Saturday 28 December 1912 , Larne Times

Prison description: Jessie Florence, 33 years 5 feet 2½ inches, dark hair, brown eyes.

Held at Londonderry prison. Tried at the Ulster winter assizes for Fermanagh at Londonderry. Both sent to Mountjoy prison, Dublin, then to Maryborough. She was let out early (after one year) due to WW1... was probably needed at home to care for the boys, although initially the Very Rev. Dr. Crozier (Lord Primate of Ireland) had them in his care. (??) OR not.

Jessie went on to foster 2 boys, John Bell and Frank (Francis) Allett; (both from Belfast) . Must have been a great need for this after the war. Maybe it was after her husband had died, Beuclerc had left and she needed help on the farm. Desmond went to war in WW2, (194..)

Census 1939: living at 41a Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. (East of London). With Willam F. Staples (65) and Geoffry Staples (aged 19). She was doing "unpaid domestic duties" and was a widow, aged 58.

As an older lady, Jessie was taken to church at Newtown Butler by Frank Allett, who had become a strong Salvation Armyist. Apparently, she sat at the front of the church, and was a little woman. (William Little, of that church, recalled her). She is buried there, with her son John George. Jessie died in England.

Of Jessie Florence's biological children, only Beauclerc had children. John, remained in Fermanagh, living with her until she died in 1964. He died in 1978 and they are buried together, at St Comgall's Church, Newtown Butler.
Beauclerc left home after his father's death (1933) and went to New Zealand (1949) where he married and had children. He died in 1989 and is buried there in Palmerston North, with his wife.
Desmond went to Italy in WW2 where he died (1944) at Anzio and is buried there in the Commonwealth War Graveyard.

"While researching about the servants employed in Carton House (which is just five minutes from where I live -Vanessa) I came across Walter Staples (father of Jessie), who was the butler to the Lord Frederick Fitzgerald. It was while researching Walter that I discovered Jessie. 

My thesis aims to cover the entire of the trial and the Crozier family. I hope to create a genealogical pedigree for both the Crozier side and the Staples side. Since both John and Jessie were released early from prison, I hope to investigate the social ramifications that they endured. Newspaper reports seemed to believe that Jessie was the mastermind behind the death of her step-son. I see that Jessie was from Pimlico (?) Her family seem to have hovered around big houses and the establishment (prison); Jessie’s father was a gamekeeper. 

Maybe Jessie heard of the opportunity to work as nursemaid for John George Crozier and his first wife, from Thomas James Crozier. They lived 9 miles from each other. No obvious family relationship, but they were both locally prominent and probably knew each other." Vanessa.