A mini-series in which historian Tracey Gregory talks with Naomi Clifford about the inhabitants of Loughborough Road in Brixton, South London.

Tracey’s blog, Loughborough Road Stories blog, explores the people and buildings of Loughborough Road and surrounding streets over the past 180 years.

This is a collaborative project between Morley Radio and The Door history podcast.

In the summer of 1869, 16-year-old Jeanette Tassie Cowen, the daughter of a travelling salesman and musician, was subjected to a sexual assault which left her pregnant. Her father Robert decided that the baby – John – should be adopted and after answering an advertisement in Lloyd’s Weekly, arranged to pay Margaret Waters a one-off fee of £4 for the baby’s care.

The Cowen family were at that time living at 1 Langholme Villas, Loughborough Road.

John was handed into the care of sisters Margaret Waters and her sister Sarah Ellis, who were ‘baby-farmers’, in other words they were paid foster-carers catering particularly to ‘illegitimate’ children. When police raided the premises, which had been under surveillance after a number of babies were found dead in the area, they discovered John and a number of other children in a terrible condition. He died two weeks later.

His death was central to the conviction of Margaret Waters, who was hanged at Horsemonger Gaol on 11 October 1870.

Although the social stigma of ‘illegitimate’ birth was huge at this time, the Cowen family weathered the storm. Jessie married John Coward, a textiles warehouse worker, in 1874 and had six children. She died in Streatham in 1921 and is buried alongside her husband in West Norwood Cemetery.

Note: In the recording, Margaret Waters has been mistakenly given as Mary Waters.