Complete History of Jack the Ripper (84 page)

1
ELA
6 October 1888;
Southern Guardian
, 5 January 1889.

2
Warren, 17 October 1888, to Matthews, HO 144/220/A49301B/12; Lusk, 7 October 1888, to Matthews, HO 144/220/A49301B/7.

3
Brian Marriner,
A Century of Sex Killers
(London, 1992), p. 19.

4
DT
1 October 1888;
Star
10 November 1888.

5
Star
10 November 1888.

6
Star
11 September 1888.

7
Dan Farson,
Jack the Ripper
(London, revised edition, 1973), p. 45;
DT
10 and 11 September 1888;
Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates
, Third Series, Vol. CCCXXX, pp. 902–4; L. Forbes Winslow,
Recollections of Forty Years
(London, 1910), p. 252; Terence Robertson, ‘Madman who Murdered Nine Women’,
Reynolds’ News
, 29 October 1950.

Even where newsmen purport to quote the words of persons actually interviewed by them their reports must be used with care. When Frances Coles was slain in 1891 a Press Association report quoted Sir Edward Bradford, then Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, as saying that she had been murdered by ‘the same assassin who had previously struck terror in the East End’ in 1888. Bradford could remember making no such statement and his chief clerk wrote to the Press Association and asked them to retract it (W. Staples, 16 February 1891, to Press Association, PRO, MEPO 1/54, ff. 51–2). In September 1894 the
Evening News
published a long ‘chat’ with Dr Anderson, head of CID, about anthropometry, and
Le Matin
a two-column interview with Chief Inspector Melville about foreign Anarchists. Both officers denied that the interviews had ever taken place. Anderson, in a note to the Home Office on 24 September, said that although he remembered a reporter visiting him at New Scotland Yard he had been ‘positively rude to the man & declined altogether to be interviewed.’ The documents will be found at PRO, HO 45/9744/A56376.

8
For interviews with elderly East Londoners, see especially Farson,
Jack the Ripper
, pp. 25, 26, 48–9, 53–4; Tom Cullen,
Autumn of Terror
:
Jack the Ripper, His Crimes and Times
(London, 1965), pp. 17–19, 52–3, 129.

9
The Sickert-Knight theory may be followed in: Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd,
The Ripper File
(London, 1975); Stephen Knight,
Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution
(London, 1976);
The Sunday Times
, 18 June 1978;
The Bloodhound
, March 1987; Donald Rumbelow,
The Complete Jack the Ripper
(London, revised edition, 1987), pp. 200–217; Martin Howells & Keith Skinner,
The Ripper Legacy
(London, 1987), pp. 37–52; Melvin Harris,
Jack the Ripper: The Bloody Truth
(London, 1987), pp. 136–69; Neal Shelden, ‘Victims of Jack the Ripper’,
True Detective
, January 1989, pp. 49–51; Melvyn Fairclough,
The Ripper and the Royals
(London, 1991).

10
The case for the diary is expounded at length in Shirley Harrison,
The Diary of Jack the Ripper
(London, 1993). It should be read in conjunction with: Nick Warren, ‘Diary of an “extraordinarily nervous man”’,
Ripperana
, No. 5, July 1993, pp. 24–7; Phillip Knightley, ‘Is this man Jack the Ripper?’,
The Independent on Sunday
, 29 August 1993; Maurice Chittenden & Christopher Lloyd, ‘Fake!’,
The Sunday
Times
, 19 September 1993; Nick Warren, ‘Ten reasons why I believe the Ripper diary to be bogus,’
Ripperana
, No. 7, January 1994, pp. 2–5. Kenneth Rendell, a specialist in the authentication of historical documents, concludes that the Ripper diary is a hoax in his forthcoming book,
Forging History: The Detection of Fake Letters and Documents
, to be published by University of Oklahoma Press in March 1994.

11
William Stewart,
Jack the Ripper: A New Theory
(London, 1939), p. 220.

12
Donald McCormick,
The Identity of Jack the Ripper
(London, 1959), pp. 149, 151.

13
See, especially: Cullen,
Autumn of Terror
; Rumbelow,
Complete Jack the Ripper
; Paul Begg,
Jack the Ripper: The Uncensored Facts
(London, 1988); Paul Begg, Martin Fido & Keith Skinner (ed.),
The Jack the Ripper A to Z
(London, 1991); Alexander Kelly,
Jack the Ripper: A Bibliography and Review of the Literature
(London, revised edition, 1984). For serious students a subscription to the aficionados’ quarterly,
Ripperana
, edited by Nicholas P. Warren, is essential.

14
Neil Gaiman, Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman, ‘Who was Jack the Ripper?’,
The Truth
, No. 12, 20 October 1988, pp. 17–19.

1
Depositions of Elizabeth Mahoney, Alfred George Crow and John Saunders Reeves at inquest, 9 August 1888,
ELO
and
ELA
11 August,
T
and
DN
10 August; report of Inspector E. Ellisdon, 10 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 34; report of Chief Inspector Donald S. Swanson, September 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a. Walter Dew’s reminiscent account of the Tabram murder must be used with care,
I Caught Crippen
(London, 1938), pp. 95–104.

2
Deposition of PC Thomas Barrett, 9 August 1888,
ELO
11 August.

3
Deposition of Dr Timothy Robert Killeen, 9 August 1888,
ibid.

4
Deposition of Dr Killeen, 9 August 1888,
ELO
11 August and
DN
10 August.

5
Report of Inspector Ellisdon, 10 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 34; statement of Francis Hewitt and wife,
ELO
18 August 1888;
Illustrated Police News
18 August 1888.

6
Star
7 August 1888.

7
ELO
and
ELA
11 August 1888; For the St Jude’s Vigilance Committee, see Secretary of Committee, Toynbee Hall, 9 September 1888, to
DN
,
DN
11 September;
Star
12 September 1888;
ELO
15 September 1888; Cullen,
Autumn of Terror
, pp. 92–3.

8
The fullest notices of the inquest proceedings are in
ELO
and
ELA
11
August 1888. Unless otherwise credited all details in the text relating to the inquest have been derived from these sources.

9
T
10 August 1888.

10
Biographical information on Martha Tabram has been drawn from the registers of births, marriages & deaths, St Catherine’s House, from the censuses of 1851 (HO 107/1565) and 1871 (RG 10/606), PRO, and from the depositions of Henry Samuel Tabram, Henry Turner, Mary Bousfield and Ann Morris at the resumed inquest on 23 August 1888. For inquest reports, see
T
and
DN
24 August,
ELO
and
ELA
25 August, and report of Inspector Edmund Reid, 24 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 49–51. For James Bousfield, see Cullen,
Autumn of Terror
, p. 36 n. 1.

The coroner’s papers for the inquest on Charles Samuel White, held on 18 November 1865, will be found at CLRO, Southwark Inquests, 1865, No. 229. They contain the depositions of Mary Ann White (his daughter), Rebecca Grover (his landlady) and Henry O’Donnell (his doctor). White’s wife also testified but her deposition is missing from the file. See also,
South London Chronicle
25 November 1865.

11
Report of Inspector Reid, 16 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 46; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, Sept. 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

12
Report of Inspector Reid, 25 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 52–7. See also report of Inspector Reid, 16 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 46–7, and report of Chief Inspector Swanson, Sept. 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

13
Kelly’s Kingston, Norbiton, Surbiton, and District Directory
for 1891 lists a John Benjamin as the landlord of the Canbury Arms, 49 Canbury Park Road, Kingston.

14
John Leary (regimental No. 6031), WO 97/3274, and John Leary (No. 172), WO 97/5324, PRO.

15
For Pearly Poll’s story, see reports of Inspector Reid, 16 and 24 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 44–5, 50; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, Sept. 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a; deposition of Mary Ann Connelly, 23 August 1888,
ELA
and
ELO
25 August.

16
ELO
18 August 1888.

17
Reports of Inspector Reid, 16 August and 25 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 45, 47–8, 57–9; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, Sept. 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

18
Dew,
I Caught Crippen
, pp. 102–3; report of Chief Constable Melville Macnaghten, 23 February 1894, MEPO 3/141, f. 182.

19
Summing up of George Collier, 23 August 1888,
ELA
25 August.

20
Report of Chief Inspector Swanson, Sept. 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a; deposition of Dr Killeen, 9 August 1888,
DN
10 August.

21
McCormick,
Identity of Jack the Ripper
(1959), p. 17.

22
‘Detail of reports in tabular form for reference,’ MEPO 3/140, ff. 35–6.

23
Paul Harrison,
Jack the Ripper: The Mystery Solved
(London, 1991), p. 99.

24
ELA
18 August 1888. Unknown to each other Jon Ogan and I researched the Tabram murder at the same time. We both concluded that the evidence against the soldiery was unsatisfactory. See his perceptive article, ‘Martha Tabram – the Forgotten Ripper Victim?’,
Journal of Police History Society
, Vol. V (1990), pp. 79–83.

25
Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary, Admission & Discharge Book, 1888–9, GLRO, StBG/Wh/123/20; death certificate, St Catherine’s House;
Eastern Post
7 April 1888; Russell Whitaker, ‘A New Ripper Victim,’
Ripperana
, No. 7, January 1994, pp. 15–6.

26
ELO
31 March 1888; London Hospital, Patient Admissions Register, 1888, RLHAM.

27
DN
6 April 1888.

28
The file upon Emma Smith is now missing from MEPO 3/140. Most of the information in the present account has been drawn from press notices of the inquest on 7 April 1888:
Star
7 April;
T,
DT
and
DN
9 April. See also: London Hospital, Patient Admissions Register, 1888, RLHAM; Dew,
I Caught Crippen
, pp. 91–4; Rumbelow,
Complete Jack the Ripper
(1975), pp. 56–7.

29
For the movements of Polly Nichols on the night of 30–31 August, see
T
1 September 1888; report of Inspector Joseph Helson, 7 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 237; report of Inspector Frederick G. Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 246–7; deposition of Ellen Holland, 3 September 1888,
ELO
8 September.

1
Cross and Paul told their stories at the Nichols inquest, Cross on 3 September and Paul on 17 September. The most useful notices of Cross’ testimony are in
Star
, 3 September;
DT
, 4 September;
DN
, 4 September. There is a brief notice of Paul’s testimony in
T
, 18 September, and even briefer ones in
DT
, 18 September, and
ELA
, 22 September. Their discovery of the body is also described in the report of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 242–3.

2
This account of police activities consequent upon the discovery of Nichols’ body rests primarily upon inquest depositions. For those of PC John Neil and Dr Rees Ralph Llewellyn, 1 September 1888, see
T
, 3 September;
DT
, 3 September;
DN
, 3 September. For those of PC Jonas Mizen and Inspector John Spratling, 3 September, see
Star
, 3 September;
DN
, 4 September. And for that of PC Thain, 17 September, see
T
, 18 September;
DT
, 18 September.

Llewellyn’s press statement of 31 August 1888 is printed in
DT
, 1 September, and
DN
, 1 September. Finally, the events are briefly covered in two police reports – that of Inspector Spratling, 31 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 239, and that of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 243–4.

3
Report of Inspector Spratling, 31 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 239–240; report of Chief Inspector Swanson on Nichols murder, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

4
Deposition of Dr Llewellyn, 1 September 1888, see n. 2 above.

5
Much on Polly Nichols’ history will be found in: report of Inspector Helson, 7 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 235–6; report of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 244–6; deposition of Edward Walker, 1 September 1888,
T
,
DT
and
DN
, all for 3 September; depositions of William Nichols and Ellen Holland, 3 September 1888,
ELO
, 8 September, for best coverage, but see also
DT
, 4 September, and
DN
, 4 September; statement of William Nichols, not dated,
DT
, 10 September 1888; registers of births, marriages and deaths, St Catherine’s House.

I have also derived great benefit from the pioneering researches of Donald Rumbelow,
The Complete Jack the Ripper
(revised edition, 1987), pp. 41–2, and Neal Shelden, ‘Victims of Jack the Ripper’,
True Detective
, January 1989, p. 49.

6
Quoted in
DN
, 3 September. Since Polly did not leave Lambeth Workhouse until 12 May 1888 the date of 17 April given for this letter in
DT
, 3 September, must be incorrect and may be a misprint for 17 May.

7
Helson, in his report of 7 September, identifies the ‘White House’ as No. 55 Flower and Dean Street. Abberline, writing twelve days later, makes it No. 56.

8
DT
, 3 September;
ELO
, 8 September. Both Edward Walker and William Nichols found it difficult to live with Polly’s drinking. Nichols told the inquest: ‘I did not leave my wife but she left me of her own accord. She had no occasion for so doing. If it had not been for her drinking habits we would have got on all right together.’ See deposition of William Nichols, 3 September 1888, cited in n. 5 above.

9
ELO
, 17 December 1887. For convenient sketches of Abberline’s career, see ‘On Duty in Plain Clothes (A Detective Officer’s Reminiscences)’,
Cassell’s Saturday Journal
, Vol. X, No. 452, 28 May 1892, p. 852; Paul Begg, Martin Fido and Keith Skinner,
The Jack the Ripper A to Z
, pp. 5–8.

10
This account of the police investigation is drawn from the report of Inspector Spratling, 31 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 240–1, and from inquest testimony. For the depositions of Spratling and Helson, 3 September, see
Star
, 3 September, and
DN
, 4 September. For those of
Spratling, PC Thain, Emma Green, Walter Purkis and Patrick Mulshaw, 17 September, see
T
, 18 September, and
DT
, 18 September.

11
T
prints the watchman’s name as Patrick Mulshaw,
DT
as Alfred Malshaw.

12
Deposition of Henry Tomkins, 3 September 1888,
Star
, 3 September;
DN
, 4 September;
DT
, 4 September. For Neil,
DN
, 3 September.

13
Report of Inspector Helson, 7 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 237; report of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 247; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

14
DT
, 18 September 1888.

15
For Llewellyn’s press statement, 31 August 1888, see n. 2 above.

16
For depositions of Inspectors Spratling and Helson, 3 September 1888, see n. 10 above.

17
Statement of Inspector Helson, 2 September 1888,
DN
, 3 September; report of Inspector Helson, 7 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 236; report of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 253; for Helson’s inquest deposition, see n. 10 above.

18
Statement of Dr Llewellyn, 31 August 1888,
T
, 1 September.

19
Rumbelow,
Complete Jack the Ripper
(1987), p. 162; Arthur Douglas,
Will the Real Jack the Ripper
(Chorley, Lancs., 1979), p. 10.

20
Report of Inspector Spratling, 31 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 240; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a; deposition of Dr Llewellyn, 1 September 1888,
DN
, 3 September, and
DT
, 3 September.

21
McCormick,
Identity of Jack the Ripper
, p. 30.

22
Colin Wilson & Robin Odell,
Jack the Ripper: Summing Up and Verdict
(London, 1987), p. 139.

23
T
, 1 September 1888.

24
For full text, see Daniel Farson,
Jack the Ripper
, pp. 45–6.