Complete History Of Jack The Ripper - Part 18
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Part 18

T, 11 September 1888, prints Amelia Palmer's name as Amelia Farmer. In five other inquest reports checked by the author the name is given as Palmer and this name has been adopted in the present text.

2 Her name is not recorded in the Admissions & Discharge Book of the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary, 18889, GLRO, StBG/Wh/123/20.

3 Statement of Frederick Simpson, Star, 8 September 1888.

4 The times stated are those given by Donovan at the inquest, 10 September, see n. 1. They are consistent with the report of Inspector Chandler, written on the day of the murder, which states that Annie was approached for her lodging money at 1.45. John Evans, testifying on 10 September, said that Annie left the lodging house at about 1.45. Abberline's report of 19 September makes it later, at about 2.00.

5 Frustratingly, names are often reported differently in different newspapers. Thus Mrs Hardiman's first name is most commonly given as Harriet but also as Annie and Mary. Tyler is called Francis in some reports and John in others. All the contemporary references I have seen to the residents of the first floor back call them Waker but Begg, Fido & Skinner, Jack the Ripper A to Z, enter them under Walker. While the surname of the two unmarried sisters from the second floor back is variously given as Cooksley, Copsey and Huxley. The report in T even refers to them (erroneously) as Mr and Mrs Copsey.

6 This account of the discovery of Annie Chapman's body rests largely upon inquest testimony. See, deposition of John Davis, 10 September 1888, in DT and DN, 11 September; depositions of Amelia Richardson, Harriet Hardiman, James Kent, James Green and Henry John Holland, 12 September 1888, in DT and DN, 13 September; summing up of Coroner Wynne E. Baxter, 26 September 1888, in T, 27 September. See also, report of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 249.

7 Report of Inspector Chandler, 8 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 9.

8 Dew, I Caught Crippen, pp. 1156.

9 Deposition of Dr George Bagster Phillips, 13 September 1888, in DT, 14 September.

10 Report of Inspector Chandler, 8 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 910; depositions of Inspector Chandler and Dr Phillips, 13 September 1888, in DT, DN and T, 14 September. The date of the postmark, 23 August, is taken from Swanson's summary report (see n.1). Dates of 3, 20 and 28 August are given in the press.

11 For Chandler's evidence, see n. 10.

12 Deposition of Dr Phillips, 13 September 1888, in DT, DN and T, 14 September; deposition of Dr Phillips, 19 September 1888, in DT, DN and T, 20 September; 'The Whitechapel Murders', The Lancet, 1888, Vol. II, 29 September 1888, p. 637; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

13 Endors.e.m.e.nt of Acting Superintendent West to report of Inspector Chandler, 8 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 11.

14 For these police activities, see report of Inspector Chandler, 8 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 11; report of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 2523; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a. On the leather ap.r.o.n, see the inquest depositions of Amelia Richardson, 12 September 1888, and Inspector Chandler and Dr Phillips, 13 September 1888, cited in n. 6 and 10.

15 Report of Inspector Chandler, 14 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 16; report of Inspector Chandler, 15 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 1820; deposition of William Stevens, 19 September 1888, in DT and T, 20 September.

16 Deposition of John Richardson, 12 September 1888, in DT and DN, 13 September; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

17 Deposition of Mrs Elizabeth Long, 19 September 1888, in DT, DN and T, 20 September; report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

There are frequent discrepancies between our sources. The only one which concerns the description of the suspect is about his hat. According to DN (quoted in the text) and T, Mrs Long described it as a brown deerstalker. The DT report, however, quotes her as saying that it was a 'brown, low-crowned, felt hat.'

Mrs Long's address seems to have been recorded differently by almost everyone who heard it. The main inquest reports print it as Church Row, Whitechapel (DT), 3 Church Row (DN) and 198 Church Row, Whitechapel (T). Baxter, summing up on 26 September, referred to it as Church Street, Whitechapel. And Swanson, reviewing the case on 19 October, gave it as 32 Church Street. There were Church Streets in Bethnal Green, Minories and Spitalfields. Mrs Long could have lived in any one of the three, or in Church Lane, by Whitechapel Church. All these four had house numbers up to or beyond 32 but none as high as 198.

18 The times given in the text follow Cadosch's inquest deposition of 19 September 1888. See, DT, DN and T, 20 September. Swanson, probably drawing upon a lost statement to the police, gave 5.25 and 5.28 as the times of Cadosch's experiences in the yard of No. 27.

19 Coroner Baxter's summing up, 26 September 1888, in DT, 27 September.

20 DT, 10 September 1888.

21 Baxter's summing up, 26 September 1888, DT, 27 September.

22 See, Star, 12 September 1888; DT, DN and T, 13 September 1888.

23 T, 13 September 1888; DT and ELA, 15 September 1888; for Fountain Smith's demeanour at inquest, DN, 13 September, and ELA, 15 September 1888.

6 The Man in the Pa.s.sage 1 Leonard Matters, Mystery of Jack the Ripper (London, 1929), p. 61; Stewart, Jack the Ripper, pp. 567; Robin Odell, Jack the Ripper in Fact and Fiction (London, revised edition, 1966), p. 31; McCormick, Ident.i.ty of Jack the Ripper (1959), p. 41; Peter Underwood, Jack the Ripper: One Hundred Years of Mystery (London, 1987), p. 8.

2 Stewart, Jack the Ripper, pp. 19, 58.

3 Deposition of Amelia Palmer, 10 September 1888, DN 11 September.

4 McCormick, Ident.i.ty of Jack the Ripper (1959), p. 37.

5 Star 8 September 1888.

6 Victor Neuburg, Gone for a Soldier (London, 1989), pp. 256; Edward Spiers, The Army and Society 18151914 (London, 1980), ch. 2.

7 Begg, Jack the Ripper, p. 53, citing Yorkshire Post 11 September 1888.

8 Deposition of Timothy Donovan, 10 September 1888, DN 11 September.

9 Terence Sharkey, Jack the Ripper: 100 Years of Investigation (London, 1987), p. 28.

10 Deposition of Timothy Donovan, 13 September 1888, DN and DT 14 September.

11 Allen's report is known only from Stewart, Jack the Ripper, p. 55. The 8 September 1888 issue of PMG consulted by the present writer did not carry the item but it is possible that it was given in another edition. For the farthings, DT 10 September 1888. For Reid and Smith, deposition of Inspector Reid, 18 July 1889, at Alice McKenzie inquest, DT 19 July 1889, and Sir Henry Smith, From Constable to Commissioner (London, 1910), p. 148.

12 Matters, Mystery of Jack the Ripper, p. 64; Stewart, Jack the Ripper, pp. 55, 215; McCormick, Ident.i.ty of Jack the Ripper (1959), p. 35.

13 Harrison, Jack the Ripper, p. 39; Begg, Fido & Skinner, Jack the Ripper A to Z, p. 49.

14 Knight, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, pp. 1689, 1712.

15 Report of Inspector Chandler, 8 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 910; deposition of James Kent, 12 September 1888, DT and DN 13 September; depositions of Inspector Chandler and Dr Phillips, 13 September 1888, DT, DN and T 14 September; report of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 252.

16 Knight, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, pp. 16671; Fairclough, Ripper and the Royals, pp. 55, 589.

17 McCormick, Ident.i.ty of Jack the Ripper, pp. 39, 49, 50.

18 Star 12 and 13 September 1888; T, DT and DN 13 September 1888.

19 DT 10 September 1888; T 11 September 1888.

20 Cullen, Autumn of Terror, p. 59.

21 DN 11 September 1888.

22 DT 10 September 1888.

23 Deposition of Amelia Richardson, 12 September 1888, DT 13 September.

24 DT 10 September 1888.

25 Report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

7 The Panic and the Police 1 Star, 8 September 1888; DT, 10 September 1888.

2 ELO, 15 September 1888.

3 DN, 11 September 1888.

4 Dew, I Caught Crippen, pp. 117122.

5 Star, 8 September 1888. The ident.i.ty of 'Squibby' has not yet been established. Possibilities, culled from the records of the police courts, include George Squibb, a young carman charged at Worship Street with cutting and wounding a woman in Commercial Road and with violently a.s.saulting two policemen in September 1886; William Squibb, charged at Thames Police Court in February 1888 with the theft of a watch; and Charles Squibb, who threatened to blind a policeman when arrested for attempted theft in August 1888.

6 ELO, 15 September 1888.

7 The Jewish Chronicle, 14 September 1888; DN, 10 September 1888; Star, 11 September 1888; ELA, 22 September 1888.

8 Montagu's note of authorization, 10 September 1888; Bruce, 10 September 1888, to Under Secretary of State; Leigh-Pemberton, 13 September 1888, to Warren; Montagu, 18 September 1888, to Warren; Warren, 19 September 1888, to Montagu. All these doc.u.ments will be found at HO 144/220/A49301B/2 and MEPO 3/141, ff. 1706.

9 ELO, 22 September 1888.

10 ELO, 15 September 1888.

11 ELO, 22 September 1888; ELA, 22 and 29 September 1888.

12 B. Harris, 16 September 1888, to Matthews, and Leigh-Pemberton, 17 September 1888, to Harris, HO 144/220/A49301B/3; Home Office minute on letter of Mile End Vigilance Committee, 24 September 1888, to Matthews, HO 144/221/A49301C/1.

13 Lusk's pet.i.tion, 27 September 1888, to Queen Victoria, and Leigh-Pemberton, 6 October 1888, to Lusk, HO 144/220/A49301B/5; George Lusk and Joseph Aarons, 29 September 1888, to DT, DT 1 October 1888.

14 Star, 8 and 10 September 1888.

15 DT, 12 September 1888.

16 'A Night in Whitechapel,' Star, 11 September 1888.

17 ELO, 22 September 1888; DT, 17, 20 and 21 September 1888; Star, 19 and 20 September 1888.

18 Star, 8 September 1888; T, 10 September 1888; DT, 12 September 1888; ELO and ELA, 15 September 1888; Montagu Williams, Round London: Down East and Up West (London, 1892); Cullen, Autumn of Terror, p. 54; Underwood, Jack the Ripper, p. 171.

19 T, 18 September 1888.

20 Winslow publicized his views in T, 12 September 1888, and The Lancet, 22 September 1888, p. 603. There was little agreement within the medical profession on such matters. For other contemporary views, see The Lancet, 15 September 1888, pp. 5334, and 22 September 1888, p. 603; George H. Savage, 'Homicidal Mania', The Fortnightly Review, New Series, Vol. XLIV, JulyDecember 1888, pp. 448463.

21 DT, 14 September 1888; DN, 20 September 1888.

22 Coroner Baxter's summing-up, 26 September 1888, DT, 27 September.

23 T, 27 September 1888.

24 James Risdon Bennett, 27 September 1888, to T, in T, 28 September; see also Central News interview with Bennett, 1 October 1888, Evening News, 1 October.

25 DT, 29 September 1888.

26 The British Medical Journal, 6 October 1888.

27 ELA, 15 September 1888; DT, 12 and 19 September 1888; T, 18 and 24 September 1888.

28 DN, 11 September 1888; Star, 8 and 10 September 1888; DT, 24 September 1888; Home Office memo., 19 September 1888, to Matthews, HO 144/221/A49301C/8.

29 Star, 8 September 1888; J. H. Ashforth, 12 September 1888, to Warren, HO 144/221/A49301E/4; deposition of Dr Phillips, 19 September 1888, DT 20 September.

30 'Brain Pictures A Photo-Physiological Discovery,' British Journal of Photography, Vol. x.x.xV, No. 1450, 17 February 1888, p. 105; Star 13 September 1888; deposition of Dr Phillips, 19 September 1888, DT, 20 September; Matthews, 5 October 1888, to Warren, HO 144/221/A49301C/8; Dew, I Caught Crippen, p. 148; Kelly, Jack the Ripper: A Bibliography and Review of the Literature (1973), p. 20.

31 For background on reward question, see Sir Leon Radzinowicz, A History of English Criminal Law (London, 194886), espec. II, pp. 57111; CET, 'Memoranda on the Question of the Offer of Rewards by Government in Criminal Cases,' 6 and 19 October 1888, HO 144/220/A49301B/19.

32 For comment at Nichols inquest, DT, 18 September 1888, and at Chapman inquest, DT, 14 and 20 September 1888.

33 Star, 14 September 1888; DT, 12, 19 and 24 September 1888.

34 Home Office minute, 11 September 1888, HO 144/220/A49301B/2.

35 Star, 10 and 12 September 1888; DT and T, 11 September 1888.

8 The King of Elthorne Road 1 DN 11 September 1888; Farson, Jack the Ripper (1973), p. 25.

2 DT 11 September 1888; Dew, I Caught Crippen, p. 110; Cullen, Autumn of Terror, p. 61.

3 Report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a; deposition of John Pizer, 12 September 1888, DN, DT and T 13 September.

4 T and DT 12 September 1888.

5 DN 13 September 1888; ELO 15 September 1888; depositions of John Pizer and Sergeant Thick, 12 September 1888, DN, DT and T 13 September; ELA 15 September 1888.

John Pizer, the son of Israel and August Pizer, died at the London Hospital in 1897 from gastro-enteritis. His death certificate makes him 47 years old at time of death and therefore 38 at the time of the Chapman murder. In the Thames Magistrates' Court registers his age is given as 36 in both 1887 and 1888. In September 1888 press reports ascribe ages of 33, 35 and 36 to him.

On Thursday, 11 October 1888, Pizer successfully prosecuted Emily Patzwold at Thames Magistrates' Court for calling him 'Old Leather Ap.r.o.n' and a.s.saulting him; see DN 5 October and DT 12 October. For Pizer's libel actions, ELA 13 October 1888 and Lincoln Springfield, Some Piquant People, pp. 457.

6 Report of Inspector Abberline, 19 September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 2489.

7 For statements of Pizer's relatives, Star 10 September 1888, DT 11 and 12 September 1888; for his court appearances, T 8 July 1887, and Thames Magistrates' Court Registers, GLRO, PS/TH/Al/9 and 12.

8 DT 12 September 1888; Star 11 September 1888. This incident was probably the basis for the Star's claim, on 6 September, that Leather Ap.r.o.n had temporarily fallen into the hands of two J Division constables the previous Sunday. See ch. 4.

9 Numerous press reports relate to Piggott during the week but see, especially, T 1112 and 1415 September 1888; DT and Star 11 September 1888. Also, Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary, Admission & Discharge Book, 18889, GLRO, StBG/Wh/123/20.

Piggott was no stranger to the infirmary. He had been admitted there from 19 Brick Lane on 8 June 1888 for alcoholism and discharged on 30 July. Infirmary records describe him as a ship's cook. Press reports aver that he was the son of an insurance agent in Gravesend and once prospered as a publican, giving 8000 to go into a house at Hoxton in 1880 or 1881. He died in 1901.

10 For Ludwig's activities, depositions of John Johnson, Alexander Finlay and PC 221H, Thames Magistrates' Court, 18 September 1888, DT and T 19 September; statement of Alexander Finlay, 18 September 1888, DT 19 September; Thames Magistrates' Court Register, 18 and 25 September 1888, GLRO, PS/TH/Al/11.

11 See, especially, DT 19 September 1888, which carries statements by C. A. Partridge and Mr Richter, and DN 20 September 1888, which prints a statement of the landlord of a hotel in Finsbury in which Ludwig sometimes stayed.

12 Ludwig is sometimes referred to in contemporary records as Wetzel. He eventually accounted for his whereabouts on the nights of the previous murders and, having spent two weeks on remand, was discharged on 2 October 1888. Just a fortnight later he was reported to have been seen acting strangely and flourishing a knife in the neighbourhood. See, Star 2 and 17 October. He often appears in the subsequent registers of Thames Magistrates' Court.