Whitechapel Society & 'you Tube'

[Archaic]

Hi, Adrian.

I saw Ally's question about Fiona Kendall's talk.

If you succeed in getting Ms Kendall's permission, I would love to be able to watch it, and I'm sure many others would as well.
I have only heard bits and pieces of her story (mostly 3rd hand) but I find it very intriguing.

Thank you very much for your hard work; Seattle is a long, long way from London and the Whitechapel Society meetings, so I appreciate being able to see these videos.

Best regards, Archaic

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
With regard to Fiona giving permission for the film to be shown , I wouldnt hold your breath, she was not at all pleased with Casebook, or to be precise some members who refused to accept her word.
I may be wrong but I believe that the good lady was very careful in her talk, and kept a lot close to her chest, during the speech,and question time.
I can only reflect on reports mentioned on casebook after the occasion, not from personally being present.
Regards Richard.

[adrian]

Richard,

Thank you very much for your reply. I fully understand that distance and informality can obfuscate things. Thankfully, having Fiona Kendall in front of us at the Whitechapel Society meeting was a wonderful chance to have her explain her story and have people ask questions.

She was a lovely person and she is a very good friend of the Whitechapel Society - she even gave me an excellent bottle of port last Christmas!

Whatever you believe about her views etc, she was a very nice person indeed and was able to answer any question put to her.

As I said, I fully understand the barrier of not talking to her in person, but at least I might get an okay to put film of her on our YOU TUBE channel so you and the fellow posters on Casebook can have some idea of her views and memories of John McCarthy.

I hope that helps?

ADRIAN.

[Monty]

Adrian,

This is fantastic mate.

Not only are you as cool as Mr Freezes dingle dangles but you have some sharp ideas too.

I really need to get me to a WS meet.

Great work...really great work.

Monty

[Stephen Thomas]

Originally Posted by Archaic

If you succeed in getting Ms Kendall's permission, I would love to be able to watch it, and I'm sure many others would as well.
I have only heard bits and pieces of her story (mostly 3rd hand) but I find it very intriguing.

Hi Archaic

Fiona's talk was, as they say, weird and wonderful and I hope she'll allow Adrian to put it on Youtube as it was simply excellent.

[Archaic]

Hi, Stephen, how are you? "Weird and wonderful" sounds good to me!

I have a great interest in the subject of Family History, probably inherited from my father who was the family historian and 'story-teller'. He had an amazing memory for the family stories & anecdotes he heard throughout his life, and over the years he passed them on to me.

My father & I were eventually able to develop what seemed to be very minor and scattered bits of genealogical information into detailed family trees.

Often the "clue" which pointed us in the right direction was an old family story, or even a single tantalizing remark that was still recalled but whose meaning had been lost.

For instance, when my Dad was a very small boy his Irish Grandmother told him her Great-Great-something-Grandfather had been "a French military officer". My father remembered this his whole life but was baffled as to how it could possibly be true, as the family was definitely Irish. He always regretted that he hadn't found out the details while his Grandma was still alive, so after he retired he took up genealogy and went in search of the answer to this riddle. What he found out was that our ancestor was one of the Irish Catholic Rebel soldiers called 'The Wild Geese' who fled Ireland in the 1690's, went to France, and entered the French Army. He became a respected General and led the famous Dillon regiment of the French Army's 'Irish Brigade'- my Dad's Grandma was right!

The reason I'm telling this story is that my Dad was the only one in his family who remembered his Grandma's unlikely sounding story, took it seriously, and bothered to research it. Everyone else in the family said, "We're not French, so that can't be right; either Grandma was mixed up or you heard her wrong."

It's true, sometimes the details of a family's oral history are garbled a bit in the retelling, but oftentimes real gems are passed down which can be illuminated by subsequent research.

I don't expect Ms. Kendall's story to "finally solve" the Ripper Murders, but I'm sure it will be an interesting story and food for thought, and who knows what else it might lead to?

Best regards, Archaic

[Stephen Thomas]

Fascinating stuff, Archaic. 1690 is certainly going back a bit! Fiona has indicated that there is a strong family belief as to who JTR was and what the motivation was and that this has previously been kept secret within the family. Hopefully her book will come out sooner rather than later.

[richardnunweek]

Hello Adrian,
I hope I did not come across as Anti- Fiona, infact I was proberly her biggest supporter when she recorded those few posts on Casebook, I was truely fascinated with the snippits[ albeit briefly] she revealed, and I am sure she poccesses a lot of family history that could be extremely intresting to every one of us crime buffs.
All the best
Richard.

[adrian]

Richard,

I think we all have a duty to ask questions and people have a duty to answer them the best they can, a great example was a visit we had at the Whitechapel Society a few years ago by Trevor Marriott.

Trevor's original book had certain controversial elements in it but he was able to stand up and be questioned at one of the meetings and argue his case. He may not have convinced everybody, but he did win us over with his charm and dignity.

Where other authors/theorists et al have failed is not to engage with their audience. We all can put names forward for these people!

So you are right to ask questions and gain sources for statements and this neither makes you pro or negative.

ADRIAN.

[adrian]

What I have gained from these posts on this subject:

You all would like to see the Fiona Kendall film on our YOU TUBE channel!

I will work on this and put it up as soon as possible!

ADRIAN.