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The Missing Memorandum

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  • The Missing Memorandum

    Hi All,

    There are two extant versions of what is known as the Macnaghten Memorandum.

    1. The 'Macnaghten Report' written on official 'Metropolitan Police Office' paper, dated 23rd Feb. 1894, and currently held at the UK National Archives [file reference MEPO 3/141, ff. 177-83].

    2. The Aberconway version, present whereabouts uncertain. This is a part-typewritten and part-handwritten transcript of a now lost original Macnaghten document. As this version differs in certain details from the 'Macnaghten Report' it is generally agreed to be a "draft version" and, as such, must pre-date 23rd February 1894.

    There may once have been a version owned by Lady Aberconway's nephew Gerald Donner and seen by his friend Philip Loftus in the early 50s. Now also apparently lost, it was said by Loftus to be "in Sir Melville's handwriting on official paper, rather untidy and in the nature of rough jottings." It has been suggested, however, that Philip Loftus misremembered and that the document he saw may have been the lost original of the Macnaghten report transcribed by Lady Aberconway.

    Either way, this makes three versions of the Macnaghten Memorandum which were floating around in the 1950s.

    But now, in November 2010, incontrovertible evidence of a fourth version has come to light.

    Rough jottings on official paper, or the lost original draft version?

    I know there's a lot of people out there sitting on unseen Ripper material, some of which could be described as having been found before it was lost, so would anyone care to contribute anything to this thread before I continue?

    Regards,

    Simon
    Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.

  • #2
    Plot

    A fourth version??? The plot thickens - the smell of conspiracy hangs thick in the air!
    SPE

    Treat me gently I'm a newbie.

    Comment


    • #3
      anticipation

      Hello Simon. I look forward to seeing this.

      Cheers.
      LC

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Stewart P Evans View Post
        the smell of conspiracy hangs thick in the air!
        Ah... I thought I had stepped in something. Thanks for clearing it up.

        Mike
        huh?

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        • #5
          Hi Stewart,

          Blimey, by now the smoke alarms in your house must be going wild.

          As far as I'm concerned it's simply documented fact from an impeccable source.

          Regards,

          Simon
          Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Simon Wood View Post
            Hi Stewart,

            Blimey, by now the smoke alarms in your house must be going wild.

            As far as I'm concerned it's simply documented fact from an impeccable source.

            Regards,

            Simon
            All the secret squirrels will now be in their dens checking on their nuts !!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Simon Wood View Post
              Hi Stewart,

              Blimey, by now the smoke alarms in your house must be going wild.

              As far as I'm concerned it's simply documented fact from an impeccable source.

              Regards,

              Simon
              Stewart
              i have just come back on the Ely Road towards Cambridge and saw a line of fire engines heading towards you are you ok ?
              Last edited by Trevor Marriott; 11-06-2010, 08:26 PM.

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              • #8
                Simon

                I hope you realise we're all on the edges of our seats ...

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Simon Wood View Post
                  But now, in November 2010, incontrovertible evidence of a fourth version has come to light.
                  Whooooah, Simon,

                  Please ELUCIDATE.
                  allisvanityandvexationofspirit

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Mr Wood,
                    Would you be willing to ellucidate, plus, without even dreaming of asking you to be any more specific about your “impeccable source“, can I still ask 2 questions?
                    1) How do you know it's a 4th version, since we're not even sure about the THIRD version (the Gerald Donner one), not about its whereabouts or if it really existed? Is this 4th version you're talking about entirely typed?
                    2) Has this revelation anything to do with a new found mysterious source I've been hearing about which is supposed to blow R.J. Palmer's recent assessments out of the water? Or (most possibly), is this a different finding, pertaining to Tumblety? Perhaps your “impeccable source“ happened to find both.
                    With apologies for being so openly curious, as I know that curiosity killed the cat.
                    Last edited by mariab; 11-07-2010, 01:58 AM.
                    Best regards,
                    Maria

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                    • #11
                      Simon Wood wrote:
                      Rough jottings on official paper, or the lost original draft version?

                      Apologies, I didn't notice this.
                      I was having visions along the line of a typed version, perhaps acquired by Daniel Farson, but what you're insinuating here looks more like a draft version. The original one, the Gerald Donner one, or a fake?
                      Best regards,
                      Maria

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                      • #12
                        I also wait in anticipation.

                        Look foward to reading more Simon.
                        Washington Irving:

                        "To a homeless man, who has no spot on this wide world which he can truly call his own, there is a momentary feeling of something like independence and territorial consequence, when, after a weary day's travel, he kicks off his boots, thrusts his feet into slippers, and stretches himself before an inn fire. Let the world without go as it may; let kingdoms rise and fall, so long as he has the wherewithal to pay his bills, he is, for the time being, the very monarch of all he surveys. The arm chair in his throne; the poker his sceptre, and the little parlour of some twelve feet square, his undisputed empire. "

                        Stratford-on-Avon

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                        • #13
                          Ms Mariab,

                          All will be revealed shortly, including the identity of my impeccable source.

                          It can be the third version if you so desire. It all depends whether you think Loftus was hallucinating or, perhaps, lying. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and figured he must have seen some document or other. What it might have been is, of course, another matter.

                          Handwritten.

                          And, no, thankfully all this has no connection with Tumblety.

                          Regards,

                          Simon
                          Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            C'mon, Simon, the suspense is killing me. Someone who is "sitting on unseen Ripper material" would have to be one of the biggies. Stewart, apparently, has never heard of it, and Rumbelow, et al. don't hang around here, so you probably aren't going to get any takers. We're ready for the unveiling. (And I'm very glad that Tumblety is out of the picture.)

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Damn!

                              My secret's out.

                              And I thought I'd filed it away safely between my original copy of The Bible and Abberline's I pod...


                              If I have seen further it is because I am standing on the shoulders of giants.

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