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Has this been established? He left in his later forties and worked for a detective agency... seems an odd move...
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Hello Writer,
Probally because he was set for an early pension, and that was enough to keep him happy. He had a normally long career, I don't know if there would be any real reason aside form the pension.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 -
It certainly wasn't because he needed plenty of spare time to write his memoirs. If only he had done just that.....
Or who knows? It might have just made an unsolvable case even murkier.Comment
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Hello Brenda,
Yes, that would indeed be intruiging.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-AvonComment
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I take the point but I find it strange that he left to go and join a detective agency, whcih is basically doing the same job without the security and prestige, and also without the same workforce behind you. Just seems surprising.
Also having rewatched the BBC Jack the Ripper I do agree that in the Cleveland St case Aberline's behaviour was odd. They claim "he wasn't trying".. either way the delays and hiccups do strike me as odd. Is the view that Aberline was a good detective (which elsewhere the BBC programme asserts) a generally held one?Comment
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His reputation is probably over-rated.Originally posted by Writerboy View Post
If his actions in the Cleveland Street case were carried out by any other major police figure their reputation today would be in tatters - Anderson, McNaughten etc.
He in all likelihood pilfered police files from Scotland Yard.
The best look at Abberlines police work is an essay by Stewart Evans here on casebook. It deals with his "interrogation" of George Hutchinson.Comment
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I don't see the problem here. Abberline had worked long enough to earn a full pension, and then accepted a job as a private enquiry agent at Monte Carlo (nice weather) and then with Pinkerton's (nice money). Seem to me like smart moves to make.Comment
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Which BBC one are you refering too?Originally posted by Writerboy View PostIn order to know virtue, we must first aquaint ourselves with vice!
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I would imagine that fielding questions on a daily basis may have played a role.
Who was the ripper?- If we knew that, we would have arrested him.
How did he get away?- Same answer as first question.
How many did he kill?- When we find him, we will be sure to ask.
Any new developments?-Read the paper!
Local guy you think?- Ok, that is it! I am out of here!I confess that altruistic and cynically selfish talk seem to me about equally unreal. With all humility, I think 'whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,' infinitely more important than the vain attempt to love one's neighbour as one's self. If you want to hit a bird on the wing you must have all your will in focus, you must not be thinking about yourself, and equally, you must not be thinking about your neighbour; you must be living with your eye on that bird. Every achievement is a bird on the wing.
Oliver Wendell HolmesComment
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Abberline - retirement
Don´t know what it was at the turn of the century, but I do know that the retirement age used to be fifty for policemen (my grandfather was a police officer, joined I think, after W.W.II), so he would not have had a long time left in the police force anyway.Comment
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That is the great regret
He had a lot of information that no one else had and absolute integrity.Originally posted by Brenda View PostComment
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Early retirement and a move into Security management was a preferred choice for quite a few CID until at least a few years back......Maybe Mr.A started the trend?
SteveComment
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I agree with you, Grave Maurice! Also, maybe Abberline was tired of working for Scotland Yard.Originally posted by The Grave Maurice View PostComment
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Hi,
Strangely I find myself agreeing with Maurice on this. It would surelly have been a case of when the pension is right it is time to move on, and if you need to or want to take a job doing a similiar type of work but one that you can leave if you choose to then even better. Before the recession hit a great number of people were doing that in this age. And good luck to them. You only live once after all.
Best wishes.Comment
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Just a slight correction. The job Abberline had with Pinkerton's was at the casino in Monte Carlo, so they were not two different positions. I agree that Fred Abberline was probably tired after his years of service with the Met and decided to retire on his full pension and go on to other pursuits including his stint at Monte Carlo and tending to his rose garden.Originally posted by The Grave Maurice View Post
ChrisChristopher T. George
Organizer, RipperCon #JacktheRipper-#True Crime Conference
just held in Baltimore, April 7-8, 2018.
For information about RipperCon, go to http://rippercon.com/
RipperCon 2018 talks can now be heard at http://www.casebook.org/podcast/Comment
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