New claims Jack the Ripper was noted poet who studied as a priest in the North East

[richardh]

Not sure it this is already being discussed on Casebook. But:

A new book makes the explosive claim that Jack the Ripper was the poet Francis Thompson, who studied as a priest in County Durham.

Patterson’s book, which has been published by Austin and Macauley, is the result of 20 years of research, in which he travelled around the world gathering information to show Thompson was a serial killer.

LINK

[GUT]

Not sure it this is already being discussed on Casebook. But:

A new book makes the explosive claim that Jack the Ripper was the poet Francis Thompson, who studied as a priest in County Durham.

Patterson’s book, which has been published by Austin and Macauley, is the result of 20 years of research, in which he travelled around the world gathering information to show Thompson was a serial killer.

LINK

Richard has posted about it many times here.

Book is good.

I'm not persuaded, a few times he seems to over egg the pudding and at times I think he reads far to much into Thompson's poetry, but he has done great research.

[Richard Patterson]

GUT is right.

I do over egg the pudding, (gone too far in embellishing, exaggerating, or doing something) I think he says this because the facts alone should be enough, to warrant interest. These being that Thompson was in Spitalsfields, carried a knife, had several years of medical training, and was looking for a prostitute who had abandoned him. Although my book discusses these things in detail, it throws in a lot more connections which some may think are far fetched. My reasoning is simple. If I am going to write that he was the Ripper I will put in everything that correlates to the claim between the covers as I can, and let other people decide to sort the wheat from the chaff. At least it's all there for readers to pick apart and make up their own minds. Thanks for bringing up my book richardh.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Do I recall....?

I drifted away from all things Ripper for quite a while but I seem to recall Thompson being mentioned as a suspect before. It must have been 10 years or more ago. I'll be getting your new book soon but I was wondering if anyone else had nominated Thompson as a suspect? I may have read something by you.

[Richard Patterson]

Hi Herlock Sholmes.

Thompson was first mentioned as a suspect in 1988, in the Criminologist, in an article named 'Was Francis Thompson Jack the Ripper?' It was written by a Texan forensic pathologist named Dr. Joseph Rupp. I first suggested the same thing in a newspaper article in 1998, ten years later, although, at the time, I did not know of Dr. Rupp's article. If you had heard about this suspect ten years ago, if might have been something that I had put out there. Thompson, as a suspect, has been listed on Casebook for many years now. I hope you enjoy my book and find it useful.
Cheers.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hi Richard
I think that it's likely that I read about Thompson in Ripperologist which I used to get as a member of The Cloak and Dagger club. It could have been the Criminologist article or from your own writings posted there. He seems like an interesting suspect and just from reading your posts about the four points he becomes a more valid one than many. It appears, after being away from the subject for a while, that some authors consider it sufficient to just fulfill the "well he was alive at the time," criteria. Mann, Bachert, Abberline! etc and then trying to craft a scenario around this fact.
I look forward to reading your book as soon as I get it.
All the best.

[Pcdunn]

I recommend researching for the facts about anyone accused of being a famous murderer.

Biographical entry on Thompson from the Encyclopedia Britannica:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Thompson

Entry on Francis Thompson from The Catholic Encyclopedia:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14703b.htm

Link to his most famous poem, "The Hound of Heaven":

http://www.bartleby.com/236/239.html

Review of a novel explaining "The Hound of Heaven" as an autobiography of its author:

http://www.newoxfordreview.org/reviews.jsp?did=0700-clements

Thompson is NOT Jack the Ripper, as far as I can see.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Digging deeper.

It's always good to find out about a suspect but the Encyclopaedia Britannica is hardly going to say 'oh and by the way we think that he might have been Jack The Ripper.' I think that if someone has spent 10 years digging deeper it would be worth reading the results of his research. Thompson may not have been the Ripper but, as no one knows who he actually was yet, I'll keep an open mind until I've read the book. Unfortunately Ripperology is not short of suspects based on nothing more than the fact that they were breathing at the time.
Regards
HS

[Richard Patterson]

Thanks for all the links Pc Dunn.
Here is my entry on Francis Thompson. Perhaps you could find which links you gave contradicts the following.

"Francis Thompson in 1888. He was an ex-medical student with a dissecting scalpel, and a history of mental illness and trouble with the police. He had just broken up with a prostitute and had written about cutting women's stomachs open. At the same time, a few yards from his refuge, a woman was knifed, as part of a spate of prostitute murders, which one coroner said was by someone who had considerable anatomical skill and knowledge."

[harry]

A Father Connolly wrote three books on Francis Thompson.

[Richard Patterson]

Yes Harry. Father Connolly did. He is responsible for the creation of the Francis Thompson Room at Burns Library in Boston College. Connolly's history with the poet is detailed in my book.

[Pcdunn]

Thanks for all the links Pc Dunn.
Here is my entry on Francis Thompson. Perhaps you could find which links you gave contradicts the following.

"Francis Thompson in 1888. He was an ex-medical student with a dissecting scalpel, and a history of mental illness and trouble with the police. He had just broken up with a prostitute and had written about cutting women's stomachs open. At the same time, a few yards from his refuge, a woman was knifed, as part of a spate of prostitute murders, which one coroner said was by someone who had considerable anatomical skill and knowledge."

Neither of the encyclopeida articles mention more than Thompson lived in destitution for a time on the streets of Whitechapel. I know he mentions having used a scalpel to shave with in a letter. I know you think you have proof of the trouble with the police and his mental illness, but I have not encountered other sources which state this. The poem you mention about the cutting open of womens' stomachs was unpublished-- how did you learn of it?

Why do you persist in harassing this great poet?

[Harry D]

"Ripperologists" don't care whose legacy they drag through the mud, be it a famous poet or a humble carman.

[Flower and Dean]

Is the poem about "cutting women's stomachs open" "The Nightmare of the Witch Babies"? If so, I'm clearly reading very differently from you.

[Richard Patterson]

Neither of the encyclopeida articles mention more than Thompson lived in destitution for a time on the streets of Whitechapel. I know he mentions having used a scalpel to shave with in a letter. I know you think you have proof of the trouble with the police and his mental illness, but I have not encountered other sources which state this. The poem you mention about the cutting open of womens' stomachs was unpublished-- how did you learn of it?

Why do you persist in harassing this great poet?

That Thompson was mentally comes from various sources, all detailed in my book. That Thompson had troubles with the police is also detailed in my book and sources are given. Many biographies, on Thompson give details of his unpublished poems. I also read the Thompson's unpublished works, including this poem, when I researched in Boston College. I persist in harassing this great poet, because at the time of Kelly's murder her was living opposite the end of her street, in Spitalsfields. The only reason he gave was that he was seeking out a prostitute and he had medical skills and he wrote that he was carrying a dissecting scalpel. Anyone, who is interested in the solving the Ripper case, should want to know more about this man. Whether he was a great poet is beside the point and to ignore him on those grounds seems unreasonable.