Is Jack The Ripper Buried In Brisbane

[belinda]

I think we have a new suspect

A Brisbane cemetery may be the resting place of one of the most notorious homicide suspects of all time, Jack the Ripper.

On the eve of the 120th anniversary of the first of the murders of five prostitutes in London's Whitechapel area, keen Ripperologists have made the chilling claim he could be buried at Toowong Cemetery, in Brisbane's west.

They claim the man they think was Jack the Ripper was Walter Thomas Porriott, known to police as Andrew John Gibson.

The headstone where he was buried in 1952 does not even mention his name.

Instead it reads: "Bessie" died 25th June 1957 and her husband.

A grainy image on the headstone, depicting a caped-man raising a dagger, adds to the mystery.

Porriott was a convicted killer and fraudster who had 20 wives and was buried at Toowong Cemetery beside his last wife Eliza, known as "Bessie".

He lived in London when all five murders were committed and sailed to Australia after the murders stopped.

The latest Brisbane theory is one of hundreds about the identity of the never caught killer, who went on a brutal rampage through London for five months in 1888.

Brisbane historian and Ipswich City Councillor Paul Tully said the latest claim was "sketchy in detail".

"All of the theories are based on circumstantial evidence and a lot of supposition," he said.

"That's why being another theory, I don't think this is... Jack the Ripper. But it can't be ruled out."

Cr Tully said exhuming the grave for DNA testing would be "inappropriate".

"I don't know that digging up people on a speculative basis would be appropriate."

Mr Tully has previously claimed Ned Kelly's younger brother Dan and fellow gang member Steve Hart survived the famous Kelly gang shoot-out at Glenrowan 125 years ago and came to live in Ipswich.

He has now become a self-professed Ripperologist who is writing a book which details the notorious killer's connection to Australia.

"It is possible we might still find out one day who Jack the Ripper was. It is equally possible that no one will ever know."

Porriott joins Frederick Deeming, who was hanged in Melbourne in 1892 for killing his wife, as the other Australian link to the Jack the Ripper mystery.

Deeming went to the gallows claiming he was Jack the Ripper.

[Mike Covell]

Interesting stuff Belinda, does a photograph exsist of the grave, and do we know how old he was when he died?

[Mike Covell]

Found this which might be of interest, http://ripper1888.blogspot.com/

I "Googled" the name and it brought up all the news stories!

[Chris Scott]

"Porriott was a convicted killer and fraudster"
Porritt aka Andrew John Gibson
Some initial reports from Australia:

The Mercury
20 October 1916

A MODERN "JIM THE PENMAN"
Johannesburg, October 19
Andrew John Gibson, who was arrested in Sydney, New South Wales, and was extradited from there to Johannesburg, was found guilty yesterday of committing bank frauds amounting to £3,765 and was sentenced to penal servitude for life. Gibson was described as a most expert forger. He had been convicted in England, America, South Africa, and Australia.

The Argus
19 November 1925

International Forger
London, Nov. 17.
Andrew John Gibson was arrested in July at Bournemouth charged with having forged Treasury warrant vouchers on the South Australian government for £6,200, and having obtained £350 from Lloyd's bank by false pretences.
Gibson was today sentenced to seven years penal servitude. He had been convicted in New South Wales, South Africa, and California. Gibson set up a medical practice at Bournemouth and represented himself as deputy agent general for migration to the South Australian Government.
The judge said that Gibson had shown himself to be in the first rank of forgers.

South Australian Crest
13 July 1925

Remarkable Story of Fraud
London, July 11
A remarkable story of alleged fraud was told at Bournemouth when Andrew John Gibson was charged with having uttered and forged a Treasury warrant voucher on the South Australian Government for £6,200 and obtained £350 from Lloyd's Bank by false pretences.
It was stated that Gibson asked the bank manager to negotiate a voucher which bore the South Australian crest, and produced a letter, apparently on official notepaper, purporting to be signed by the Minister for Lands of South Australia, and suggesting that the voucher could be negotiated through the bank. The manager sent the voucher to Australia House for verification. It is alleged that next day Gibson presented a cheque for £350, which the manager cashed.
It is further alleged that Gibson later presented a similar voucher to another bank. The arrival of the two vouchers at Australia House aroused suspicion, in consequence of which the accused was arrested at Bournemouth.
A printer gave evidence that Gibson represented that he was connected with the Hampshire and Dorset project for migration to Australia. Consequently at his order he printed official note headings, books, and vouchers similar to those presented to the banks.
Gibson was committed for trial at the Assizes.

[Chris Scott]

The Times
14 Feb 1940
This actually quotes an apparent age for Gibson aka Darling

[Chris Scott]

The Times
15 Feb 1940

[Chris Scott]

The Times
12 July 1940

[Chris Scott]

An outline of Gibson's career:

The Argus
20 October 1916

EXPERT FORGER
SENT TO GAOL FOR LIFE
Prisoner Known in Australia
Johannesburg, Oct. 18.

Andrew John Gibson, who was arrested in Sydney (N.S.W.), has been sentenced to imprisonment for life in connection with bank frauds, involving the sum of £3,765.
Gibson was described as a most expert forger, with connection in England, America, South Africa and Australia.
Andrew John Gibson was one of the cleverest criminals known to the Australian police. He arrived in Sydney over half a century ago, when he was only 22 years of age, and was employed as a dispenser. For four or five years he kept off the police records, but he lived a gay life, and his need of money led to his being arrested at Yass for false pretences. He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. Then he began his long career in roguery. Women were nearly always his victims. As Sir Harry Westwood Cooper he married a young woman in Sydney in 1905. He deserted her, and married a young girl in Brisbane and took her to England. Next he appeared in Canada and the United States, where he carried out numerous extraordinary frauds and "married" further women - always wealthy women. Next he went to South Africa, where, under the name of Ebenezer McKay. he raised considerable sums of money on a bogus bank deposit certificate.
He came back to Sydney as Surgeon Major Home, V.C., but the detectives here were already looking for him, and he was arrested at Burraga, when, as Dr. Swinton Home, he was about to marry a Burraga girl. He was extradited to Natal, served a sentence, and arrived back in Sydney at the beginning of this year. He was arrested again, this time while posing as a doctor, and living in luxury at the Coogee Bay Hotel, and sent back to South Africa to answer a further series of charges for fraud.

[Chris Scott]

The Canberra Times
1 March 1940

ACTED AS DOCTOR
AUSTRALIAN FACES TWELVE CHARGES
London, Wednesday.
At the Stafford Assizes today Mr Justice Hawke adjourned a series of charges against Andrew John Gibson, also known as Harry Cecil Rutherford Darling, who was committed for trial at Stoke on Trent on a total of 12 charges.
The prosecution alleged that the accused, although unqualified, acted as locum tenens for a doctor at the Stoke on Trent Maternity Hospital during November and December of 1939, and that during that period a woman patient died as a result of his conduct.
The principal charge against the prisoner was the manslaughter of Gladys Ada Elizabeth Higginbottom on December 21.
He was further charged with falsely giving and uttering death certificates in respect of Mrs Higginbottom, Peter John Gilchrist, and Edith Mary Tooth and with obtaining sums of £4 11s 6d and £8 8s by false pretences from the City of Stoke on Trent.
The accused pleaded not guilty to all charges and was given an opportunity to obtain medical documents from Australia establishing his claim to possess medical qualifications.
Mr Gilbert Griffiths, who appeared for Gibson, said that the accused had instructed him that he (the accused) was a qualified man. The accused contended that he was qualified in 1889, attended the Sydney University and was a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Australia.
Mr Griffiths added that the accused had written to the Registrar of the College asking for certified copies of his qualifications, but there had not been time for a reply to be received.
As it was alleged that the accused had signed death certificates with the degree of "L.R.C.P." it was obvious that the nature of the reply was of vital importance.
Mr Justice Hawke: Has an Australian gentleman power to grant death certificates in this country?
Mr Griffiths: I do not know.
Continuing, Mr Griffiths said that the second ground for an adjournment was that the accused had assured him that if he were given the opportunity, he could call expert medical witnesses to give evidence on his behalf.

Crown Allegation.
Mr W.H. Cartwright-Sharp (K.C.) who appeared for the Prosecution, opposed the application. He said that it was not disputed that there was a man in Australia with the name of Harry Cecil Rutherford Darling who was a highly qualified medical practitioner. However, the prosecution maintained that Darling and the accused were two entirely different people. A man could not be a qualified medical practitioner in Britain, unless he was registered.
Mr Cartwright-Sharp asked in which name the accused claimed to be registered.
Mr Griffiths, replying, said that the accused also claimed to be registered in the name of Harry Cecil Rutherford Darling. He, accused, had said that he was admitted and qualified in 1889, whereas the man mentioned by the prosecutor was not admitted until 1908. The fact that there were two men with the same name was neither impossible nor uncommon.
Mr Cartwright-Sharp produced the New South Wales Gazette containing a list of registered medical practitioners in which the name of the accused did not appear.
Mr Griffiths: The accused told me that he had the diplomas of L.R.C.P and M.R.C.S. of Melbourne, and M.S, of Sydney.
An adjournment was granted until next session.

[Mike Covell]

So he was 20 years old in 1888.

[Chris Scott]

Hi Mike
If you go by the Times reports, he would have been 19 or 20 in 1888 (i.e. 71 or 72 in 1940) . But the resume of his career in 1916 paints a very different picture. This report says:
"He arrived in Sydney over half a century ago, when he was only 22 years of age" i.e. he arrived in Sydney before 1866 when he was 22, which means he would have been born before 1844. As he lived until 1952 I find this hard to believe - he would have been at least 108!
Chris

[Mike Covell]

Wow, not a bad innings, I guess he is the poster boy for "Crime Does Pay!"

How reliable is the 1916 report?
I ask becuase I am transcribing at the minute and there are loads of cases where names and locations are spelt wrong, and dates are a nightmare!

[Chris Scott]

Hi Mike
Goes with the territory, I'm afraid
Many press reports were syndicated so once an error got into the system it could be perpetuated ad infinitum.
A situation not unknown in other areas of Ripperology...
Chris

[Mike Covell]

One name I found was Louis Dimschitz!

[Chris Scott]

I have checked the banner for the issue of the Argus to make sure it is 1916, which indeed it is
The relevant passage is below: