John Netley

[ianincleveland]

OK i totally dismiss the Royal/freemason theory,its a good story but totally as a theory laughable.However Netley as has been proved DID exist.Where and why i wonder was his name out of the many coachmen dug up??im not suggesting him as a suspect but id love to know how Joseph Gorman dug him up out of all the coachmen around in 1888. Why Netley???

[The English Gardener]

There's a fair degree of speculation voiced on this very question in the "Royal Conspiracy" Rippercast, which is well worth the listen. In short, there's an idea that maybe Netley was known to the Gorman family and, working as he did during the LVP period he was a good peg on which to hang Gorman's {discredited} stories. The fact that he is a moderately anonymous figure has done little to help dispel the reputation Gorman, Knight and Fairclough tarred him with between them. Dead men tell no lies. But they can't deny accusations or otherwise defend themselves either.

[JTRSickert]

It is interesting to note how such a common unimportant car man has now gone down in infamy and been portrayed in comic books, TV movies, and major motion pictures. Hell, maybe someday someone will be portraying me in a movie, despite being a relative "nobody."

My favorite depiction of Netley would have to be the 1988 miniseries, though Jason Flemyng's portrayal was alright as well.