The number of coincidences

[Rubyretro]

Mr Davis ?

[Fisherman]

Bob Hinton:

"What was the name of the character played by Henry Fonda in the film?"

That is a VERY good question, Bob!

The best,
Fisherman

[Bob Hinton]

Humble

Mr Davis ?

Correct. I think the last line in the film is him giving his name to, I believe, Lee J Cobb. I'm almost sure he said his name was 'Bob Davies' which by a coincidence is the real name of Jasper Carrot!

[Robert]

Bob, I think that the man that Henry Fonda speaks to at the end, as they come down the court steps, is the old boy who was the first to go over to his side. I always think they did that scene at the end to show that the two characters didn't know each other before the trial, and wouldn't keep in contact afterwards. Hence, they were not members of a communist cell.

[johns]

The hangman who despatched William Henry Bury was James Berry. Both surnames are often pronounced the same, although I pronounce Bury's name to rhyme with "hurry" to be honest....

... and Bury's surname was mis-spelled on all 3 censuses he appeared on... mis-spelled "BERRY"... kind of ironic really.

[spyglass]

Hi all,

Going slighty of track, I remember reading a long while back that the number of coincidences between the assasinations of JFK and Lincoln were incredible and uncanny.
( having said that I cant seem to remember what any of them were )
But it does show that you can find many coincidences in aspects of everything if you look for them.

[Johnr]

What A Coincidence Spyglass!

Well talk of coincidences, Spyglass,
I cannot think of any coincidences in the JFK assassination either!
Benny Hill used to point out two concidences:
That just enough news occurred each day to fill a newspaper; and that eye-glasses were invented years after human beings were: yet glasses are just the right length to fit between our ears and our noses!
The philosopher Horace said:
"Coincidence makes fools of us all".
No, I haven't got the world's best Book of Quotations.
And speaking of coincidences and Montague Druitt:
Lots of suspicion fell on the denizens of "Dorset Street" Whitechapel in the JTR murders. And both policeman Abberline, and suspect Druitt hailed from that obscure county....
The first canonical JTR murder occurred on the 31st August, this was celebrated as St Cuthberga's Day in Wimborne Dorset, where St. Cuthberga was the patroness of the local Minster.
Montague's family paid for a stained glass window of St Cuthberga to be placed in Wimborne Minster as a memorial to William Druitt, Montague's father..... Ooo-err.
JOHN RUFFELS.

[Phil Carter]

Hello John,

And of course, that Abberline and Druitt are buried in the same cemetary, I seem to recall...

Then we have the names on Casebook... There are references to (amongst many others) Morris, Marriott, and even Diddles' owner has a namesake within Ripperlore. Not forgetting Mr. Mark Ripper, as well, of course.

I am awaiting the day when someone comes along and says that their last name is Fiddymont, although no relation to their erstwhile 1888 namesake!

best wishes

Phil

[spyglass]

Hi, What about this then!

1. Lincoln and Kennedy both have seven letters.

2.Lincoln elected to congress in 1846
Kennedy elected to congress in 1946

3.Kennnedy had a secretary named Lincoln

4.Both went to war straight after inaugeration.

5.Both were succeeded after assassination by vice president Johnson.

6.Andrew Johnson in 1888
Lyndon Johnson in 1908

7.Both beside their wives when shot.

8.Both shot on a Friday.

9. Lincoln shot in theatre, assassin ran to warehouse
Kennedy shot from warehouse, assassin ran to a theatre.

10. Both assassins killed in police custody before trial.

These are just about half of the coincedences I found via google.

[jason_c]

Hi, What about this then!

1. Lincoln and Kennedy both have seven letters.

2.Lincoln elected to congress in 1846
Kennedy elected to congress in 1946

3.Kennnedy had a secretary named Lincoln

4.Both went to war straight after inaugeration.

5.Both were succeeded after assassination by vice president Johnson.

6.Andrew Johnson in 1888
Lyndon Johnson in 1908

7.Both beside their wives when shot.

8.Both shot on a Friday.

9. Lincoln shot in theatre, assassin ran to warehouse
Kennedy shot from warehouse, assassin ran to a theatre.

10. Both assassins killed in police custody before trial.

These are just about half of the coincedences I found via google.

4 and 10 are dubious at best.

[kensei]

Lincoln was killed in Ford's Theater and Kennedy was killed in a Lincoln automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Wow. Also, both presidents were seated next to VIPs who were wounded in the assassinations.

I would go off on a tangent about how things change if we consider the conspiracy theories about Oswald not being the real assassin and how Boothe might have actually escaped with the person killed not really being him, but it would be getting way off track.

[Johnr]

The Best Kind of Coincidence.

I just think Coincidences are coincidental.

And there is only one way I like my coincidences: dubious.

JOHN RUFFELS.

[Slimsid2000]

Coincidences are only relevant if they are relevant. Allow me to explain. If you have two occurrences, that are rare to the nth degree, then they might be relevant, if not then they are not.

Let me tell you about some coincidences that are incredibly rare. Whilst in Australia many years ago I was having tea at a girls house when a friend of hers who had set off round the world three years before, turned up on her doorstep. Talking to him I found out he had met my sister in Windsor two weeks previously. That is a coincidence. However if he had just come back from the next town along the coast and was doing a job in my parents’ house and met my sister that would not be a coincidence of any great import.


Another one. I bought my first car in 1975 from my brother who lived in Swansea. I was at the time living in Portsmouth. A year later I moved up to Hull and to my surprise the chap who lived next door to me had a car with the next registration after mine. My car was DFE 234 G registered in Coventry in 1969, his car was DFE 235 G. They were the same make and model and had come from the same showroom in Coventry. Do you want to try and work out the odds of two vehicles being sold in Coventry, one going to Swansea, Portsmouth and then Hull, the other going from Coventry to Manchester and then to Hull ending up within feet of each other seven years later?

Now let’s have a look at your coincidences and see whether they are worthy of further investigation.

1. James Kelly. JTR suspect. shares same surname as Mary Jane Kelly

True but how common was the name Kelly in the East End of London at that time? A quick flick on the census records how there were in excess of 36,000 people with that name in 1881 and 38,000 in 1891. Now if the name was Oberduberowski you might have something.

2. Jacob and Joseph Levy both live on Middlesex street. Jacob is a suspect, Jo is witness


Again the census shows over 11,000 Levy’s in London and since Middlesex Street was in an area heavily populated by Jews, it would have been more of a coincidence if there wasn’t more than one person with the name Levy living there
.
3. Tumblety leaves around the time of the death of MJK

And so did tens of thousands other people.

4. Druitt commits suicide a few weeks after dead of MJK

And so did tens of thousands of other people.

5. The bloody apron is found in Goulston street which falls between the boundary of city of london and met police?

No it doesn’t. A place cannot fall ‘between’ two boundaries unless it straddles both. Goulston Street is well in Met police territory.

6. The writing on the wall. Some believe it was already there...if so how coincidental it was above the apron and also mentioned Jewes(Juwes)


See 2 above. The building in question was mainly occupied by Jews. You say the writing was above the apron, logic dictates it has to be above something. What about the cigar butts or the orange peel or the broken piece of glass?

7. The whole Kosminski/Cohen scenario

??

8. The mention of a seaside home which is usually accepted as police seaside home but just 100 yards away was the Jewish Convalescent sea side home


Logic dictates seaside homes have to be at the seaside. What about the home for fallen women that was right next door, or the Charity For the Relief of Impoverished Members of the Legal Profession?

9. When Eddowes is put in a cell the night of the murder she responds to the question of "what is your name" with the answer "nothing". Moments later the writing on the wall bears the word "nothing

I believe she answered ‘nothing’ when questioned by the arresting officer much earlier in the evening. When she was locked up I believe she said her name was ‘Mary Kelly’. How many other examples of graffiti had the word ‘nothing’ in them?

10. The Pinchin street murder was estimated to have taken place on 8th sept 1889...Chapman was murdered on 8th sept 1888. How bloody coincidental.lol

Not really it’s a 1 in 365 chance that a murder would be committed on the same day. However you have to show how many murders were committed on the same day throughout the UK for the long arm of coincidence to be raised.

11. Thomas Cutbush shares the same surname as Charles cutbush who just happens to suffer from depression and is a detective who just happens to look after the pensions for Lodging houses such as crossinghams (remember we have no concrete proof TC and CC are related but I know many including AP suggest it.Its a bloody unusual name. I live near London and dont know anyone by that name)

Well he would if they were related, have you any proof they weren’t? I think you are bit askew on the Crossinghams connection. I believe the police officer Cutbush looked after the pension for retired police officers in their lodgings, not common lodging houses.

Now I’m not trying to dampen your enthusiasm but whenever you think you have a coincidence put it to the test like I have, and I think you will soon have a different view.

Now there is a coincidence.