Before it's too late

[sdreid]

Pinkerton's is known for keeping pretty good records.

[sdreid]

Pinkerton's files were supposedly used in the foundation of the FBI.

[sdreid]

Originally it was the BOI for Bureau Of Investigation.

[sdreid]

It was founded in 1908.

[sdreid]

The BOI/FBI also had ties with the William J. Burns International Detective Agency since Burns was its director in the early 1920s, right before J. Edgar Hoover took over. I think that Burns might have been in the Secret Service at the time of the Ripper murders.

[sdreid]

Burns actually joined the Secret Service in 1889. In 1888, I'm pretty sure he was a member of the Furlong Detective Agency.

[sdreid]

As best I can find, Furlong had no U.K. presence in 1888.

[sdreid]

I don't know any truly international detective agency other than Pinkerton's during the Ripper period.

[sdreid]

In the late 19th Century, starting your own private detective agency seemed to have been quite the thing.

[Cogidubnus]

Especially among the criminal tendencies Stan (and I'm thinking Tom's man here)...which perhaps is why, to this day, the profession isn't particularly well regarded...

All the best

Dave

[Bridewell]

In the late 19th Century, starting your own private detective agency seemed to have been quite the thing.

Am I right in thinking Abberline went down this road?

[sdreid]

As I recall, Abberline became a Pinkerton agent but I don't know whether he eventually started his own firm.

[Stephen Thomas]

In the late 19th Century, starting your own private detective agency seemed to have been quite the thing.

Yes, even Jack the Ripper started one. On The Strand apparently.

[sdreid]

Well back then, private detectives were more glamorous. Now, I think of them mostly sitting in vans trying to get pictures of cheating wives or husbands.

[sdreid]

I guess that's why many modern private detective presentations concern the era before 1965. It might also have something to do with the drama of the death penalty in Britain.