Before it's too late

[Archaic]

The McNaghten Family Stash?

Hi, Stan; I have a question for you: Wasn't it the story years ago (1959-ish?) that McNaghten's grandson had a stash of his grandpa's archival material? Another Ripper letter, etc... anything ever come of that?
Has it all been brought forward by now, or not?

Thank you, Archaic

[sdreid]

That's for sure Archaic. It would be hard to believe that some descendants of principals in the case would not have something that we are currently unaware of.

[Archaic]

Other possible sources

Hi, Stan; good idea for a thread! I was reading through its pgs, & wondering whether the families of policemen might hold some kind of information, but I see that thought was your most recent post! However, might I suggest it would not have to be the ''children'' of policemen, but also their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc., who know or hold relevant material.

Sometimes a person's own children have no interest in the parent's work or experiences or hobbies (perhaps they simply take it for granted or are 'tired' of it), but a grandchild or great-grandchild might share similar interests with their forebear. Sometime grandchildren hear the stories years later that for various reasons their parents never heard. (A good example of this is WWII Vets who can't bring themselves to talk about their experience to their own kids, but maybe tell a chosen grandchild 40 or 50 yrs later.) The same holds true for nieces, nephews & godchildren.

I was wondering if the descendants of such people as: members of the WC Vigilance Committee, other concerned & involved citizens, journalists, other investigators, contemporary 'crime buffs', etc., might also hold information?

A policeman joining the force in the early 1900's or even later who grew up hearing about the Ripper might have been one of the people who started privately collecting the various official documents which don't seem to have been particularly valued by officialdom. As we know, that's how Stewart Evans saved so many documents & photos that might have been lost forever. Perhaps someone before him did it on a much smaller 'hobby' scale & that collection is now residing in Great-Grandpa's musty old trunk in the attic? If that early cop never published, might we not realize he existed, or acted? Just one crucial document or photo could open up a new understanding of the case.

I believe that raising public awareness of the crucial need to preserve History is the key. Thanks & best regards, Archaic

[sdreid]

It's also within the realm of possibility that children of policemen involved could still be alive. I wonder if anyone has checked into that.

[sdreid]

That could well be true, Robert.

[Robert]

Hi Stan

I imagine Neal Shelden's already been down that road.

[sdreid]

I wonder if any grandchildren of victims could still be alive and if they might have some inside knowledge. They would almost certainly have to be the offspring of a victim's son who had children late in life.

[sdreid]

Does anyone know if the floor at 13 Miller's was dug out when the building was torn down or just covered over? If it was just buried, perhaps some mining is in order.

[sdreid]

Thanks guys - I know it would be a long shot.

[Graham]

My memory is crap these days, but on the old boards didn't someone dig up (I don't mean that literally) a son or grandson of Joe Barnett?

The descendants of John McCarthy, if you want to count him as a suspect, also flourish. As do descendants of James Maybrick (who he?).

Cheers,

Graham

[Sam Flynn]

It's possible that a son or daughter of JtR could still be living.

They'd be in their nineties, I guess, but it's possible Stan.

[sdreid]

Regarding the Ripper suspects who lived into the Twentieth Century, does anyone know anything about any of their children? It's possible that a son or daughter of JtR could still be living.

[sdreid]

Officialdom does rather tend to keep hold of its successes rather than its failures. As an example, the Hanratty Case of 1961, in which I'm also keenly interested, seems to have resulted in the maintaining of very little of the supposedly huge amount of information gathered at the time.

Since they succeeded in getting Hanratty hanged, I'd say that was a success.

[sdreid]

P.S.

When Keaton discusses the Ripper's motive being collecting "venereally infected wombs", it actually sounds a bit like Tumblety. Do we know of Tumblety's aliases?

This guy apparently did have some knowledge of the case, of course, a little knowledge can sometimes be dangerous.

[sdreid]

Hi Mitch,

Yes, all that we can preserve should be preserved even if there is some question regarding its value because who can say absolutely for sure.

I'm still mad at those geniuses who let 29 Hanbury be torn down.

On the old boards, someone said that Keith Skinner has a copy of the tape or at least knows someone who does so hopefully it isn't lost.