James Stockley

[Phil Carter]

The Daily Express, 12th May 1915

Twentv men were received at Buckingham
Palace yesterday by the King, who
personally decorated them with Board of
Trade medals for gallantry.
The following particulars of the services
rendered by some of the recipients were
furnished to the King: -

....James Stockley, sergeant of police. Lyme
Regis; rescued two men and a boy who
had been washed out o f a sailing pinnace
containing survivors from M.M. Formidable.

[Phil Carter]

More on James Stockley and that Mrs Adelaide Pratt Case.

Daily Express Tuesday June 5th 1934

HEIRESS
WHO 'ACTED
LIKE NERO'

ALLEGATIONS
IN £2,000,000
WILL CASE

Daily Express Correspondent.
NEW YORK, Monday.

MRS. FLORENCE ADELAIDE
PRATT, the
Singer sewing - machine
heiress, who died in the Ritz
Hotel, London, in 1932, leaving
£2,000,000, acted like
Caligula or Nero in Europe's
hotels, said counsel in court
here today.
Mr. H. H. Corbin was opening the
case brought by Mrs. Margaret
Alexander, of London (sister of the
dead woman) to contest the will of
Mrs. Pratt, under which two-thirds
of the estate goes to servants.
Mrs. Pratt made countless wills,
said Mr. Corbin. Before her stay,
from 1918 to 1923, in a sanatorium,
she had a warm affection for her
sister. Afterwards this became
positive hatred.
She prayed for her sister's death

and that she might be maimed, and
that she would see her suffer.
Mrs. Pratt toured Europe acting
in the strangest manner. She persecuted
servants.
She would take all her dresses
from cupboards and strew them
about the floor, demanding that the
maid pick them up. When they were
back in the cupboard she would repeat
the performance.
She accused every one of stealing
and dismissed her servants without
a hearing. She frequently danced
almost unclothed in hotel bedrooms
with her servants an unwilling
audience.
She appeared once in the lobby of
a fashionable hotel waving a pistol.
Among legatees in court was
James Stockley. former chief Inspector
of Scotland-yard, who figured
in the " Jack-the-Rlpper" murders
and was left one half of Mrs. Pratt's
estate. He had acted as her bodyguard.


best wishes


Phil

[ChrisGeorge]

Hello Simon,

Lovely aside, thank you.

I am always intrigued by the inscription..

"..as a mark of esteem by 7 officers engaged with him in the Whitechapel murders of 1888" (my emphasis)

Some people have a sense of humour....

best wishes

Phil

Hi Phil, Simon, Mike, et al.

A very interesting investigation into the role of Inspector James Stockley in the Whitechapel murders case.

Phil, with respect, I don't think that inscription on Abberline's walking stick shows humor at all. Rather it is just badly worded. What they really mean to say is that the stick was presented to him "as a mark of esteem by 7 officers engaged with him in the investigation of the Whitechapel murders of 1888." However, you are exactly correct that the wording could just as easily taken to read, lamentably for the reputation of those same officers, "as a mark of esteem by 7 officers engaged with him in the commission of the Whitechapel murders of 1888" -- big whoopsie indeed.

All the best

Chris

[mklhawley]

So, maybe 'The Big Five" DID represent detectives assigned to the Ripper murders after Abberline left, since the case was not officially closed.

Sincerely,
Mike

[PaulB]

Gentlemen,
There is an entry and photo for this gentleman in the A to Z. I was in contact with his family many years ago.

Paul

[mklhawley]

Gentlemen,
There is an entry and photo for this gentleman in the A to Z. I was in contact with his family many years ago.

Paul

Thanks Paul. Any ideas on 'The Big Five'?

Sincerely,

Mike

[PaulB]

Thanks Paul. Any ideas on 'The Big Five'?

Sincerely,

Mike

Not in relation to the Whitechapel investigation, and Stockley wasn't a major player in that anyway, only having been a policeman for a few years by the time of the murders.

The 'Big Four' and later the 'Big Five' was a term applied by journalists to senior officers - A.V. Hawkins, F.P. Wensley, F. Carlin, and A. Neil - who had control over quarters of the Met Police distict in 1919. It later became known as the 'Big Five' when HQ was added.

[Phil Carter]

Hi Phil, Simon, Mike, et al.

A very interesting investigation into the role of Inspector James Stockley in the Whitechapel murders case.

Phil, with respect, I don't think that inscription on Abberline's walking stick shows humor at all. Rather it is just badly worded. What they really mean to say is that the stick was presented to him "as a mark of esteem by 7 officers engaged with him in the investigation of the Whitechapel murders of 1888." However, you are exactly correct that the wording could just as easily taken to read, lamentably for the reputation of those same officers, "as a mark of esteem by 7 officers engaged with him in the commission of the Whitechapel murders of 1888" -- big whoopsie indeed.

All the best

Chris

Hello Chris,

Indeed, a faux pas. It was more my sense of humour being shown than anything else.

best wishes

Phil

[Phil Carter]

Gentlemen,
There is an entry and photo for this gentleman in the A to Z. I was in contact with his family many years ago.

Paul

Hello Paul,

Thank you. Yes I did notice the A-Z link, I just wondered if "kirsty Lawson" had contacted anyone after 2005. So a little help is now available.

best wishes

Phil