Pamphlets

[Herlock Sholmes]

I’m unsure if this is the correct place for this but I’m sure that JM will move it to a more appropriate place if he thinks it necessary.

……


As my 59th birthday gets ever nearer it occurred to me that I’ve now been interested in this case for 40 years! Who’d have thought it? A few years ago I’d have called myself a bit of a collector (books, pamphlets, magazines, graphic novels, Ripperologist, Ripperana etc) but these days I wouldn’t as I tend to pick and choose which books I buy due to the flood of crap that’s so easily accessible these days. I was having a bit of a tidy up recently and ended up going on a bit of a walk down Memory Lane. One thing that I saw were a small pile of around a dozen pamphlets that I’d acquired so I thought that I’d mention them on here expecting that some others will own them too but it’s probably the case that many won’t. Pamphlets were ‘then.’ They used to surface occasionally and we would snap them up.


The first one is called Tales Of Terror: Old Murder Cases With Black Country Connections by Aristotle Tump..volume one (I never saw a volume two) It’s from 1984.

Loretta Lay Books has one for sale at £10 (I can’t recall how much I paid at the time)


The name Aristotle Tump might be a familiar one to anyone aware of the Black Country Bugle which is a weekly local (for me) newspaper dealing largely in historical subjects. The pamphlet has a sale price of 90p on the cover and on the inside it has listed chapters like “The Kate’s Hill Murder” and “The Murder of Miser Maughan,” but this pamphlet contains just one story. It is the one which was of the most interest and was called “Did Jack The Ripper Die In The Black Country?”

It starts with a colourful run down of the murders from Tabram to Kelly that has scant regard for accuracy. Tabram was apparently killed on August 8th and Nichols on August 22nd. Stride was found by a Cabbie who saw a dark figure running away and Kelly was seen by two men in the company of a man carrying a black bag who had the look of a Doctor. Robert Anderson is described as a famous criminologist of the day. It’s then stated that a persistent rumour circulated that the Ripper had left London for the Midlands where it became hazardous for men to carry a black bag. It tells of an occasion when a Rent Collector with a moustache was chased through the Bull Ring by a howling mob.

Even in nearby Rowley Regis there was a verse set to rhyme by ‘Rhymer’ Greensell, a singer and ballad writer from Old Hill, called “The Terrible Doom of Jack the Ripper,” which told a scary tale that occurred at the Navigation pub near to the local railway station. In it the Ripper met his death down a local drainage hole known as as the ‘Sleck Hillock.’ A mysterious stranger who alighted a train at Old Hill Station on a foggy late November night took lodgings at the Navigation pub. The licensee Jethro Homer and his wife Eliza Jane described him as well-dressed and ‘gentlemanly,’ and that he was carrying a black bag. Later that night they were both kept awake by their guest’s anguished cries and moans interspersed with shrieks of “Marie Kelly!” Homer tried to rouse him and when he finally managed to he grabbed his black bag and ran from the building out into the night where he jumped over a fence straight down the deep drainage hole. The hole was later drained but the mysterious strangers body was never recovered. They found his bag though which was full of surgical instruments. The man left behind a silk top hat though which Homer kept on display as “The Ripper’s Hat.”

The locations all existed, including the pub and the landlord and so did Ryhmer Greensell so who knows, it might have been true.

…


For some unknown reason I have two of these pamphlets so if anyone wants one just pm me and I’ll send it free of charge to the first person.

[Herlock Sholmes]

The next pamphlet is called Who Was Jack The Ripper by Dr. Harold Dearden. Looking at the headings on the left hand pages it looks like this was taken from a book called Great Unsolved Crimes. It’s only 7 pages long and I can’t remember where I got it from but Dearden’s story is in Morley’s suspect book.

Basically Dearden was in the Somme trenches on November 9th 1918 when a fellow officer told him that this was the second time in his life that his birthday had been ruined. The previous time occurred when he was 10. His father ran an asylum and had planned to take his son to a pantomime for his birthday but a violent lunatic was brought in that his father had to deal with. He found out that it was the son of one of his father’s oldest friends. He remembered the man as a “smiling and gently demented individual who played with him in his father’s garden." He apparently also had a gift for drawing animals and birds. Dearden ends his piece with a quote from his fellow officer:

“Anyway," he said finally, “Jack-the-Ripper or not, he was a grand companion for a rather lonely kid."

[Herlock Sholmes]

Next up is a more substantial 16 page offering called The Whitechapel Atrocities: Arrest Of A News Reporter. Below the title it has ‘Price One Penny,’ and was published by Woodford Fawcett & Co. Dorset Works, Salisbury Square, London, E.C.

We get no clue to the identity of the author in the pamphlet but checking online I found a reference to this on Richard Jones’ Jack The Ripper Tour website. They mention that on Friday, 25th January, 1889, The Peterhead Sentinel and General Advertiser for Buchan District published the article about a journalist who, whilst exploring Whitechapel, was twice arrested as Jack the Ripper. The man’s name was John Nicol. The pamphlet appears in the Ripper Media section on here. This is a link to the Jack The Ripper Tour piece.

https://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com...us-pennyworth/

[Herlock Sholmes]

The next pamphlet is called The Jack The Ripper Syndicate by W.F. Fish. On the back is this inscription:

“From “The Autobiography of a Counter Jumper” by W.F. Fish. The title refers to a Draper’s assistant and chronicles the career of W.F. Fish in England and South Africa. He went on to to become Mayor of Cape Town. The “Jack the Ripper Syndicate” chapter is a fascinating account of bounty hunters, hoping to capture Jacj]k the Ripper for reward money. The book was dedicated to his life, and the introduction by W.F. Fish is dated 1929.”


On the inside cover there is a photograph of the author in his Mayoral robes. The full title page is:



The Autobiography of a Counter Jumper

In Two Parts

England and South Africa

A Plain Story for Plain People

By

W. F. Fish.


The author claimed to have been “living practically in the very centre..” of the murders as they happened. He mentions it has been suggested that the authorities knew who the actual murderer was and also that it had been suggested, at various times, that the killer was a medical student or a sailor who revenging himself for some ‘injury’ he’d received from a prostitute. It was also suggested that the killer was a distinguished Harley Street medical man who was killing for research reasons. Or that he was a homicidal maniac confined in an asylum. The author believed that the killer was never caught despite the rewards offered amounting to thousands of pounds.

While stating that they were trying to help the police the author makes it plain that the reward was the prime mover in the establishment of the syndicate. It their first meeting there were 20 present and it was decided that they should stick to twenty members. They issued twenty shares at 2s 6d each which bought them 10 pairs of rubber soled shoes with the remainder (15s) being held back to pay for the cab to take in the prisoner.

Twenty members were split into pairs. 1) Aldgate, 2) Houndsditch and Petticoat Lane, 3) Commercial Street and Spitalfields, 4) Whitechapel and Mile End Road and 5) Commercial and East India Dock Roads. The author recalled an occasion when he and a fellow member called Smith were secreted behind a hoarding on Leman Street when a man approached a woman.”The man was the notorious ‘Jack the Ripper’ right enough; the very way he walked indicated it.” Before rushing they wondered if they would be better served by allowing the man to kill the women. Fortunately they then heard the man speak and it was clear that he was just a man with his sweetheart. When he saw them the man even told them not to hang around due to the ripper.

The syndicate tried to kick out a man called Brown because he was seen talking to a police officer but he would go before being paid off. There were now only 19 members.

He told the story of a couple of men,nerd chasing a cab to Poplar only to find that the couple inside where leaving for South Africa. The syndicate faced further trouble when a murder was committed in a certain court where two members were supposed to have been patrolling but were elsewhere. The syndicate finally broke up when the secretary asked for a further half a crown. When he became a bit ‘hazy’ when asked for the reason that extra money was required the members suspected that it was for his own personal use. Some members decided to continue privately in pairs. The author continued with a partner called Smith.

One night they returned to there base to find a note pinned to a door printed on red (which he assumed was the blood of a victim) It said:


“I’m going 2 kermit 2 murders

Tomorrow nite at S’M.

Look out 4 the man in a chek

Soot and cap


Jack the Ripper”



They assumed that the SM stood for Spitalfields Market. The two,then started making plans as to how they would spend the reward money. The next night they went to Spitalfields Market where they accosted the man that they thought was the ripper. At the same time though other men did the same thing. It was the other members of the former syndicate and the man that they had jumped on was the man that the syndicate had expelled. This occurred just after the final murder so they wondered if the killer had seen this crowd of vigilantes and been discouraged from carrying on. They even contacted Scotland Yard to say that while they hadn’t caught the killer and couldn’t claim the £2000 they felt that they deserved £500! Needless to say, Scotland Yard never replied.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Then we have one of the most well known of the pamphlets that were produced - John Morrison’s ‘Jimmy Kelly’s Year Of Ripper Murders 1988.’

Morrison is the guy that first considered Kelly a suspect and although he can be described as somewhat of an eccentric he at least put forward a suspect that continues to be worthy of consideration in my own opinion. Morrison, in the foreward, stated: “This is the most authentic account ever given of the Whitechapel Murders. Authentic because it is the only version of events that would stand up in a British Criminal Court. All other so-called “theories” would not get into the charge room.” Followed by a pointed: “Unlike those brilliant “Ripperologists”, as they like to be known…” I seem to recall an interview by Morrison where he claimed that he was acknowledged as the worlds leading expert on the subject.

The pamphlet is of 36 pages and contains photocopied photographs of various subjects. Morrison at Kelly’s graveside (I’m unsure if Morrison had anything to do with the headstone), Shoreditch Mortuary and the Miller’s Court photo from Matters book. Plus James Kelly’s Death Certificate.

Tully gets a mention in the acknowledgements and for all of his faults and eccentricities and boasts this pamphlet (and Morrison himself) led to one of our better JtR suspect books (again, in my opinion of course.)

[Herlock Sholmes]

Next is a slim pamphlet with the title

The Police Of The Metropolis

(Murray’s Magazine 1888)

Charles Warren.


It has a photograph of Warren on the front with Lieut,-General Sir Charles Warren, G.C.M.G, underneath.

Basically this is from a collection of articles from Murray’s Magazine with this one being written by Warren himself. It goes from page 577 to page 594 and is dated on the inside page as November 1888. I haven’t bothered to re-read it though so I won’t comment on the contents save that it’s Warren’s history of the Metropolitan Police. No individual crimes are mentioned though and certainly no mention of the Whitechapel Murders.

[Herlock Sholmes]

The next pamphlet is by a familiar name. It’s called The Identity Of Jack The Ripper by Richard Whittington-Egan (Reprinted from the Contemporary Review)

It was limited to 100 copies and mine is number 77 but…I’m unsure if mine is an original or a copy. It’s dated 1973 and on the first page he mentions two recent books by Dan Farson and Michael Harrison.

Whittington-Egan in his 18 page pamphlet gives us a brief run through of the investigation without actually discussing the individual murders before moving on to his review of the theories existent at that time. He concludes with:

“Of all the named suspects put forward over the years, the two most likely candidates would seem to be Konovalov/Pedachenko and Montague John Druitt. In neither case, however, is the evidence so far submitted sufficiently substantial to warrant conviction. Too many critical factors lack verification confirmation; too many persuasive arguments melt away at the point of proof, and in default of new substantiating evidence the verdict must remain an open one….."

[Herlock Sholmes]

Next is a more substantial one called Who Was Jack The Ripper? by Michell Raper. It was produced by The Tabaret Press and was limited to 100 copies. Mine is number 67. On the inner cover is this - This Script was broadcast on B.B.C. Radio Four on 1st June 1972.

In the Preface Raper (unfortunate name) explains that it was commissioned as one of a radio series called “The Other Victorians.’ It’s a play that Raper himself narrated. The cast list is given but I don’t recognise any of the actors names but they are all known to Google. Some of the characters in the play are - Bowyer, Alfred Austin (the poet), Coroner, Duke of Clarence, Halse, Sir Charles Warren, Hutcheson, Queen Victoria, Old Prostitute, Vigilante Speaker, Cockney Woman, The Times etc.

The script is 37 pages long.


All of these pamphlets are A5 size by the way.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Next is a thicker pamphlet from the USA called The Damned Thing No.2 with a cover sale price of $3. It also has UFO in the top right hand corner. This is Volume one Number two. The pamphlet describes itself as A Journal of the Weird, Exotic and Bizarre. The issue was published in the Spring of 1992. The magazine is the work of a guy called Sam Gaffard who apparently wrote a novel called Whitechapel which I don’t think that I have. Apparently he’d been researching Arthur Machen and JtR for over ten years.


The contents chapters are…


The Facts in the Case of Jack the Ripper

A Conspiracy of Theories

Good Knight: An Examination of The Final Solution

Red Ink: The Ripper in Literature

Ripping Films

Reviews


This is 63 pages long and apparently the next issue was to focus on artist Jason Eckhardt before the publication would return to its original format of articles by different writers on different subjects.

[Herlock Sholmes]

This one doesn’t really need much of a mention. It’s simply called The Hunt For Jack The Ripper and is the just the ‘ripper’ section from Walter Dew’s memoirs. Pages 85-163.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Then we have Jack The Ripper: A Musical Play by Ron Pember and Denis de Marne.

Ron Pember will be a familiar face as he was the actor that played Mr Makins in Murder By Decree. Denis De Marne was another London actor but I know nothing about him. A friend of mine once saw this musical. It’s in two Acts.

The characters are:

Marie Kelly
Lizzie Stride
Annie Chapman
Liza Pearl
Martha Tabram
Catherine Eddowes
Frances Coles
Montague Druitt
Chairman
Daniel Mendoza (a bare knuckle boxer who died in 1836)
Dinky Nine-Eights
Bluenose Stack
Slop Wallace
Lord Overcoat
Police Serjeant Coles
Three unnamed police officers

I just checked the actors online and none really ever made it big. One actress as an old lady made single appearances in Spooks and Tipping The Velvet. The Director/Set Designer Reginald Woolley however appeared to have had a fair career though. He died in 1993 and got an obituary in The Independant.

[Herlock Sholmes]

The next one is headed World’s Greatest Mysteries. It has a black and white drawing of a man carrying a black bag and, rather unusually, wearing a flat cap following a woman along a street. Below the picture are the words “Jack the Ripper” and “Life in Atmospheria” Edited by Charles Neil. Price 6d. I don’t know if this pamphlet was created from a section of a book or whether this is just a copy of an older pamphlet. It’s dated 1929 by the way.

Apparently, Charles Neil (photographed inside) was Organiser for Spiritualist Propaganda in Victoria, Australia. There is a Foreward by an Edgar Tozer followed by a chapter called How “Jack The Ripper” Was Caught: The Full Inside Story. Perhaps unsurprisingly follows the Robert Lees story which covers page 7 to page 20. The rest of the pamphlet from pages 21 to 50 is more Spiritualist guff including a short excerpt from Lees book Through The Mists and a chapter titled Survival After Death Proved.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Up next is The Curse Upon Mitre Square: AD 1530 - 1888 by John Frances Brewer. It was originally produced by Simpkin, Marshall and Co., 4, Stationers Hall Court, London. Price One Shilling.

This legend is probably known to most but this pamphlet is a well produced 72 page retelling of the story. Mine is a modern facsimile version.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Jack The Ripper In A Seaside Town by Martin Easdown and Linda Sage was published by Marlinova, Seabrook, Hythe, Kent in 2002. My pamphlet is 42 of a hundred and is signed by the authors. The inside cover lists 9 books previously written by the two authors.

The pamphlet is 72 pages long with five chapters.

1. A respectable interest in Jack the Ripper
2. A full list of the Jack the Ripper supposed victims - both definite and doubtful
3. The crime scenes as seen by both the local Folkestone newspapers of the time - the Folkestone Chronicle and Folkestone Express.
4. The Folkestone Jack the Ripper postcard.
5. Forty Jack the Ripper suspects - both not guilty and not proven.

The postcard in question was dated 11th November 1888 and was address to Mrs McCarthy No 28 Dorset Street, London, East End. It reads:


“From Jack (‘Sheridan’ deleted)
The Ripper
Folkestone
Nov 11 1888

Dear Boss I am getting lively on the move baint i made a good job last time getting better each time a good joke i played on them three ladies one (‘death’ smudged out) Died two frighened (sic) Next time a woman and her Daughter ta ta.

Dear Boss (drawing of a man with a knife or axe over a victim followed by a P and another man with a knife. In the corner is a cage with a figure inside).”

[Herlock Sholmes]

Annie Chapman Jack The Ripper Victim: A Short Biography by Neal Sheldon is the last of my A5 pamphlets and the most significant of them all. This pamphlet (signed by Neal Sheldon) was the first appearance of the photograph of Annie and her husband taken in happier times around 19 years before her death. This is the only pamphlet that i can actually remember buying after I’d heard of the discovery of the photograph.

Its 44 pages long and came out in 2001.