Tweet
Patrick McIntyre was a Detective Sergeant in Special Branch, who was reduced to the rank of uniformed Constable on the pretext (according to his account) of a technical breach of regulations, and subsequently resigned from the Force (in 1894, I believe). In the thesis by Lindsay Clutterbuck, quoted by Simon Wood on the "Special Branch Ledgers" thread, use is made of McIntyre's memoirs, which were published in 17 instalments in Reynolds's Newspaper in 1895. On 7 April, in an article on anarchists, there is a paragraph on the murder of Elizabeth Stride. (This doesn't seem to be available online, though I see A. P. Wolf quoted a bit of it in a previous discussion.)
One group held meetings in Berners-street, Whitechapel. Concerts and dancing took place here on Saturday nights, and whilst one of these was taking place, during the time of the Jack the Ripper scare, an extraordinary event took place just outside the Anarchists' meeting place. At the very moment when these people were indulging in festivity in an upstairs room, the "Ripper" was cruelly murdering an unfortunate in the courtway adjoining. It is worth noting that no kind of suspicion fell upon the Anarchists in this connection; no one believed for a moment that the anonymous stabber was one of their confraternity. And here I can say that I am certain that, although the Anarchists talked wildly and advocated schemes that seemed utterly impracticable to the ordinary observer, they were all quiet and peaceful men, well disposed to their fellow-creatures in general. I had a good deal of experience amongst all sections of the East-end Anarchists, and, according to my observation, in spite of their tenets, they were a good-hearted and sympathetic class of the community. Nearly all of them were foreigners who were being sweated in East-end workshops. There was, however, a small sprinkling of English working men who had mostly suffered somewhat at the hands of the capitalists.
One group held meetings in Berners-street, Whitechapel. Concerts and dancing took place here on Saturday nights, and whilst one of these was taking place, during the time of the Jack the Ripper scare, an extraordinary event took place just outside the Anarchists' meeting place. At the very moment when these people were indulging in festivity in an upstairs room, the "Ripper" was cruelly murdering an unfortunate in the courtway adjoining. It is worth noting that no kind of suspicion fell upon the Anarchists in this connection; no one believed for a moment that the anonymous stabber was one of their confraternity. And here I can say that I am certain that, although the Anarchists talked wildly and advocated schemes that seemed utterly impracticable to the ordinary observer, they were all quiet and peaceful men, well disposed to their fellow-creatures in general. I had a good deal of experience amongst all sections of the East-end Anarchists, and, according to my observation, in spite of their tenets, they were a good-hearted and sympathetic class of the community. Nearly all of them were foreigners who were being sweated in East-end workshops. There was, however, a small sprinkling of English working men who had mostly suffered somewhat at the hands of the capitalists.
Comment