Francis Hanson Hall

[Debra A]

According to Reynolds's News, "Early in his career he was associated with the pursuit of notorious criminals. It was he who very nearly captured Jack the Ripper. He was, of course, then a young officer, but had already a large reputation for resource, daring, and initiative. (Reynolds's Newspaper, 12 June 1927).

He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1892

[Herlock Sholmes]

He must have been an amateur crime fighter before he joined the Met Debra. I don’t know if anyone else has heard of him but he certainly rings no bells with me.

[Debra A]

He must have been an amateur crime fighter before he joined the Met Debra. I don’t know if anyone else has heard of him but he certainly rings no bells with me.

He was certainly involved in some high profile cases later on in his career, Michael.
But he's only an armchair detective if your preferred suspect was said to have been caught/died before 1892?!

[Herlock Sholmes]

He was certainly involved in some high profile cases later on in his career, Michael.
But he's only an armchair detective if your preferred suspect was said to have been caught/died before 1892?!

Is there more information on him Debra?

Also, is there any news on the updated A-Z?

[Debra A]

Is there more information on him Debra?

Also, is there any news on the updated A-Z?

Michael, I have researched his background and dug out quite a lot of newspaper articles on his later career, he was involved in a couple of murder investigations in the 1910's and gained a reputation for ridding Limehouse of some of it's opium dens in the same era. These things are all mentioned in his retirement piece, accompanied by a photograph of him - I checked if he was involved in any of the cases mentioned in the retirement piece and he was. He was also photographed with Frederick Wensley at an exhumation related to one of these crimes.
What intrigues, me is the claim in the retirement piece that he 'almost caught Jack the Ripper'- As I mentioned, Hall didn't join the Met until 1892. I initially looked on it as journalistic padding to make Hall's career sound more exciting when I discovered the date he joined the force, but as JTR was never offically caught, the claims about JTR (which were not elaborated on at all) are still interesting. I just wndered if anyone else had heard of him or had an idea.y

Re the A to Z? As a researcher on the A to Z, I am busily working every day on the massive database we use to gather the information for over one and a half thousand JTR related entries. That's all I know.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thanks for that Debra; intruiging stuff. And thanks for the A-Z update too. You have a weighty task on your hands especially when you’re coming up with interesting new stuff like Hall.