Candidates for Robert Sagars Jewish Butcher theory

[Patrick Differ]

Hello Patrick,



Some private asylums had more affordable fees than others. One did not have to be strictly upper class to be admitted to a private asylum. The "man suspected who worked in Butchers Row" being "sent to asylum by friends" indicated he and his friends/family had the resources to afford private treatment, which could have been reasonably priced, not exorbitant.

And certain private asylums accepted pauper patients, whose fees were charged to the poor law union. In either case, it doesn't have to be out of the ordinary for a "man who worked in Butchers Row" to enter a private asylum. It certainly could have happened as Detective Sagar described it.

Hi Paddy- there was a Lunacy Act in 1890 that opened up any Asylum to charge for Private care. There was a middle class in Whitechapel so its possible but my guess would be that it would have been a business owner. I dont think the average laborer would have private care, unless there were private funds.

Unfortunately Sagar never mentioned the Asylum. it could be Sagar was referring to Private care as it was beginning to transition? There might have been a scale?

Good points!

[seanr]

Some of the people living and working in Butcher’s Row were wealthy. As I’ve mentioned, a number of the carcass sellers also additionally had addresses across Deptford, the Islington Cattle Market and Smithfield.

There were families there who could have afforded private care in asylum.

[Patrick Differ]

Some of the people living and working in Butcher’s Row were wealthy. As I’ve mentioned, a number of the carcass sellers also additionally had addresses across Deptford, the Islington Cattle Market and Smithfield.

There were families there who could have afforded private care in asylum.

Who was put in the Asylum? Any ideas on suspects?

Joseph Hyam Levy was wealthy by that days standard and upon his death had several thousand pounds. ( He also retired and lived next door to his best friend Lawende). He had the money to take care of his first cousin Jacob. Jacob was in an asylum before and after the murders.

I would be interested in the names of the sellers you are mentioning and whether anyone has searched their backgrounds? Seems like an avenue that should be exercised?

Thanks Sean.

[seanr]

All of the butcher's in Butcher's Row were wealthier than people seem to realise.

Solomon De Leeuw, to take one example, is listed in the Commercial Directory for 1882 with the following business addresses:

De Leeuw Solomon, cattle &; sheep salesman, 8 Bank buildings, Metropolitan cattle market N; 6o West Smithfield E C; & meat salesman, 73 Aldgate High street E

The address of 60, West Smithfield appears to have been a banking house, and the address is used by a number of traders in the meat business (the address was later used by the Midland bank, and despite the 'Butcher's Hook and Cleaver' pub being at that address in 2025, it is still in use by HSBC according to the Swift interbank system). 8 Bank buildings may have been similar.

There's also the following entry in same edition of the Commercial Directory, which given the obscurity of the name De Leeuw in London of the time is probably him, too.

De Leeuw & Hamburger, cattle, sheep & calf salesmen, 6o West Smithfield E C

To get a sense of the size of the assets and liabilities which these livestock and butchering franchises could stack up, here's the bankruptcy declaration for a butcher's shop which I have selected at random (obviously).


Commercial Gazette (London) - Wednesday 10 September 1890, pp 30

As you may be able to see is that the Kosher butcher shop owned by David & Abraham W Smith, was owing £701 to Solomon De Leeuw of Butcher's Row. In 1890, according to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, that would be an equivalent to something in the region of £78,041.01 in modern money. And this is only one of De Leeuw's customer's.

They say when trying to investigate, you should always follow the money. I’m not suggesting this particular butcher’s shop was a front organisation for the Mafia. This is route one stuff.

De Leeuw himself was to declare bankrupt in November of 1890, with gambling debts being cited as the cause. Although the Smith family declaring bankrupt with that debt outstanding, may have had a knock on impact on De Leeuw.

De Leeuw was one of the smaller ones, his business at its height would not have been even close to that of John Nathan in size.

[Patrick Differ]

All of the butcher's in Butcher's Row were wealthier than people seem to realise.

Solomon De Leeuw, to take one example, is listed in the Commercial Directory for 1882 with the following business addresses:



The address of 60, West Smithfield appears to have been a banking house, and the address is used by a number of traders in the meat business (the address was later used by the Midland bank, and despite the 'Butcher's Hook and Cleaver' pub being at that address in 2025, it is still in use by HSBC according to the Swift interbank system). 8 Bank buildings may have been similar.

There's also the following entry in same edition of the Commercial Directory, which given the obscurity of the name De Leeuw in London of the time is probably him, too.



To get a sense of the size of the assets and liabilities which these livestock and butchering franchises could stack up, here's the bankruptcy declaration for a butcher's shop which I have selected at random (obviously).


Commercial Gazette (London) - Wednesday 10 September 1890, pp 30

As you may be able to see is that the Kosher butcher shop owned by David & Abraham W Smith, was owing £701 to Solomon De Leeuw of Butcher's Row. In 1890, according to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, that would be an equivalent to something in the region of £78,041.01 in modern money. And this is only one of De Leeuw's customer's.

They say when trying to investigate, you should always follow the money. I’m not suggesting this particular butcher’s shop was a front organisation for the Mafia. This is route one stuff.

De Leeuw himself was to declare bankrupt in November of 1890, with gambling debts being cited as the cause. Although the Smith family declaring bankrupt with that debt outstanding, may have had a knock on impact on De Leeuw.

De Leeuw was one of the smaller ones, his business at its height would not have been even close to that of John Nathan in size.

Thanks Sean. I have looked into these other Butchers on the Row and unless there was an employee not recorded somewhere it might be impossible to ever find. But you keep searching.

There are some other avenues for Jacob Levy with regard to the Jewish Butcher Theory. One is what happened to Levy and where he was living in 1889 and 1890.

Robert Sagar said they were watching from a Place accross Aldgate on the other side of the row. Henry Levy lived directly across the Row. It may be that Lawende and Joseph Hyam Levy tipped off the Police with conditions to protect their reputations and livelihoods after the murder of Kelly. Levy would want to protect the family name at all costs.

Isaac Barnett is the " friend" who turned in Jacob Levy in 1890 for Stone Asylum. The same Asylum referred to by Lady Anderson. Isaac was Jacob Levys older sister Elizabeths husband. This would match what Robert Sagar said with regard to the killer sent to an asylum by friends.

Jacob Levys wife and by then 6 children lost the business on #36 Middlesex and moved in with Elizabeth and Isaac at #87 Middlesex which is also close to where Joseph Hyam Levy lived at #1 Hutchison off Middlesex.

It is recorded that when Jacob was admitted to Stone that his wife Sarah lamented that he ruined " Her" business. A business she took over in 1886 because he ended up with a 12 month hard labor sentence and ended up in an Asylum. What 11 months in a Victorian Asylum did to a person suffering from early onset Neurosyphilis is hard to imagine. It is not hard to imagine Jacob however losing control of his business to his wife as he progressively got worse.

Could there have been another crazed Jewish butcher roaming along with Jacob Levy between Middlesex and Butchers Row?
i have serious doubts but will keep looking.

Was Lawende told by Joseph Hyam Levy to acknowledge Jacob but not implicate to the Police? And thats when they followed him? This would tie Lawende to a Jewish Butcher as well as the Hove story.

There are many pieces that tie Levy circumstantially to the known actual events of the case. In my opinion.

[Scott Nelson]

Mine too.

There were rows of abattoirs directly behind the butcher shops along Aldgate-High Street where most of the large-scale cutting occurred. This would have done by skilled butchers associated with the large slaughterhouse. Large sections were then sold to shop owners, who cut the meat further down into salable portions. Sagar's suspect could have worked anonymously in any of abattoirs behind the shop fronts, or in the large slaughterhouse south of Butcher's Row.

[Patrick Differ]

Mine too.

There were rows of abattoirs directly behind the butcher shops along Aldgate-High Street where most of the large-scale cutting occurred. This would have done by skilled butchers associated with the large slaughterhouse. Large sections were then sold to shop owners, who cut the meat further down into salable portions. Sagar's suspect could have worked anonymously in any of abattoirs behind the shop fronts, or in the large slaughterhouse south of Butcher's Row.

Scott- its not clear to me why Sagar would not know exactly where the alleged killer was working especially since the butcher was followed. What this tells me is that they didnt actually know. Therefore its possible that the butcher did business on butchers row and spent time between his shop and Butchers Row and did not actially work there. If they were there to inspect meat to buy then that may have taken time. Meat sales were a negotiation.

If the Police were in disguise to interact with the Jewish community to gather intelligence on the butcher, then its probable they did so because of the reluctance of the community to talk. That reluctance comes through with regard to the Hove story. Would Jews be reluctant to turn in their own?

The Jewish Community and gentile Police community appeared to keep an arms length when it came to cooperation. That suspicion seemed to grow after the Trafalger Bloody Sunday event in 1887 and the fact that the murders were primarily in Jewish neighborhoods.

Solomon DeLeew is an interesting character as he, like Jacob Levy and his brother Abraham were tied to gambling and the gambling clubs on Aldgate. Would be interesting to know more about the gambling clubs.

[Scott Nelson]

Sorry, Sagar may have known the location where the suspect worked, but little else. The suspect's name may have been determined later, but there was certainly no hard evidence one way or the other.

There's a piece in the Ripperologist no. 103 (June 2009) describing Sagar's 1890 surveillance of a gambling club in the Bull Inn Yard from an upper floor of no. 25 AHS, directly across from Butcher's Row. The Bull Inn location (north side of the street) would have been directly across from Solomon De Leeuw's shop.

[seanr]

De Leeuw was one of the smaller ones, his business at its height would not have been even close to that of John Nathan in size.

Joseph Levy married Hannah Gluckstein in 1887.

Joseph was the tailor who was resident at 79 Aldgate High Street in 1888. Hannah Gluckstein was the daughter of Henry Gluckstein, partner of the firm Abrahams and Gluckstein, a division of the Gluckstein tabacco empire. After the ceremony there was a ball with over additional 200 guests. The notable additional guest from that 200 included Henry Nathan, the meat salesman, and such luminaries as Solomon Joel, the diamond magnate and nephew of Barney Barnato.

These people were not poor.