Sims/Macnaghten Letter

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

Nah!

Do you want a Hopalong Cassidy badge,or a chest to pin it on?

I'll take the chest, but only if as antipodean masculine as yours! All hairy and sunburned. Cooled down with flowing Fosters.

In a masculine way! That's not a fantasy! It's not!

[DJA]

You mean with three types of skin cancer.

We do not drink Fosters.
We sell it to the Poms.

[erobitha]

Can anyone explain please what the "Dowt" "Devereux" reference alludes to? (Sorry to be a pain if this is common knowledge but it's a mystery to me).

Once the in-jokes die down I too would like some light on this "Dowt" Devereux mention if anyone can shed some?

[DJA]

Author has no idea on anatomy.

Continually describes stomach mutilations.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Once the in-jokes die down I too would like some light on this "Dowt" Devereux mention if anyone can shed some?

I just found a reference to this on JTRFORUMS. AP Wolf made 2 suggestions on Devereux. Apparently a man called Devereux contacted the press to complain about Scotland Yards inefficient handling of the case. He also mentioned Sarah Devereux killed by George Chapman in 1877.

Nothing on Dowt though.

[PhiltheBear]

Gentlemen (including Hopalongs and others) - My belated thanks for finding the letter. I would say I was in your debt but I don't want the collectors coming round.

[seanr]

Eyre Street Hill -- Clerkenwell -- where there is a large colony of Italians who are mostly ice-cream vendors by day, &, not infrequently, stabbers & shootists by night.

Intriguing little reference to the Sabinis and their associates there. I wonder what this would have been in reference to.

[The Rookie Detective]

Bump up

[The Rookie Detective]

Duplicate post sorry

[The Rookie Detective]

Could Macnaghten have been referring to the 1905 case of Arthur "Devereux" ?

Atthur Devereux was a 24 year old Chemists assistant who murdered (poisoned) 3 people in London in January 1905; his wife Beatrice and their twin toddlers and then put them in a trunk and had it sent to a warehouse.

Arthur tried to blame his wife for committing suicide and poisoning their twins...and he nearly got away with it.

However, a piece of damning evidence was discovered that secured his death sentence.

Shortly before the murders occurred; Arthur had applied for a new job in a different location. The mistake he made was to state on the application form that he was a "Widower."

He had convinced his wife she was drinking cough medicine of some kind and that she should give some to their twins too.

Oddly enough, Arthur and Beatrice had another child; an older son (can't recall his name) Arthur told him that his mother had left with the twins and the boy was oblivious that his father had murdered his mother and younger siblings. Arthur and his son moved away and for a time it wasn't considered that Beatrice and her twins had been murdered. Had it not have been for the suspicions and perseverance, then Arthur Devereux may have escaped justice.
The trunk in which Arthur placed the bodies, was traced to a warehouse after Arthur's mother-in-law became suspicious of Arthur's claims that her daughter had gone away with their young twins. When the trunk was opened, it was noted that the bodies had been positioned "like frogs."

Arthur was hanged in Pentonville (IIRC) in August 1905, around 7 months after the murders took place.

Macnaghten's letter to Sims in 1907 may have been referring to the Devereux murder case of 1905.
The case was all over the press at the time and had extensive coverage and was followed closely by the public.

It may just all be a coincidence of course; but the name Devereux was synonymous at that time with the murder of Beatrice Devereux and her 2 year old twins.

Regardless; it's a fascinating case nonetheless.

[The Rookie Detective]

Interesting...


Chris P over on Forums has found the correct meaning of the word 'Dowt"

It's not "Dowt"... it actually reads "Dowb"

Chris discovered the correct meaning after I queried a possible connection between the alleged Reverend "Dott" letter referencing Kosminski, with the reference to "Dowt" in the Macnaghten letter to Sims.

My suggested link appears to be way off piste; but it made Chris take a closer look at the Macnaghten letter to Sims and he has now found the correct word "DOWB"

And now the context of MacNaughtens words to Sims seem all that bit more intriguing.

He is essentially asking Sims to look after a woman named Devereux, by giving her special treatment; an almost Nepotistic approach.

Why would he do that?


The reference to "Dowb' relates to the idea of giving someone special treatment because of their personal connection.

An example of a modern equivalent of giving "DOWB," would be when an actor gets a part in a film without auditioning, because their uncle is the director.

"It's not what you know; it's who you know that counts."

That is the closest equivalent meaning of "DOWB"

And so why would MacNaghten ask Sims to not forget "DOWB' when referring to a woman named Devereux?

What would make Macnaghten want to ensure Sims was giving special treatment to a woman named Devereux; in the context of reminding Sims of the list of the Canonical 5 murder Ripper victims?

Fascinating indeed