The broken window

[packers stem]

John appears afterwards as a young boy alone in workhouse records around 1890 but William doesn't. Maria was in the Infirmary around this time.

Hi Debs
Does William vanish for good or can he be found in the 1891 census?

[Debra A]

Hi Debs
Does William vanish for good or can he be found in the 1891 census?

There was one that looked possible in 1891 but the entry was mistranscribed in the index and the mother's name was not Maria on the original entry as it was in the index.
John was sent to a Roman Catholic School at Leyton.

[Phil Carter]

Good evening Simon,


Okay, let's say she did have a son, a fact known immediately and with certainty enough to call the special doctor from the SPCC. In that case, I'm surprised none of the inquest witnesses associated with Miller's Court said anything about the victim's son. Barnett, Bowyer, McCarthy, Prater, Lewis, Ventury and Harvey. A small boy in a court would make his presence known. No one said ' we thought of the boy' his safety, his welfare. Where was the poor dear.' Or anything like that.....


Roy

Hello Roy,

I think we can easily put this in the same bracket as Hutchinson.
Nobody, not one of Kelly's drinking pals, neighbours, her landlord, her rent collector... nobody ever commented on George Hutchinson at all.

Now women talk about men. Especially in pubs. Men that are interested in them, men that are trying to get closer...men that are friends.. men that hang around with a woman, men who claim to have known a woman for 3 years.

Yet not one person has ever commented on the infamous George Hutchinson.
You would have thought, with all the tittle tattle going on in Dorset Street after the murder.. one or another journalist would have found someone who knew the bloke.. or even knew of him... but no.. not one comment. And that guy is very very central in all of this. Not just a rumour of a child. And the place was swarming with journalists still.

Thats why I put the reason you wrote above into the same bracket. Whats good for the goose...



Phil

[Simon Wood]

Top of the Morning to you, Roy,

What I find baffling is this reluctance to believe that Dr. Gabe was acting in his official SPCC capacity at Millers Court.

Just because we have not yet located the boy does not mean he did not exist. There's plenty of people in the Ripper extravaganza we have yet to find.

Gabe's connection with the London Dispensary at 21 Church Street ended in 1884 with the birth of his second daughter, Winifred Agnes, and the founding in that year of the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. This was when he moved to Mecklenburgh Square.

The Times, March 29th 1888—

"Dr. John Rees Gabe, of Mecklenburgh Square," is reported as surgeon to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children at 7 Harpur Street.

I don't understand why anyone thinks it plausible that he just happened to be at the London Dispensary on the morning of Friday 9th November 1888.

A scrap of supporting evidence might be nice.

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

Now here's something rather interesting. One might even describe it as a "scrap" of supporting evidence.

Dr Gabe is mistakenly referred to, on occasion, in the newspapers as "Dr Gale". I offer three examples:

1. London Evening Standard of 17 January 1889

"James and Kate Burgoyne, husband and wife, said to be people of means, of 1, Crowland-terrace, Church-road, Islington, were brought up, on an adjourned summons, charging them with cruelty and neglect towards the illegitimate child of the male Defendant....Thereupon the Society for the Protection of Children took up the prosecution, and called their own medical officer (Dr. Gale) as well as Dr. Gray to prove that the child was a stunted little thing, and bore many marks of ill-usage".

2. Pall Mall Gazette of 11 June 1889:

"Frederick Francis was summoned by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children at the Thames police-court for violently assaulting his step son, John Arthur Owen, aged twelve. Dr. Gale, who examined the boy, found that he was suffering from 41 bruises about the body."

3. Same hearing reported by the London Evening Standard of 10 June 1889:

"Dr. Gale of Meklenburgh Square, examined the child, and found him suffering from about forty-one bruises about the body, which had probably been inflicted at different times."

There can be no doubt that these references to 'Dr Gale' were references to Dr John Rees Gabe.

Why do I say this is interesting? Well, here's the thing...

The following is from the Birmingham Daily Post of 27 December 1887:

'While Dr. Gale was attending a patient in an epileptic fit at the London Dispensary, Church Street, Spitalfields, an old man named Joseph Farrant made the remark, "These fits are dreadful things; you never know how they end;" and he had no sooner uttered the words than he expired. The deceased was an out-patient, and his immediate death after the remark created great excitement among the other patients who were waiting for Dr. Gale's advice."

If, as I believe to be the case, the 'Dr Gale' referred to in the Birmingham Daily Post report was, in fact, Dr Gabe then it puts a whole new light on the matter and would show that Dr Gabe continued to treat patients at the London Dispensary in Spitalfields, just around the corner from where Mary Jane Kelly lived, long after he moved to Mecklenburgh Square and started working for the Society of Prevention For Cruelty to Children.

[DJA]

What I'm wondering - and I don't know if it's a leap of logic - is whether Dr Gabe retained a link with the London Dispensary, just around the corner from Dorset Street, during 1888. Is it possible that he could have held a surgery there one day a week? Perhaps every Friday?

If so,might have been the source of Annie Chapman's medications.

[Simon Wood]

Hi DJA,

Annie Chapman's medications apparently came from St. Bartholomew's Hospital—

Morning Advertiser, 10th September 1888—

“Timothy Donovan, deputy at the lodging house, 35 Dorset Street, stated that after the deceased left on Monday last he found two large bottles in the room, one containing medicine, and labelled as follows: ‘St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Take two tablespoonfuls three times a day.’ The other bottle contained a milky lotion, and was labelled ‘St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. The lotion. Poison.’ This confirmed her statement that she had been under medical treatment.”

St. Bartholomew’s did not supply medicine bottles free of charge. Patients brought their own, or bought one from an itinerant bottle-seller outside the hospital.

Hi David,

Interesting, but it wouldn't stand a chance in a court of law.

Now, you would really be onto something if you could place Dr. John Rees Gabe, General Practitioner and Surgeon, at the London Dispensary, 21 Church Street, Spitalfields, on the morning of Friday 9th November 1888.

I mention this because a surgeon was in attendance at the London Dispensary on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1.00 pm.

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

Interesting, but it wouldn't stand a chance in a court of law.

If you are saying that - in the absence of any other candidates - a court of law would not conclude on the balance of probability that the 'Dr Gale' being referred to in the Birmingham Daily Post was Dr Gabe, then I respectfully disagree.

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

And so do I.

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

Now, you would really be onto something if you could place Dr. John Rees Gabe, General Practitioner and Surgeon, at the London Dispensary, 21 Church Street, Spitalfields, on the morning of Friday 9th November 1888.

I don't need to go this far. If Dr Gabe was still treating patients at the London Dispensary during 1888 - with it being possible that he treated Mary Jane Kelly - then this alone would provide a satisfactory explanation as to why he was called to Miller's Court on the afternoon of 9 November. If he happened to be at the London Dispensary that day, it's a bonus.

[David Orsam]

Hi David,

And so do I.

Regards,

Simon

Well Simon, we know for a fact that Dr Gabe was referred to in the newspapers as 'Dr Gale'. We know that Dr Gabe was associated with the London Dispensary, having lived at 21 Church Street for a number of years in the 1880s. We know that Dr Gale did not live very far away from Whitechapel in 1888. We have a reported example of a 'Dr Gale' treating patients at the London Dispensary in December 1887. In the absence of any other candidates for who this 'Dr Gale' could possibly be, I would be very optimistic of a judge concluding on the balance of probability that the 'Dr Gale' referred to in the Birmingham Daily Post was, in fact, 'Dr Gabe'.

[DJA]

Hi DJA,

Annie Chapman's medications apparently came from St. Bartholomew's Hospital—

Morning Advertiser, 10th September 1888—

“Timothy Donovan, deputy at the lodging house, 35 Dorset Street, stated that after the deceased left on Monday last he found two large bottles in the room, one containing medicine, and labelled as follows: ‘St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Take two tablespoonfuls three times a day.’ The other bottle contained a milky lotion, and was labelled ‘St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. The lotion. Poison.’ This confirmed her statement that she had been under medical treatment.”

St. Bartholomew’s did not supply medicine bottles free of charge. Patients brought their own, or bought one from an itinerant bottle-seller outside the hospital.


Regards,

Simon

Thanks Simon.

Puts a dent in part of my theory

Surmise she took her tablets with her.

[Simon Wood]

Hi DJA,

Excellent point.

The two medications described by Timothy Donovan were liquid.

Where did Annie Chapman get her pills? She certainly didn't have a container of any sort.

Regards,

Simon

[DJA]

If the pills were to treat the TB that had invaded her brain.......

Jack attempted to take her head off.....who knew apart from her treating doctor.

She had transferred the contents of the prescription packet to a torn envelope.

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

"We know that Dr Gale did not live very far away from Whitechapel in 1888."

We do?

Regards,

Simon