Bury's whereabouts in August 1888

[johns]

Hi all.

Thought I would start with the most important Bury stuff I've got then work from there.

This is a report from the Staffordshire Advertiser dated Saturday 16th February 1889 indicating Bury stayed in Wolverhampton during August 1888 for a week at a public house in Powlett Street.

[johns]

This is a news report from the Express and Star (a Black Country paper) dated Wednesday 13th February 1889 and it confirms that Bury was in Wolverhampton for a week in August 1888 and frequented the race meetings at Dunstall Park which opened for it's first ever race on August 13th.

[Sox]

Nice finds, so we can assume then that Bury was home in time for the death of Polly nichols then.

[Sara]

Excellent - has anyone tried to find any of the photo cards which were taken at the racecourse at the opening meeting, and mentione din the press piece above?

The racecourse archive, town archives, or the local press agency or newspaper might have some, though whether they would have a name on is another matter of course! One would have thought if they were so liberally handed round by the couple and by interested acquaintances, they would have been offered to the press when Bury so soon became notorious.

I'm too far from Wolverhampton to visit these archives myself, is anyone local?

[Mrsperfect]

Hi Sara

Bury handed out business cards ..............................and photos of himself, not photo cards. There are a number of Bury's in the UK phone book. Perhaps one of them is related to William Henry?

Regards

Eileen

[johns]

Excellent - has anyone tried to find any of the photo cards which were taken at the racecourse at the opening meeting, and mentione din the press piece above?

The racecourse archive, town archives, or the local press agency or newspaper might have some, though whether they would have a name on is another matter of course! One would have thought if they were so liberally handed round by the couple and by interested acquaintances, they would have been offered to the press when Bury so soon became notorious.

I'm too far from Wolverhampton to visit these archives myself, is anyone local?

I've been trying to find a picture of Bury for a while now, and while I believe that there are some out there to be found it will be either sheer luck or the labours of Hercules to uncover one.

I've gone through the Worcester and Stafford Archives, Stourbridge library as well as the William Salt library in Stafford and Wolverhampton archives too which is where the above snippets came from.

Tracing the family tree has proved tricky and I thought at one point I struck gold but that trail has come to a stop.

John

[DVV]

How do I see Bury...when it's late at night

Many men were fascinated by the Ripper in 1888.
Some went to the police and confessed "their" crimes.
Others threatened their wives saying: "I will Whitechapel you!" (see the Times, 1 October).
Bury did both.
He whitechapelled his wife, and tried his best to be suspected as the Ripper.
Indeed, he even left London, so that, once he had killed his wife, the real Ripper, if he had worked again, could be suspected to be a copycat.
Clever guy! -at least, more than it seems!

But as I said, it's late, and I had a hard and boring day.

[Sam Flynn]

Good finds, John - although all they tell us is that the papers had a source confirming that Bury stayed at a particular Wolverhampton inn for a week. How long he stayed in the town itself (e.g. at other hostelries), is not established, nor whether he stopped off anywhere else outside London during his racing holiday.

[Mrsperfect]

Sam

I would be confident enough to say 'Mission Accomplished' when I think about Bury's visit to Wolverhampton.

All he wanted to do was show the folks back home what a big shot he was............buying jewellery for her new wife and flashing money around.

In his mind, he came, he saw, he conquered!

Regards

Eileen

[swagman]

Hello all. Bury has always attracted me as a viable suspect but the 'august' question has always been something to tackle. The first newsaper piece does mention that Bury and Ellen left Wolverhampton for London - Can we assume this means that they travelled directly? For me this at least keeps alive the view that Bury could have been in London on the 6th (Tabram) and back by the 31st (Nichols).

This is also the first contempory piece i have read that shows Bury having an interest in his attire - I know that Ripper mythology has the killer as the top-hatted, toff. Can anyone suggest where this stereotype comes from ?

[Mrsperfect]

Dr Jekyl & Mr Hyde

Hello all. Bury has always attracted me as a viable suspect but the 'august' question has always been something to tackle. The first newsaper piece does mention that Bury and Ellen left Wolverhampton for London - Can we assume this means that they travelled directly? For me this at least keeps alive the view that Bury could have been in London on the 6th (Tabram) and back by the 31st (Nichols).

This is also the first contempory piece i have read that shows Bury having an interest in his attire - I know that Ripper mythology has the killer as the top-hatted, toff. Can anyone suggest where this stereotype comes from ?

There was a show in a nearby theatre that was featuring Dr Jekyl & Mr Hyde about the same time as the murders were happening. The main character wore a top hat and cloak. It was closed down after (11)? weeks because it was too close to reality.

That's where the newspapers got the idea from. Bury was very conscious about his attire, (changing two to three times a day, when he went to Scotland).

Regards

Eileen

[Celesta]

Eileen,

When you say he was very conscious of his clothing, in what way? Do you mean he was constantly changing the styles of dress? It's odd behavior, isn't it? If we were discussing anyone else, one might think they were obsessive compulsive, or something along those lines.

Best,
Cel

[lovejoy]

burys conviction of theft from landlord

hi i wander has anyone any information on the fact of his conviction for theft from landlord in east london in either sept or oct 1988 id like to know what was taken how he was caught dates etc ive nothing on it but heard it was true please help yours martin

[swagman]

There was a show in a nearby theatre that was featuring Dr Jekyl & Mr Hyde about the same time as the murders were happening. The main character wore a top hat and cloak. It was closed down after (11)? weeks because it was too close to reality.

That's where the newspapers got the idea from. Bury was very conscious about his attire, (changing two to three times a day, when he went to Scotland).

Regards

Eileen

Hi. I know this is an old thread/post but i'm coming back to it as another thread has given me a couple of points to try and get to the bottom of (i'll explain later perhaps if whats in my head starts to become coherent !). As well as Bury's well publicised 'natty' attire i notice that he obviously had a liking for jewellery (bought 'alot' for his wife in Wolverhampton and had some in his possession when arrested in Dundee).

Can anyone expand on this? Is there any description of what items of jewellery Bury had on him when handing himself into the Police?

[johns]

According to MacPherson, Bury had on him when he was arrested at Dundee Police Station the following...

"Several" gold rings
2 brooches
2 pairs of gold earrings
1 lady's silver watch
2 silver lockets
1 silver chain

MacPherson says "this was obviously the remains of Ellen Bury's jewellery"