Did The Ripper Wear "Cricketing Shoes" ?

[anna]

Hi Deborah,
Firstly,
...to Casebook....nice to have you amongst us!

Thanks for reminding me what year Druitt started at the school...mind like a sieve.

Anyway,what about that!Three people connected to JTR in my neck of the woods.Bit spooky.

I'll have to do some extra digging about,apart from the usual on Druitt,to unearth whatever I can find locally on Ostrog..under his assumed name.
Best Regards,
ANNA.

[dmcdonald@onwight.net]

What neck of the wood?

Hi Anna

Thanks for the great welcome! You say there are three bits of evidence from your neck of the wood. So is that the Blackheath area? Used to live in Beckenham myself which is just down the road. Was useful when researching Druitt, although did have to travel to Chiswick, the records office and Lewisham as well.

Deborah

[dmcdonald@onwight.net]

Dear Uncle Jack

Hope you find Stephen as interesting as I did. I managed to find his mother's diary which I used as the basis of the book and a great insight into his illness. I also found the report made by Prince Eddy's physician during his last illness.

Regards
Debbie

[Uncle Jack]

I have ordered your book Debbie and look forward to reading it.

Regards,

Adam

[anna]

Hi Deborah,
I'm living in Plumstead,which is literally as stones throw away from Woolwich and also Blackheath.I know Beckenham quite well,and also Bromley.

Mayor Livingstone,in his infinate wisdom,decided to tear up the market area of Woolwich to make way for the new rail extension.Taking seven listed buildings and the Post Office (with it's huge crest above the door,which had been sitting there since early Victorian times),down along the way.Evidently,it was cheaper to do this,than to leave them and take down some flats....crazy.
What was decided,was to store all records and information about the area in one central location.The Royal Arsenal buildings were mostly destroyed and new warehouses put in there place,to give local enterprise a workplace..the Firepower! exhibition was created (google it in,and have a butchers,you'll be suprised)because it was considered important that the army remain in Woolwich in some way.So,we also have a new information centre in a small cosy building next to Firepower,where you can go and look at all the local papers over time plus books and pictures and just about every bit of info needed to research a local topic.In the summer,they throw open the large glass doors,and we can watch the river go by while we research.No more travelling about from one library to another.
Best regards.
ANNA.

[dmcdonald@onwight.net]

Dear Adam

Hope you enjoy it and find it of interest. Look forward to hearing your feedback. Please note - there are no silly theories! So cancel if that is what you want!

Regards
Debbie

[dmcdonald@onwight.net]

Dear Anna

Yes I know (or should I now say 'knew!) Plumstead. Sounds like a lot of development has gone on there. Used to work there for a while at a children's home.

Now I live on the Isle of Wight which is generally much quieter and with the internet it is surprising how much research I can do without leaving my study. Cowes is lively anyway and has lots of live music and so on. Enough for me.
Debbie

[anna]

Hi Deborah!

Cowes sounds fantastic.Bit of a change,I'd say!!!!!

It's certainly a small world though,with Druitt in Blackheath,Ostrog being found pinching a tankard down here in Woolwich,and Maybrick visiting his mistress at New Cross....also being famous as the home of Marie Lloyd..
quite a little hotspot in Victorian times.

By the way,
I visited a pub recently in the Downe/Farnborough area and saw the actual boots with a flat board at the front,used by a Music Hall act called" Little Titch"sitting on the wall in a glass case next to the bar,only to find they cropped up on Stephen Fry's QI programme a few weeks later.They took my breath away,they were amazing...and in near perfect condition.

ANNA,

[Uncle Jack]

Please note - there are no silly theories! So cancel if that is what you want!

Ha ha! I have read my fair share of them Debbie! Lol

[dmcdonald@onwight.net]

Dear Anna

Did the music hall act feature Dan Leno? There is a great book by Peter Ackroyd called 'Dan Leno and the Limehouse Gollom' which includes a bit about JtR and also features Karl Marx and George Gissing. It is a novel and has a lot of poetic licence - great book tho. And Dan Leno was an actual music hall sensation of the time so could tie in. His house was/is in Brixton area.

[anna]

Hiya Deborah,

Little Titch was doing what I suppose you could describe as a sort of "sand dance"..like Wilson,Kepple and Betty.....and he was alone in the clip.
Brilliant stuff though.

ANNA.

[Robert]

LT's act with the "skis" was very clever.

I believe he was an early campaigner for decent wages for entertainers, and helped organize a strike.

Robert

[anna]

Hi Robert,
Yes,he was very clever.

I got to see his boots quite by chance,when my boyfriend and I went in the
pub to have a quick drink...after we'd squeezed past the tethered horse in the car park!!!!!!

They're in a pub called "The Blacksmith's Arms" in Biggin Hill,Kent.

They have a website,if you want to google it in.Probably have a piccie of them on there...as they're the pride and joy of the pub.And quite rightly so.

Best Regards.

ANNA.

[Johnr]

Interesting your seeing "Little Tich's" boots Anna,
His name strikes me as having a superfluity of smallness about it.
Getting back to Druitt and India Rubber "cricketing shoes", it occurs to me the cadets might have used "tennis shoes" and " cricketing shoes" as a generic term for canvas sports shoes with India Rubber soles.
Has anyone got that photo of Druitt seated on the ground in a cricket team wearing his kit? It would be interesting to see if he or anyone else is wearing boots or shoes. JOHN RUFFELS.

[Natalie Severn]

Interesting your seeing "Little Tich's" boots Anna,
His name strikes me as having a superfluity of smallness about it.
Getting back to Druitt and India Rubber "cricketing shoes", it occurs to me the cadets might have used "tennis shoes" and " cricketing shoes" as a generic term for canvas sports shoes with India Rubber soles.
Has anyone got that photo of Druitt seated on the ground in a cricket team wearing his kit? It would be interesting to see if he or anyone else is wearing boots or shoes. JOHN RUFFELS.

--
Just leather lace up boots with a leather sole John-its in Don Rumbelow"s Complete JtR-not long back from a short break will try to post the pic over the weekend.
Norma