Druitt's mother

[Mike Covell]

I even read in Sophie Herfort's book that MJD received anonymous letters which threatened him to reveal to the police that he was Jack the Ripper. Those letters might have caused his suicide...

You read the book Roma?

What was it like? I have visions of Plimmer vs Trenouth.

[Roma]

Yes, I read the book but I really didn't like it : I think she is too biased, too much convinced that Mcnaghten is guilty. Of course, she did a lot of research but, as she considers Druitt as a scapegoat from the beginning, she just can't explore every possible solution for the JTR case. Too bad !

[Mike Covell]

Shame, I like a good conspiracy book. I hope an English translation comes out in the not too distant future as I wouldn't mind having a read.

[dougie]

Some might say the re is reason to believe druitt WAS a suspect at the time of his suicide......could it be that a measure of disinformation was applied? the letter being part of that disinformation?Did the druitt family have enough clout to do that? Im guessing they might have.
regards

[Robert]

Hi Dougie

There is an article about a day in the life of a coroner - by Braxton Hicks I think - in which it's stated that a suicide note can be a rather long, rambling and confused document, and that a coroner would normally just read out the gist of it.

That said, it's difficult to imagine that Monty would be guilty of long windedness or confusion, even under extreme stress. He strikes me as a logical fellow - more like the kind of fellow who'd make up his mind to end it all, and then quietly do it.

[dougie]

Robert,
Maybe you are right,but unless the complete text of the letter is ever retrieved,I dont think anyone can ever be sure.
regards

[dmcdonald@onwight.net]

Ann Druitt's symptoms

Hi

I've just written a book called 'The Prince, His Tutor and the Ripper' which discusses the relationship between Stephen, Prince Eddy and Druitt.

I came across the case notes of Ann Druitt's admittance to Manor House Asylum (from the Wellcome Trust) in which it says in true Victorian notation that she suffered from 'melancholy and stupor' which she had first suffered from her early thirties.

By the time of this relapse she was in her fifties. She also suffered from sleeplessness, restlessness, lack of confidence, indecision, fear of financial ruin that resulted in a reluctance to spend money, and refusal of food due to 'no esophageal passage'. She was lethargic and suffered from delusions.

So back to Druitt at the time he supposedly said he was worried about being like his mother - can this have been true when you think that only the week before his dismissal from the school he had been at a meeting of his cricket club and instigated a new plan to extend the club and its activities.

Can this be a man who was 'lethargic, indecisive, and lacking in confidence@ I don't think so.

Hope this is of interest.

Deborah McDonald

[aspallek]

Hi

So back to Druitt at the time he supposedly said he was worried about being like his mother - can this have been true when you think that only the week before his dismissal from the school he had been at a meeting of his cricket club and instigated a new plan to extend the club and its activities.

Can this be a man who was 'lethargic, indecisive, and lacking in confidence@ I don't think so.

Hope this is of interest.

Deborah McDonald

Hi Deborah. Your book was very much of interest as it was well researched and well written. You can add to your argument the fact that Druitt appeared in court the week of his death and performed quite competently, winning his case. However, you must agree that many victims of depression -- and bi-polar disorder in particular -- vacillate between periods of lucid productivity and lethargy. To find Druitt in both periods within a few days' time is certainly not extraordinary, particularly if there was a precipitation factor responsible for sending him back into his depressive state, a factor such as his being sacked and perhaps involved in an embarrassing scandal.

[Robert]

One small point that's just struck me : "going to be like mother" suggests that this was Monty's first realisation that something was wrong, and therefore is at odds with any idea of his having been previously institutionalised.

[dmcdonald@onwight.net]

Dear Andy

Do you think he had bi polar disorder? I agree that if he had then he could have changed quickly but I don't see the evidence that he did. His behaviour (at least from the little we actually know about it) doesn't seem to suggest that. Not to me anyway. What makes you think he was bi polar?

[aspallek]

Hi Deborah,

I don't know that Druitt was bi-polar. There certainly seems to be signs of mental depression, however, signs which spill over into his physical side for example in his declining cricket performance from 1887 to 1888. A significant number of people suffering from symptoms of depression are in fact bi polar. Therefore we must assume the possibility that Druitt was bi polar, which could explain such swings in his behavior. However, you make an important point. We simply don't know enough about his day to day behavior to make anything close to a conclusive statement on this.

I think you will enjoy my article with its new Druitt photos and further detail on his time at Winchester, if I can ever finish writing it.

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Deborah,
I reckon the fact that he put stones in his pocket and then topped himself in the Thames is also inconsistent with what we now know about his final week.The fact is ,inconsistent or not, he topped himself at Hammersmith and this is surely not something he would have done if he had been on a roll?

[Robert]

I'm a non-swimming person (i.e. a drowning person) but I'm trying to imagine what happens when a good swimmer (as we'll assume Monty was) chucks himself in the water, with stones in his pocket. Presumably there's a strong instinctive urge to free himself from the coat? That would have been difficult once it was wet and clinging. I can't really understand what happened. Still, we know Virginia Woolf succeeded in doing the same thing.

[Natalie Severn]

I see what you mean,Robert. Its all rather strange,we dont know for sure Druitt could swim ofcourse. But even if he could ,his big weighty overcoat with stones in the pocket would allow him to submerge himself I would think.

[Robert]

Nats, he may, of course, have taken some sort of sedative beforehand just to make sure.

Of course, the suicide makes sense if he was JTR! Even the note about being like his mother would make sense, from the point of view of offering William an explanation which would spare family feelings.