Druitt - the final days

[aspallek]

Amongst my scribbled notes.
Obviously based upon something in the West Sussex Records Office archived Druitt Papers, during the date range 1836 - 1883, I see reference to :
'' Dr Robert Druitt.Letter from T.W. Leigh of Hammersmith ".


So, just who was "T.W.Leigh" ?

JOHN RUFFELS.

Hi John,

I didn't find that letter as I was searching through the archives. I wasn't paying attention to Robert Druitt letters since he had died by 1888. I doubt that there is any significance but one never knows. I don't know who Leigh was.

[SuspectZero]

Hi John,

I didn't find that letter as I was searching through the archives. I wasn't paying attention to Robert Druitt letters since he had died by 1888. I doubt that there is any significance but one never knows. I don't know who Leigh was.

I believe Thomas Leigh was a physician born in Chiswick in 1842.

[rjpalmer]

How do we know that 30 November was the last day of autumn term at Valentine's school? Nearly every book that mentions Druitt makes this claim, but what is the source?

[Wickerman]

How do we know that 30 November was the last day of autumn term at Valentine's school? Nearly every book that mentions Druitt makes this claim, but what is the source?

Hi RJ.
Have you already gone through this part of the Forum?
https://forum.casebook.org/forum/rip...-montague-john

I'd be looking at the research of Andy Spallek, it's the kind of detail he would have unearthed.
I may have seen the source, I just cannot remember.

[rjpalmer]

Thanks, Wick. I've read much of it, but not all of it. I'll keep checking.

Andrew Spallek was one of those who stated (in his initial Ripper Notes article) that Nov 30 was the last day of the term at Valentine's school, but did not cite or identify his source. Others have also written it, but I've yet to find a source for the statement. It seems to me that it was a claim initially made by a local historian from Blackheath, but I'm still not tracing him, nor do I remember where I read it. Nov 30 was a Friday, but beyond that, doesn't it seem a little early for school to be out for winter break? Some 'government schools' (for a lack of a better phrase) were still in session in mid-Dec, 1888.

Another thing that somewhat bothers me is the suggestion that the 50 pound cheque found on Druitt's body was his pay for the term. D. J. Leighton suggested 50 pounds would be about what Druitt would expect for one term's pay (although he admits it is a little high). But, are we to believe, Druitt was only paid once a term? Why, at the end of November, was he still owed the full amount? Wouldn't it have been customary to pay an employee on a bi-monthly or monthly basis?

These questions are important in so far as it would tell us whether Druitt was allowed to finish out the term, or was sacked 'on the spot.' Most claim the former, but on what is this based?

My guess is that the 16 pound cheque is the pay that was still owed to him

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thanks, Wick. I've read much of it, but not all of it. I'll keep checking.

Andrew Spallek was one of those who stated (in his initial Ripper Notes article) that Nov 30 was the last day of the term at Valentine's school, but did not cite or identify his source. Others have also written it, but I've yet to find a source for the statement. It seems to me that it was a claim initially made by a local historian from Blackheath, but I'm still not tracing him, nor do I remember where I read it. Nov 30 was a Friday, but beyond that, doesn't it seem a little early for school to be out for winter break? Some 'government schools' (for a lack of a better phrase) were still in session in mid-Dec, 1888.

Another thing that somewhat bothers me is the suggestion that the 50 pound cheque found on Druitt's body was his pay for the term. D. J. Leighton suggested 50 pounds would be about what Druitt would expect for one term's pay (although he admits it is a little high). But, are we to believe, Druitt was only paid once a term? Why, at the end of November, was he still owed the full amount? Wouldn't it have been customary to pay an employee on a bi-monthly or monthly basis?

These questions are important in so far as it would tell us whether Druitt was allowed to finish out the term, or was sacked 'on the spot.' Most claim the former, but on what is this based?

My guess is that the 16 pound cheque is the pay that was still owed to him

This is something that’s always seemed more than a little strange to me Roger. It seems unlikely that staff would only get payed at the end of term. Using an inflation calculator £50 had the purchasing power of £6,259. Do we know what an average yearly salary for a teacher at a good school would be? Would it have been reduced if the teacher lived in?

And yes November 30th seems not just early but considerably too early. To me this appears to point to Druitt being sacked there and then and being told to clear out. Although we can’t know why he was sacked, if it was anything like - sexual misconduct with staff or boys or violence toward staff or boys - Valentine would hardly have allowed him to hang around.

[Simon Wood]

The Times, 10th April 1889 -

[Simon Wood]

Guardian 15th July 1885 -

[rjpalmer]

Thanks, Simon. I think I saw one for a French tutor, with the pay in the same general ballpark (or should that be cricket pitch)?

Do not the date and content of these ads suggest the school was on the trimester system, with the pay 50 pounds a term? The 16 pounds in gold found on the corpse (it was not a cheque, as I stated earlier) would be more than a month’s pay, so I don't know what it tells us, if anything. Plus, there's the cost of the return ticket, not to mention the necessary stiff drinks in the Blue Anchor before taking the long walk over the railings of Hammersmith Bridge.

I'’ve yet to hear of a case where a child or young adult molester was given a term’'s severance pay but wonders never cease.

Either way, these ads suggest that D. J. Leighton’'s mathematical theorizing was off-the-mark; he claimed Druitt’'s room and board would be subtracted from his wages, which doesn’t seem to be the case. Which is why I am leery about other claims, such as 30 November being the end of the term.

[GUT]

He was in Court just days before he vanished, I suspect the cheque may have been his fee.

[GUT]

Also if he was briefed by William, that could be how they got onto his brother so quick.

[Simon Wood]

Three terms per year at £150 per annum jives with Druitt's cheque for £50.

Except that the autumn term finished in the third week of December.

[rjpalmer]

Three terms per year at £150 per annum jives with Druitt's cheque for £50.

Except that the autumn term finished in the third week of December.

That's why I think, too. And I doubt these school-masters were only paid at term's end. What was it, a fly by night operation?

[Simon Wood]

Hi RJ,

If school breaks were unpaid, I think Druitt was paid £50.00 for each three-month term. £150 per annum.

We know that Druitt was free from school duties on 28th November 1888 when he won the case for the occupants of St. Michael's Vicarage, and also three days later, Saturday, 1st December, when he travelled from Charing Cross to Hammersmith [his ticket tells us that he was intending to return].

At this time, Druitt had about his person a cheque for £50 and another for £16, [both on the London and Provincial Bank] plus £2.10 shillings in gold, 7 shillings in silver, and 2 pence in bronze.

Herlock Sholmes tells us that £50 had the purchasing power of £6,259 [2019]. By the same calculation, £16 had the purchasing power of £2086 [2019].

The cash Druitt was carrying had the buying power of approximately £326.00 [2019].

Could one of these cheques have been for his recent legal services? This is uncertain, as both cheques were drawn on the London and Provincial Bank. This bank mainly catered for small tradesmen and private customers with limited means. It confined its attention to the London suburbs, South Wales and the Eastern Counties. It had a branch at 16 Tranquil Vale, Blackheath.



Regarding the cheques, researcher Stawell Heard writes—"This would have accounted for the two cheques found on his body, one for £50 (his term's salary) and one for £16, which might have been in lieu of a month's notice."

This seems a very reasonable suggestion, except if both cheques were from the school, why weren't the two amounts included in one cheque?

Also, why he had not deposited these cheques by the time he arrived at Hammersmith is another matter. Banking hours were 9 am to 5 pm weekdays, and 9 am to 2 pm Saturdays.

So many questions, too few answers.

Regards,

Simon

[GUT]

The cheque’s would also tally nicely with a brief fee and refresher for a junior Barrister.