Doctor Bluitt

[Chris]

Just wondering - since FCR submitted material to "The Referee," maybe Sims mentioned something to him.

But the curious thing is that - judging from the Littlechild Letter - Sims knew the suspect only as "Dr D", whereas Richardson seems to have known his surname.

[jason_c]

But the curious thing is that - judging from the Littlechild Letter - Sims knew the suspect only as "Dr D", whereas Richardson seems to have known his surname.

Perhaps Sim's knew Druitt's name? He didnt mention the full name as he wasn't supposed to know. Perhaps he was protecting MM or Anderson from accusations of giving out sensitive information.

[aspallek]

Holy Moley this is quite a find, Chris! Druitt's name as a Ripper candidate was most certainly not public knowledge in 1908. I do have a feeling that Sims knew Druitt's identity and this may be the source of Richardson's information. However, I can't prove that Sims knew.

This certainly seems to be evidence that someone besides Macnaghten and his source(s) knew Druitt's identity by 1908. The fact that its "Dr. Bluiitt" ties it to Macnaghten as opposed to an independent source.

I will definitely be looking more into this!

[Sam Flynn]

This certainly seems to be evidence that someone besides Macnaghten and his source(s) knew Druitt's identity by 1908. The fact that its "Dr. Bluitt" ties it to Macnaghten...

Wouldn't it also work if Macnaghten's source also believed that Druitt was a doctor ("said to be a doctor"... said by whom?) and that his misinformation infected an entire circle of friends? In this scenario, Richardson could have heard of Druitt via "AN Other" somewhere down the line - as, indeed, could Macnaghten - rather than directly via the originator of the tale.

Returning to my earlier post, I get the distinct impression of an "in-joke" in all this... on which basis, I wonder which club(s) Richardson frequented. Anyone got an old copy of Who's Who?

[Chris]

Returning to my earlier post, I get the distinct impression of an "in-joke" in all this... on which basis, I wonder which club(s) Richardson frequented. Anyone got an old copy of Who's Who?

Your wish is my command ...

I was at the British Library today, and gleaned a little more information about Richardson. Here is his entry in Who Was Who, 1916-1928:

RICHARDSON, Frank; Barrister and Novelist; b. 1870. Educ.: Marlborough; Christ Church, Oxford; called to Bar, 1891. Publications. King's Counsel, 1902; Semi-Society, 1903; The Man who Lost his Past, 1903; The Bayswater Miracle, 1903; There and Back, 1904; The Secret Kingdom, 1905; 2835 Mayfair, 1907; Love and all about it, 1907; Bunkum, 1907; The Worst Man in the World, 1908; The Other Man's Wife, 1908; More Bunkum, 1909; Whiskers and Soda, 1910; Shavings, 1911; Love and Extras, 1911. Recreation: The Whisker Question. Address: 4 Albemarle Street, W. T.: 2835 Mayfair. Clubs: Garrick, Devonshire. (Died 31 July 1917.)

[Robert]

Well Gareth, I have a feeling that he may have been a member of a club. I know that his writing was referred to in the newspaper rather disparagingly as a "hobby" but it was actually his career. He was a published author and his address doesn't give the impression of a poverty-stricken man. Plus, bearing in mind all the business about Druitt being a failed barrister, when he wasn't, it might be that Richardson was a relative failure as a barrister yet still made a decent living at it, at least in his first few years.

After all, there are some failed bankers walking around today who are very nicely off.

[aspallek]

Wouldn't it also work if Macnaghten's source also believed that Druitt was a doctor ("said to be a doctor"... said by whom?)...

Returning to my earlier post, I get the distinct impression of an "in-joke" in all this... on which basis, I wonder which club(s) Richardson frequented. Anyone got an old copy of Who's Who?

Except that Macnaghten's source was almost certainly Farquharson, who correctly identified the killer as "the son of a surgeon."

Yes, I appreciate the appearance of an "in-joke." I suspect it was.

Your wish is my command ...

Clubs: Garrick, Devonshire. (Died 31 July 1917.)[/I]

I may be wrong but didn't both Sims and Macnaghten belong to the Garrick Club?

[Robert]

Chris, just seen your post.

I'm only surprised there wasn't a Whisker Club.

[Howard Brown]

For Chris & his wonderful find:
Notice the publisher's name in the book at the bottom...
The following line is from the book with the dandy on the cover..........

[Sam Flynn]

Farquharson... correctly identified the killer as "the son of a surgeon."

Farquharson! (And, no, I'm not swearing, Andy )

True, true. But it's still possible that both Macnaghten and Richardson heard the story from independent "contaminated" sources, and/or that neither actually heard the story directly from Farquharson himself.

[Sam Flynn]

Your wish is my command ...

Now that's what I call service! Cheers, Chris

[Chris]

I may be wrong but didn't both Sims and Macnaghten belong to the Garrick Club?

Well, funnily enough, Donald McCormick, in the second edition of his book, claimed that Walter Sickert told Macnaghten at the Garrick Club a story about a young veterinary student named "something like Druitt" ("It may have been Drewett, or even Hewitt"!) who was suspected of being the Ripper, and Macnaghten wrongly assumed he was referring to MJD.

Probably that's sheer invention, though.

[aspallek]

Well, funnily enough, Donald McCormick, in the second edition of his book, claimed that Walter Sickert told Macnaghten at the Garrick Club a story about a young veterinary student named "something like Druitt" ("It may have been Drewett, or even Hewitt"!) who was suspected of being the Ripper, and Macnaghten wrongly assumed he was referring to MJD.

Probably that's sheer invention, though.

Doesn't this story involve Osbert Sitwell somehow? Sitwell knew Lady Aberconway well.

[Chris]

Doesn't this story involve Osbert Sitwell somehow? Sitwell knew Lady Aberconway well.

Yes. If I understand correctly Sickert actually told the story to Sitwell (but without giving him a name, which he was meant to have written in the margin of a book that was destroyed in the Blitz), but McCormick probably invented the part about his having told Macnaghten, in order to discredit Druitt as a suspect.

[Chris]

Notice the publisher's name in the book at the bottom...

Thanks for this. Come to think of it, perhaps the publisher's archives would be one place worth checking - in case there's any possibility that an editor queried a possibly troublesome reference to the Whitechapel Murders having been committed by one "Dr Bluitt". I know the dead can't be libelled, but even so ...

Apparently Grant Richards's correspondence is at Princeton, and there is some catalogue material online - at http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/fx719m484 - but it doesn't seem to be accessible at the moment.