MJD's work schedule

[johnnyerwin]

Can someone point me in the right direction to find out what kind of work schedule MJD kept? I'm a bit befuddled how he balanced his legal/teaching activities but I'm sure there should be a clear enough record of this.

Thank you.

[aspallek]

Hello John,

That is an interesting question to which there is no answer, unfortunately. Druitt's position as an assistant school master would normally imply that he taught during the day. However, we know that he had an active legal career at the time and that he appeared in court during daytime hours on some dates during the period of the murders. This has led some to assert that Druitt's duties at the school were in the order of being a "night warden." This, however, is purely conjecture and there is no evidence for it. We should assume that "assistant master" means what it says and not assume that it means "night warden."

It is quite possible that the conflict between Druitt's teaching and his legal career was at the root of the "serious trouble" he got into at the school. Perhaps he didn't show up for his classes or was tardy once too often. On the other hand, if he did indeed have night duty, the "serious trouble" might have stemmed from absenting himself at night without permission, perhaps in order to commit murder. But this, too, is conjecture.

[johnnyerwin]

Thanks Andy,

I'm surprised his duties at the school are not better understood. It would seem to me that the "night warden" function would make sense if he was also living there, and would be the most compatible with an active legal career too. You mentioned dates that he was in court; do you recall where that information is? I think these will be important to understand Druitt's movements as much as possible during the period in question.

Cheers!

[aspallek]

There was a court date the week prior to his death in November 1888 and, as I recall, an earlier one in September. I'm sure there were others but these were the only two to hit the Times. Leighton in his biography of Druitt states that he was in court in "the West Country" on October 1 but he gives no citation so we cannot accept that one yet. [Leighton believes this gives Druitt an alibi for the double event but in reality Druitt would still have had more than 30 hours to get from London to the West Country, hence no alibi at all].

The night warden theory makes sense except that I do not believe such a position would be called by the title "assistant master." We must assume "assistant master" means just what it say until we know that it is impossible.

[johnnyerwin]

The night warden theory makes sense except that I do not believe such a position would be called by the title "assistant master." We must assume "assistant master" means just what it say until we know that it is impossible.

Agreed; perhaps there's some contemporary material available from similar institutions that would indicated what duties are assigned so such a title.

I should think that all these factors are crucial before making any conclusions as to his guilt.

[aspallek]

I'm not sure I agree that it is "crucial" but it is important. Even if we knew for sure that Druitt had night duty at the school, it could still fit in with his guilt. Perhaps he did leave the school at night and perhaps his absence was discovered -- though not the murderous reason for it. That could account for the "serious trouble" he had gotten into that resulted in his being sacked.

The biggest difficulty with this notion is that in order to kill Stride, Druitt would have had to leave the school by about 10 pm at the latest. That seems awfully early and would seem to run a high risk of being noticed. I suspect, however, that 10 pm in pre-electrification Victorian times was a much "later" hour than it is today. I imagine respectable people, and especially children, were in bed long before this hour due to the poor quality of artificial lighting.

But, as I said, I see no compelling reason to believe that Druitt's duties were not primarily teaching/tutoring.