Druitt's movements around murder dates

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Dougie,

if so, would that suggest, at the very least ,that druitt DID NOT have an alibi for those dates.

It's just as likely to suggest that Macnaghten (or the police) never checked.

if so, would it suggest that there was a lot more research done on druitt, by macnaughton and the police in general,than is commonly thought.

Doubtful. Bear in mind that the only suspect of whom Macnaghten states his whereabouts were unknown was Ostrog - the fact that Ostrog was actually out of the country at the time, and that Macnaghten fails to note the fact, reveals the level of "research" underpinning the Macnaghten Memorandum left at least a little to be desired.

[dougie]

if so, would that suggest, at the very least ,that druitt DID NOT have an alibi for those dates. and again if so, would it suggest that there was a lot more research done on druitt, by macnaughton and the police in general,than is commonly thought.

[aspallek]

Macnaghten was very adamant about the C5 but I don't think that idea originated with him. His certainty concerning the C5 could have been influenced by his selection of Druitt as his main suspect.

[blaaah]

I will readily admit that Druitt has what is very close to an alibi for the Tabram murder.

If I remember correctly, the C5 victims were originally identified in the Macnaghten memorandum. I wonder if Druitt and his movements had an influence on which victims he would attribute to JTR with such apparent certainty.

Regards,

K

[dougie]

whether ultimately druitt is either confirmed as having an alibi or not (though i suspect neither will be the case),the fact remains he was a prime suspect to a man in a position to know things that the rest of us can only wonder about. innocent or guilty there were reasons why he was suspected,that much is obvious. it beats me why some cant accept this ,and instead put his place on the suspects list down to the rantings of a police chief who merely flicked through the obituaries relating to the time in question, and based on that and a measure of bar room gossip made the statement " my greatest regret etc etc"......its like a police superintendent saying "weve had 3 child murders recently and we have 3 suspects ian huntley, ian brady and lord lucan"......as in druitts case there would have to be a very good reason why lord lucan would be on the list (seeing,as like druitt there was no obvious history to place him there).......it might be a hint that there was a history indeed......just that it wasnt publicly known.
regards

[aspallek]

Bournemouth Express

How long would it take Druitt to get to Bournemouth? Waterloo could be reached from Blackheath in less than 30 minutes, I am rather sure. Waterloo Junction was one of the London stations served by the South Eastern and if he didn't want to endure that long delay at Cannon Street, Druitt could have walked from London Bridge.

Pall Mall Gazette, 1 August, 1888:

[aspallek]

Hi Andy, I don't know,as I haven't dated the photocopy! It was a match played against the Brothers Christopherson-When Blackheath are in he beats S.Christopherson in the Ist Innings,doesn't play in the second Innings.When the Brothers Christopherson are in,he looses to S,C & D Christopherson. But Blackheath win.I suppose he would have been expected to have been there for the warm up before they went to get changed at the pub.

That sounds like the match in question. When I get a chance I'll post the game account. I don't know enough about cricket to tell much, except that Druitt did not perform well.

Lawn Hockey was and possibly still is a sport for both men and women, my wife and I were just discussing this the other night.

I was always a defender because I was pretty fast and my weight training made me quite a bulky charector!

Although we played it on an all weather court rather than the lawn (we weren't posh enough!)

I did some checking in Total Hockey, a hockey encyclopedia, and found that ice hockey didn't really come to England until the 1890's although Oxford and Cambridge played a variation of ice hockey in Switzerland in the 1880's. The sport was popularized in England by the Royal family, who apparently played on the ground of Buckingham Palace! Rather a different Edwardian image than I ever had before.
Incidentally, the first artificial ice rinks opened in London in the 1870's.

The only hockey I ever played was a sort of street hockey we used to play in Chicago in winter. We would play without skates and use a tennis ball for a puck.

[Mike Covell]

Lawn Hockey was and possibly still is a sport for both men and women, my wife and I were just discussing this the other night.

I was always a defender because I was pretty fast and my weight training made me quite a bulky charector!

Although we played it on an all weather court rather than the lawn (we weren't posh enough!)

[anna]

Hi Andy, I don't know,as I haven't dated the photocopy! It was a match played against the Brothers Christopherson-When Blackheath are in he beats S.Christopherson in the Ist Innings,doesn't play in the second Innings.When the Brothers Christopherson are in,he looses to S,C & D Christopherson. But Blackheath win.I suppose he would have been expected to have been there for the warm up before they went to get changed at the pub.

[aspallek]

And, one thing I wished I had asked Andy, is that Begg wrote that Druitt also played for a Hockey (I assume lawn hockey) club. We know his Cricket schedule, but what of these other sports Druitt was playing? He was not exclusively a Cricket player.

I thought of that later, too, Jonathan and I wished I'd have mentioned it. I assume it was "lawn" or "field" hockey as we call it in the US. Here it is primarily a girls' sport. Although, I believe ice hockey has been played in England for over 100 years.

BTW -- In listening to the podcast later I noticed a spot where I misspoke. In discussing the rail services I at one point said "Cannon Street" when I meant to say "Charing Cross." I think the mistake should be obvious enough.

We discussed the fact that he might have been too stressed to have gone on to play the following day,had he have been Jack.He only played in the first innings of a cricket game I found a report on.

Was that the Sept 8 match? I didn't remember that but I do recall he fared poorly in that match.

With regard to showing up in advance of the game, if he's on a 0730 or 0749 train he's there in plenty of time. We also should say, however, there is only a record of his playing in the match. There is no record of whether he was there hours before the match. Even if that was normally expected (and I don't know whether it was or not), I'm sure players occasionally had reason for not showing until game time.

[anna]

We discussed the fact that he might have been too stressed to have gone on to play the following day,had he have been Jack.He only played in the first innings of a cricket game I found a report on.

[anna]

Hi all, actually,from what I have read during my research locally,looking through the newspapers of the time. Monty,although he is said on one of the murder dates to have a match that started at eleven in the morning.He would have been required to have been at the school earlier than that. The boys used to carry out the equipment while accompanying the players,as a lot of the pupils remained in the school during the Summer break,depending on their parents committments.The boys went onto the field to set out the cricket equipment,while the players went over to the pub on the heath to change,and walk out for the match.After the match all adjourned back to the pub for sandwiches,cake etc and tea.Where the room they sat in to feast had glass windows which looked out onto the heath and they could eat while watching the matches that followed theirs.Just a bit of Monty trivia folks!

[jmenges]

And, one thing I wished I had asked Andy, is that Begg wrote that Druitt also played for a Hockey (I assume lawn hockey) club. We know his Cricket schedule, but what of these other sports Druitt was playing? He was not exclusively a Cricket player.

JM

[jmenges]

Hi all,

Andy Spallek was the guest on our podcast about Druitt yesterday. Please give it a listen. The link to the show is in the Ripper Audio thread.

JM

[Ben]

Absolutely, Brad.

I'm just anxious that Druitt's candidacy isn't elevated on the basis that nothing concrete has emerged to rule him out completely.

Cheers,
Ben