Druitt's movements around murder dates

[Ben]

It seem likely that he was away when Tabram was killed but the general consensus is that this was not a Ripper murder.

Ooh, I dunno about that, Andy.

Opinion seems to be pretty evenly divided on that score, from what I've seen. Certainly, there were more contemporary police officials including her than excluding her, and the same appears to be true of modern criminologists.

Whenever Druitt crops up on the record between 3rd August and 1st September, he can only be placed in Dorset, a time period which meshes up extremely well with a standard public school holiday. The parsimonious explanation, surely, is that he can be placed in that county and nowhere else because that was where he was spending his time off school? Unless, of course, some especially pressing legal matters sent him Capitol-wards.

[aspallek]

Yes, Sam, we do have that information. Of course, Druitt could have made an excuse as to why he might have been late for the tea and crumpets but I won't quibble with you. This is the tightest window Druitt had, at least that we know of, and I suppose it might have been as little as three hours though I think it was a bit more.

Courtesy of Neil Rhind, who provided me with a period newspaper listing the January 1889 train times between Blackheath and London and vice versa:

I give the times from Cannon Street because that was the nearer station to the murder site. These trains did operate on Saturdays.

There were departures at 0605, 0730, 0749, 0820, 0840, 0920, 0940, and so on. No arrival times are given. Today it's about a 10-15 run so I doubt it would have been more than 30 minutes then. It seems he could have caught the 0730 or the 0749, either of which would have got him to Blackheath before 0830.

[Sam Flynn]

2. Ann Chapman: Murdered early morning 8 September. Druitt's next known appearance is later that morning playing cricket in Blackheath. Phil Sugden indicates this match began at 11:30. The rail journey to Blackheath would have been about 30 minutes. Even allowing time for Druitt to make his way to Cannon Street Station, he has more than 4 hours to spare.

Purely out of interest, Andy, do we know what the Cannon Street/Blackheath train departure times on a Saturday morning were back then?

On another topic, whilst the cricket match may have started at 11:30 it's likely that the teams would have assembled sooner than that. Cricket being something of a "social" sport, there may even have been a preliminary round of tea, cakes and a chat before the players strolled out onto the green. With that in mind, I shouldn't be surprised if Druitt's theoretical 4 hours' leeway was in fact 3 hours or less.

[aspallek]

A word on Druitt's cricketing in August 1888:

I will readily admit that Druitt has what is very close to an alibi for the Tabram murder. However, I do not consider it likely that this is a Ripper murder.

Tabram was murdered on 7 August. Druitt played at Bournemouth on 3-4 August and then again on 10-11 August. These were consecutive weekends. While it is certainly possible that Druitt could return to London during this period as the Courts were in session there, it is more logical to assume that he spent that week in Dorset, either with his brother William in Bournemouth or at the family home, Westfield House, in Wimborne Minster.

We know that Montague Druitt played in Dorset on 1 September. The question is whether Druitt spent the rest of August in Dorset or returned to London to attend to his legal work there. School was not in session. Leighton wrongly makes the assertion that Montague Druitt played cricket for the Bournemouth team in Salisbury on August 22. Sugden is much more wise in admitting that we do not know who this "Druitt" is (no first initial is given in the report). It is more likely that this was Montague's brother William, who lived in Bournemouth and who is known to have played for the Bournemouth club. There is also an "A. Druitt" (perhaps Montague's brother Arthur, who was also a cricketer) who played alongside Montague in Bournemouth. A little digging reveals that Montague's cousin, the Rev. Charles Druitt, was rector of a parish just on the edge of Salisbury at that time and that he was certainly present there in September. It is possible that it was Charles who played at Salisbury that day. Sorry to be so hard on Leighton, who gives us valuable information on Montague Druitt in his book, but this is why we must be cautious when making "factual" statements that are actually assumptions! Leighton's error here casts great doubt on his claim that Druitt was in the West Country on 1 October (see post above).

Leighton makes one further statement that must be verified. He states that Montague played in another fixture at Kingston Park CC. However, William also played for Kingston Park. Leighton does not indicate on which date this fixture was held.

Now, just a note about Philip Hutchinson's assertion that there is new evidence that Montague Druitt was away from London playing cricket at the time most of the murders took place. I'm really not trying to argue with Phil but I am just trying to understand the nature of his assertion. The Blackheath club played its final match on 8 September. Cricket season seems to have been concluded by the end of September, with a relative few fixtures being held as late as 30 September. Maybe I'm wrong about this but that is the impression I get from scanning the newspapers. It seems unlikely that Montague Druitt would have played in one of the few fixtures held that day. Thus, how Montague could be away from London playing cricket when most of the murders were committed seems impossible to me.

It seem likely that he was away when Tabram was killed but the general consensus is that this was not a Ripper murder. I will grant that he might have been away when Nichols was murdered but as yet there is no evidence of that. But even if Phil brings forth evidence that Druitt was away on 31 August, how is this when most of the murders took place? Please, Phil, give us more information.

[aspallek]

Let us begin with the information I posted several times on the old boards:

1. Polly Nichols: Murdered early morning 31 August. Druitt's next known appearance is 1 September playing cricket in Dorset. This gives Druitt approximately 30 hours to complete a rail journey of perhaps 3 hours.

2. Ann Chapman: Murdered early morning 8 September. Druitt's next known appearance is later that morning playing cricket in Blackheath. Phil Sugden indicates this match began at 11:30. The rail journey to Blackheath would have been about 30 minutes. Even allowing time for Druitt to make his way to Cannon Street Station, he has more than 4 hours to spare.

3. Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes: Eddowes murdered before 2 AM on 30 September. Cricketing season had ended for most club's (including Druitt's regular club) by this day. A few fixtures were held on 30 September and one or two "make-up" fixtures shortly afterward but Druitt is not known to have participated in these. Druitt's next appearance: According to Leighton, Druitt appeared in court in the West Country (probably meaning Dorset or Hampshire) on 1 October. Leighton does not cite any source but even if it is so, Druitt has well over 30 hours to complete this rail journey of about 3 hours.

4. Mary Kelly: Murdered on 9 November, probably early morning. There are no known movements of Druitt within the following few days.

I will follow with a separate post concerning Druitt's cricketing in August 1888.

[aspallek]

A thread to discuss Druitt's known movements around the murder dates and/or potential alibis.