Druitt and Macnaghten

[Frank]

Looking through the Press Reports section on this side I found:

The Times (London)
4 November 1884
THE INNS OF COURT.
In connexion with the general examination of students of the Inns of Court held at Lincoln's-inn Hall, 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d of October, the Council of Legal Education have awarded to the following students certificates that they have satisfactorily passed a public examination:-Edmund Acres Bagshawe, Middle Temple; Frederic Gorell Barnes, Oliver Eaton Bodington, Archibald Henry Bodkin, John Lee Booker, Alfred John Bowman, and Edward Egerton Hanson Brydges, Inner Temple; Louis Matthew Cantlon, Middle Temple; Charles William Chitty, William Bey Cobb, Francis Cochran, and Hugh Bertram Cox, Inner Temple; Arthur Herbert Davis and Peter Alexander de Rosario, Middle Temple; Havilland Walter de Sausmarez and Richard Marcus Gordon Dill, Inner Temple; Henry William Disney, Lincoln's-inn; Montague John Druitt and Percy Francis Du Croz, Inner Temple; Khirode Behay Dutt, Lincoln's-inn; Ewald August Esselen, Inner Temple; Edward Albert Gait, Middle Temple; Robert Thomas Gill and Henry Rider Haggard, Lincoln's-inn; Robert William Frederick Harrison, Inner Temple; Walter Parry Haskett-Smith, Lincoln's-inn; Thomas Wagstaffe Haycraft, William Oliver Hodges, and Llewellyn Wynne Jones, Inner Temple; Clement Boulton Roylance Kent, Gray's-inn; Clifford Kitchin, Lincoln's-inn; Pandit Shyamaji Krishnavarma and John Highfield Leigh, Inner Temple; Benjamin Scott Foster Macgeagh, Middle Temple; Edward Charles Macnaghten, Lincoln's-inn; Mohammed Abdool Majid, Middle Temple; Robert Manuel, Inner Temple; Henry Merrick, Middle Temple; Jijibhai Edalji Modi, Lincoln's-inn; Thomas Moore, Alfred Cyril Morasso and Charles James Morris, Middle Temple; Arthur Turnour Murray, Lincoln's-inn; Norman Macdonald St. John Maradin Newton, Inner Temple; Moung Bah Ohn, Middle Temple; Francis Plumptre Beresford Osmaston, Inner Temple; William Edward Oswell, Middle Temple; Edward Hare Pickersgill, Inner Temple; Pliny Henry Pisani, Middle Temple; Ernest Murray Pollock, Inner Temple; Leslie Probyn, Arthur Philip Quicke, Edward Rushton, Arthur Clavell Salter, and Charles Douglas Scott, Middle Temple; Alexander George John Stewart, Edgar Storey, and Arthur Edward Swift, Inner Temple; Israel Alexander Symmons, George Paul Taylor, Syed Mohamed Habib Ullah, Joseph Vincent, and William Montgomery Fairlie Waterton, Middle Temple; and Robert Younger, Inner Temple.


Was this Edward Charles Macnaghten related to Sir Melville Macnaghten?
If so and if Edward C. Macnaghten and Montague John Druitt knew each other, then maybe Edward C.Macnaghten was the source of the private information that led Sir Melville to the suspicion against Druitt.

Any thoughts?

Best regards,
Frank

[Chris]

Was this Edward Charles Macnaghten related to Sir Melville Macnaghten?

I think this is Edward Charles Macnaghten (1859-1914), the 5th baronet. His father was Melville Macnaghten's first cousin. [Burke's Peerage, 1949 edn.]

[Tom_Wescott]

Which makes Edward Macnaghten's first cousin once removed?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[DVV]

According to the pathetic French author Sophie Herfort:

"Durant ses études, il [Macnaghten] a souvent joué au cricket avec l'équipe d'Eton contre l'équipe de Winchester, à laquelle appartenait Druitt [Montague]". (p 244)

Amitiés,
David

[Hunter]

Sir Edward Charles Macnaghten, 5th Bt. was born on 9 October 1859.1 He was the son of Edward Macnaghten, Baron Macnaghten and Frances Arabella Martin.1 He married, firstly, Hon. Gwen Elca Violett Abbot, daughter of Charles Stuart Aubrey Abbott, 3rd Baron Tenterden, on 20 March 1888.1 He married, secondly, Edith Minnie Powell, daughter of Thomas Powell, in January 1894.1 He died on 31 December 1914 at age 55.1
Sir Edward Charles Macnaghten, 5th Bt. succeeded to the title of 5th Baronet Macnaghten, of Dundarvie, co. Antrim [U.K., 1836] on 17 February 1913.

[DaveMc]

Not a bad angle on the Macnaghten memorandum.
Regarding that part about having "I have little doubt that his own family suspected ...", Edward may have been in the position to know Druitt well enough as well as talk to his elder cousin about his suspicions.

So mabybe it was Edward who provided the personal information on the Druitt family?

It put's Melville's words into a more understandable context, but it moves a step away from fact and another step towards speculation on his part.

I'm more impressed that you worked the list of names and spotted it.
I didn't.

[Mayerling]

[QUOTE=Frank;121307]Looking through the Press Reports section on this side I found:

The Times (London)
4 November 1884
THE INNS OF COURT.
In connexion with the general examination of students of the Inns of Court held at Lincoln's-inn Hall, 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d of October, the Council of Legal Education have awarded to the following students certificates that they have satisfactorily passed a public examination:- Montague John Druitt and Percy Francis Du Croz, Inner Temple; Khirode Behay Dutt, Lincoln's-inn; Ewald August Esselen, Inner Temple; Edward Albert Gait, Middle Temple; Robert Thomas Gill and Henry Rider Haggard, Lincoln's-inn; Robert William Frederick Harrison, Inner Temple; Walter Parry Haskett-Smith, Lincoln's-inn; Thomas Wagstaffe Haycraft, William Oliver Hodges, and Llewellyn Wynne Jones, Inner Temple; Clement Boulton Roylance Kent, Gray's-inn; Clifford Kitchin, Lincoln's-inn; Pandit Shyamaji Krishnavarma and John Highfield Leigh, Inner Temple; Benjamin Scott Foster Macgeagh, Middle Temple; Edward Charles Macnaghten, Lincoln's-inn; Mohammed Abdool Majid, Middle Temple; Robert Manuel, Inner Temple; Henry Merrick, Middle Temple; Jijibhai Edalji Modi, Lincoln's-inn;

Can somebody trace Mr. Jijibhai Edalji Modi, of Lindoln's - inn? I'm curious if he is a relative of George Edalji, who was also a solicitor before the 1903 horse and cattle maimings led to his conviction and disbarment and to Conan Doyle's championing of his innocence.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

By the way, the "Henry Rider Haggard" listed for Lincoln's-inn is the noted novelist Sir H. Rider Haggard. The following is from the article in Wikipedia on Rider Haggard:

"Haggard in England, 1882–1925
Moving back to England in 1882 (according to H.d.R. the return was in autumn 1881 and they had been living in Newcastle, Natal), the couple settled in Ditchingham, Norfolk, Louisa's ancestral home. Later they lived in Kessingland and had connections with the church in Bungay, Suffolk. Haggard turned to the study of law and was called to the bar in 1884. His practice of law was desultory, and much of his time was taken up by the writing of novels, which he saw as being more profitable. Rider Haggard lived at 69 Gunterstone Road in Hammersmith, London, from mid 1885 to circa April 1888. It was at this Hammersmith address that he completed King Solomon's Mines (published September 1885).[7] Heavily influenced by the larger-than-life adventurers he met in Colonial Africa (most notably Frederick Selous and Frederick Russell Burnham), the great mineral wealth discovered in Africa, and the ruins of ancient lost civilizations of the continent, such as Great Zimbabwe, Haggard created his Allan Quatermain adventures.[8][9] Three of his books, The Wizard (1896), Elissa; the Doom of Zimbabwe (1899), and Black Heart and White Heart; a Zulu Idyll (1900), are dedicated to Burnham's daughter, Nada, the first white child born in Bulawayo; she had been named after Haggard's 1892 book Nada the Lily.[10]"

Note that Rider Haggard, in the Wikipedia article, was called to the bar in 1884. I wonder if he ever knew that his name once appeared in the same list as a man who would later be suspected of being Jack the Ripper.

Jeff

[Johnr]

One Macnaghten and one Druitt Please..

Well Spotted Frank,

But if I read the list correctly, Druitt hailed from one "Inn of Court" - the Inner Temple- whilst Edward Macnaghten hailed from, I think it was, Lincolns Inn.

I have been to the Inns of Court where an official kindly allowed access to the large-bound "Call Books".
These list the dates every barrister graduated -or was admitted to the Barfrom that particular Inn.
So from that date, they could take chambers, put up their brass plate, and start charging outrageous fees.
Now in the Call Books, the following members were called to the bar on the same date as Montague Druitt, January 26th, 1885:

They were:WILLIAMS, Thomas Marchant, MASON, Francis George Montague,
DRURY, George Thorn, NEWTON, Norman McDonald St John Marsden, HUDSON, Alfred Arthur,HELPMAN, JohnHenry, DILL, Thomas Reginald Colqhhoun, GRAHAM, Thomas Lyndoch, LAWRENCE, Arthur, BALFOUR, Graham, SPOFFORTH, Walter Loudon, HOLLAND, Alfred Valentine, ROACH, Frank Osborne, CLARKSON, Harold Comerford, MOKE, George Edward, BIGG, Edward Francis, ROHRWEGER, Frank, YOUNG, Herbert, FORDHAM, (Sir) Herbert George, MASKEW, William Henry, HAYCRAFT, Sir Thomas Wagstaffe, BARNES, Frederick Gorrell, ESSELEN, Ewald August, BODKIN,(sir) Archibald Henry, DUKA,Francis Theodore Taylor.

I think members of Inns dined together frequently. Often, the actual Inn the person ended up in, depended on the one your father went to, or influential relatives could get you into. Importantly, most graduates from Winchester College attended the Inner Temple.

After they graduated, they went onto lists called Circuits, and were limited to 'practising' in those circuit courts only.
Does anyone have access to Law Lists for the 1880's to see which circuit Montague Druitt is on?

JOHN RUFFELS.

[The Grave Maurice]

Does anyone have access to Law Lists for the 1880's to see which circuit Montague Druitt is on?

John,

Hasn't it been established that Druitt was on the Western Circuit? See, e.g., his entry in the A-Z.

[Mayerling]

Hi John and Maurice.

That list should be analyzed a bit more. These three Inner Temple members graduated with Monty

Oliver Eaton Bodington
Archibald Henry Bodkin
Ernest Murray Pollack

All three have biographies in Wikipedia. Bodkin is the most interesting. He was in charge of Public Prosecutions in the 1920s. In 1903 he was involved in the prosecution of the "Borough Poisoner", George Chapman. Who says there can't be odd connections.

Bodington was an expert in International Law, who practiced in Paris. He had a nice sideline - he negotiated the marriages of wealthy American heiresses to foreign nobility.

Pollack was a member of Parliament who worked with the Liberals under Lloyd George. He held several nice judicial posts.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

Sorry, Robert Younger also became important. He became a Baron and a leading jurist on the Scotch Bench. His biography is also on the Wikipedia (and mentions he was called to the bar in 1884).

Jeff

[Phil Carter]

Hello Frank, Johnr, GM. all,

It could very well be that the source of the "private info" mooted in the memorandum is Edward Charles Magnaghten. Looking at this from a distance, I personally would prefer the name of Druitt coming to the ears of Sir MM via a relative, other than a West Country MP. It would also, I propose indicate the word "private" as more applicable from this source.

Should this have been the case, and should it have been that it was a verbal source, the combination of a family member's, and it being a verbal suspicion may well account for Sir MM saying that his papers on the subject were destroyed. In other words, it was all verbal and no written stuff existed anyway.

It isn't hard to percieve a family dinner party with Edward Chales retelling all about a suspicion of a group of barristers relating to Druitts sanity and his dismissal from the school, scandel etc.

The point that this may have come from a barrister, and the fact that the said barrister was family, may be the reason for the name in the first place.

I do not know. But verbal accounts of X being suspected by family member or close friend or aquaintance Y of being JTR exist all over the place during this time.

To me, Edward Charles seems a more logical source of information than the West Country Mp. Only my opinion, I might add.

Was this another example of someone (Sir MM) weaving their family into the involvement of the story, as is so often heard of? I only ask.

best wishes

Phil

[Mayerling]

Three of the Classmates:

Again this websites system has failed so I am retyping everything. This is part I

Haycroft, Sir Thomas Wagstagge (1858 - July 16, 1936)
wrote:

1) Executive Power in Relation to Crime and Disorder (n/1897).
2) A Handy Book on the Bills of Sales Acts [n/?/1911]

Fordham, Sir Herbert George (May 9, 1859 to 1929)

Mostly from Wikipedia -

He was one of the experts on cartography. His method of cataloging became widely used. The Wikipedia article mentions his being called to the bar in 1885, but his family had a brewery and when his father died he took it over. Then he pursued his hobby of collecting maps. He was a member of the Royal Geographical Society, and eventually donated 1300 volumes to that group of his collection. The year he died he was honored by the Brussels Geographical Society with its gold medal for his being a foremost authority on maps.

[Mayerling]

Last of the three men I looked up.

Part II:

Balfour, Sir Graham

Actually this is a mistake. The correct name is Sir Thomas Graham Balfour (1859 -1928).

This man came from illustrious stock. He was named exactly for his father, one of the leading mathematicians and statisticians of Victorian England who worked with Education circles. The older Sir Thomas wrote one book which is still in print (up-dated no doubt) about the Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland (last publication - its 12th edition - was in 2008). The father has been honored with a high school in his name in Stafford, Staffordshire that is a special school dealing with mathematics. The old man was a friend of Florence Nightingale.

But the younger Thomas Graham has his own niche in history. The Balfours were cousins of Robert Louis Stevenson, and when that author died in 1894 his wife Fanny Osbourne Stevenson asked Thomas Graham Jr. to write the official biography of his cousin. This was a slap at Sidney Colvin, a leading critic of the time who had been a champion of the early Stevenson (of THE SILVERADO SQATTERS period) and collaborator (on a play about Deacon Brodie - it never got produced but it led to Stevenson writing DR. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, which, of course, became a successful stage vehicle for Richard Mansfield just in time to be popular when Jack was getting into his act). Colvin and Stevenson eventually quarrelled and it was this that led to Colvin dismissing Stevenson as a boy's author - a dismissal that still affects Stevenson's reputation today. Colvin had the cheek to request to do the official biography and Fanny said NO!

Graham Balfour would do the two volume official biography as well as editions of the works of his cousin. Most Stevenson scholars use his work, but Colvin's sneers about them being hagiographic still hurt their reputation.

Hopefully more later. This information came from a combined biography on the Balfours in Wikipedia (except for my going into the Stevenson-Colvin problem).