Druitt Connection to the East End

[aspallek]

Uh, Ben, now listen carefully, my good man while I tell you what this is all about and what it is not about.

My research is not about proving that Montague Druitt is Jack the Ripper. You and I agree that Druitt is a less likely suspect than the generic East Ender. Do you get it, we agree on that?

Now, pay attention. This is what my research is about. My research is about uncovering the reason why Melville Macnaghten believed Montague Druitt was a good suspect, indeed, why Sir Melville believed him to be the best suspect. This is not to say that Macnaghten was right or wrong in that belief. Why did he hold this belief? It is my bet that there is a logical reason for Macnaghten's belief -- that it is more than "that Old Boy Farquharson from Eton said Druitt's family thinks he's the Ripper so it must be true."

[c.d.]

I have to admit that I am completely lost on this thread. Exactly what is being argued here? Unless we can show that Druitt had ties to the East End, then it proves that he had never been there? Well...are we to believe that he walked around with a T Shirt that said "I visited the East End and all I got was this lousy T shirt?" I mean its not like we are trying to place him in Argentina. Is there anything that prevented him from going to the East End? It was simply a relatively short train ride from his school was it not? Man, I am lost here.

c.d.

[aspallek]

I do need to clarify one thing. In spite of Ben's gracious compliment, I did none of the research relating to Jabez Druitt except looking him up in the census and some directories to determine his profession. The information has been out there for quite some time. I merely fit the puzzle pieces together. I do hope to gain access to this letter on the faint hope that it might contain something relevant to the murders. As far as I know, no Ripper student has ever seen the actual letter.

Rob, thanks for digging out these other Druitts. My guess is that they are not related to Montague, but then I would not have felt Jabez was related were it not for mention of this letter. It is interesting that there is another "Emily Druitt." That makes three that we know of. Easy to get confused. Is that image of the 1881 census?

[Rob Clack]

There is a large family of Druitt's living at 288 Oxford Street which was behind the London Hospital and is now part of Stepney way. They were there in the 1881 and 1891 census returns.
Oxford Street was a red light area, known for it's brothels. The owner of number 70 and 72 was fined for keeping a disorderly house the previous year.



Rob

[Ben]

And wasn't it you who said that there is absolutely nothing to tie Druitt to the East End?

Hi Andy, it might have been me who said there was absolutely nothing to suggest Druitt was ever in the East End, in which case I stick by that. Incidentally, if your admirable research efforts ever turn up anything that points towards Druitt being the killer, I for one would be grateful...cuz he's much more interesting that our generic East End ruffian, despite being considerably less plausible as a suspect on current evidence.

Until then, however...

[aspallek]

What a predictable reply, Ben! You're incorrigible, buddy.

And if I go to Chichester this summer and bring back a photocopy of the letter and it happens to say something like, "We so enjoyed Cousin Montague's visit to our home last Friday" you will respond by stating that this could have been some other "Cousin Montague...." I'd give up, but this is too much fun.

Ben, yes I realize this is not proof that Montague visited the East End. However, it is reasonable proof that he had a relative who lived there and who was in communication with the Dorset Druitts. And wasn't it you who said that there is absolutely nothing to tie Druitt to the East End?

[Ben]

Interesting stuff, Andy, and great research.

Unless I've digested the familial connections too hastily, Jabez Druitt is someone who wrote a letter to a cousin of Monty Druitt? It links Monty with the East End, but only in the sense that a letter written to one of my cousins with someone sharing my surname links me to Liverpool...and I've never been there!

[aspallek]

This one is just for Ben and the rest who think it is necessary for Druitt to have another connection to the East End. I still maintain that's not necessary.

Consider the case of one Jabez Druitt of Mile End Road. In the West Sussex Records Office in Chichester there lies a letter from Jabez and his wife Sophie to Gertrude Elizabeth Druitt. The letter was written in 1888 but its exact date and contents are unknown. Gertrude was the youngest daughter of Dr. Robert Druitt, making her Montague's cousin. The presence of this letter, whatever its contents, indicates beyond reasonable doubt a familial relationship between the Jabez Druitt family of Mile End Road and Montague Druitt. In fact, if Druitt were to choose to walk from Cannon Street Station to his relative's home, he would pass right through the heart of Whitechapel. Jabez was a sculptor of funerary art who had done well enough to employ a domestic servant.

But wait, there's more. Thanks to Stephen Ryder's research, we know that Jabez's daughter Emily Druitt (not to be confused with Robert's daughter Emily, as she once was) worked for bookseller Bernard Quaritch in 1886-1887. Quaritch was a personal friend of James Ludovic Lindsay, the Earl of Crawford. Crawford wrote a letter of introduction to Robert Anderson for an unnamed female who believed Jack the Ripper was related to her.

However, even if there is nothing to the third paragraph, Jabez Druitt links Montague to the East End.