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Odd connections.
I misread the obit notice on Cook on the Druitt and the Civil Service thread.
Apparently Cook's sister-in-law was H.B.Irving's wife, and was an actress.
That and those comments about Tichborne are curious to me.
First, the Tichborne phenomena swept up the British population as no other
criminal proceedings did in the 19th Century. It was a national issue as to whether the Claimant was Roger Tichborne, legitimate baronet, or not. Today it strikes us as crazy, but there is much in that case that is "gleefully" overlooked today because most commentators are more impressed at how the Claimant was unmasked, or if he was unmasked or not (there are still people who think Thomas Castro was not Arthur Orton but was either Roger Tichborne or an illegitimate brother).
The fact was the Tichborne case gathered around it remnants (in the British population) of the anti-Catholic fanaticism of earlier periods. The Tichbornes were a Catholic family - among the richest Catholic aristocracy in England.
Castro did not openly profess Protestantism (he was too smart for that) but
he allowed for dislike of Catholics to advance his cause: that he was being
cheated of his birthright by Catholics. The real example of a Tichborne extremist type was the barrister, Dr. Keneally (an Irish Protestant) who represented the Claimant at his second trial for perjury. Keneally felt he was justified in tearing everyone from Lord Chief Justice Cockburn on down in defense of the Claimant (and got disbarred as a result).
Cook and Druitt obviously got swept up to some extent in the Claimant's case (the years of it, by the way, were from 1854 - when Roger disappeared in the apparent sinking of the ship Bella off South America - to 1868 - when Roger reappeared in Paris supposedly, in the person of Castro - to the trials of 1871 - 1875). With it being front page news in England this not to be
surprising. But that Cook actually donated money to the Claimant is curious. He must have been very deeply impressed [you have to be really read up on the case to understand why: Roger Tichborne was a slender, quiet, gentleman who may have drunk far too much to be good for him - Thomas Castro/Arthur Orton (?) was a man who weighed 300 pounds and something of a cultural ignoramus].
The second thing is a minor point, but if Druitt was the Ripper (which I actually doubt) it might have some bearing. There were other people who supported Orton's claims. One was Henry Wainwright, the brush manufacturer from Whitechapel, who would eventually murder his mistress
Harriet Lane and go to the gallows for it in a spectacular homicide case of 1876. Lane's body was dismembered by Wainwright in that case, and the events occured in Whitechapel. If Druitt and Cook met Wainwright during their involvement with the Claimant, Druitt might have had sinister reasons about thinking of Whitechapel. But again, I tend to doubt Monty's involvement there.
Jeff
I misread the obit notice on Cook on the Druitt and the Civil Service thread.
Apparently Cook's sister-in-law was H.B.Irving's wife, and was an actress.
That and those comments about Tichborne are curious to me.
First, the Tichborne phenomena swept up the British population as no other
criminal proceedings did in the 19th Century. It was a national issue as to whether the Claimant was Roger Tichborne, legitimate baronet, or not. Today it strikes us as crazy, but there is much in that case that is "gleefully" overlooked today because most commentators are more impressed at how the Claimant was unmasked, or if he was unmasked or not (there are still people who think Thomas Castro was not Arthur Orton but was either Roger Tichborne or an illegitimate brother).
The fact was the Tichborne case gathered around it remnants (in the British population) of the anti-Catholic fanaticism of earlier periods. The Tichbornes were a Catholic family - among the richest Catholic aristocracy in England.
Castro did not openly profess Protestantism (he was too smart for that) but
he allowed for dislike of Catholics to advance his cause: that he was being
cheated of his birthright by Catholics. The real example of a Tichborne extremist type was the barrister, Dr. Keneally (an Irish Protestant) who represented the Claimant at his second trial for perjury. Keneally felt he was justified in tearing everyone from Lord Chief Justice Cockburn on down in defense of the Claimant (and got disbarred as a result).
Cook and Druitt obviously got swept up to some extent in the Claimant's case (the years of it, by the way, were from 1854 - when Roger disappeared in the apparent sinking of the ship Bella off South America - to 1868 - when Roger reappeared in Paris supposedly, in the person of Castro - to the trials of 1871 - 1875). With it being front page news in England this not to be
surprising. But that Cook actually donated money to the Claimant is curious. He must have been very deeply impressed [you have to be really read up on the case to understand why: Roger Tichborne was a slender, quiet, gentleman who may have drunk far too much to be good for him - Thomas Castro/Arthur Orton (?) was a man who weighed 300 pounds and something of a cultural ignoramus].
The second thing is a minor point, but if Druitt was the Ripper (which I actually doubt) it might have some bearing. There were other people who supported Orton's claims. One was Henry Wainwright, the brush manufacturer from Whitechapel, who would eventually murder his mistress
Harriet Lane and go to the gallows for it in a spectacular homicide case of 1876. Lane's body was dismembered by Wainwright in that case, and the events occured in Whitechapel. If Druitt and Cook met Wainwright during their involvement with the Claimant, Druitt might have had sinister reasons about thinking of Whitechapel. But again, I tend to doubt Monty's involvement there.
Jeff
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