Druitt's 30 August Cricket Match

[GUT]

Fair enough, but it is standard procedure to thank colleagues/teammates who leave any club or organisation.

Even if they were rubbish players and incompetent managers!

The absence of any form of "thank you for your services", even if insincere, really jars with me.

I just feel that there is something else at play here.

As I said the alternative is because he was a bad boy. Now what form that badness took is another question, could be for whatever reason he parted ways with Valentine, Could be as treasurer he had been fiddling the books, could be because they suspected he was Jack, could be any one of a number of reasons

[paul g]

He doesn’t seem to be that bad of a cricketer not sure if that’s a fact or a assumption.

[John Trent]

Melvill (no e) was a cousin of Montie, so far I haven’t found a middle name, but as his father was James, could well be another MJ Druitt which may cast a different light on all the cricket scores.

There is no record of any male Druitt being born between 1837 (when registration began) and 1875 with the first initial M other than Melville, Mayo or Montague. There are plentiful females but only those 3 males. It is only Montague who has a second name.

[John Trent]

The Tuke family and the Druitt family were friends,

Cheers, George

Just taking that bit as a random quote -where is there any proof of the statement? I know it has been claimed but I have, so far, failed to see any evidence to support it.

[GBinOz]

Just taking that bit as a random quote -where is there any proof of the statement? I know it has been claimed but I have, so far, failed to see any evidence to support it.

Hi John,

A deduction made from the cricketing friendships, mostly based on the information in this post:

https://forum.casebook.org/forum/ripper-discussions/suspects/druitt-montague-john/756905-the-man-who-denounced-druitt

Cheers, George

[rjpalmer]

There is no record of any male Druitt being born between 1837 (when registration began) and 1875 with the first initial M other than Melville, Mayo or Montague. There are plentiful females but only those 3 males. It is only Montague who has a second name.

I don't know if you have seen this, but I posted it recently at Howard Brown's old site.

It shows a player who is undoubtedly Melville Druitt playing football for Christchurch in 1889--many months after MJD's death.

He is referred to as M. J. Druitt.

This might be an error, but either way, it leaves us with an unfortunate complication.

There was an 'M. Druitt' that played cricket at Blandford in 1885. Monty Druitt's name is almost always given as M J Druitt, and there's currently no way of proving this wasn't Melville and not Monty. They both played. And if Melville played at Blandford in 1885, it is just conceivable he did so again in 1888 and was again given the name (rightly or wrongly) of M. J. Druitt.

I personally don't believe this is true--I think this was Monty Druitt in August 1888-- but it isn't outside the realms of possibility that a mistake was made if one wants to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

[Trevor Marriott]

I don't know if you have seen this, but I posted it recently at Howard Brown's old site.

It shows a player who is undoubtedly Melville Druitt playing football for Christchurch in 1889--many months after MJD's death.

He is referred to as M. J. Druitt.

This might be an error, but either way, it leaves us with an unfortunate complication.

There was an 'M. Druitt' that played cricket at Blandford in 1885. Monty Druitt's name is almost always given as M J Druitt, and there's currently no way of proving this wasn't Melville and not Monty. They both played. And if Melville played at Blandford in 1885, it is just conceivable he did so again in 1888 and was again given the name (rightly or wrongly) of M. J. Druitt.

I personally don't believe this is true--I think this was Monty Druitt in August 1888-- but it isn't outside the realms of possibility that a mistake was made if one wants to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

It would be intersting to know the occupation of the other Druitt?

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[JeffHamm]

I don't know if you have seen this, but I posted it recently at Howard Brown's old site.

It shows a player who is undoubtedly Melville Druitt playing football for Christchurch in 1889--many months after MJD's death.

He is referred to as M. J. Druitt.

This might be an error, but either way, it leaves us with an unfortunate complication.

There was an 'M. Druitt' that played cricket at Blandford in 1885. Monty Druitt's name is almost always given as M J Druitt, and there's currently no way of proving this wasn't Melville and not Monty. They both played. And if Melville played at Blandford in 1885, it is just conceivable he did so again in 1888 and was again given the name (rightly or wrongly) of M. J. Druitt.

I personally don't believe this is true--I think this was Monty Druitt in August 1888-- but it isn't outside the realms of possibility that a mistake was made if one wants to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

Oh dear, as if things were not complicated enough. So if Melville, also a cricketer, sometimes is reported as M.J. Druitt as well in the game reports, then the hope for a definitive conclusion based upon the cricket reports has just become more difficult. Not impossible, of course, but as is so often the case with life ; it's a bit more complicated than it first appeared.

- Jeff

[GUT]

It would be intersting to know the occupation of the other Druitt?

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

Melvill was a Solicitor.

[GUT]

Oh dear, as if things were not complicated enough. So if Melville, also a cricketer, sometimes is reported as M.J. Druitt as well in the game reports, then the hope for a definitive conclusion based upon the cricket reports has just become more difficult. Not impossible, of course, but as is so often the case with life ; it's a bit more complicated than it first appeared.

- Jeff

It sure does, Melvill was not just a cricketer but LIVED in Dorset and it was at his offices the Christchurch and Medford club held it’s AGM, electing him Sub-Captain so he was clearly fairly heavily involved.

[JeffHamm]

It sure does, Melvill was not just a cricketer but LIVED in Dorset and it was at his offices the Christchurch and Medford club held it’s AGM, electing him Sub-Captain so he was clearly fairly heavily involved.

So this brings into question whether or not Montague was even away from London on these dates, and if he wasn't then the whole issue about travelling to and fro dissolves and we're back to the void as to his movements. Sigh. The truth is such an elusive creature.

- Jeff

[MrBarnett]

And what about this from the 18th April, 1889 issue of CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME.

It’s part of a section concerning the Incogniti cricket team. Perhaps it refers to the previous season?

[GUT]

I don't know if you have seen this, but I posted it recently at Howard Brown's old site.

It shows a player who is undoubtedly Melville Druitt playing football for Christchurch in 1889--many months after MJD's death.

He is referred to as M. J. Druitt.

This might be an error, but either way, it leaves us with an unfortunate complication.

There was an 'M. Druitt' that played cricket at Blandford in 1885. Monty Druitt's name is almost always given as M J Druitt, and there's currently no way of proving this wasn't Melville and not Monty. They both played. And if Melville played at Blandford in 1885, it is just conceivable he did so again in 1888 and was again given the name (rightly or wrongly) of M. J. Druitt.

I personally don't believe this is true--I think this was Monty Druitt in August 1888-- but it isn't outside the realms of possibility that a mistake was made if one wants to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

Being Christchurch I’ll give dollars to doughnuts it was Melvill.

[John Trent]

Oh dear, as if things were not complicated enough. So if Melville, also a cricketer, sometimes is reported as M.J. Druitt as well in the game reports, then the hope for a definitive conclusion based upon the cricket reports has just become more difficult. Not impossible, of course, but as is so often the case with life ; it's a bit more complicated than it first appeared.

- Jeff

That is pure speculation. As some cricket reports have M.Druitt (obviously Melville) and others M.J.Druitt it is unlikely that the two would be confused. It is clear that as a local newspaper is asking for money to report the full details of a match that the match reports were made by the cricket club and sent to the papers it's very unlikely that M.J. would be entered for M. but quite possible that M would be entered for M.J. (Why 'invent' a second initial?)

[John Trent]

Hi John,

A deduction made from the cricketing friendships, mostly based on the information in this post:

https://forum.casebook.org/forum/ripper-discussions/suspects/druitt-montague-john/756905-the-man-who-denounced-druitt

Cheers, George

Thanks for that. As it was written by David Andersen whose book framing Druitt is full of speculation and misleading information I'm inclined to disbelieve it. That Druitt and Tuke both played cricket appears to be factual. That they were friends, whose friendship lasted beyond student days when they lived miles apart and were in different professions, is unlikely. I suggest this is a compendium of half-truths cobbled together in an attempt to prop up Andersen's theories that Druitt stayed in the Chiswick Asylum before his suicide and that a letter (contents unknown) from Tuke pointed the finger at Druitt. It's all pure invention. (As is Andersen's book)