Druitt and Monro

[Scott Nelson]

If Macnaghten showed any indiscretion, it was in allowing Sims and Griffiths access to the memo, though neither man named names.

However, most curiously--and he knew these people whereas you don't--Chief Inspector Littlechild thought that Griffiths got his information, not from Macnaghten, but from Anderson. Rather an interesting footnote, that.

The following may be controversial, but here goes:

What if it was Sims who annotated the letter he got from Littlechild? Sims being an editor couldn't resist applying his editorial hand. So it was Sims who wrote at the bottom of Littlechild's letter, "Except that I knew Major Griffiths for many years. He probably got his information from Anderson who only thought he knew". So it could be Sims writing that it was himself who knew Griffiths for many years and that it was also he who believed that Anderson only thought he knew (who the Ripper was). Sims was a strong advocate of the drowned doctor theory.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Jonathan,

So, you're now the nom de plume of Keith Skinner?

I am not accusing anybody of anything. I will simply say that in this instance there's no arguing with the facts.

My best wishes to you both.

Simon

[jmenges]

Hi Simon,

I’m glad to see you…it’s been too long.
Keith’s words are all his own, I’m but a simple messenger.

Enjoy your redistricting…I know we will,

JM

[Herlock Sholmes]

Jon H


RIDDLE ME THIS, RIPPERLAND:

If Melville Macnaghten in 1894 only had access to, say, P.C. Moulson's report on the recovery of Druitt's body, how did he know about William Druitt's search for his missing sibling?

This episode, which we only know about from the Chiswick article, is to be found in George Sims' writings: 1904; 1907; 1913, albeit thinly fictionalised. It is also in Macnaghten's 1914 memoirs where it is more veiled; alluded to cryptically and awkwardly: the "protean" maniac "resided with his own people" and they noticed he was "absented at certain times", e.g. missing (because unless you are a prisoner, then just going out for an evening cannot be considered being AWOL).

From the 1913 article, Sims, and behind him Macnaghten, knew that Druitt (written as "D.......") lodged in Blackheath. How so, if they only knew inaccurate information about the man they believed - rightly or wrongly - was "Jack the Ripper"?

In the 1911 short story version of "The Lodger" by Marie Belloc Lowndes, the landlord is brought to see the body of the man who has been his dodgy lodger with deep pockets. The corpse has been recovered from Regent's Canal where Mr Sleuth has drowned himself because, the readers know, the maniac feared - wrongly - that a Police Commissioner (described as tall, handsome and charming) had recognised him at Madame Tussauds as an escaped and dangerous lunatic. The landlord identifies the soggy remains on the side of the embankment as his lodger, but in order to avoid reputational ruin an anxious Mr Bunting keeps to himself that he also believes this dead man is "The Avenger"; the religious fanatic who has been fatally stabbing drunken women he has found sleeping it off in London's meaner streets.

Why was this bit cut from the 1913 novel version, so that Mr Sleuth - much less satisfyingly - simply vanishes and presumed to be a suicide? Was it because it was too close to the Druitt knuckle...?

[Herlock Sholmes]

Jon H


RIDDLE ME THIS, RIPPERLAND:

If Melville Macnaghten in 1894 only had access to, say, P.C. Moulson's report on the recovery of Druitt's body, how did he know about William Druitt's search for his missing sibling?

This episode, which we only know about from the Chiswick article, is to be found in George Sims' writings: 1904; 1907; 1913, albeit thinly fictionalised. It is also in Macnaghten's 1914 memoirs where it is more veiled; alluded to cryptically and awkwardly: the "protean" maniac "resided with his own people" and they noticed he was "absented at certain times", e.g. missing (because unless you are a prisoner, then just going out for an evening cannot be considered being AWOL).

From the 1913 article, Sims, and behind him Macnaghten, knew that Druitt (written as "D.......") lodged in Blackheath. How so, if they only knew inaccurate information about the man they believed - rightly or wrongly - was "Jack the Ripper"?

In the 1911 short story version of "The Lodger" by Marie Belloc Lowndes, the landlord is brought to see the body of the man who has been his dodgy lodger with deep pockets. The corpse has been recovered from Regent's Canal where Mr Sleuth has drowned himself because, the readers know, the maniac feared - wrongly - that a Police Commissioner (described as tall, handsome and charming) had recognised him at Madame Tussauds as an escaped and dangerous lunatic. The landlord identifies the soggy remains on the side of the embankment as his lodger, but in order to avoid reputational ruin an anxious Mr Bunting keeps to himself that he also believes this dead man is "The Avenger"; the religious fanatic who has been fatally stabbing drunken women he has found sleeping it off in London's meaner streets.

Why was this bit cut from the 1913 novel version, so that Mr Sleuth - much less satisfyingly - simply vanishes and presumed to be a suicide? Was it because it was too close to the Druitt knuckle...?

Just to be clear, as I posted this in a bit of a hurry, this is from Jon Hainsworth.

[jmenges]

Just to be clear, as I posted this in a bit of a hurry, this is from Jon Hainsworth.

Just be advised that if any proxy posts contain personal attacks- or violate any rules- you’ll both be suffering the consequences.

JM

[Herlock Sholmes]

Just be advised that if any proxy posts contain personal attacks- or violate any rules- you’ll both be suffering the consequences.

JM

Understood Jon.

[Trevor Marriott]

Yes, Trevor.

But maybe it would be more useful if someone who believes this theory would supply the evidence that Druitt was connected to this alleged 'brothel'?

I'll help.

Someone who Druitt later knew--how well, is hard to say, but fairly well--once had his name jotted down in a list of addresses made by Harry Wilson while he was at Cambridge. Harry Wilson was a friend of Prince Eddy and JK Stephen. But haven't you jotted down names and addresses of people you've barely known? Who knows why he did so?

Wilson later kept rooms at The Osiers in Chiswick--which was not a male brothel; it was owned by a highly respectable family.

And there is not a jot of evidence that Druitt knew Wilson or ever went to the Osiers. Nor was he part of the Cambridge clique. It was an entertaining tale that attempted to link Druitt to Prince Eddy and JK Stephen back when the "Royal Conspiracy" was in vogue and JK Stephen was considered a suspect.

One could, of course, rake Skinner and Howells over the coals, and jeer and accuse them of falsehoods, as Fiver is now doing with the Hainsworths, but the book contains a lot of original and very interesting research, so I would rather look at the good in it. I'm more interested in what the efforts of serious researchers might tell us and avoid joining the 'naysayer' mania that has infested this field. While their thesis is (in my view) wrong, there was some good in it.

Anyway, if Druitt was a frequenter of The Osiers he would have gotten off at the correct stop, which I believe was Ravenscourt, and not Hammersmith.

Thanks for your time.

I have one question: was the Osiers also known as The Chummery?

And Druitt must have been a member of this club, as his body was found in close proximity to the club

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk