Druitt and Winchester

[aspallek]

The College is out for summer holidays now. During the break they open the facilities for foreign students learning English, etc. Seem like I saw and heart lots of Italians running around!

[aspallek]

Just an update:

I've finished writing my article to accompany the "new" Druitt photos. I hope to have it in publication very soon. Working title: "Young Montie: Druitt at Winchester."

[Roma]

Great ! I can't wait to read it !

[Mrs Hudson]

Druitt Blackballed By The Oxford Union

My Spallek has carried out important research into Montague Druitt's time at Winchester.

Surely the next step is to consider Thomas Toughill's recent discovery that Druitt, on arrival at Oxford from Winchester in the autumn of 1876, was blackballed by the Oxford Union, the most famous debating society in the world.

The Oxford Union naturally remains an important institution today. It matters, as they say, because it matters. In Victorian times though, it had an additional function in that it prepared men to run the British Empire in accordance with the tenets of "muscular Christianity" where the essential criterion was the moral worth of the individual as perceived by that doctrine.

One imagines that Druitt's election to the Union would have been a formality. He had displayed a genuine interest in debating at Winchester and two of his brothers became members. (William Druitt actually signed Montague into the Union as a guest in April 1875, evidence of Montague's interest in the society.)

Druitt's rejection means therefore that his fellow students concluded that there was something seriously wrong with his character, a clear indication that he was already showing signs of the "sexual insanity" ascribed to him by Melville Macnaghten.

It follows then that the nature of this "sexual insanity" can be deduced from what Druitt did on leaving Oxford, which was to take up a post at a boarding school for boys where he remained until suddenly dismissed in late 1888, whereupon he threw himself into the Thames.

The fact that no one from Druitt's school gave evidence at the inquest into his death is in turn a strong sign that a sex scandal involving the boys was being covered up, which is precisely what everyone would have wanted.

This explains why Macnaghten, when describing Druitt's occupation, used the vague expression "said to be a doctor". Macnaghten would not have wanted to record, even in a confidential police document, that a man like Druitt had once taught young boys. Such a disclosure would have unfairly tainted those boys, both socially and professionally.

There is more about this (with photos of the Oxford Union entries on Druitt) in Toughill's book, The Ripper Code.

Toughill's discovery certainly tells us something at long last about Druitt's character. Whether it weakens or strengthens the case against his being Jack the Ripper is another matter.

[aspallek]

Hello Mrs Hudson,

It follows then that the nature of this "sexual insanity" can be deduced from what Druitt did on leaving Oxford, which was to take up a post at a boarding school for boys where he remained until suddenly dismissed in late 1888, whereupon he threw himself into the Thames.

Im sorry, but no this does not "follow" nor can it be logically "deduced."

I have not read Toughill so I cannot comment on specifics. However, it is not my understanding that the author has "proof" of Druitt's being "blackballed," only that for some reason he was not voted into the Oxford Union. Even if he were "blackballed" there is no indication whatsoever that homosexuality would have been the cause. Indeed, elite academic "organizations" were often stocked with homosexuals/bisexuals in there ranks -- such as the Cambridge Apostles. While it is interesting -- and probably significant -- that Montague Druitt was not voted into the Oxford Union, there is no reason to assume the reason had anything to do with homosexuality.

As to Macnaghten's identification of Druitt as "a doctor," or more properly "said to be a doctor" the most natural explanation of this is as an understandable error. Farquharson had identified him as "the son of a surgeon" and Druitt had prominent physicians and surgeons in his family. The mistake is not too difficult to make.

[Mrs Hudson]

Mr. Spallek,

The terminology is not too important. Blackball simply means to veto, vote against or ostracize.

What matters is that Montague Druitt failed to be elected to the Oxford Union at the end of his probationary period in the autumn of 1876. (The Union archives prove that beyond doubt.) I can't speak for the Apostles, but the Victorian Oxford Union was run by "Muscular Christians" whose prime concern was the moral value of their members.

That a man rejected by such a body should be accused by a senior policeman of being "sexually insane" (and of course of being Jack the Ripper) is deeply significant. The rejection and the accusation are almost certainly linked.

Macnaghten's use of the phrase "said to be a doctor" must be seen in this context. Macnaghten wrote his Memo for the eyes of the Home Secretary, perhaps even the Prime Minister. Sloppiness does not explain his use of that term. Concern for the boys at Druitt's school does.

Having said all of that, I think highly of your research.

[aspallek]

Hello again Mrs Hudson,

Not wishing to quibble but "blackball" does not simply mean to "vote against." Macnaghten's use of "sexually insane" must be seen in the light of his use of "sexual mania" when describing the killer in his memoirs. "Sexual insanity" is not a common Victorian euphemism for homosexuality. I have searched for this term throughout Victorian and post-Victorian literature and the only reference I can find of "sexual insanity" to homosexuality is one instance as used by Wilde. "Sexual mania" however is a rather more common term and is used to describe any anti-social behavior, including murder, believed to have a sexual root.

We do not know that Sir Melville's memorandum was intended for the Home Secretary's eyes. It is not addressed to anyone and there is no record of it in the Home Office files. We simply do not know for whose eyes it was primarily intended. His "said to be a doctor" is perfectly explainable as an understandable error. While its possible there might be more to it than that, there is no need to go looking for more.

Frankly, how you can say that Druitt's rejection by the Oxford Union and his accusation by Macnaghten are "almost certainly linked" is beyond me. While it is not out of the question that they might be related, I see no indication whatsoever for it. The fact is that for some unknown reason Druitt's academic performance went sour while at Oxford and he ended up with only a third class degree when he was clearly capable of more. I believe the most likely explanation is that this was the time at which Druitt's mental problems began to assert themselves. Digging at the Oxford archives is in order.

Thanks for your kind words regarding my Druitt research.

[Natalie Severn]

I agree with Andy here.There is no evidence that Druitt was sacked for homosexuality.The public school system had loads of closet paedophiles, let alone perfectly law abiding gay men .Had Druitt been gay I am sure Valentine wouldnt have cared less---he himself may have been gay and fancied Druitt---who rebuffed him ,and being already a bit mentally ill, and possibly paranoid , threw a massive wobbler and drew a knife on Valentine! How about that?

[Autolycus]

Hi Mrs Hudson. You make a number of good points in your posts.

However, Like Natalie Severn and aspallek, I feel it is not safe to make such a strong deductive link between The Debating Society veto, Druitt’s dismissal at Blackheath, MacNaghten’s “sexually insane” remark and Druitt’s probable homosexuality. The following factors need to be considered.

The point about Blackballing is that it preserves the anonymity of the person using the veto. Thus it can be used freely even when the motivation is petty spite or prejudice – wrong accent, bad table manners, who knows? I certainly can’t see a definite link to Druitt’s sexuality.

MacNaghten and others had a preconception that the Ripper was “sexually insane.” Elsewhere on these boards there is spirited debate as to whether that is necessarily so. In any event it doesn’t mean he was the Ripper.

If you attach any credence to modern profiling, does it not suggest that a homosexual serial killer is more likely to seek victims of their own gender?

Regards

[Byzantine]

Indeed, elite academic "organizations" were often stocked with homosexuals/bisexuals in there ranks -- such as the Cambridge Apostles.

A bit of an anachronism here. The Apostles were founded back in 1820. Investigation to Cambridge spy ring in 1951, indicated that several of the 1920s recruits were homosexuals. We don't really know if this was also true for 19th century members. Some of them were more or less famous in Victorian times.

*John Frederick Denison Maurice (1805 - 1872), a socialist theologian, was an 1820s member. He was twice married and was the father of John Frederick Maurice, Major-General of the British Army and later professor of military history.
*Erasmus Alvey Darwin (1804 - 1881), intellectual, better known as Charles' older brother, was also an 1820s recruit. His personal life included an affair with Fanny Wedgwood, wife of one of his cousins. According to family chronicles they barely missed having this little affair published in the newspapers of their day. Also known for courting Harriet Martineau, a radical philosopher. Never married.
*John Sterling (1806 - 1844), novelist and theatrical writer, was another 1820s recruit. He was married and the father John Barton Sterling, Major-General of the British Army and later author on military subjects.
*John Mitchell Kemble (1807 - 1857), historian, was another 1820s recruit. He was married and had three children. He was the father-in-law of Charles Santley, a popular baritone of the Victorian and Edwardian Age.

The most famous members were arguably poet Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson and philosopher Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell. Neither known for scandals.

I don't deny the possibility of the Apostles being homosexuals or bisexuals. Just the time at which this became a defining characteristic for the group.

[Mrs Hudson]

Greetings,

I stress the point that Druitt's election to the Oxford Union should have been a formality. He was genuinely interested in debating and he already had a brother in the Union. Despite this, he failed to win election to the Union at the end of his probationary period in the autumn of 1876.

Exactly the same thing happened to Oscar Wilde two years before. He applied to join the Union when he arrived in Oxford in October 1874 and served that term as a probationer (alongside Druitt's elder brother, William) only to fail to be elected. (There are photos to prove this in Toughill's book.)

Wilde's subsequent tragedy leaves little doubt as to what his problem with the Union was.

From his prison cell in 1896, Wilde petitioned the Home Seceretary for a reduction of his two year sentence. In that petition, he described the passions which led to his imprisonment on charges of "gross indecency" as "sexual insanity", much the same words used by Macnaghten to label Druitt.

Wilde liked young men. I suspect that Druitt's tastes were more extreme and that that is why he went straight to the Blackheath school on leaving Oxford.

If Macnaghten needed detail on Druitt when writing his Memo, then, in all likelihood, he needed to do no more than ask Evelyn Ruggles-Brise, the onetime Private Secretary to Henry Matthews, the Home Secretary. Ruggles-Brise, who took an active interest in the Ripper case, was an exact contemporary of Druitt at Oxford where the two men played cricket. I believe they also sat the Civil Service exam at the same time. Ruggles-Brise, with a First, was selected. Druitt, with his poor Third, was not.

Ruggles-Brise was therefore in a position to know about Druitt--to know exactly why Druitt was rejected by the Union and why he was dismissed from his school. He almost certainly would have known that Druitt was not a
doctor.

The involvement of Ruggles-Brise here would help solve a problem which has long bothered me. Why did Macnaghten allow Major Arthur Griffiths to publish his private Memo, minus the names of his three suspects, in his 1898 work, "Mysteries of Police and Crime"? To my mind, Macnaghten would never have done that without official permission of some sort. Here then is a possible solution.

Arthur Griffiths had been H. M. Inspector of Prisons until shortly before he published his book. And who was Chairman of the Prison Commission at that time?

Evelyn Ruggles-Brise!

More food for thought.

[Byzantine]

I can't speak for the Apostles, but the Victorian Oxford Union was run by "Muscular Christians" whose prime concern was the moral value of their members.

You seem to be confusing Muscular Christianity with fanatic heterosexuality. Actually it was a Victorian movement mostly associated with the teachings of Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875) and Thomas Hughes (1822 - 1896). Besides the typical "active pursuit of Christian ideals in personal life and politics", they promoted that physical strength and good health were requirements for a good living.

A typical Kingsley promotion of his ideals: "A good thing to have strong and well-exercised bodies," ... "The least of the muscular Christians has hold of the old chivalrous and Christian belief, that a man's body is given him to be trained and brought into subjection, and then used for the protection of the weak, the advancement of all righteous causes, and the subduing of the earth which God has given to the children of men."

Muscular Christians preached for the spiritual value of sports, particularly team sports. Though primarily a British movement, it had its influences in the United States and elsewhere through the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Note that both Kingsley and Hughes were also influenced by the socialist theology of John Frederick Denison Maurice and were calling for social reforms through their works.

[ChrisGeorge]

One imagines that Druitt's election to the Union would have been a formality. He had displayed a genuine interest in debating at Winchester and two of his brothers became members. (William Druitt actually signed Montague into the Union as a guest in April 1875, evidence of Montague's interest in the society.)

Druitt's rejection means therefore that his fellow students concluded that there was something seriously wrong with his character, a clear indication that he was already showing signs of the "sexual insanity" ascribed to him by Melville Macnaghten.

It follows then that the nature of this "sexual insanity" can be deduced from what Druitt did on leaving Oxford, which was to take up a post at a boarding school for boys where he remained until suddenly dismissed in late 1888, whereupon he threw himself into the Thames.

I agree with Andy Spallek that it does not at all necessarily follow that because Druitt on leaving Oxford became a master at a boarding school for boys, this choice proves that he was a homosexual who wanted sexual relations with the boy pupils. The reality was that schools in that day and age were single sex schools, so the fact that he went to teach at an all-male school demonstrates nothing.

Best regards

Chris George

[Byzantine]

Macnaghten wrote his Memo for the eyes of the Home Secretary, perhaps even the Prime Minister. Sloppiness does not explain his use of that term. Concern for the boys at Druitt's school does.

The Home Secretary from 1886 to 1892 was Henry Matthews, later 1st Viscount Llandaff (January 13, 1826 - April 3, 1913). He was already met with wide criticism for two notable 1887 cases of the time by 1888. He failed to order an inquiry about the false arrest of Elizabeth Cass for prostitution in until after the opposition took it as a cause. He was a supposed opponent of the death sentence but proved apathetic to the sentencing and execution of Israel Lipski, despite the existence of other two viable suspects and protests for Lipski's innocence.

In other words he was indifferent to policemen arresting random women as prostitutes and defended it as an "honest mistake" and to convictions and executions without iron-clad evidence. Does that sound like a guy who would not tolerate sloppiness?

He was reportedly a personal favorite of Queen Victoria but raised enough opposition within the ranks of his own party to be denied any official position when the Conservatives returned to government in 1895. His creation as a Viscount was mostly an "honorary retirement" for an ending political career.

[Roy Corduroy]

The Home Secretary from 1886 to 1892 was Henry Matthews...

The memo was 1894.