Montague Druitt and 9 Kings Bench Walk Chambers

[dougie]

On the other hand John, if brother Druitt searched Monty"s chambers and found bloodstained clothing there or a pair of surgical knives in a bloodstained box..................

Seems the more logical explanation....Druitt was an adult,why the "indecent haste" informing his family of his "non-appearances"? unless of course there was more to it....i.e the police had come -a-calling.And do we know for sure who first "raised the alarm?"It seems there a few questionable conclusions surrounding the suicide note-who exactly "raised the alarm"-and why..plus of course the possibility (I think a distinct one) that Druitt was a contemporary suspect.Depending on ones interpretation of things,one could quite easily form that opinion,which of course could explain several things.
regards

[caz]

I thought this photo might be of interest. This shows no. 5 Kings Bench Walk. The fainter names to the right are on a portion of the wall where siding has been removed. I am not sure when they date from but they are possibly Victorian. John Henry Lonsdale has been reported to have had chambers at no. 5, although the only listing I have seen for him is at no. 1.

Hi Andy,

Henry Dixon, who worked with my great grandfather and his brother, Alfred and John Bool, on a commission for the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London, took a photo of No. 5, King's Bench Walk, which was first issued in 1885. It appears in a book I have in front of me called Old London, by Graham Bush, 1975. I'll ask hubby to scan the photo for me when he has a spare moment so I can post it here. The notes for this plate say: The houses are of red brick, all with fine doorways. The finest is perhaps that of no. 5, with its Corinthian pilasters.

Four names appear on the photo, just above the entrance to the basement. I can't quite make out all the initials, but I think the surnames are, from the top: Kershaw, Broxholm, Milner and Hudson.

Love,

Caz
X

[caz]

Morning All,

Hubby found the same pic in Yahoo images.



You can read more about it here:

http://www.the-eastern-window.com/EWgb20-02.html

Love,

Caz
X

[aspallek]

Thank you Caz for that Druitt-era photo! The names on the photo I posted above would be located on the right-side door jamb just below and to the left of the numeral 5 in your photo. In 1885 Lonsdale was at no. 1, however. No. 5 would be a couple minutes' walk from Druitt at no. 9, on the same side of the "square." Your photo confirms that KBW looks much the same today as it did in the 1880's.

[Robert]

Just going briefly off topic, because I don't know where else to put it : Andy, you once wondered about some sort of distant genealogical connection in the case for your pop hero Robert Fripp. Here he is on you tube, and he's heavily into his family tree.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lcXZIM7_gwY

[aspallek]

Thank you, Robert, that was a very interesting clip.

I'm goning to post a reply in the Lonsdale thread because it really belongs there.

[Sara]

As posted on the 'Origin' thread:
It was and still is an obligation on the pupils to dine at least once a week in the Hall of their respective Inns of Court, so it's very unlikely that two student barristers belonging to the same Inn would not have met, especially given the other links between them

Only qualified barristers would have their names on the boards for each set of Chambers. It was very expensive to be a Pupil barrister and it's likely Druitt's family was subbing him. This may be the reason for any 'indecent haste' in informing them of his disappearance (sorry picking up fag ends here from the thread, I've not found the whole story yet!)

There are a few collections of old photos of architecture and topography in London btw, the best two open to the public being the Guildhall Library collection, and for photos, the Conway Library, which is a huge photographic reference collection housed by the Courtauld Institute at Somerset House (doorway on the left as you go through the main entrance arch off The Strand). Anyone may walk into either and consult their files - or could ten years ago when I was last working in picture research; best ring now to check access.

There are also several collections of old London photos in all the big commercial photo libraries, esp of old news agencies which have mainly been bought up by eg the Getty Collection. Mary Evans Picture Library in Blackheath will also have a lot of old London photos, esp as they bought up Barnaby's Photo Library.

There are several more besides these two, inc Topham/Picturepoint in Edenbrige, Kent, which has plenty of old glass negs never even printed bought up form old agencies, and Associated Press - their glass neg archive used to be in a damp basement in Fleet St 1970s, not sure where it is now, nor that of the PA which was never easy to search as you didn't get access). Popperfoto was another once based in Fleet St, with plenty of 'old Lodnon' stuff, but it's now up north somewhere. The BAPLA site has a list of contact details etc for these and more

There was a private collector called Peter Jackson; he died a few years ago. His collection was almost as big as the Guildhall's - he wrote a number of books on London too. I'm not sure where his collection went after his death but the Guildhall curator is bound to know. I've got a final address for him but he was fairly recently married, and I doubt his wife who was foreign would have kept the house (Acton iirc), as he mainly bought it for its huge galleried studio, to house the collection

There was a photographer in Oxford at that period who recorded all the students for the colleges. They went bust a few years back iirc and their archive was transferred somewhere - possibly the town Museum, or more likely the University Archive? Someone in one of those will know where they are - mainly glass negs of course though individual Colleges tend to have copy prints in albums etc