William Magrath

[Chris]

I have put together a page in the wiki section on William Magrath (1838-1918), the Irish-American artist "said to be connected to Whitechapel murders" in the Chief Constable's Register which was among the Special Branch records concerning which Simon Wood started a thread recently:

http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/William_Magrath

I should make it clear that much of the information included in the wiki page was discovered by Debra Arif, who has been generous enough to share it with me.

To be fair to the memory of William Magrath, I should also make it clear that to all appearances he is shaping up to be perhaps the most unlikely Ripper suspect since Lewis Carroll. But as a corollary of that, it would be fascinating to know why it would ever have entered anyone's mind that he could have been connected with the murders.

[Chris]

Here is an obituary of William Magrath that appeared in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 2nd series vol. 24, pp. 45-47 (1918). It was accompanied by a photograph of him in old age. As soon as I have a presentable copy of that, I'll post it.

[Jonathan H]

Because he was Irish, American, and knew Tumblety.

[Tom_Wescott]

Did Tumblety know every Irish American? Is there any indication these men knew each other or ran in the same circle? And how would that make Magrath a 'suspect' as opposed to a character witness or informant if Tumblety was the true suspect?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Tom_Wescott]

Regarding my last post, I just re-read what the Special Branch registers had to see and I see where JH is coming from. They don't actually name him as a suspect per se, but as someone 'connected to the Whitechapel murders.'

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[spyglass]

Hi all,

One thing for certain or at least very likely ( and I say this through gritted teeth whilst wincing ) A good chance he would have known or at least met a
certain Mr Sickett...yes ?....No ?

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Spy. I don't see why. The London area was literally swarming with artists, good bad and indifferent, so I see no reason to assume these two men would have known each other.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[spyglass]

Hi Tom,
But there are Artists, and there are famous artists. I would'nt mind betting the latter type had various meeting places.
I think it would be worth a tenner on 50 to 1 shot.

[Tom_Wescott]

Would you consider Magrath a 'famous artist'? I wouldn't. And in any event, Sickert has no attachment to the Ripper case. He was never a Ripper suspect and he did not suspect a fellow artist of being the Ripper, so I don't see how any sore of acquaintance between the two would be of significance to us.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Chris]

Regarding my last post, I just re-read what the Special Branch registers had to see and I see where JH is coming from. They don't actually name him as a suspect per se, but as someone 'connected to the Whitechapel murders.'

It is quite an odd phrase to use, isn't it? It makes me wonder in what way someone could be suspected of being "connected" to the murders, rather than simply of being the murderer.

[spyglass]

Tom,
I dont know much about art, but I know what I like.
I was assuming that he was fairly famous, but will admit I had problems trying to find much info on him on the net.
As for Sickert, I think you know where I was coming from with that, you cant say he is'nt linked with the case ( again with gritted teeth )

Oh those conspiracey theories again, I just cant let them go!

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Spy. Sickert's not connected with the case. He's connected with the lore of Jack the Ripper, but that all came about decades later.

Anyway, there was a suspect described who was taken to an asylum and produced excellent pencil sketches. Thomas Toughill suggested this was his suspect, Frank Miles, but maybe it was Magrath?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Phil Carter]

Hello Chris,

Yes, I agree, "connected to" suggests, to me, one of these things...

1) That the name(s) of the suspected perpetrator(s) is/are already known, and he is connected in some way to them.

2) The methodology surrounding the perpetrators around the crimes is already known, and he is connected to it.

3) That he has been seen, stopped or questioned in the area at the time in connection with the murders.

4) That he is a witness, connecting him to the murders, and has given evidence.

5) That he is known to be connected to a known specific suspect.

6) That his movements at the time caused the connection.

All very intruiging. "Connected to the Whitechapel murders" can mean many a thing. We can only wait and see if there is any further evidence, more specific.

best wishes

Phil

[Jonathan H]

To Tom

Yes, that is what I was getting at, mate.

That it might be that somebody simply acquainted with Tumbelty, a flamboyant faker who seem to have pushily mixed with writers and other hoi poloi, and so Magrath's name -- probably quite innocently -- ended up being noted in a file, instantly forgotten.

Does not mean for a moment that Tumblety was the Ripper.

We may simply be underestimating the agitation and enmity felt by Anglican English towards anybody foreign, Catholic, Irish, and Irish-American, or all of the above.

As in, they are all swine, all in it together to undermine Her Majesty's realm, against whom there were a number of assassination attempts despite her reclusive, all-in-black, life-style following Prince Albert's premature demise.

Walter Sickert [a painting of his hangs here in the Adelaide Art Gallery] was fascinated with the Ripper murders, and told a party-piece story about lodging in the killer's rooms. A tale, I think, lifted from the 1911 novel 'the Lodger'.

I suspect Sickert's ghost adores the delusional slander created by Patricia Cornwall. She should have done it as a work of fiction, at which she is very proficient, rather than as an over-reaching work of balderdash. All those millions expended, and yet she does not even know that Abberline, whom she reveres, chose Chapman as the Fiend?!

[Chris]

I must admit I hadn't realised that Thomas Moore's lyric, "The harp that once through Tara's Hall," which according to the obituary posted above provided the inspiration for Magrath's "great work," can be read as a very powerful statement of Irish nationalism. The "national aspirations," in the event of whose realisation an admirer wished to adorn a historic building with Magrath's painting, must refer to Irish independence.

The harp that once through Tara's Hall
The soul of music shed,
Now hangs as mute on Tara's wall
As if that soul were fled.
So sleeps the pride of former days
So glory's thrill is o'er
And hearts that once beat high for praise
Now feel that pulse no more.

No more to chiefs and ladies bright,
The harp of Tara swells;
The chord alone, that breaks at night,
Its tale of ruin tells.
Thus freedom now so seldom wakes,
The only throb she gives
Is when some heart indignant breaks,
To show that still she lives.

http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/eire/taraharp.htm