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In his book ‘Jack the Ripper: The Real Truth’, this forum’s very own Trevor Marriottrevealed a potential identification of the man seen with Mary Jane Kelly by Mary Cox. This is the man described by Mary Cox as having a blotchy face and a carroty moustache. The source of the potential identification is Stephen Kendall-Lane, a descendent of John McCarthy.
The suggestion made was that blotchy was Harry Buckley, a man who worked for John McCarthy and was often around Dorset Street and Millers Court. According to Stephen Kendall-Lane, this Harry Buckley had a ginger moustache. So, who was Harry Buckley?
Well, as it turns out there is a figure known to us Henry Buckley who lived in and around Dorset Court. There are two sources for the address of Henry Buckley. He was found to be living at 27 Dorset Street, with John McCarthy in the 1888 census. Another Henry Buckley, likely to have been the same man, is reported to have been living at 26 Dorset Street in newspaper reports from December 1888, when he was arrested.
Could Henry and Harry Buckley be the same man? I am fairly confident that the Harry would sometimes be used as a nickname for someone named Henry. Or Harry could just be a misreporting of the name Henry. Either way, there was a Henry Buckley employed by John McCarthy. So, if someone speaks of Harry Buckley who worked for John McCarthy, I’d believe they are likely speaking of the same man. I think Harry Buckley was likely the same man as Henry Buckley.
So, what was Henry Buckley arrested for in December 1888?
A man named Patrick Manning met a woman on the Euston Road and accompanied her to Dorset Street where some kind of argument with Henry Buckley ensued, and Buckley stabbed Manning in the thigh.
From this we know Buckley carried a knife and could be prone to use it violently. From the details, it’s possible the woman Manning had picked up was a sex worker (although coming to Spitalfields in cab from Euston Road is quite a long way to travel by cab in 1888 which suggests Manning was a man of some means). Buckley may have involved himself in the business proceedings between Manning and the woman.
A run in with the law might be the kind of thing which would persuade a serial killer to lay off the killing for a while.
In the past, others have noted the similarities of the descriptions of the man seen by Lawende, the man seen by Israel Schwartz, Ada Wilson’s attacker and Mary Cox’s ‘blotchy’. If Henry Buckley did indeed meet the description of ‘blotchy’, he may also have met the description of these men too.
If Henry Buckley was a well known local hard man in the Dorset Street area, it is likely he would have been known and potentially feared by the local business owners in the streets around Dorset Street. About a block away from Dorset Street is Middlesex Street, where a Joseph Hyam Levy had his butcher’s shop. Levy is the companion of Lawende, which one newspaper described as having a ‘knowing air’ but he seemed reluctant to give his evidence. Could Levy have recognised a man like Henry Buckley and been afraid of identifying him? Could there have been some risk to Levy’s livelihood if he had identified such a local character?
In summary, in relation to Henry/ Harry Buckley there’s these intriguing details:
The suggestion made was that blotchy was Harry Buckley, a man who worked for John McCarthy and was often around Dorset Street and Millers Court. According to Stephen Kendall-Lane, this Harry Buckley had a ginger moustache. So, who was Harry Buckley?
Well, as it turns out there is a figure known to us Henry Buckley who lived in and around Dorset Court. There are two sources for the address of Henry Buckley. He was found to be living at 27 Dorset Street, with John McCarthy in the 1888 census. Another Henry Buckley, likely to have been the same man, is reported to have been living at 26 Dorset Street in newspaper reports from December 1888, when he was arrested.
Could Henry and Harry Buckley be the same man? I am fairly confident that the Harry would sometimes be used as a nickname for someone named Henry. Or Harry could just be a misreporting of the name Henry. Either way, there was a Henry Buckley employed by John McCarthy. So, if someone speaks of Harry Buckley who worked for John McCarthy, I’d believe they are likely speaking of the same man. I think Harry Buckley was likely the same man as Henry Buckley.
So, what was Henry Buckley arrested for in December 1888?
A man named Patrick Manning met a woman on the Euston Road and accompanied her to Dorset Street where some kind of argument with Henry Buckley ensued, and Buckley stabbed Manning in the thigh.
From this we know Buckley carried a knife and could be prone to use it violently. From the details, it’s possible the woman Manning had picked up was a sex worker (although coming to Spitalfields in cab from Euston Road is quite a long way to travel by cab in 1888 which suggests Manning was a man of some means). Buckley may have involved himself in the business proceedings between Manning and the woman.
A run in with the law might be the kind of thing which would persuade a serial killer to lay off the killing for a while.
In the past, others have noted the similarities of the descriptions of the man seen by Lawende, the man seen by Israel Schwartz, Ada Wilson’s attacker and Mary Cox’s ‘blotchy’. If Henry Buckley did indeed meet the description of ‘blotchy’, he may also have met the description of these men too.
If Henry Buckley was a well known local hard man in the Dorset Street area, it is likely he would have been known and potentially feared by the local business owners in the streets around Dorset Street. About a block away from Dorset Street is Middlesex Street, where a Joseph Hyam Levy had his butcher’s shop. Levy is the companion of Lawende, which one newspaper described as having a ‘knowing air’ but he seemed reluctant to give his evidence. Could Levy have recognised a man like Henry Buckley and been afraid of identifying him? Could there have been some risk to Levy’s livelihood if he had identified such a local character?
In summary, in relation to Henry/ Harry Buckley there’s these intriguing details:
- A possible identification as the possibly the last person to be seen with Mary Jane Kelly before her death.
- Known to carry a knife and to be violent, possibly violent towards prostitutes and their clients.
- Fits the description of the man seen Joseph Lawende and potentially the man seen by Israel Schwartz.
- Fits the description of Ada Wilson’s attacker.
- Could have been a local criminal known to Joseph Hyam Levy, fear possibly contributing to Levy’s reluctance to give evidence freely.
- As Buckley lived on Dorset Street, he would quite reasonably pass through Goulston Street in order to return home from Mitre Square.
- As living in the immediate area of Miller’s Court, could possibly have known MJK was alone as Joseph Barnett had left her. He would have been a reasonable age to seem like a potential new boyfriend for MJK.
- Would probably have been known to MJK, hence if she were to spend an evening with him, wearing a chemise and retiring to bed might be reasonable behaviour.
- Four of the canonical five lived on Dorset Street either at the time of or shortly before their death. The exception being Katherine Eddowes, who some think may have stayed at Miller’s Court or on Dorset Street. Katherine Eddowes may have worked for Jewish families in the Tenter Ground area which is also close to Dorset Street. All of the canonical five *could* have been known to Henry Buckley.
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