Tumblety Druitt connection?

[celee]

Well, round three. I just can't shake the idea that Tumblety could have known Druitt?

Macnaghten claimed to have received private information that he was prepared to believe that Druitt was the ripper and Druitt's own family believed him to be the Killer. I believe this information was provided by his old friend from his days in India James Monro, whose personal Secretary was Walter Ernest Boultbee who married a distant relative of Druitt. If Macnaghten thought that Druitt was the Ripper then Monroe may have shared the opinion. Macnaghten also claimed Druitt was sexually insane. It is my understanding that homosexual men, at the time, were considered sexually insane.

If I remember correctly, Macnaghten claimed to have connected Jack the ripper with a plot to assassinate Mr. Balfour. He must have connected his likely suspect Druitt to the assassination plot. The Special Irish Branch came under Monro's control between 1883-1893 He would have been aware of an assassination plot and again probably was Macnaghten's source. John George Littlechild was a member of the Special Branch and would have been involved with any investigation involving a plot against Belfour. Littlechild Would have known of any potential Ripper involvement? He named Tumblety as a likely ripper suspect in 1903, Tumblety allegedly a Fenian, and the Irish Fenians could have wanted Belfour assassinated. I feel Tumblety would have been the Ripper suspect more likely to be involved in the Belfour assassination plot.

I am not an expert on the politics of law enforcement but I think Monro could have kept the information from Anderson, Swanson, Abberline, etc... He claimed the Ripper murders were a political "hot potato." so he may have thought there was good reason to keep the information from the Detectives. This would explain why the Detectives all had different preferred suspects.

Is it possible that Druitt and Tumblety knew each other? Both men were homosexual. In 1888 homosexuality was considered a form of insanity. Gay men would have been very secretive and gay men who were affluent would probably have had a small circle of friends and hangouts. If Druitt was Macnagten and Monro's top suspect could he had been involved with Tumblety who was involved in a plot to assassinate Mr. Balfour? If Tumblety was the Ripper could his involvement with Druitt bring Druitt to the attention of Special Branch? Could both men have been involved in the murders?

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

There's a lot here to comment on but I'll stick to the Tumblety aspects.

If I remember correctly, Macnaghten claimed to have connected Jack the ripper with a plot to assassinate Mr. Balfour. He must have connected his likely suspect Druitt to the assassination plot. The Special Irish Branch came under Monro's control between 1883-1893 He would have been aware of an assassination plot and again probably was Macnaghten's source. John George Littlechild was a member of the Special Branch and would have been involved with any investigation involving a plot against Belfour. Littlechild Would have known of any potential Ripper involvement? He named Tumblety as a likely ripper suspect in 1903, Tumblety allegedly a Fenian, and the Irish Fenians could have wanted Belfour assassinated. I feel Tumblety would have been the Ripper suspect more likely to be involved in the Belfour assassination plot.

It was Douglas Browne, using Home Office files apparently, who stated that it "appears" that Macnaghten identified the Ripper with the leader of a plot to assassinate Arthur Balfour. Special Branch Officer Lindsay Clutterbuck, using Special Branch files, said much the same thing, however, they both were probably talking about John Walsh not Druitt or Tumblety (who was not a Fenian nor did he have Fenian leanings). In fact, Clutterbuck, without naming him, leaves a clue to Walsh as being the suspect. Chief Inspector Tom Divall also seems to have connected a Macnaghten theory about the identity of the Ripper with Walsh. It appears that at one time Macnaghten believed that John Walsh was the Ripper but later, for reasons unknown, changed his mind and touted Druitt. Tumblety has nothing to do with Macnaghten, Druitt or Walsh.

Wolf.

[Michael W Richards]

I believe Ive read that the suspect that was intimated may have been General Millen Wolf.

[Trevor Marriott]

There's a lot here to comment on but I'll stick to the Tumblety aspects.



It was Douglas Browne, using Home Office files apparently, who stated that it "appears" that Macnaghten identified the Ripper with the leader of a plot to assassinate Arthur Balfour. Special Branch Officer Lindsay Clutterbuck, using Special Branch files, said much the same thing, however, they both were probably talking about John Walsh not Druitt or Tumblety (who was not a Fenian nor did he have Fenian leanings). In fact, Clutterbuck, without naming him, leaves a clue to Walsh as being the suspect. Chief Inspector Tom Divall also seems to have connected a Macnaghten theory about the identity of the Ripper with Walsh. It appears that at one time Macnaghten believed that John Walsh was the Ripper but later, for reasons unknown, changed his mind and touted Druitt. Tumblety has nothing to do with Macnaghten, Druitt or Walsh.

Wolf.

Clearly more evidence for not placing too much reliance of the MM!

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[barnflatwyngarde]

"Is it possible that Druitt and Tumblety knew each other? Both men were homosexual."

As far as I am aware, there is no evidence that Druitt was gay.

[Simon Wood]

On 17th May 1888 James Monro informed the Home Secretary that there was a plot to murder Arthur Balfour, and that his would-be assassins, John Walsh and Joseph Patrick McKenna, were currently in Paris.

New York Times, 5th June 1888—

“Walsh, the man suspected by the police of being implicated in a plot similar to that which led to the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Under Secretary Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin, finding himself dogged at every footstep, accorded an interview in Paris to an agent from Scotland Yard. He said that he had convinced himself that the police had discovered all the details of the matter in which he was interested, and that he had abandoned his mission . . . Joseph Patrick McKenna, a member of Lodge No. 96 of the Clan-na-Gael of Chicago, is said to have been assisting Walsh.”

The two men sailed from Le Havre for New York aboard the La Normandie on Saturday 2nd June 1888.

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

Michael,

I believe Ive read that the suspect that was intimated may have been General Millen Wolf.

General Millen has been suggested as Macnaghten's suspect in the past. However, Millen's involvement in at least two assassination plots against Balfour were organisational in nature rather than hand's-on leadership. In other words Millen chose the men to carry out the plots, he didn't carry them out himself. Besides, Millen was working for the British authorities at the time and he warned London about them before they took place.

John Walsh was the on the ground leader of a Clan na Gael assassination plot against Balfour in May of 1888, so he fits the suspect, who was the "leader of a plot to assassinate Mr. Balfour...", that Douglas Browne saw in the files. However, Lindsay Clutterbuck goes a step further by writing that an outline could "be constructed of an intriguing story involving an extreme Irish Nationalist who was suspected of being 'Jack the Ripper,' an alleged plot to assassinate the Secretary for Ireland, and the activities of a private detective agency." Walsh was a very extreme Irish Nationalist, was involved in a plot against Balfour and was watched by the Pinkerton's Detective Agency (a private detective agency) in New York for the British authorities.

Also, as I wrote above, Chief Inspector Tom Divall wrote that "...Sir Melville Macnaghten received some information that the murderer had gone to America and died in a lunatic asylum there. This perhaps may be correct, but after this news nothing was ever heard of any similar crime being committed." This also appears to point to Walsh, who went back to America and eventually died in the Flatbush Insane Asylum in March of 1891 (after the final Whitechapel murder of Francis Coles in February of 1891).

Wolf.