William Grant Grainger and censorship

[Chris]

I wish you every success with your further endeavours

Thanks, but everyone who wants to is most welcome to help.

I ended up hitting a brick wall when I tried to research Grainger two or three years ago, and it's only the recent discoveries by Debs, Rob and others that have got things moving again. In particular, I couldn't have found the baptism record without the information Debs discovered in the Marylebone Workhouse records.

[Nemo]

I'll try my best Chris

I've got a relation living near Mallow which was the HQ of the North Cork Militia so I'm trying to get hold of him to pop in the local military museum and ask about Grainger

I'm sure though that he would have been much more likely to have been in the South Cork militia

Here's a bit about the SC Militia that may be of interest to readers

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mturner/cork/south_cork.htm

1881-99

In 1881 the army reforms saw the amalgamation of the line and militia regiments, the South Cork became the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers but retained its militia status. Regimental HQ was at Tralee in Co. Kerry but battalion HQ remained at Bandon. Training was discontinued for three years but resumed in 1884:

1884 Training at Fermoy and Curragh.
1885 Training at Kinsale.
1886 Training at Fermoy.
1887 Training at Charles Fort, near Kinsale.
1888 Training at Kinsale. New colours were presented in August by the Countess of Bandon and in September the old colours were retired to Warren's Court.
1889 Training at Fermoy
1890 The permanent staff moved from Bandon to Charles Fort near Kinsale.
1891-6 Training at Charles Fort.
1897 Training at Kilworth Camp as part of the Munster Militia Brigade.
1898 Training at Charles Fort.


Any significance in the changing of the colours 1888?

He might have been on parade or something at that time - in Cork (lol)

[Chris]

It seems that Cahergal may have been an area in the City of Cork itself. Just off Ballyhooly Road there are now Cahergal Lawn and several other little roads with similar names. The housing is modern, and the area would presumably have been open fields in the early 19th century.

Here's a map of part of northern Cork that shows some of the places mentioned in the parish register. Ancestry describes it as an ordnance survey map of "1824-1846" (from online sources I believe the actual date is 1841).

The barracks, shown at the left, still survive. Ballyhooly Road is indicated in yellow, Rathmore is underlined in green, Cahergal in blue, and Barracks Cross Roads in red (I suspect that must be the same crossroads that's called Rathmore Cross in 1849). St Luke's Church lies to the south of the junction at the southern end of Ballyhooly Road.

At the date of this map the continuation of Ballyhooly Road to the north of the crossroads was called Ballyhooly New Road. At some point since then the whole length was renamed Ballyhooly Road. So it's possible that in the 1850s and 1860s the Graingers could have lived north of the crossroads.

If anyone would like to browse a more detailed, coloured version of the map, they should use the link below, click "HISTORIC 6"" in the bottom-right menu, and then zoom in to Cork, aiming for the barracks to the north-east of the city:

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/

[Chris]

I have been trying to clarify exactly who was included in the Registers of Habitual Criminals, as some descriptions of them appeared to imply that there had to have been more than one conviction, which was apparently not the case for Grainger.

The scope of the registers was reduced after the Prevention of Crimes Amendment Act of 1876 was passed. The original Prevention of Crimes Act of 1871 had provided for the registration of "all persons convicted of crime," but the Amendment Act allowed the Home Secretary to limit registration to particular classes of convicts. In March 1877 the scope of the register was limited as follows (from Robert Wilkinson, "The law of prisons in England and Wales ..." (1878), p. 234 http://www.archive.org/details/lawpr...neng00britgoog ):



So Grainger would have been included in the register because he had been sentenced to penal servitude, even though - as seems to have been the case - he didn't have a previous conviction.

I must admit that I'm not sure there weren't any subsequent changes to the composition of the register before Grainger's time, but if the same rules still applied in 1902, that would explain his inclusion in the register.

[Chris]

Irish civil registration indexes (to 1958) are now searchable here:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://hr-search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1408347

The following appear to be the death certificates of William Grainger's parents. They are the only possible deaths I could find registered at Cork, and seem consistent with what we know of his parents, including the references to his mother in the Pall Mall Gazette report, which seem to me to imply that she was still living at Cork in early 1895 and was probably a widow. Barrackton, where Mary died, was apparently an old name for what's now Old Youghal Road, which meets the Ballyhooly Road at the Barrack Cross Roads where the Graingers lived according to the baptism register (the informant's address, Centenary Row, is also nearby on the same road).

The only discrepancy is the description of William senior as a clerk, when in fact he was a labourer and occasional bellringer. But even here there's an interesting parallel with William Grainger junior, who described himself as a clerk when he was in Marylebone Workhouse in 1910-11.

Assuming these are William Grainger's parents, Mary died only about four months after her son was convicted, having been taken ill around the time of his offence.
________________________________

Superintendent Registrar's District Cork
Registrar's District No. 1
1894
DEATHS Registered in the District of No. 1 in the Union of Cork in the County of City of Cork
No. 280
Date and Place of Death. 1894 March Eighth Incurable Home
Name and Surname. William Granger
Sex. Male
Condition. Married
Age last Birthday 67 yrs
Rank, Profession, or Occupation. Clerk
Certified Cause of Death and Duration of Illness. Cancer of Larynx & Pharinx 1 year & 6 months Paralysis 13 years Certified
Signature, Qualification and Residence of Informant. H. McLaine Present at death Incurable Home
When Registered Tenth March 1894
Signature of Registrar. F. Cunningham Assistant Registrar.
________________________________

Superintendent Registrar's District Cork
Registrar's District No. 1
1895
DEATHS Registered in the District of No. 1 in the Union of Cork in the County of City of Cork
No. 112
Date and Place of Death. 1895 July Thirtieth 161 Barrackton
Name and Surname. Mary Grainger
Sex. Female
Condition. Wdow
Age last Birthday 68 yrs
Rank, Profession, or Occupation. House Keeper
Certified Cause of Death and Duration of Illness. Cancer of Stomach 6 Months Certified
Signature, Qualification and Residence of Informant. Charlotte Stevens Present at death Centenary Row
When Registered Thirty First July 1895
Signature of Registrar. F. Cunningham Assistant Registrar.

[Chris]

There is also a death registration at Cork which is a reasonable match for the suspect himself. Again, this is the only possible death registered at Cork in the index. The age given on the certificate is a year out, though oddly the age is given as 68 in the index, which would be exactly right.

Cork District Hospital was apparently the successor institution to Cork Workhouse (or perhaps to the Workhouse Infirmary). It's tempting to think that William's former address of Merchants Quay indicates that he was working as a labourer in the docks, which might be a slight confirmation that he is the same man who was formerly a seaman. But unfortunately there's nothing to indicate this is definitely the right man.
_________________________________

Registration Number 1478075
Death Registered in the district of Cork No. 1
in the Superintendent Registrar's District of Cork
in the County of Co. Cork
No. 233
Date and Place of Death. 1929 Twenty Seventh March Cork District Hospital Cork RD
Name and Surname. William Grainger late of Merchants Quay Cork CB
Sex. M
Condition. Bachelor
Age. 69 yrs
Rank, Profession, or Occupation. Labourer
Certified Cause of Death and Duration of Illness. Phthisis 20 days in hospl Certified
Signature, Qualification and Residence of Informant. Mary Herde "Inmate" Cork Union
When Registered. Twenty eight March 1929
Signature of Registrar. A OLeary Asst Registrar.

[GregBaron]

A typical sailor?

I’m very intrigued by Lawende’s description and possible confirmation of Grainger as the man he saw. We must account for 2 to 2.75 inches of height mistake which can easily be explained away. With Levy we are dealing with 6 to 6.75 inches which is more problematic. It appears Grainger was slim which, with certain clothing, could easily be described as of medium build. I saw somewhere in this thread where it said he had a dark mustache but the prison records only say hair of dark brown. Could a dark brown mustache be described as “fair”? Perhaps on a sallow faced fellow with blue eyes under dim lighting it could appear a bit on the lighter brown side. What I find most compelling is the term “rough looking”. I can’t remember if I read that Grainger had a scar, we do know he had several tattoos and I believe most of us can get a picture in our heads when someone says “rough looking”. Anyway, I am aware that many sailors could probably fit this description but still… Is there a reason why more credence isn’t given to this description and/or possible identification? Did an alibi perhaps come up?


Greg

[Debra A]

I have been trying to clarify exactly who was included in the Registers of Habitual Criminals, as some descriptions of them appeared to imply that there had to have been more than one conviction, which was apparently not the case for Grainger.

The scope of the registers was reduced after the Prevention of Crimes Amendment Act of 1876 was passed. The original Prevention of Crimes Act of 1871 had provided for the registration of "all persons convicted of crime," but the Amendment Act allowed the Home Secretary to limit registration to particular classes of convicts. In March 1877 the scope of the register was limited as follows (from Robert Wilkinson, "The law of prisons in England and Wales ..." (1878), p. 234 http://www.archive.org/details/lawpr...neng00britgoog ):

[ATTACH]12481[/ATTACH]

So Grainger would have been included in the register because he had been sentenced to penal servitude, even though - as seems to have been the case - he didn't have a previous conviction.

I must admit that I'm not sure there weren't any subsequent changes to the composition of the register before Grainger's time, but if the same rules still applied in 1902, that would explain his inclusion in the register.

Chris, while reading the trial of Adolf Beck again today, I read that a letter 'D' was entered before the convict number in the records to denote a previous conviction. This is not added on Grainger's record, so it looks like it was a first offence for Grainger, but is with Le Grand...and was with Beck, even though with Beck the previous conviction as Smith was not proven, which is an interesting story in itself when compared to the Le Grand/Neilson identification in the records.

[Nemo]

Hi Deb

Funnily enough, I read about Beck the other day and made a note of the letter, but I took it to be the "W"

Here's the line I read if it's different to what you found...

"In prison he was given John Smith's old prison number, D 523, with the letter W added, indicating a repeat convict"

As you know, that was at Portland prison

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Beck_case

[Debra A]

Hi Nemo,

I think you might be right.
I originally read it in the book -Adolf Beck (1877 - 1904) by Eric R. Watson. Just going back to quickly check, it does indeed say that Smith's convict number originally began with 'D' and then 'W' was added to denote a previous conviction.

...I'm confused now though as Le Grand doesn't have the 'W' in his convict number but does have two letters, one of them a 'D' but we know they were assuming a previous offence as Christian Nelson as the name is included as an alias.

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Here's an interesting take on the William Grant [Grainger] case.

It's from an article entitled "Is the CID a Failure?" by Halboro Denham, London Society, Volume 73, January to June 1898

"Many theories have been broached on this head, but of all we have come across, only one appears to have a solid basis, and that is, that Jack the Ripper is, for the time being, locked up in an asylum at prison. In this connection we may mention a curious circumstance which happened between two and three years ago, and which an article published in the pages of London Society was almost the first to draw attention to. One prominent evening paper did, indeed, discuss the matter for a day or two, but, for some reason or other, dropped it as quickly as Scotland Yard appears to have done.

The facts are thus:

"In the small hours of the morning, a ship's fireman, who gave the name of Grant, was caught red-handed just after stabbing a woman in a Spitalfields alley. The victim recovered after three weeks in the London Hospital, and gave evidence in due course at the Central Criminal Court against her assailant. The nature of the offence indicated the possibility of the prisoner being the long sought Ripper. The hour, the place and the woman, were three factors strengthening the supposition that the man in the dock was the miscreant who had so successfully eluded detection for so many butcheries. The fact, moreover, that he was a ship's fireman was startling. Grant was an assumed name—the real one was known to the authorities but never publicly divulged, and it was said that his parents were in a respectable position in the south of Ireland. The Recorder, in his summing up, severely blamed the faulty framing of the indictment, which prevented him from sentencing the accused to more than ten years penal servitude!

"Now it would be interesting to know why this ruffian was indicted for "feloniously wounding" instead of attempted murder. Who was responsible for this huge legal blunder, and why was it made? What were the real antecedents of the so-called Grant? Why was the case dropped by those who did comment upon it for a day or two as if it were a red-hot potato?

"These are questions which in the public interest one would like to see answered. It only remains to add that the past year or so has added one of the blackest periods to the annals of unsolved crime, deeds of slaughter at Windsor, Plaistow, Walthamstow, and Bethnal Green rivalling one another in horror, and equally baffling to the Criminal Investigation Department."

Regards,

Simon

[Nemo]

Thanks for posting that Simon

I've been looking into this recently and I find the "hot potato" theory more than believable

Grant himself mentions that his lawyer, George Kebbell, appeared in the press a number of times in previous years accusing him of being the Ripper (speaking in 1910) but these articles are a little elusive

I suspect some articles appeared around 1902 when he was released but could be any time between 1895 and 1910

If George Kebbell is truthful and correct in his statements, as I believe he is, then there appears to be evidence of a conspiracy here, at least one of silence over the incarceration of the Ripper if not something a little deeper

[Debra A]

Previous convictions and another alias

I've just been going through some Irish prison records and came across quite a lot of entries which I believe relate to William Grant/Grainger.

The first records of imprisonment date from the late 1870s, several in the early and later 80s (none in the middle), and then nothing until 1902 and more right up to 1909. The majority of the convictions appear to be for being drunk and disorderly or drunk on the streets.

From the DOB and addresses given in the Irish prison records index and the work posted by Chris Phillips that includes Grant/Grainger's know addresses it is possible to link several records to Grainger including ones for a William Green or Grainger and also ones for William Grant or Grainger. The interesting thing is that William Green alias Grainger was in prison in 87 for assault and also some time in 88, although an exact date isn't given in the records index.
Perhaps this is where he really was at the time of the murders in 88 and not in the workhouse in Ireland?

I am currently trying to sort through the index and perhaps see if I can access the original records somewhere. I'll post a summary of the convictions when I've sorted through the indexes and seen which are duplicate mentions.

[Chris]

The interesting thing is that William Green alias Grainger was in prison in 87 for assault and also some time in 88, although an exact date isn't given in the records index.

That sounds very interesting. You seem to have found some evidence which the Metropolitan Police, with the assistance of the Irish authorities, failed to discover in 1895!

[Nemo]

Great work Deb

Maybe they did find out and dismissed him as the Ripper without telling anyone

I think the phrase used was something like he couldn't be linked to the East End at the time of the Ripper murders, not that he had a good alibi because he was in prison, which might be the same thing in press language

The sentences between 1902 and later sound interesting

He does sound like a habitual drunk and one with a lot of police contact

It would be nice to find press reference to his Ripper candidacy at the time of any of those arrests Deb

Grainger mentioned that George Kebbell, his 1895 solicitor, had continually brought up in the press that he was the Ripper - "in recent years", him speaking in 1910 IIRC

I don't think I've seen any such article after 1902 until 1910 when George Kebbell commented on Anderson's Polish Jew suspect

Forbes Winslow's description of Grainger in 1910 appears to represent a somewhat hard done by civilised man - named Grant. The evidence says otherwise which is not unusual where LFW is concerned, nor Grainger whose only quoted words appear to be a tissue of lies

The new alias is interesting in that aspect and provides a possible name under which he received medical training

I also notice the names Green and Grant are quite Anglican (English) whereas Grainger has an Irish (military) background...