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Whitechapel name origin. The Ripper killings - a copycat of a much older East End cri

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  • Whitechapel name origin. The Ripper killings - a copycat of a much older East End cri

    Hi. I’m the man whose biography on Thompson has been up on Casebook for many years now at:



    I’m going to talk about a remarkable coincidence about the Jack the Ripper case that you may not know about. The second half provides a solution to why the murder site may have been deliberately choosen which needs not be considered more than a good story. The murders occurred in the Whitechapel district whose name as old historical records show is named after the Catholic Saint St Mary Matefelon. Later renamed Whitechapel, for its tower painted in whitewash. It had been a Catholic sanctuary for six centuries. The origins of the name Matefelon were told by the Historian John Stowe's in his “Survey of Westminster”. Stow explained the meaning of came from1428. During the time of Henry VI, a parish widow of the area was murdered while she slept. The felon fled with her jewels and he was pursued across to the Church of St. George in Southwark, where he claimed the right of sanctuary. The constables ignored his claim and brought him back to the city of London. As he was being brought back, the women of flung the filth of the street upon him. Hence, St. Mary's was given the latter name of Matefelon for unclean felon. Of the eighty-five names of districts of London and its surrounds in the 1880’s, Whitechapel is the only one whose name means a place of religious worship. Both the biggest murder case 1888 and the oldest murder case 1428 bear the striking coincidence for both the most horrific killing involved that of a woman in her own room and a cross country hunt for the criminal. Such facts about Whitechapel were easily accessible at the nearby Guildhall library where the original works of Stow and medieval maps were kept. Out of all the thousands of suspects only 1 was a voracious reader, spending very many hours of their time in the Guildhall library pouring through old books. That was until the librarian grew suspicious and had him thrown out by the police. It requires little imagination, if we were to seek the Ripper, to look for a suspect who had been trained to cut up bodies and exhibited strong religious fervor. Someone with many solid years of training for the Catholic priesthood and as a surgeon. A suspect who may have been dismissed or bore a grudge. A suspect with high literacy and an ultra-conservative warlike religionist with intimate knowledge of the East End. Out of the thousands of suspects can anyone bring to me one better than Francis Thompson. A knife, a motive, He consorted with prostitutes, and knew how to cut up dead bodies. The Ripper is thought to have wielded a sharp strong cutting knife, like a dissecting scalpel. Thompson’s last job, before running away to London on November 9th 1885,was working on the assembly line of a medical instrument factory. In London he would live mostly homeless for the next three years and have an ill begotten love affair with a prostitute who went missing. If anyone asked a homeless Thompson why he was carrying a dissecting scalpel, he would assure, with the cultured voice of a poet that he only used it to shave.
    Author of

    "Jack the Ripper, The Works of Francis Thompson"

    http://www.francisjthompson.com/

  • #2
    Suppose the killer did know this obscure story and decided to copycat. Why wait until the 5th crime? Why target a poor prostitute and not the wealthy widow of the story?

    Comment


    • #3
      Very good question. I hardly know about the Jewel Thief but Thompson, at least in the case of at least one prostitute who spurned him, loved his victims.
      Author of

      "Jack the Ripper, The Works of Francis Thompson"

      http://www.francisjthompson.com/

      Comment


      • #4
        The ancient Hebrew word 'matfel' meant apparently 'a woman lately delivered of a son' or 'a woman carrying a son'. That would surely be more an origin for the name of a Roman Catholic Chapel of Ease like St Mary's (as referring to the Virgin Mary) than anything to do with felons.

        The London district of Marylebone is also named after a place of worship, so Whitechapel is not unique.

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        • #5
          Yes Rosella. You are right .The name of Whitechapel is ascribed to that also. My message here is severely truncated from a much longer text. Would you like to read more? That the chapel may have been known as a place were women could be protected and seek justice from felons was just as reasonable to understand by 16th century historians as it is to me. Marylebone is not a district of London today and I don't think it was either in 1888.
          Author of

          "Jack the Ripper, The Works of Francis Thompson"

          http://www.francisjthompson.com/

          Comment


          • #6
            Hi Richard,

            So you are referring to before the Reformation. Because I started out reading your previous book, and stopped short when at the beginning you wrote St Mary's Whitechapel was a Catholic church. Now I understand what you're saying.

            I see your new book has come down in price to a reasonable amount on Amazon.

            Of course I find Thompson interesting for a couple of reasons. One his birth was registered at St Ignatius Square, Preston just a short distance from the birthplace of James Kelly. And a few months earlier.

            Historical coincidence is good food for thought, I think.

            Roy
            Last edited by Roy Corduroy; 11-15-2014, 08:52 AM.
            Sink the Bismark

            Comment


            • #7
              Hi. Roy. Thanks for writing and pointing out the facets about James Kelly’s birth. Kelly and Thompson were practically neighbours. Thompson’s father, Charles, was a Catholic layman who performed some church functions. Charles was also an active member of Preston’s close Catholic community. Even though the Thompson family moved Manchester while Thompson was still small. Two Ripper suspects, James Kelly and Francis Thompson may have at one time been playmates.
              Author of

              "Jack the Ripper, The Works of Francis Thompson"

              http://www.francisjthompson.com/

              Comment


              • #8
                Thank you Richard,

                Here is the Preston photo site where it mentioned about Winckley and St Ignatius. (click)

                Both of those are conservation areas today.

                Roy
                Sink the Bismark

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks again Roy, the last photo that shows the footpath and frontage of these terrace houses is of surprising good quality. Speaking of childhood homes, here is an interesting video of the odd collapse, when a worker was trying to remove a single brick, of Thompson’s Stamford Street home. Here being where his family moved to after leaving Preston.

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J79biNQSGVg
                  Author of

                  "Jack the Ripper, The Works of Francis Thompson"

                  http://www.francisjthompson.com/

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Richard,

                    I just used the same Matfelon story for my Maybrick thread. The Diary quotes Richard Crashaw, the son of the vicar of St. Mary Matfelon.

                    You beat me by a couple of months. Great minds...?

                    http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=7932&page=3

                    The Church is actually Anglican or was in 1888.
                    Last edited by MayBea; 01-16-2015, 04:52 PM.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      That Thompson held an interest in Whitechapel and its history, gains credence when we look at where Thompson was living. Here is a map of Whitechapel. It shows where Francis Thompson was residing in 1888. It shows his location in relation to where the 5 canonical Ripper victims where found. The map points to Thompson living less than 100 meters from Mary Kelly. She is widely is accepted as being the Ripper's fifth victim. Thompson was using the Catholic Providence Row refuge. This was at 50 Crispin Street, opposite Dorset Street.
                      Author of

                      "Jack the Ripper, The Works of Francis Thompson"

                      http://www.francisjthompson.com/

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Hi Richard.
                        I understand from your first post that you suggest a reason for the murder of Mary Kelly. Where is the justification for the other 3 or 4 murders?
                        Regards, Jon S.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Wickerman View Post
                          Hi Richard.
                          I understand from your first post that you suggest a reason for the murder of Mary Kelly. Where is the justification for the other 3 or 4 murders?
                          Good question, though I don't think my first post suggests a reason for just the murder of Mary Kelly. My answer is so long that I had to write a book about it. Suffice it to say that the location of each murder, the choice of district, the number of victims, method of murder and dates can all be shown to correspond to Thompson's world-view and background. This is all detailed in my book. I believe that Thompson had a reason to kill all 5 of the canonical victims.
                          Author of

                          "Jack the Ripper, The Works of Francis Thompson"

                          http://www.francisjthompson.com/

                          Comment

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