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Statement of George Hutchinson to Seargant Badham.doc
Hi All
As some will know, I have recently seen and examined at length the statement of George Hutchinson to Badham made on 12th November 1888 at Commercial Street Station. I cannot yet post any images of the statement, as I do not have copyright permission. I am trying to get permission for internet publishing, but am aware that this is unlikely to be forthcoming. I may get permission to publish in another format, however - I will try.
I have transcribed the statement as it appears and attach it here.
I have made several observations. They are as follows:
Regarding the hand of Badham - Badham displays certain idiosyncratic traits in his hand. He seldom capitalises new sentences, and seldom employs a 't' bar for lower case 't'. The angle of his script to the baseline is typically 38-40 degrees.
I will say this now, although I will elaborate on the 1911 thread: In my view, Badham did not sign for Hutchinson on page one of the statement. He did fill in the paperwork, amend the statement as it was in progress, and complete the top portion of the endorsement.
The statement contains 2 instances of Badham writing 'Hutchinson'. In one case, this is 'George Hutchinson'. Neither remotely resembles the witness signature on page one.
Badham's hand is of average size. His script tends to fall between 0.4 and 0.6cm in height from the baseline.
Abberline has also written on the statement of George Hutchinson. He signs for submission on page three of the statement, and also completes the endorsement on the back of page three of the statement.
Several points have emerged from detailed examination of the statement, which are these:
Badham is writing the statement as Hutchinson is telling it. This is obvious because of the frequent stops and pauses made by Badham, and the slight corrections. In general, the slowest part of the statement is the description of Mr Astracan; the most fluid being the account of the movements of Astracan and Kelly as told by the witness.
The statement has, having been signed by Hutchinson and Badham, then been altered by Abberline. This is at the point where the original statement text in Badham's hand 'Ten Bell' has been struck through and altered to 'Queen's Head'.
The implication of this is obvious, in that Abberline went through Hutchinson's statement, with Hutchinson, after Badham - and it was altered during the course of this interrogation. It seems likely that this is the interrogation referred to by Abberline in his comtemporary report.
Finally, marks on page 2 of the statement to the right of the witness signature show under magnification to be fingerprints. It appears that the witness has leant on the statement with his right hand during the course of signing, which strongly implies that he was writing with his left hand.
I await your comments!
Cx
Hi All
As some will know, I have recently seen and examined at length the statement of George Hutchinson to Badham made on 12th November 1888 at Commercial Street Station. I cannot yet post any images of the statement, as I do not have copyright permission. I am trying to get permission for internet publishing, but am aware that this is unlikely to be forthcoming. I may get permission to publish in another format, however - I will try.
I have transcribed the statement as it appears and attach it here.
I have made several observations. They are as follows:
Regarding the hand of Badham - Badham displays certain idiosyncratic traits in his hand. He seldom capitalises new sentences, and seldom employs a 't' bar for lower case 't'. The angle of his script to the baseline is typically 38-40 degrees.
I will say this now, although I will elaborate on the 1911 thread: In my view, Badham did not sign for Hutchinson on page one of the statement. He did fill in the paperwork, amend the statement as it was in progress, and complete the top portion of the endorsement.
The statement contains 2 instances of Badham writing 'Hutchinson'. In one case, this is 'George Hutchinson'. Neither remotely resembles the witness signature on page one.
Badham's hand is of average size. His script tends to fall between 0.4 and 0.6cm in height from the baseline.
Abberline has also written on the statement of George Hutchinson. He signs for submission on page three of the statement, and also completes the endorsement on the back of page three of the statement.
Several points have emerged from detailed examination of the statement, which are these:
Badham is writing the statement as Hutchinson is telling it. This is obvious because of the frequent stops and pauses made by Badham, and the slight corrections. In general, the slowest part of the statement is the description of Mr Astracan; the most fluid being the account of the movements of Astracan and Kelly as told by the witness.
The statement has, having been signed by Hutchinson and Badham, then been altered by Abberline. This is at the point where the original statement text in Badham's hand 'Ten Bell' has been struck through and altered to 'Queen's Head'.
The implication of this is obvious, in that Abberline went through Hutchinson's statement, with Hutchinson, after Badham - and it was altered during the course of this interrogation. It seems likely that this is the interrogation referred to by Abberline in his comtemporary report.
Finally, marks on page 2 of the statement to the right of the witness signature show under magnification to be fingerprints. It appears that the witness has leant on the statement with his right hand during the course of signing, which strongly implies that he was writing with his left hand.
I await your comments!
Cx
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