Hyam Hyams: Portrait of a Suspect

[etenguy]

Apologies - just seen the case I posted above is subject to an earlier thread.

[etenguy]

I am not sure if this is of interest to anyone, but in the old bailey records a Hyam Hyams gives evidence as a witness in the defence of David Phillips (who was charged with unlawfully obtaining four railway tickets by false pretences with intent to defraud. Second Count, Unlawfully uttering counterfeit coin.). This was on 27 June 1887. I do not know if it is the same man being discussed in this thread, but the details provided in his evidence make it seem likely to me. The entry can be found at:

https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t18870627-720

It contains just a tidbit about his daily life.

[chubbs]

He's not an easy man to pin down.

His mentioned brother, Morris, may also have been running a business in Whitechapel.

I don't think he's The Ripper anymore - Today I think it's Joseph Levy's brother.

[Debra A]

What I'd really like to know is the entire life history of this Henry Hyams, so I can eliminate him from my enquiries!

He's not an easy man to pin down.

His mentioned brother, Morris, may also have been running a business in Whitechapel.

[Debra A]

Liking an anonymous name on an internet forum is a dangerous game! Careful now!

I only like you because you led me back to this thread when you replied to my post otherwise I wouldn't have ever found it again (and still can't see it anywhere when I come to the boards- I have to use the email notification link I got when you replied to my post to see any further posts! No idea why)

[chubbs]

I like you, Chubbs!
I found it difficult to see your reply, or my reply. I'd spend much more time on Casebook if I was able to navigate it properly.

Liking an anonymous name on an internet forum is a dangerous game! Careful now!

[chubbs]

Interesting observation, but...

The gentleman in the link is a Henry H. Hyams, 5 Duke Street, Aldgate, who is the secretary of a benevolent society.

In the 1902 London City Directory there is a Henry H. Hyams, listed at No. 8 Duke Street, Aldgate (on the East Side) who ran the "Jewish Ladies' Benevolent Loan Society."

It sounds like it could conceivably be the same bloke, only he moved across the street.

Thank you so much! This is exactly the sort of very helpful post I was hoping for. I'm not clever enough to research archives (I get hopelessly lost), but you lot are experts. What I'd really like to know is the entire life history of this Henry Hyams, so I can eliminate him from my enquiries! Any help gratefully received.

Currently, I'm seeing him in my mind's eye murdering Catherine Eddowes, popping around the corner to his home (30 seconds away) with half an apronful of body parts, waiting until the heat dies down, then popping out again to chuck the piece of cloth away in Goulston Street. Aaaargh!

EDIT: ...because, after all, he's the right sort of age and height, he's got a moustache, he dies in Colney Hatch Asylum in 1896, he lives in the area and his surname is Hyams!!!! Yes - I've found him! My very own JtR!

[rjpalmer]

This 'Henry Hyams' in the photo above, who was admitted to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, from Whitechapel Infirmary, in 1896 (and died there a short time later), could have been the Henry Hyams who lived in Duke Street in 1888 (literally around the corner from Mitre Square) at the time of the Double Event, as confirmed in Post#8 of this thread (link below). Oh my goodness - I'm going down a JtR rabbit hole.

https://forum.casebook.org/forum/rip...683#post195683

Interesting observation, but...

The gentleman in the link is a Henry H. Hyams, 5 Duke Street, Aldgate, who is the secretary of a benevolent society.

In the 1902 London City Directory there is a Henry H. Hyams, listed at No. 8 Duke Street, Aldgate (on the East Side) who ran the "Jewish Ladies' Benevolent Loan Society."

It sounds like it could conceivably be the same bloke, only he moved across the street.

[Debra A]

This 'Henry Hyams' in the photo above, who was admitted to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, from Whitechapel Infirmary, in 1896 (and died there a short time later), could have been the Henry Hyams who lived in Duke Street in 1888 (literally around the corner from Mitre Square) at the time of the Double Event, as confirmed in Post#8 of this thread (link below). Oh my goodness - I'm going down a JtR rabbit hole.

https://forum.casebook.org/forum/rip...683#post195683

I like you, Chubbs!
I found it difficult to see your reply, or my reply. I'd spend much more time on Casebook if I was able to navigate it properly.

[chubbs]

This was the photo in the original post #72 on this thread by Rob House that I quoted in my last post

This 'Henry Hyams' in the photo above, who was admitted to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, from Whitechapel Infirmary, in 1896 (and died there a short time later), could have been the Henry Hyams who lived in Duke Street in 1888 (literally around the corner from Mitre Square) at the time of the Double Event, as confirmed in Post#8 of this thread (link below). Oh my goodness - I'm going down a JtR rabbit hole.

https://forum.casebook.org/forum/ripper-discussions/suspects/hyams-hyam/215-hyam-hyams-portrait-of-a-suspect?p=195683#post195683

[Debra A]

This was the photo in the original post #72 on this thread by Rob House that I quoted in my last post

[Debra A]

(I Posted this on jtrforums http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread....747#post281747, and thought I'd also post it here to see if there was any additional response. Several people seem to think these are not the same person, but I am not so sure... and I am interested in robert Linford's comment: "On second thoughts, this depends on whether Ancestry's Colney Hatch records are complete. If they are, then (barring a fairly bad mistranscription) this is Hyam, because there is no one else that it could have been.")

I found this photo of "H. Hyams" a couple years back at the LMA, when looking through one of the Colney Hatch photo books (I am embarrassed to admit I didn't note which book this was in).

I didn't think much of it at the time... or rather, I made a mental note of it, but never followed it up.

Anyway, the photo I am talking about is the one on the left, labelled "1896. H Hyams." Comparing this to the known photo of Hyam Hyams at right, it looks to me like the same person. Has this photo been discussed before. I do not remember seeing it.

Rob House

This is the H Hyams in the photograph posted by Rob House-His name was Henry Hyams:

Entry No. 2357 Admitted Wednesday 18 November 1896, Hyams, Henry, age 47, admitted from 3 Tenter Street North, single, occupation traveller, complaint-influenza, Religion -Hebrew, discharged 6 December 1896 To Colney Hatch Asylum, Brother Morris Hyams 14 Spellman Street, Whitechapel
Whitechapel Infirmary Admission and Discharge book 1896-1897 St. B.G./Wh/123/29

HYAMS, Henry Colney Hatch 12573 Colney Hatch Hospital		Whitechapel Union	16-Dec-1896 47	Single Brother Traveller	GP Unknown	1 week Died 25 December 1896 of GP. Duration: considerable. Photo No PM	See original patient card in the JGSGB Library Dr Carole Reeves

[tji]

Hi Scott

Debs discovered that the Hyam Hyams who grew up on Mitre street was different from the one who went to the asylum.

Sightly awkward here - that was actually me

Also that the asylum-bound Hyams was not the "terror of the city police", but rather terrified of the police (apologies , trying to quote from memory).

Yup this was all Debs (and Rob C I believe. )

This doesn't mean that the Colney Hatch Hyams couldn't have been the Ripper.

Valid point, but the info that Debs found showed that he wasn't actually as menacing and vicious as led to believe if I remember correctly.
Take away the fact that he didn't live in Mitre Street, wasn't 'the terror of the Police,' didn't die for many years after the killings etc, doesn't make for a strong suspect. Admittedly still stronger than some suspects put forward......

[Scott Nelson]

Hi Tracy,

Debs discovered that the Hyam Hyams who grew up on Mitre street was different from the one who went to the asylum. Also that the asylum-bound Hyams was not the "terror of the city police", but rather terrified of the police (apologies , trying to quote from memory).

This doesn't mean that the Colney Hatch Hyams couldn't have been the Ripper.

[Scott Nelson]

Phil,

Hyams makes an interesting modern suspect, but he's not Anderson's (and Swanson's) Polish Jew suspect. Hyams could have been the Ripper without any connections to modern theorizing.

Swanson could have written in his marginalia notes, "Abrahams was the suspect - DSS", or "Cohen was the suspect - DSS".

Or as I suspect, "Kosminski" was the non-anglicised name of Cohen. Better to use Kosminski to identify the fact that he was a Polish Jew immigrant.