Mary Pearcey Trial - Old Bailey

[Mitch Rowe]

Here is the Trial of Mary Pearcey:

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?ref=t18901124-43

Pay close attention as a certain Dr Thomas Bond makes an appearance and what he says makes me think that he was no dummy. His testimony reads somewhat like a modern CSI script.

[Mayerling]

I read Bond's testimony and he does sound like he knows what is going on.
But the site of the Hogg murder in Mrs. Pearcey's kitchen is far more centralized than the five or so different murder sites in the Whitechapel case.
Bond could easily be more authoratative here.

I also noticed that the marriage of Frank and Phoebe Hogg occurred in November 1888 - which was a notable month for other reasons. One wonders if Mrs. Pearcey, her victim, and Frank discussed what happened at Miller's Court.

Jeff

[sbhopton]

Old Bailey Trial Transcrips

Hi guys,

I'm a writer working on a book about Mary Pearcey and was wondering why you thought the November date was significant?

Do you have any other information or insight or links to information about Dr. Bond?

Thanks - Sarah Beth

[Pippin Joan]

The Casebook has some information on Dr. Bond, but I don't know where else you could look. Some of our 'regulars' know all the crime sources. November 9. 1888 was the last Ripper murder (Mary Jane Kelly). A couple of murders over the winter were ascribed to Jack the Ripper, but they lacked the characteristic style. Go through all the files on the top left-hand of your screen. There is a good basic overview of the events, plus many interesting dissertations on various aspects/opinions. Get immersed in East End culture of that time.

Good luck on the book!

[jmenges]

Hi sbhopton,

Please PM me by clicking my name at the head of this post.

Thanks,

JM

[sbhopton]

Thanks Joan.

[Gamesol]

I've only just recently come across Mary Pearcey whilst reading up and learning more about the Ripper and it seems quite strange that they call her (on a few places that i've read about her) A Ripper Candidate.

So thanks for this because i'm trying to look more indepth at her at the moment

[Mitch Rowe]

I've only just recently come across Mary Pearcey whilst reading up and learning more about the Ripper and it seems quite strange that they call her (on a few places that i've read about her) A Ripper Candidate.

So thanks for this because i'm trying to look more indepth at her at the moment

Well.. There are a few reasons. First theres the Midwife theory wich I believe was batted around in the press at the time. A Midwife could easily have walked the streets in bloody clothing without suspicion. Mary was suspected as being a Midwife but I know of no proof of that. Next Abberline had considered a Woman as a suspect if only briefly after the death of MJK because of a witness account of MJK being seen after her death. He suspected a Woman could have worn MJKs clothing. But the best reason is when Phoebes body was found she was suspected of being a Ripper victim because of her horrible injuries. This supicion was shortlived however when Mary was found to be the killer. If Marys wax image resembles her true image I would say she was a creepy looking gal and quite a candidate for the most famous monster that ever lived!

[Stewart P Evans]

Mary Eleanor Wheeler

I've only just recently come across Mary Pearcey whilst reading up and learning more about the Ripper and it seems quite strange that they call her (on a few places that i've read about her) A Ripper Candidate.
So thanks for this because i'm trying to look more indepth at her at the moment

The main reason that Mary Eleanor Wheeler (Pearcey) is sometimes cited as a Ripper suspect is the fact that William Stewart in his seminal work Jack the Ripper A New Theory (1939) makes that very suggestion -



Although the Ripper crimes were briefly mentioned at the time of the murder of Mrs Hogg, she was found in the street with her throat cut, the idea that Jack the Ripper may have reappeared on the streets of London was not entertained for long, if indeed it seriously was at all.

Despite the rather gaunt Madame Tussaud's effigy of her, the executioner James Berry described her as "the most beautiful woman I hanged."

[Stewart P Evans]

Rope

The rope used by James Berry to hang Mrs Pearcey -

[miss marple]

love triangle

Mary Pearcy was involved in a Love triangle with Frank Hogg, she was having an affair with him and he got Pheobe Styles pregnant and had to marry her They continued their affair after the marriage, she used to leave the key for him.She befriended Pheobe and a lot of jealously and frustration built up over a three year period.Frank Hogg would moan to Mary about how he wanted to get away from it all. She believed in true romance and wrote him lots of letters about how she could not live without him. Hogg was complaisent and probabely encouraged the tension.
There is some suggestion that she murdered while haviing an epiletic fit or absence when she did the murders. She behaved very oddly afterwards and made no attempt to clean up after she had dumped the bodies.
Although the waxwork in Tussauds is not flattering, she was regarded as very attractive. She had no problem attracting men, but was fixated on Frank.
It was a North London domestic tragedy, what the french call a crime of passion.
Nothing to do with the ripper
Cheers Miss Marple

[Mayerling]

Mary as Jack

Hello all,

F. Tennyson Jesse wrote a chapter on Mrs. Pearcey in her classic MURDER AND ITS MOTIVES. She pointed out that when the bodies of Phoebe and her child were found in a deserted part of St. Johns' Wood in London, the papers noting the injuries of Mrs Phoebe Hogg thought it could be the work of the Ripper. But this was based on the fact that it was very bloody work, and the events were so close in time (within two years of the "Canonical Five"). Keep in mind that by 1890 several others, including Alice McKenzie, had been murdered and their names suggested for inclusion as "Jack's Victims".

Mary Pearcey was actually Mary Eleanor Wheeler. Her dad, Thomas Wheeler, was a burglar who committed a murder in a burglary in 1880, and was hanged as a result. Mary went with her mother to say good bye to her dad the day before the murder.

Jeff

[miss marple]

I knew that, her father was hanged at St Albans.[ Pearcy was just a man she had lived with and left for Frank. I think the effect of her father's hanging might have made her depressive, and into her own world. She certainly created a fantasy around Frank, One of the weapons she used was the poker, not very ripper like.Miss Marple

[miss marple]

Not Thomas

Just found out that Thomas Wheeler the murderer was not Mary Eleanor's father,
studioninetwenty.com have done a load of research[ this has been around since 2007] on the Hertfordshire genealogy of Thomas Wheeler, There is no connection with Mary Eleanor.

She was the daughter of James Wheeler and was born march 26th 1866 in IGTHAM Kent/
Her mother was Charlotte, her father died in 1882. The family had moved to Mile End by 1871 Living in William St Mile End Old Town. Mary had two sisters, Amelia and Charlotte.

I don;t think she was the ripper though.
Miss Marple

[m_w_r]

Just found out that Thomas Wheeler the murderer was not Mary Eleanor's father...

Hi,

Indeed. This is mentioned on the Mary Pearcey and Jill the Ripper podcast (15 February 2010), available via the menu on the left.

Regards,

Mark