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The late James Tully told of viewing the Home Office file on James Kelly. As I understand it, he was not allowed to look inside the file, but only at the cover sheet, which noted that in 1952 seventeen documents were destroyed and the file marked closed until the year 2030.
Bob Hinton wrote on a saved 2004 Casebook discussion and I copy it here verbatim:
I wouldn't read too much into documents being destroyed. Many papers are removed from files in a process known as weeding, it happens all the time. When you remove papers for destruction you make a note on the file cover ie, 'papers 13, 29, 46 and 34 weeded 25th May 2004' These would be papers deemed not to be relevant, for example if a letter which was in the file was sent to someone and they replied with a thank you note that would be included in the file, but very quickly weeded.
I found some information on the web concerning Broadmoor, which could be a coincidence or might shed some light on things. Following the Criminal Justice Act 1948 Broadmoor changed from an institution to a hospital and in 1950 responsibility for Broadmoor was transferred from the Home Office to the Ministry of Health. 1952 security was stepped up after a patient, J.T Straffe, escaped and killed a young girl while he was at large. Now there is a siren at the hospital - if it sounds, local schools and institutions have to lock their doors. (1) Bracknell Forest Heritage website, Berkshire Family Historian Website, BBC News Online
So it was in that very year, 1952, that the file was culled and marked closed till 2030. But, then as I understand it, any Broadmoor patient file in the possession of the Home Office is an officially closed file. Of the greatest interest is, of course, the question of where did James Kelly go and what did he do after escaping on Jan 23, 1888. I read the book to mean that yes, police officials were informed of the escape. But not the public and the press. Just how I interpret it, someone else may feel otherwise.
On page 61 the author quoted from an undated newspaper article.
The News of the World now takes up the story:
At Broadmoor he [Kelly] was allowed to play in the band and commenced to learn the violin. Men in the band were allowed to wear ordinary closthes, and Kelly having put such a suit etc.
There are several News of the World articles on Casebook but not this one. Does anyone know the date of the article, and/or when it became public knowledge that James Kelly had escaped?
Roy
(picture of my violin, not a historical reference)
The late James Tully told of viewing the Home Office file on James Kelly. As I understand it, he was not allowed to look inside the file, but only at the cover sheet, which noted that in 1952 seventeen documents were destroyed and the file marked closed until the year 2030.
Bob Hinton wrote on a saved 2004 Casebook discussion and I copy it here verbatim:
I wouldn't read too much into documents being destroyed. Many papers are removed from files in a process known as weeding, it happens all the time. When you remove papers for destruction you make a note on the file cover ie, 'papers 13, 29, 46 and 34 weeded 25th May 2004' These would be papers deemed not to be relevant, for example if a letter which was in the file was sent to someone and they replied with a thank you note that would be included in the file, but very quickly weeded.
I found some information on the web concerning Broadmoor, which could be a coincidence or might shed some light on things. Following the Criminal Justice Act 1948 Broadmoor changed from an institution to a hospital and in 1950 responsibility for Broadmoor was transferred from the Home Office to the Ministry of Health. 1952 security was stepped up after a patient, J.T Straffe, escaped and killed a young girl while he was at large. Now there is a siren at the hospital - if it sounds, local schools and institutions have to lock their doors. (1) Bracknell Forest Heritage website, Berkshire Family Historian Website, BBC News Online
So it was in that very year, 1952, that the file was culled and marked closed till 2030. But, then as I understand it, any Broadmoor patient file in the possession of the Home Office is an officially closed file. Of the greatest interest is, of course, the question of where did James Kelly go and what did he do after escaping on Jan 23, 1888. I read the book to mean that yes, police officials were informed of the escape. But not the public and the press. Just how I interpret it, someone else may feel otherwise.
On page 61 the author quoted from an undated newspaper article.
The News of the World now takes up the story:
At Broadmoor he [Kelly] was allowed to play in the band and commenced to learn the violin. Men in the band were allowed to wear ordinary closthes, and Kelly having put such a suit etc.
There are several News of the World articles on Casebook but not this one. Does anyone know the date of the article, and/or when it became public knowledge that James Kelly had escaped?
Roy
(picture of my violin, not a historical reference)
Sink the Bismark
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