The `Reverand Dott letter to Australia

[Joshua Rogan]

seems weird that a letter sent from England to Australia from loved ones would be so short, with alot of it talking about koz. plus seems odd he would be referred to as "the Jew Kosminski" especially if the letter writer was jewish or had jewish sympathy, no?

You beat me to it.

Not to mention that, if it was indeed sent half way around the world (which would surely take several weeks) how could the writer be so sure that the recipient would already know that Rachael had died, when this was just a few days earlier?

[Scott Nelson]

Kosminski was never given a first name. The letter is in keeping with that distinction.

[Darryl Kenyon]

To me, it seems highly unlikely that the writer would be on first name terms with "poor Tilly" and yet refer to her brother as "the jew Kosminsky", as if a) she wouldn't have been jewish herself, and b) they were unaware of the brother's first name.

Good point Joshua
Regards Darryl

[seecomber]

Although it is tempting to assume `Tilly' is short for Matilda there is a photograph on a geneology site showing`Fred and Tilly Dott with Harold Veeder and daughters Pearl and Joan'.This was provided by Joan Dott born 1932. This is probably the `Tillie' to which the writer refers.
With regard to the elusive Sister Rachaell the Dotts were acqainted with the family of Gertrude Bell whose father subsequently contributed to the founding of the model village for disabled officers founded by the good Reverand and Annabel Dott. However I have so far not traced any Rachaell in the Bell family and there may no connection.Bell is a common enough name in the UK.

[seecomber]

It occurs to me, and doubtless many others, that the mere fact that the fact that the letter came to light in Australia does not necessarily mean it was posted to Aus. in the 1880`s It may have been sent,conveyed or otherwise forwarded at any time after it was written. No envelope is available.

[Sam Flynn]

For reasons I've given previously, I believe it's a blatant hoax.

[PaulB]

For reasons I've given previously, I believe it's a blatant hoax.

I'm not being funny, but where are your previously given reasons for believing it a hoax? I'd like to know your thinking.

[Sam Flynn]

I'm not being funny, but where are your previously given reasons for believing it a hoax? I'd like to know your thinking.

Hello Paul. It's mainly that the Kosminksi part of the letter is embedded in what looks like generic, sentimental Victorian-speak. I get the distinct impression that this padding is only there as a clunky vehicle to deliver the Ripper-related payload.

[PaulB]

Hello Paul. It's mainly that the Kosminksi part of the letter is embedded in what looks like generic, sentimental Victorian-speak. I get the distinct impression that this padding is only there as a clunky vehicle to deliver the Ripper-related payload.

I can see where you are coming from, although the non-Kosminski text seems odd to me. Don't you think calling people brother and sister in a spiritual sense, talking about 'fighting the good fight' and 'praying nightly for their works', and the passing reference to dispensationalism is rather more specific than one would expect from what's intended to be banal padding to wrap the Kosminski reference?

[Sam Flynn]

I can see where you are coming from, although the non-Kosminski text seems odd to me. Don't you think calling people brother and sister in a spiritual sense, talking about 'fighting the good fight' and 'praying nightly for their works', and the passing reference to dispensationalism is rather more specific than one would expect from what's intended to be banal padding to wrap the Kosminski reference?

Particularly in the era of Booth, Besant and Bernardo (to be alliterative), Victorians did have a reputation for overt, almost sentimental, religiosity. "Fighting the good fight" and "praying nightly" strike me as the kind of stock phrases someone might use to give an "authentic" Victorian feel to a hoaxed letter.

[PaulB]

I suppose so, but if the Victorians used those phrases, do their appearance in this letter necessarily point to it being a fake? I mean, if these are stock phrases the Victorians commonly used, hence them being used to give a Victorian feel to a fake letter, they could actually be stock phrases used in a genuine Victorian letter, couldn't they? And taken as a whole, those phrases do fit with the use of brother and sister and the reference to dispensation, so don't you feel that the evangelical 'feel' of the letter is an odd choice for a forger to wrap the Kosminski payload? Of course, one might argue that the forger chose just such an 'environment' in which to set his con, but would a faker with that sort of nouse produce what you describe as 'a clunky vehicle'? These things are always difficult, but there is pause for thought here, I think.

[Abby Normal]

I suppose so, but if the Victorians used those phrases, do their appearance in this letter necessarily point to it being a fake? I mean, if these are stock phrases the Victorians commonly used, hence them being used to give a Victorian feel to a fake letter, they could actually be stock phrases used in a genuine Victorian letter, couldn't they? And taken as a whole, those phrases do fit with the use of brother and sister and the reference to dispensation, so don't you feel that the evangelical 'feel' of the letter is an odd choice for a forger to wrap the Kosminski payload? Of course, one might argue that the forger chose just such an 'environment' in which to set his con, but would a faker with that sort of nouse produce what you describe as 'a clunky vehicle'? These things are always difficult, but there is pause for thought here, I think.

Hi Paul
for me its the harshness expressed to the "jew Kominsky" and his "devil tongue" and hanging etc. from such a loving and spiritual person.
the brevity of the letter is strange too.

[Fisherman]

I find that a man of Kosminskis mental disposition would be quite likely to - if he was to attack another person with a pair of scissors - yell at the top of his voice and make all sorts of commotion. That is the typical outcome of an attack performed by a seriously mentally challenged person.

The Ripper, however, was a very silent assailant.

Hoax or not.

[Sam Flynn]

don't you feel that the evangelical 'feel' of the letter is an odd choice for a forger to wrap the Kosminski payload?

I don't really find it odd, Paul - quite the contrary, in fact. The letter seems to be following a "make your own Victorian" recipe: formal but slightly iffy phrasing ("I duly received your letter"?), praising God and saying prayers, sentimentality, illness, death. Then, like a bolt from the blue (or an elephant in a room) there's this sudden burst about Kosminski, before the letter ends with a genteel whimper, with a few more religious references thrown in like a Good Victorian™.

[Harry D]

Assuming for the sake of argument that it's completely legit, what does it prove? Attacking someone with a pair of scissors isn't quite the same as methodically killing and mutilating people. And we already know Kos had piques of violence when he threatened his sis with a knife and threw a chair at an asylum attendant.