25 YEARS OF THE DIARY OF JACK THE RIPPER: THE TRUE FACTS by Robert Smith

[Henry Flower]

Yes I know Scott but I think I am right in saying that her 1993 book contained no mention of the story of the electricians. It was, however, mentioned in the 1998 paperback edition (and that section was repeated in her 2003 book, 'The American Connection').

Hi David, I think Scott's point may be that you have written 1988, not 1998.

[Henry Flower]

Yes I know Scott but I think I am right in saying that her 1993 book contained no mention of the story of the electricians. It was, however, mentioned in the 1998 paperback edition (and that section was repeated in her 2003 book, 'The American Connection').

By the way David, superb research as ever. I'd love to hear the attempts to explain it all away from the True Believers.

What really strikes me when I read it is that while you are - undoubtedly - a very fine researcher, it's not as if you've uncovered anything that would've been beyond the research capabilities of those who were passing themselves off as being engaged in honest research and evaluation of the document. And yet... so much remained (conveniently for them) undiscovered... Research should always be an attempt to disprove your own hypothesis, not this exercise in going only so far as to grab at tenuous validations and then stop researching before you uncover anything you don't want to know.

Goes to show how willing people are, however unconsciously, to cherry-pick their data, limit the scope or depth of their research, and apply blinkers to their analysis - when they have a dog in the fight, and especially when that dog could potentially be a nice little earner.

Mind you, we do see it on both sides. The number of times I've read on this site that there were only vague rumours about the electricians discovering a diary, but that the electricians have denied any involvement. Clearly that's not quite the truth. There is a whole lot of smoke about something being found, possibly a diary - so much smoke that rather than ignoring it I'd be more interested in finding out what exactly was on fire.

But your paper is the final nail in the Diary coffin for me (or rather, the Diary biscuit tin). The Diary now gets mentally filed away in the following folders: Half-Baked (literally!) Frauds / Strange Marriages / Human Credulity / "Experts"

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thank you John.

David,

The Deerstalker is doffed yet again. No need for just 'improbables,' or 'implausibles,' with that kind of research.

Brilliant stuff.

[David Orsam]

Thanks guys (and Henry yes it was meant to say 1998 and I have amended accordingly, thank you).

[rjpalmer]

Mr. Orsam writes:

"Neither Graham Rhodes nor Eddie Lyons was working in Battlecrease on 9 March 1992.* One of the two electricians working at Battlecrease that day was Arthur Rigby, the man who was supposed to have been driving the van which took the equipment to Widnes!

No further electrical work was carried out at Battlecrease until June 1992 when both Graham Rhodes and Eddie Lyons did work there."

I had to laugh at that tidbit. It is comforting to know that the contractors in the UK are not better than the ones in the U.S. They finish 90% of the job and then you don't see them for three months!

PS. Barrett also wrote an unpublished novel for children, "Danny the Dolphin." I remember the P.I. Grey beating him up over it, as it was supposedly an example of Mike's lack of writing skill. "It was %$$@# Mike! It was #@$%%!" I felt sorry for the guy.

[Mike J. G.]

David,

The Deerstalker is doffed yet again. No need for just 'improbables,' or 'implausibles,' with that kind of research.

Brilliant stuff.

I'm still a bit worried that you seem to totally disregard plausibility and probability so easily, Herlock. The entire Maybrick saga is one long exercise in the study of probability.

To ignore one coincidence after another is disconcerting for anyone who is truly willing to seek the truth.

[Mike J. G.]

I had to laugh at that tidbit. It is comforting to know that the contractors in the UK are not better than the ones in the U.S. They finish 90% of the job and then you don't see them for three months!

Tbf, Portus and Rhodes weren't a very big company at all, and as we can tell from Rigby having worked 8 hours mostly by himself, they clearly didn't really have the men to cover so many jobs at once.

[John G]

Tbf, Portus and Rhodes weren't a very big company at all, and as we can tell from Rigby having worked 8 hours mostly by himself, they clearly didn't really have the men to cover so many jobs at once.

Yes, it makes you wonder how three of their electricians were able to bunk off work and head over to Liverpool University. I mean, no wonder the job at Battlecrease was taking so long if that was a measure of their reliability. Maybe they were on a company outing or team bonding exercise!

[John G]

One of the most fascinating aspects of this saga is the reference in Feldman's book about Barrett going round to see one of the electricians and accusing him of lying, I.e. in respect of the Battlecrease discovery.

Now, as I've noted before, he would have to be crazy to do such a thing if he'd stolen the diary, or tricked the electricians out of it-talk about rubbing salt into the wound!

But unless you accept the nonsense about it being in Anne's family for decades, how did he know they were lying? Could it be that he discovered they were working at Battlecrease and invited them to part of the scam? They refused but when they realised that the diary's publication had been a success they decided they wanted a slice of the cake. Hence, Feldman's comments about how they suddenly became fixated on receiving some sort of financial reward.

[Graham]

An excellent paper by Mr O, I have to say. One of the potential stumbling-blocks with any piece of analysis is, in turn, the analysis and interpretation of any results obtained. I don't think there is much doubt that a spot of cherry-picking went on regarding the results of analyses by Baxendale, Turgoose and Wild. Who, like all good analysts, covered themselves and included provisos in their reports. As for the ion-migration test, I for one don't know enough about the techniques used to make any comment.

It also seems that old Feldy is justified when, sounding slightly exhausted after all his frenetic work and huge expenditure, conceded that what was removed from Battlecrease at some time or another wasn't the Diary but some documents. We'll probably never know how he came to this conclusion, but at least he seems to have accepted Barrett's strongly-stated claim that the Diary never came out of Battlecrease.

Graham

[Bridewell]

Does anybody know the origin of the word "Battlecrease"? I've never seen it recorded anywhere else.

[Sam Flynn]

Does anybody know the origin of the word "Battlecrease"? I've never seen it recorded anywhere else.

There are a few houses called Battlecrease or "Battlecrease Hall" in England. I can't find anything in the OED that might explain what it means, but I have found an apparent reference in the Bhagavad Gita:



The Kuru refered to were warriors, so - in this context at least - it might suggest that a "battle crease" was some kind of military formation.

[Joshua Rogan]

Does anybody know the origin of the word "Battlecrease"? I've never seen it recorded anywhere else.

One meaning of crease is a light wound or graze, so possibly could be Battlescar? Weird name for a house though.

Also, apparently, Romanian conjugate of "create", so might mean it was Battle born?
I'm not sure James or Florrie spoke much Romanian, though.

[Sam Flynn]

One meaning of crease is a light wound or graze, so possibly could be Battlescar? Weird name for a house though.

Not so weird, perhaps, if one (or more) of the original "Battlecreases", e.g. the Grade II listed Battlecrease Hall in Shepperton, Surrey, was built by a military man?

I'm not sure James or Florrie spoke much Romanian, though.

Maybe they got the idea after seeing one of the other houses so named.

[Abby Normal]

battle ridge or trench?