Would Maybrick Have Wanted The Diary To Be Found?

[c.d.]

I rarely venture into diary world and will most likely regret this short intrusion. I never cease to be amazed at how ardently the authenticity of the diary is debated and I can only imagine the frustration that comes with that when it seems that there never will be a definitive answer. So it seems to me that perhaps those who frequent diary world might try to approach things from another direction.

Assuming for the sake of argument (and that really needs to be adhered to) that Maybrick did in fact write the diary, would he have wanted for it to be found and read? To me, the diary is a huge ego trip on his part. Wouldn't he want the world to know who he actually was and to get the last laugh as it were? If so, why not simply hide the diary and make some sort of provision for it to be found after his death? That should have been simple enough.

I have no dog in the fight and the whole authenticity thread seems pointless to me, but why not try some new line of argument because as I see it authenticity has been beaten to death and then some.

c.d.

[Abby Normal]

I rarely venture into diary world and will most likely regret this short intrusion. I never cease to be amazed at how ardently the authenticity of the diary is debated and I can only imagine the frustration that comes with that when it seems that there never will be a definitive answer. So it seems to me that perhaps those who frequent diary world might try to approach things from another direction.

Assuming for the sake of argument (and that really needs to be adhered to) that Maybrick did in fact write the diary, would he have wanted for it to be found and read? To me, the diary is a huge ego trip on his part. Wouldn't he want the world to know who he actually was and to get the last laugh as it were? If so, why not simply hide the diary and make some sort of provision for it to be found after his death? That should have been simple enough.

I have no dog in the fight and the whole authenticity thread seems pointless to me, but why not try some new line of argument because as I see it authenticity has been beaten to death and then some.

c.d.

The writer of the diary says he wants it to be found.

[c.d.]

Hello Abby,

So he hides it under some floorboards hoping that at some point in the future some electricians will find it? Why not simply take steps to ensure that it happens after his death?

c.d.

[Observer]

Hello Abby,

So he hides it under some floorboards hoping that at some point in the future some electricians will find it? Why not simply take steps to ensure that it happens after his death?

c.d.

Hi c.d

This point has been raised many times, by many people, and we're still waiting for an adequate answer. Same with the red diary, the phrase "one off", and the phrase "cause mayhem". All we've had is waffle, and wall to wall BS in response.This from both the Maybrick as JTR devotees, and the "old hoax" theorists.

[Abby Normal]

Hello Abby,

So he hides it under some floorboards hoping that at some point in the future some electricians will find it? Why not simply take steps to ensure that it happens after his death?

c.d.

Exactly.
Just leave it in a drawer.

[Scott Nelson]

Exactly.
Just leave it in a drawer.

You have absolutely nothing of value to contribute to anything on this thread. Why not leave?

[Abby Normal]

You have absolutely nothing of value to contribute to anything on this thread. Why not leave?

Lay off the sauce and quit stalking me you ******* nob.

[Pcdunn]

Hello Abby,

So he hides it under some floorboards hoping that at some point in the future some electricians will find it? Why not simply take steps to ensure that it happens after his death?

c.d.

Well, the other story is that a servant found it stuck under the master's mattress, which makes more sense from the "where it would be found" viewpoint, but as that story comes from Mrs. Barrett, it is already suspect.

[GUT]

Well, the other story is that a servant found it stuck under the master's mattress, which makes more sense from the "where it would be found" viewpoint, but as that story comes from Mrs. Barrett, it is already suspect.

And it’s the ever changing stories that make the whole thing totally impossible to believe

[Spider]

Well, the other story is that a servant found it stuck under the master's mattress, which makes more sense from the "where it would be found" viewpoint, but as that story comes from Mrs. Barrett, it is already suspect.

I proposed a theory years ago that the Diary could have been kept under the mattress. Maybrick would have confident in the knowledge that the Diary was safe whilst he was ill and wouldn’t be found in the meantime should he recover. If the worst came to the worst it wouldn’t matter anyway and he would know it was in a place where it would be found. By secreting it under floorboards he would be aware that it was a place where it wouldn’t be found or at least unlikely to have been found.
This theory would support the lineage to Devereaux thru’ the Laundry fencing route as the bedding would have been managed by the lowliest maid etc….

[caz]

It's not in Maybrick's handwriting...

But...

Just supposing he had written it, and had also scratched the victims' initials inside a certain watch in his possession, and wanted both to be found, but only after he'd shuffled off, one possibility does come to mind.

JM was eight days away from that point when he signed off on the diary on May 3rd and took to his death bed, so his options for putting it somewhere would have been somewhat limited. But if he had previously used a floorboard under or close to his bed for stashing stuff temporarily, when he was fitter and stronger, such as a supply of arsenic or letters from his mistress perhaps, and later the diary and watch on occasions when he was working on either of them, that floorboard was likely to have been loosened to allow easy access, so may not have taken much strength at all to lift once more, when he knew the end was near. By the same token, he might have expected this loose floorboard to come to someone's attention when he was safely in his grave and that time really would reveal all.

I think it was the late Colin Rhodes who observed that you wouldn't necessarily see something that was stashed under a lifted floorboard if you weren't looking for it and it was not directly in the line of sight, but tucked away to one side of the void - or under an adjoining floorboard which did not need lifting would be another possibility. Unless someone thought to inspect the void thoroughly, or needed to do so in the course of a future underfloor wiring job, for example, a loose floorboard could simply have been made secure at some point if the person concerned had no reason to go poking around beneath it.

What do you think? Perhaps I should sell the idea for a novel to my other half.

Love,

Caz
X

[Graham]

Hi Caz,

I've not read a durned thing about the Diary for yonks, nor have I kept pace with what's going on here, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that Anne Barrett's employer occupied the building that once housed James Maybrick's offices? Is this true? I also seem to recall seeing a suggestion (possibly on these boards) that Anne herself might actually have found the Diary tucked away in some ancient cupboard or desk or whatever at her workplace. Sounds highly improbable to me, have to be honest, but given all the wild and crazy suggestions that have been flying around here, maybe not as wild and crazy as some.

Graham

[Iconoclast]

But if he had previously used a floorboard under or close to his bed for stashing stuff temporarily, when he was fitter and stronger, such as a supply of arsenic or letters from his mistress perhaps ...

Or a rather shiny knife in between the butcherings ... ?

[c.d.]

I was thinking of a sealed envelope left with his solicitor with strict instructions that it only be opened after his death in which he gave the floorboard location.

c.d.

[DirectorDave]

So would James Maybrick a murder victim want a "diary" authored by a drunk and written by a teenage girl found fitting him up with 5 ghastly murders.....

Errmmm...I think he would have been happy for it to stay a photoalbum and for Mike Barrett to stick to telling tall tales in the pub.