Michael Barrett

[caz]

Hi All,

I have just heard that Mike Barrett passed away on January 29th. A burial service was held last Thursday.

His death was not alcohol related.

Love,

Caz
X

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi All,

I have just heard that Mike Barrett passed away on January 29th. A burial service was held last Thursday.

His death was not alcohol related.

Love,

Caz
X

Hi Caz

Thanks for passing on the news. As I have mentioned elsewhere to you, in doing a massive cleanout of our computer room I came across some papers related to the Maybrick Diary and Anne and Mike Barrett came to mind.

Best regards

Chris

[GUT]

Sad news.

Any idea how old he was?

[jmenges]

I don't know his exact year of birth but I'd guess he was in his mid to late 60s if he was close in age to his ex-wife Anne.

JM

[Scott Nelson]

Now we'll never know for sure. Or do we?

[Errata]

His death was not alcohol related? Is that the usual disclaimer here?

[Phil Carter]

61 years old I believe.

Phil

[GUT]

Young then.

Thanks Phil.

[caz]

His death was not alcohol related? Is that the usual disclaimer here?

No, Errata, it isn't.

I was anticipating the question in this case, so nobody need ask it.

Have a nice day.

[pinkmoon]

I saw Mike Barrett last summer he told me had been in poor health and he was of the booze it was the first time I'd seen him in a long time.I think anyone who met him would agree that he was a very colourfull character.

[caz]

I saw Mike Barrett last summer he told me had been in poor health and he was of the booze it was the first time I'd seen him in a long time.I think anyone who met him would agree that he was a very colourfull character.

Indeed, pinkie. I actually found his company interesting and entertaining, and he had a twinkle in his eye as he talked. It soon became clear why everything he came out with was better taken with a pinch of salt.

Love,

Caz
X

[Graham]

Sorry to hear this sad news. He was a character, no doubt about that.

Are we anywhere nearer discovering the true origin of The Diary, I wonder? Who was it who said he had proof that it originated in Battlecrease House? It's so long since this has been debated on these boards that I've forgotten.

Graham

[ChrisGeorge]

Sorry to hear this sad news. He was a character, no doubt about that.

Are we anywhere nearer discovering the true origin of The Diary, I wonder? Who was it who said he had proof that it originated in Battlecrease House? It's so long since this has been debated on these boards that I've forgotten.

Graham

Hi Graham

It was Keith Skinner at the Trial of James Maybrick in May 2007 at the Liverpool Cricket Club who told the audience that on the basis of the documentation he had in his possession, a jury would conclude the Diary came out of Battlecrease -- the nearby mansion where the Maybricks lived. That information has never been revealed but there is reason to believe it might ultimately be disclosed.

Best regards

Chris

[Graham]

Hi Chris,

Yeah, I thought it was Keith Skinner but not 100% sure so I played safe! Just why the relevant information has never been disclosed is highly mysterious.....

The Diary seems to have fallen out of favour discussion-wise, which I suppose is understandable as it seems to have hit a dead end. I have most of the published works regarding The Diary and maybe will re-read them some day (but not just yet). I did visit Battlecrease House about 20 years ago, just to see what it looks like on the outside, and it's certainly impressive.

Bye,

Graham

[rjpalmer]

Just a throwaway post, really, but I was peeking in at Howard Brown's site. In regards to linseed oil, the Diary, and the fine art of maintaining a cricket bat. Barrett claimed he removed a stationer's tag from the inside cover of the Maybrick photograph album, because it showed a date of something like 1908/1909. There IS a patch where something has been removed, evidently, and one of the early document examiners suggested the album is Edwardian and not Victorian. (I call it a photograph album because of the internal spacers between the pages). Of course, Barett claimed to have soaked the whole cover, but he was known for his flair of the melodramatic. There doesn't seem to be a logical reason the tag would have been removed unless it was somehow 'undesirable.' That said, someone named 'Mr. Poster' suggested we research linseed oil. I did so.

Here is a blurb taken from Wikipedia:

"like some other drying oils, linseed oil exhibits fluorescence under UV light after degradation."

Hmm.

If you recall, due to the efforts of Jennifer Pegg, the Diary was examined by Dr. Platt in 2005, who noticed some oddly shaped, unexplained fluorescent streaks on several pages of the Diary, as well as a blotch on the inside front cover. The full report can be found here.

http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/maybrick_diary/platt.html

Scroll down to Figure 3, right hand photograph.

I highly doubt if the straight fluorescent lines on the interior pages of the Diary could be explained by linseed oil, and perhaps none of it can, but the one from the inside cover certainly looks like a drip or a splatter. What is it?