Francis Thompson. The Perfect Suspect.

[John G]

Hello Richard,

As I've noted before, I find it extremely relevant that Thompson started fires as child: 56% of serial killers have a history of setting fires as children: see https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...0fires&f=false

Did you also say that he had a history of committing mutilations?

[Richard Patterson]

Hello Richard,

As I've noted before, I find it extremely relevant that Thompson started fires as child: 56% of serial killers have a history of setting fires as children: see https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...0fires&f=false

Did you also say that he had a history of committing mutilations?

When Francis Thompson was a child, he complained the right to own a doll. Of one doll in particular he would write, 'With another doll of much personal attraction, I was on the terms of intimate affection, till a murderous impulse of scientific curiosity incited me to open her head, that I might investigate what her brains were like. The shock which I then sustained has been a fruitful warning to me, I have never since looked for a beautiful girl's brains. The United States serial killer Edmund Kemper III killed ten people and he told of how he justified his vile acts, 'it is more or less making a doll out of a human being...Taking life away from them.’' The theme of childhood acts of mutilation against dolls is echoed in Kemper. During one Christmas, when Kemper III was a child, his grandparents gave his sister a doll. It vanished only to be found by the sister decapitated and handless.

I believe you already know of Thompson’s history of fire-starting, but for those who don’t I will restate it: Thompson had a habit of setting fire to buildings. The occasions he did so is recorded in many biographies on Thompson. One 1988 biography, ‘Between Heaven and Charing Cross’ by Bridget M Boardman will tell you on page 20 that Thompson twice set a church on fire. The first time, as an altar boy, he did so by stealing the candle lighters job and starting a blaze at the church altar. Yet again, because of an argument on what robes he wanted to wear, he spun the incense-burning thurible over his head, round and round with such force that he again set the church alight. He got into the local newspaper for that arson attack describing how he sent the crowd into a ‘general panic’ Again he would start a fire by kicking over a lamp in a room he was lodging in. He fled the burning house leaving his landlady sleeping inside. When asked why he did not awake her and left her to burn to death his response was, ‘A house on fire is no place for tarrying.’ He would also start a fire in his editor’s house by leaving his smoking pipe lit in the pocket of his coat which he had left hanging on a hook.

[John G]

When Francis Thompson was a child, he complained the right to own a doll. Of one doll in particular he would write, 'With another doll of much personal attraction, I was on the terms of intimate affection, till a murderous impulse of scientific curiosity incited me to open her head, that I might investigate what her brains were like. The shock which I then sustained has been a fruitful warning to me, I have never since looked for a beautiful girl's brains. The United States serial killer Edmund Kemper III killed ten people and he told of how he justified his vile acts, 'it is more or less making a doll out of a human being...Taking life away from them.’' The theme of childhood acts of mutilation against dolls is echoed in Kemper. During one Christmas, when Kemper III was a child, his grandparents gave his sister a doll. It vanished only to be found by the sister decapitated and handless.

I believe you already know of Thompson’s history of fire-starting, but for those who don’t I will restate it: Thompson had a habit of setting fire to buildings. The occasions he did so is recorded in many biographies on Thompson. One 1988 biography, ‘Between Heaven and Charing Cross’ by Bridget M Boardman will tell you on page 20 that Thompson twice set a church on fire. The first time, as an altar boy, he did so by stealing the candle lighters job and starting a blaze at the church altar. Yet again, because of an argument on what robes he wanted to wear, he spun the incense-burning thurible over his head, round and round with such force that he again set the church alight. He got into the local newspaper for that arson attack describing how he sent the crowd into a ‘general panic’ Again he would start a fire by kicking over a lamp in a room he was lodging in. He fled the burning house leaving his landlady sleeping inside. When asked why he did not awake her and left her to burn to death his response was, ‘A house on fire is no place for tarrying.’ He would also start a fire in his editor’s house by leaving his smoking pipe lit in the pocket of his coat which he had left hanging on a hook.

Hello Richard,

Thanks for this, very interesting. I don't know if you've raised this before, but the fact that he was a poet, and may have appeared to be well-dressed, also seems to me to be of some significance. The evidence seems to suggest that the victims were enticed to go with their killer to pre-planned locations. Moreover, when they were attacked they seem to have been completely taken by surprise: Kelly may well have been asleep, suggesting that the killer was able to put them at their ease.

It seems to be that a well-dressed poet would have come accross as reassuringly disarming and unthreatening, even charming; the very antithesis of a stereotypical knife-wielding maniac.

[MrBarnett]

John Evangelist Walsh wrote in 1967 biography on Thompson, “Strange Harp, Strange Symphony the Life of Francis Thompson,” that Thompson was staying in Providence Row. Walsh is one of the foremost experts on Thompson with access to personal notes, archives, unpublished letters, and private notebooks. Walsh’s sources were copious and trusted. Most of the Preface to his book is devoted to thanking the people and organizations that gave him access to personal papers and related documents. He also interviewed people who knew Thompson. The circumstances of Thompson’s homelessness and the events surrounding it would hardly have been treated lightly. Providence Row was run expressively for Catholics with limited beds. It is more than likely that Thompson sought refuge with people of his faith. Such things as him being a newly published poet and writer in a respectable Catholic magazine, him being an ex-seminary student, and connections he had to priests in London, who were friends of the family, would have guaranteed entry to Providence Row. A place where Thompson would have felt protected. I myself have been to Boston College to the Burns library that holds many of Thompson’s notes and letters. It was there that I attained information that he would walk nights on Mile End Road in the East End. The Providence Row information from Walsh comes from Thompson’s manuscript, “Catholics in Darkest England”. This was an essay, using the Salvation Army’s shelters as an example foe why Catholics should follow suit, providing more shelters for Catholic vagrants.

Richard,

From what I have read, it would appear that the Providence Row Refuge was non-sectarian, and operated each year between November and May.

Given that, according to Walsh, Thompson was living in Chelsea in March, April and May of 1888 and was in hospital during November, 1888, I can't see how the time he may have spent at the refuge has any direct relevance to the Whitechapel Murders.

MrB

[Richard Patterson]

Richard,

From what I have read, it would appear that the Providence Row Refuge was non-sectarian, and operated each year between November and May.

Given that, according to Walsh, Thompson was living in Chelsea in March, April and May of 1888 and was in hospital during November, 1888, I can't see how the time he may have spent at the refuge has any direct relevance to the Whitechapel Murders.

MrB

As post #54 shows the facts point to Thompson being in Providence Row in the first half of November 1888. This puts him as living less than 100 meters from Kelly when she was murdered. Thompson has been established a suspect for decades. Now this 2015 deduction placing him in the radius of the murders adds more weight to the bulk of circumstantial evidence that seem to show he was the Ripper.

[Richard Patterson]

Hello Richard,

Thanks for this, very interesting. I don't know if you've raised this before, but the fact that he was a poet, and may have appeared to be well-dressed, also seems to me to be of some significance. The evidence seems to suggest that the victims were enticed to go with their killer to pre-planned locations. Moreover, when they were attacked they seem to have been completely taken by surprise: Kelly may well have been asleep, suggesting that the killer was able to put them at their ease.

It seems to be that a well-dressed poet would have come accross as reassuringly disarming and unthreatening, even charming; the very antithesis of a stereotypical knife-wielding maniac.

I like your insight. I have brought this up before. On another thread I wrote in part, '...What if the listener was a fearful Whitechapel woman, who had been taught to fear a brutish butcher or strong tattooed foreign sailor for the murders in the East End? I pictured a poor, scared prostitute walking fearfully and desperately through the night. I pictured her jump momentarily when she is tapped on the shoulder only to be greeted by the voice of poet who smiling asks if she would like to hear a poem...' You make an astute observation which I can also see.

[MrBarnett]

John Evangelist Walsh wrote in 1967 biography on Thompson, “Strange Harp, Strange Symphony the Life of Francis Thompson,” that Thompson was staying in Providence Row. Walsh is one of the foremost experts on Thompson with access to personal notes, archives, unpublished letters, and private notebooks. Walsh’s sources were copious and trusted. Most of the Preface to his book is devoted to thanking the people and organizations that gave him access to personal papers and related documents. He also interviewed people who knew Thompson. The circumstances of Thompson’s homelessness and the events surrounding it would hardly have been treated lightly. Providence Row was run expressively for Catholics with limited beds. It is more than likely that Thompson sought refuge with people of his faith. Such things as him being a newly published poet and writer in a respectable Catholic magazine, him being an ex-seminary student, and connections he had to priests in London, who were friends of the family, would have guaranteed entry to Providence Row. A place where Thompson would have felt protected. I myself have been to Boston College to the Burns library that holds many of Thompson’s notes and letters. It was there that I attained information that he would walk nights on Mile End Road in the East End. The Providence Row information from Walsh comes from Thompson’s manuscript, “Catholics in Darkest England”. This was an essay, using the Salvation Army’s shelters as an example foe why Catholics should follow suit, providing more shelters for Catholic vagrants.

As post #54 shows the facts point to Thompson being in Providence Row in the first half of November 1888. This puts him as living less than 100 meters from Kelly when she was murdered. Thompson has been established a suspect for decades. Now this 2015 deduction placing him in the radius of the murders adds more weight to the bulk of circumstantial evidence that seem to show he was the Ripper.

Richard,

Post 54 doesn't show any such thing, it suggests it. In order for you to be sure of your facts you would have to know the exact whereabouts of Thompson for the whole of his vagrant period.

You put Walsh forward as a reliable source, but he says Thompson was in hospital from October to December, 1888.

And as I mentioned previously, although it was run by the Sisters of a Mercy, the refuge was non-sectarian, so Thompson's Catholicism would not have given him any advantage.

MrB

[Richard Patterson]

Richard,

Post 54 doesn't show any such thing, it suggests it. In order for you to be sure of your facts you would have to know the exact whereabouts of Thompson for the whole of his vagrant period.

You put Walsh forward as a reliable source, but he says Thompson was in hospital from October to December, 1888.

And as I mentioned previously, although it was run by the Sisters of a Mercy, the refuge was non-sectarian, so Thompson's Catholicism would not have given him any advantage.

MrB

Why should I need to know his whereabouts throughout his whole vagrancy period to be know where he was in November 1888. He certainly could not have been in Providence Row before that November. Of course his Catholicism would have given him an advantage. non-sectarian or not. Their own websites starts with these words,

‘Our history as a Catholic charity We were founded in 1860 as a Catholic charity by a priest, Father Daniel Gilbert, who was moved by the poverty he saw around him. He enlisted the help of an order of nuns, the Sisters of Mercy, and together they raised funds and found premises in East London which opened on to a narrow lane called Providence Row. Over the last 150 years we have changed in many ways but we continue to value our Catholic roots and links with the church'

Do you seriously think that they would not have been predisposed to help Thompson a one time Catholic seminary student and altar boy, whose father was a Catholic lay healer, whose sister was a nun, whose family friends were all Catholic priests, whose editor was the publisher of Catholic magazine?

http://www.providencerow.org.uk/our-history-catholic-charity

[Harry D]

I'm sceptical when poets or artists are put forward as Ripper suspects, for the simple reason that I believe people of that persuasion would use their preferred medium as a way in which to express whatever inner-demons they have stirring inside of them.

[Richard Patterson]

I'm sceptical when poets or artists are put forward as Ripper suspects, for the simple reason that I believe people of that persuasion would use their preferred medium as a way in which to express whatever inner-demons they have stirring inside of them.

The English poet Francis Thompson is the suspected of being Jack the Ripper. Much of his poetry display themes of murder and bloodshed, but even if Thompson has not written a single word because he carried a knife, knew anatomy, lived in Whitechapel, and had relationships with prostitutes he should be viewed as a strong candidate for the murders. If anyone doubts that he was the killer because they believe it is wrong to use his written work as evidence then they do not know Francis Thompson or serial killers. Serial killers, when not using their preferred medium as a way in which to express whatever inner-demons, are often found to have written poetry. Serial killer poets include, Israel Keye, Dennis Nilsen, Joel Rifkin, Ted Bundy, Jack Unterweger, Dennis Rader, and the Zodiac Killer.

Certainly, it would be wrong to assume that someone who wrote about committing murder was a murderer, but Thompson is uniquely different. He admitted that he based his written work on events in his own life. In a letter to his editor, Thompson told of his fears that his writings would display more than mere artistic license,

'I am painfully conscious that they display me, in every respect, at my morally weakest...often verse written as I write it is nothing less than a confessional, a confessional far more intimate than the sacerdotal one. That touches only your sins….if I wrote further in poetry, I should write down my own fame.'

Having been a Catholic student priest for several years the term ‘confessional’ had a special meaning. In another letter to his editor, this is how Thompson explained of his poetry,

‘The poems were, in fact, a kind of poetic diary; or rather a poetic substitute for letters.’

If Thompson were, the Ripper, then the only way he could explain his crimes would be through his writing. It would be hard to imagine a better example than the real one of his only story. His ‘End Crowning Work’ was a murder story in which the narrator admits to stabbing a woman to death. It was written in the autumn of 1889. In the light that his poetry and prose was autobiographical, we should be seriously asking if Thompson was conveying more than artistic talent when he began it with these words.

‘If confession indeed give ease, I who am deprived of all other confession, may yet find some appeasement in confessing to this paper.’

If you think that just because he was a poet then he could not have been a killer, you are wrong.

[John G]

I'm sceptical when poets or artists are put forward as Ripper suspects, for the simple reason that I believe people of that persuasion would use their preferred medium as a way in which to express whatever inner-demons they have stirring inside of them.

I wonder how many poets have a history of childhood arson, like Thompson, which continued into adulthood. It has, however, been argued that 56% of serial killers committed arson as children.

[GUT]

I wonder how many poets have a history of childhood arson, like Thompson, which continued into adulthood. It has, however, been argued that 56% of serial killers committed arson as children.

Maybe, but what % of children who light fires go on to be Serial Killers?

[Richard Patterson]

Francis Thompson was almost exclusively taught the technique the ripper used to remove the heart of Mary Kelly. The technique was only taught in England in Owens medical college and infirmary where Thompson studied for 6 years. Now a popular method of dissection Virchow first published his English translation of his German book on post-mortem technique, “Die Sections-Technik im Leichenhause des Charité-Krankenhauses,” in 1880 by Blakiston publishers in Philadelphia. Virchow’s book called, “Post-Mortem Examination with especial reference to medical-legal practice” was 145 pages with illustrations. Virchow encouraged that his students adapt to prevailing conditions and applauded the use, like Thompson, of a single scalpel for dissection. In his 1895 3rd edition of his English translation, Virchow wrote of how to remove the heart as was taught to Thompson,

‘To bring the heart into the right position for the dissection, when the incisions for the right side are to be made, I extend firmly the forefinger of the left hand, and push it under the heart, and keep it against the base, so that the ventricular portion hangs down over the forefinger, which is as a fulcrum to it.’
Dr. Thomas Bond. The registered police surgeon for A Division, performed the post-mortem on Mary Kelly. She was living less than a hundred yards from Thompson’s place when she was murdered. Dr. Bond, although untaught in this technique summed it all up, ‘The Pericardium was open below & the Heart absent.’

In his 1895 3rd edition of his English translation, Virchow wrote of how to remove the heart as was taught to Thompson, when he was a Manchester medical student for six years (1878-1984) In Bridget Bordman’s 1988 biography ‘The Life of Francis Thompson”, is a description of his training.

‘…Anatomy had always occupied a central place in training and the dissecting of cadavers was accompanied by far more practical experience in assisting at operations….his time was almost equally divided between the College and the Hospital.…Outside there was a constant flow of traffic with patients arriving on stretchers or in carriage-like ambulances drawn by police horses. In the Accident Room staff and students waiting to be called for their services gathered round the fire…There were two operating theaters with wooden tables, to which were attached leather straps for controlling those whose fear let to violent protest…’

The ripper used one knife. Virchow proscribed using one knife. Thompson carried one knife. At the time of the murders a homeless Thompson only carried a single dissecting scalpel. Virchow, the founder of what in 1888 was still a new and rare technique, promoted the use of one knife for the entire procedure. Especially when the dissector works under differing conditions. Virchow said.

‘It is scarcely necessary to point out that there are many cases in which deviations from this method are not merely allowable, but also absolutely necessary. The individuality of the case must often determine the plan of the examination….“a good pathological anatomist is perfectly able to dissect all the viscera of one subject, or even two or, with one knife’

If Thompson was going to kill five women he could not have done it any other way than how the Ripper did it.

Many thanks to Steve Jessup for his prior independent research into Bond’s report and presenting Dr. Vichow and his methods.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/502480266521400/

[GUT]

More food for thought Richard, but any luck so far nailing down his exact whereabouts during the Autumn of Terror.

To me that is a big issue that needs clarification.

[Richard Patterson]

More food for thought Richard, but any luck so far nailing down his exact whereabouts during the Autumn of Terror.

To me that is a big issue that needs clarification.

At this time we can say he was in London, we can say he was in Providence Row (Though people may argue when).

Our FB group is lucky enough to have from Christian Dupont from Boston College in it. He is the Burns Library Associate University Librarian for Special Collections. This includes the Francis Thompson room. We asked him if he could tell us when Thompson was sent to the Storrington Priory. His response was, '

‘Dear Richard,
The best biography of Francis Thompson is:
Walsh, John. Strange Harp, Strange Symphony: The Life of Francis Thompson. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1967.
Walsh indicates that Thompson went to the Premonstratensian priory in 1889. This fact is quote in the following PhD dissertation, which you can download online:’

http://repositories.tdl.org/ttu-ir/b...5004175567.pdf

So, from what we can gather Thompson was in London for all of 1888.

We have enough sources to pretty much state it was a fact that FT stayed at Providence Row night refuge, but we have not been able to get exact dates. We contacted Providence Row and there was response was,

'Many thanks for your email. Unfortunately our records don’t go back that far. We have archives but they do not contain individual records.

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.

Kind regards
Lucy

Lucy Warwick
Office and Facilities Manager
Providence Row'

We have tried to find any details of the supposed hospital he is said to have stayed in, but we have not found his name in any records. Our best bet was The Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest (the Brompton hospital) but his name is not listed in the records that go as far back as the 1840's.

With such loose dates it is hard to be exact, but if we assume the timelines are correct and take into account that he could only have entered Providence Row in November 1888 and between this time and his moving to Storrington he was in a hospital for six weeks, then we can place him in the refugee from the 1st tot the 11th of November. Thanks for the interest.