Francis Thompson. The Perfect Suspect.

[pinkmoon]

Hi Gut,

Just realised that Richard's in Australia.

Still, if he believes in his theory, it'd be well worth a trip to Blighty.

Amanda

What someone actually checking facts and researching things properly that died out years ago in the world of jtr literature I mean look at the last major offering we had .

[GUT]

Hi Gut,

Just realised that Richard's in Australia.

Still, if he believes in his theory, it'd be well worth a trip to Blighty.

Amanda

Not exactly cheep though and very time consuming.

But if he wants he can pay for me to get there by ship and I'll do the knocking for him

[Richard Patterson]

To actually visit is a great Idea. I do live in Australia now so doing so is now very difficult for me to do so. In the summer of 2006, I visited Our Lady of England Priory in Storrington, but the priory only had one caretaker and although she was friendly, she could not help me. In 2012 the Premonstratensian religious order (aka Norbertines) that, took Thompson in, left. After 130 years of habitation, the Chemin Neuf Community moved into the priory and Norbertine Canons left the after over 130 years in Storrington. I believe that the only branch of the Norbertines in England is at St. Philip's Priory, in Chelmsford, England. The message I emailed them was,

‘Hello. I am researching the life of the English poet, Francis Joseph Thompson (1859-1907) I have read that he may have, at one time, been housed in the Premonstratensian priory at Storrington, West Sussex., Could you please be able to tell me the dates in which he arrived and left. . This would be very appreciated.’

Their initial response, from one of the Reverends, was, ‘I have an interest in him as well. I visited Storrington years ago and saw the crucifix about which he wrote a poem. I believe there is another object at Storrington as well. Painting? Can't recall. I am emailing a member of the former Storrington who I know and see if he can shed any light on this. A brief foray into the internet does not pinpoint the dates. I will get back to you.’

He did not get back to me. This seems to be the pattern when trying to get firm dates on Thompson circa 1888. It would be good to have some clear information. I hope that any response does not rely on the ‘The Oxford dictionary of National Biography’. This states that Thompson entered the priory at the start of 1888, which is wrong. We know this because all other timelines in every biography suggest the end of 1888 or the start of 1889. This is backed up by when his works were first published and the letters Thompson wrote to his editor. I have 140 members in my Thompson Facebook group. Maybe one of them can do the footwork. Of course if anyone on Casebook would like to help get to the bottom of this, information on him and Providence Row, the hospital, or the priory. It would be really appreciated.

[Amanda]

Mmmmm...

I think Richard may have a problem unless he has really long arms.

Hi Gut,

Just realised that Richard's in Australia.

Still, if he believes in his theory, it'd be well worth a trip to Blighty.

Amanda

[GUT]

Hi Richard,
In my mind, some of the best research is done by good old-fashioned legwork.

If I were you I'd be knocking on the Priory door....

Amanda

I think Richard may have a problem unless he has really long arms.

[Amanda]

Doors.....

Thank you. I am still uncertain too. My FaceBook group has been trying to get firm dates. We contacted the Sisters of Mercy to ask if they have a registry for 1888, at Providence Row. They did not respond. I contacted Storrington Priory to find out what exact dates he entered and left. They said they would find out, but weeks later they have not responded. We have contacted Ushaw College to find out the details from their catalogue of in that he claims to have stayed at Providence Row. They did not respond. We contacted Storrington Museum to get dates. They did not respond. No biographer has been able to find any exact dates or details of Thompson’s hospitalization. All we know is that it was apparently for six weeks and before he went to Storrington.

Hi Richard,
In my mind, some of the best research is done by good old-fashioned legwork.

If I were you I'd be knocking on the Priory door....

Amanda

[GUT]

Thank you. I am still uncertain too. My FaceBook group has been trying to get firm dates. We contacted the Sisters of Mercy to ask if they have a registry for 1888, at Providence Row. They did not respond. I contacted Storrington Priory to find out what exact dates he entered and left. They said they would find out, but weeks later they have not responded. We have contacted Ushaw College to find out the details from their catalogue of in that he claims to have stayed at Providence Row. They did not respond. We contacted Storrington Museum to get dates. They did not respond. No biographer has been able to find any exact dates or details of Thompson’s hospitalization. All we know is that it was apparently for six weeks and before he went to Storrington.

If you can pin those down he jumps way up the list to my mind.

[Richard Patterson]

G'day Richard

This is the stuff that makes him interesting as a suspect, not imagery in poems and patterns in sites.

Good work.

I am still not sure though that it is certain he was living in the area at the time of MJK's death, and still have issues about his supposed hospitalisation in Oct Nov.

Thank you. I am still uncertain too. My FaceBook group has been trying to get firm dates. We contacted the Sisters of Mercy to ask if they have a registry for 1888, at Providence Row. They did not respond. I contacted Storrington Priory to find out what exact dates he entered and left. They said they would find out, but weeks later they have not responded. We have contacted Ushaw College to find out the details from their catalogue of in that he claims to have stayed at Providence Row. They did not respond. We contacted Storrington Museum to get dates. They did not respond. No biographer has been able to find any exact dates or details of Thompson’s hospitalization. All we know is that it was apparently for six weeks and before he went to Storrington.

[GUT]

G'day Richard

This is the stuff that makes him interesting as a suspect, not imagery in poems and patterns in sites.

Good work.

I am still not sure though that it is certain he was living in the area at the time of MJK's death, and still have issues about his supposed hospitalisation in Oct Nov.

[Richard Patterson]

Hi Richard.

Doesn't this description sound more like your suspect?

"He was about five feet seven inches high, wore a short jacket, over which he had a long top-coat. He had a black moustache, and wore a billycock hat.
He was very white in the face, and made every endeavor to prevent them looking him straight in the face. He carried a black bag."

Some. Long-top-coat, black moustache, very white in the face. Thompson carried a parcel, like a basket, that hung from a strap when it wasn't wrapped, but not a black bag. He did wear a billycock hat, but I am not sure when he started wearing one. Here is a portrayal of him that hangs in the Burns Library in Boston College. The height is probably close. My height of Thompson is a guess from a group photo where he stands with his contemporaries at Owens Medical College.

[Wickerman]

Hi Richard.

Doesn't this description sound more like your suspect?

"He was about five feet seven inches high, wore a short jacket, over which he had a long top-coat. He had a black moustache, and wore a billycock hat.
He was very white in the face, and made every endeavor to prevent them looking him straight in the face. He carried a black bag."

[Richard Patterson]

Thompson on November 9th.

On November 9 1888. On the night, that Mary Kelly was killed Francis Thompson was near. He had a knife. He knew how to cut up dead bodies. He had a history of childhood violence, arson and mutilation and showed a hatred of women. He had just broken up with his only girlfriend, a working prostitute, who was never seen alive again. An East Ender, George Hutchinson, was the last person to see Mary Kelly alive. He saw her walk down an alley to her room with a man that looked like Thompson. Hutchinson said, the man was no older than his 35. Thompson was 27, but even with a new suit, his years living rough had worn him down. The man with Kelly was about 167cms Thompson was almost 175, but stood with his shoulders hunched. Thompson matches Hutchinson’s description of the man having dark hair, and a heavy moustache. The same with the man’s attire, wearing a dark felt, a long dark coat, light waistcoat dark trousers, and a thick chain. Thompson, as did Hutchinson’s man, carried a small parcel with a kind of strap round it. Both descriptions of Thompson and the man were of respectable appearance that walked very sharp though softly. Thompson, for the last week was living in the Providence Row night refuge, opposite the entrance to the street that Kelly was killed. Hutchinson believed the man he saw lived in the area, and he had last seen him nearby a few days earlier.

[Richard Patterson]

'Patterson. Paradox. 2015.'

Great stuff in your above post, Richard, but what does this mean?

Its only for my personal records. This little dissertation will make part of my non-fiction book. I use this to find it easily as a search term.

[Scott Nelson]

Patterson. Paradox. 2015.

Great stuff in your above post, Richard, but what does this mean?

[Richard Patterson]

Thompson lived at the entrance to Dorset Street.

Francis Thompson was probably a less than a two-minute walk away from Mary Kelly when she was killed. He was living opposite the entrance to Dorset Street where Mary Kelly lived. Out of the whole three years Thompson was homeless, he could only ever stayed in Providence Row, from Thursday November 1 1888 till the 2nd Saturday, November 11. Within those 11 days, November 9, Mary Kelly was killed. Providence Row was less than 100 meters from the crime scene. At the start of January 1889, Thompson was placed in a country priory in Storrington. Immediately before this, Thompson was admitted for six weeks into a private sanitarium. For this to be possible he would have been admitted at the end of the 2nd week of November.

Already there has been much incidental evidence connecting him to the crimes. This includes motive, weapon, and skill. He had a hatred of prostitutes and wrote of murdering them. He was carrying a dissecting knife. He was an ex-over-qualified student surgeon with 6 years training. This and other secondary evidence had already been enough for professionals to stake their reputations on him being the murderer. This included the historian and biographer John Walsh to write in 1967 that Thompson may have been taken in for questioning on suspicion of being Jack the Ripper. Criminal Pathologist Dr. Joseph Rupp, wagered he was when, in 1988 he published his article, ‘Was Francis Thompson Jack the Ripper,’

Now we are able to establish that in the 1st half of November month, Thompson was staying at the Providence Row night refuge at 50 Crispin Street, Spitafields. This was opposite the entrance to Dorset Street, where Miller’s Court was situated. We know he stayed in Providence Row because it is confirmed by several sources. These include Thompson’s own admission and credible historians and biographers.

This refuge only opened in the colder months, from November until May with guests given a three-week stay. A guest could not enter unless two conditions were met. They had to be respectably dressed and they had to provide at least two references. In all the time Thompson was homeless, (1885-1888) only in November 1888, could he fulfill these conditions. For most of Thompson’s vagrancy, he was dressed in rags and could not have provided these references, having lost contact with family and friends.

The new suit would have come from money donated by Cannon Carroll. He was a family friend who seeing one of Thompson’s poems had been published, in April 1888, in the ‘Merry England’ magazine reestablished contact with him. There were also fee payments by the magazine’s editor, Wilfrid Meynell, during the 2nd half of 1888, who instructed Thompson to buy respectable clothes. In the years before the November 1888 refuge opening, he could not have stayed there. Only when it opened its doors in November 1888, could Thompson would have been able to fulfill the second condition of entry. This was the submission of two references. In the years 1885, 86 & 87 and up to May 1888, the end of the Providence Row operating season. Thompson, who had fled home, cut ties with family and friends and would not have been able to provide two trusted references. By the time the refuge reopened in November, he would have been able to provide references by Cannon Carroll the Wilfrid Meynell. Although founded as a non-sectarian charity, Providence Row a convent for the Sisters of Mercy who ran the refuge. In November, Thompson would have possessed references from a Catholic priest and, his employer who was the editor of a Catholic literary magazine & friend to the London Catholic Cardinal. The refuge would have accepted these two references without hesitation.

The only time he would have been able to fulfill entry requirements were when the refuge opened in November 1888. We also know that he could have stayed longer than two weeks, before being moved to a hospital and right after that to the country town of Storrington in Sussex.

This information is supported in the following sources: ‘Francis Thompson. The Preston-Born Poet’. By John Thomson.1912. ‘The Life of Francis Thompson’. By Everard Meynell. (Wilfrid’s son] 1913 & 1926. ‘Francis Thompson and Wilfrid Meynell, a Memoir.’ By Viola Meynell (Wilfrid’s Daughter.) 1952. ‘Francis Thompson Man and Poet’. J.C Reid. 1959. ‘Francis Thompson: A critical biography’. By Paul van K Thomson 1961. ‘Strange Harp, Strange Symphony the Life of Francis Thompson’. By John Evangelist Walsh. 1967 ‘Between Heaven and Charing Cross’. By Bridget M Boardman. 1988. All these books give either no date or state that Thompson first entered the Storrington priory at the start of 1889. None say that Thompson left London in 1888. None of them name or give dates of the private hospital that Wilfrid Meynell said he had Thompson placed in near the end of 1888. Thompson praised this Providence Row Night refuge in his last essay written in 1907, the year of his death, on ST. Ignatius. Historian John Walsh his biographer wrote that Thompson used it. Paul van K Thomson also wrote that he did. Thompson possibly wrote of this place when he wrote brief note to himself, ‘Mont. Williams workhouse. This workhouse has not been found on any record. Mont. Williams might have stood for the most influential supporter of Providence Row, Mr Montague Williams Q. He said of Providence Row, ‘There is no more Excellent institution…. The place is beautifully clean…. This institution, which is not nearly so well known as it deserves to be, is in the heart of Spitalfields.’ (From the article Later Leaves) Providence Row details come primarily from the Ripper Casebook. Personal research has included examining the archives at Boston College in, and archives in England, as well as visiting the site of the murders.

Patterson. Paradox. 2015.