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I found a story about Tumblety in the Evening Post of 10 December 1888. Text as below:
THE MYSTERIOUS “DOCTOR”
One of the Numerous Men Arrested for the Whitechapel Murders
On the name of Francis Tumblety, who was out on bail, being called at the Old Bailey this morning to take his trial for a serious offence, it was intimated to the Recorder by the prosecuting counsel that the accused had left the country for the country’s good. A fresh warrant was asked for and granted for his arrest. Tumblety was taken into custody on November 18 on suspicion of being the Whitechapel murderer and his lodgings being searched by police, he was detained on the charge for which he should have taken his trial to-day. The accused is well known in America, where he called himself “Dr. Tumblety.” About the time the war broke out in 1860, or 1861, Dr. Tumblety made his appearance at St. John, N.B., where he immediately proceeded to cut a great dash. He claimed to be an electric physician of great note, and, lodging at the leading hotel of the city, soon persuaded people to believe that he was all that he represented. With that belief established, there came to the doctor a large practice. Mounted on a fine white horse, followed by several thoroughbred hounds, and flashily dressed, he created quite a sensation when going through the streets. After a while the more intelligent people got their eyes open to the fact that he was a charlatan, and pretty soon afterwards stories began to go round about his indecorous treatment of some of his lady patients. The climax came when a man whom he was treating died, and under very peculiar circumstances. The victim’s name was Portmore. An autopsy was held, death was shown to have resulted from the doctor’s treatment, which was simply atrocious, and the matter was given to a coroner’s jury to adjudicate upon. Coroner’s juries do not move with much alacrity in that part of the world, and by the time this one had arrived at a verdict of manslaughter in the case, the doctor had left town. A few years ago the pimple-banishing exercise was moved to London where the doctor is for a time said to have made money. It was his queer method of spending his money which first attracted the Scotland Yard detectives to him, and after a slight investigation he was arrested, the idea being that if he were not the Whitechapel fiend, he was a dangerous character, and not entitled to his liberty.
In various cities, the doctor has been shadowed by the police. Detectives have followed him, watched his office, dogged his footsteps, noted his companions and tried, in every way to find out the secret of his private life which he so jealously guarded, and not one of them has been successful. Who is he? What is his nationality? Where is his home, his family? Who are his friends, his associates? None of these questions has ever been answered.
ENDS
There are a couple of subsequent references; the first being a rather strange one in a headline the following day but no actual mention of him in the stories below. The headline (in the Evening Post of 11 December 1888) says:
OLD BAILEY TRIALS
Putting up the Wrong Man – Widow Irvine – Dr Tumblety again
However, while the first two stories, about a wrong man being put up for trial and Widow Irvine, are supported by the articles beneath the headline, there is no mention of Dr Tumblety - so whatever they were intending to report did not, apparently, make it into the printed edition.
The third reference I found was is in the edition of 13 December 1888. It is essentially a long reproduction of the New York World story quoting James McClelland and Colonel Dunham. The story is headlined "TUMBLETY’S CAREER" and begins:
"The American “Doctor” who was suspected of committing the Whitechapel Murders, but released, is the subject of considerable comment in the New York Press. The man was under recognisances to appear at the Old Bailey on another charge but he failed to surrender. The New York World says...."
The long extract from the New York World (which can be found online) then follows.
THE MYSTERIOUS “DOCTOR”
One of the Numerous Men Arrested for the Whitechapel Murders
On the name of Francis Tumblety, who was out on bail, being called at the Old Bailey this morning to take his trial for a serious offence, it was intimated to the Recorder by the prosecuting counsel that the accused had left the country for the country’s good. A fresh warrant was asked for and granted for his arrest. Tumblety was taken into custody on November 18 on suspicion of being the Whitechapel murderer and his lodgings being searched by police, he was detained on the charge for which he should have taken his trial to-day. The accused is well known in America, where he called himself “Dr. Tumblety.” About the time the war broke out in 1860, or 1861, Dr. Tumblety made his appearance at St. John, N.B., where he immediately proceeded to cut a great dash. He claimed to be an electric physician of great note, and, lodging at the leading hotel of the city, soon persuaded people to believe that he was all that he represented. With that belief established, there came to the doctor a large practice. Mounted on a fine white horse, followed by several thoroughbred hounds, and flashily dressed, he created quite a sensation when going through the streets. After a while the more intelligent people got their eyes open to the fact that he was a charlatan, and pretty soon afterwards stories began to go round about his indecorous treatment of some of his lady patients. The climax came when a man whom he was treating died, and under very peculiar circumstances. The victim’s name was Portmore. An autopsy was held, death was shown to have resulted from the doctor’s treatment, which was simply atrocious, and the matter was given to a coroner’s jury to adjudicate upon. Coroner’s juries do not move with much alacrity in that part of the world, and by the time this one had arrived at a verdict of manslaughter in the case, the doctor had left town. A few years ago the pimple-banishing exercise was moved to London where the doctor is for a time said to have made money. It was his queer method of spending his money which first attracted the Scotland Yard detectives to him, and after a slight investigation he was arrested, the idea being that if he were not the Whitechapel fiend, he was a dangerous character, and not entitled to his liberty.
In various cities, the doctor has been shadowed by the police. Detectives have followed him, watched his office, dogged his footsteps, noted his companions and tried, in every way to find out the secret of his private life which he so jealously guarded, and not one of them has been successful. Who is he? What is his nationality? Where is his home, his family? Who are his friends, his associates? None of these questions has ever been answered.
ENDS
There are a couple of subsequent references; the first being a rather strange one in a headline the following day but no actual mention of him in the stories below. The headline (in the Evening Post of 11 December 1888) says:
OLD BAILEY TRIALS
Putting up the Wrong Man – Widow Irvine – Dr Tumblety again
However, while the first two stories, about a wrong man being put up for trial and Widow Irvine, are supported by the articles beneath the headline, there is no mention of Dr Tumblety - so whatever they were intending to report did not, apparently, make it into the printed edition.
The third reference I found was is in the edition of 13 December 1888. It is essentially a long reproduction of the New York World story quoting James McClelland and Colonel Dunham. The story is headlined "TUMBLETY’S CAREER" and begins:
"The American “Doctor” who was suspected of committing the Whitechapel Murders, but released, is the subject of considerable comment in the New York Press. The man was under recognisances to appear at the Old Bailey on another charge but he failed to surrender. The New York World says...."
The long extract from the New York World (which can be found online) then follows.
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