Newspaper Inquest Reports

[GUT]

Great GUT. I hold a Master of History as well, but do tell me what a primary source is if it makes you feel better.

Well I see your masters raise it with a PhD.

[Pierre]

Somebody needs to tell you what a primary source is, you seem to not know.

Great GUT. I hold a Master of History as well, but do tell me what a primary source is if it makes you feel better.

[GUT]

Donīt tell me what a primary source is. The book contains transcriptions of primary sources.

Somebody needs to tell you what a primary source is, you seem to not know.

[Pierre]

Sorry Pierre the Source book is great, but it isn't a Primary Source, it mau quote some, but it itself isn't ine.

Donīt tell me what a primary source is. The book contains transcriptions of primary sources.

[SirJohnFalstaff]

Hi,

I am a newcomer to the site. One of my main hobbies is Genealogy. In Genealogy research it is stressed that you have to go back to the primary source of an event, where possible, and you should try to have two separate sources as proof of each event.
Consulting the primary source can prevent misinformation, such as an incorrect transcription of a document, from corrupting the search and leading you down an incorrect path.
I have been reading the newspaper reports of the Mary Ann Nichols Inquest and various threads to do with her murder on the site. It seems to me a lot of time is taken up with matters that refer to, for example, one newspaper report, when the matter could be resolved by looking at another newspaper or consulting the threads. In other words the newspaper's reporting of the Inquest cannot be taken at face value as being exactly what was said or had occurred, and this leads to false leads and confusion.
From what I have read in Casebook, there is no actual Inquest record ie the primary source, so we are dealing with multiple secondary sources?
So another question I have is, has anyone ever gone through the various newspaper Inquest reports and tried to come up with one, overall, as fairly accurate as we can be, record of the Inquest ie using all the newspaper reports, and therefore clarifying the confusions?
Cheers
Bill

Your best bet is to read the Sugden book.

[DJA]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunderland_Echo

[Pierre]

There's a big clue. Their report about the murder of Nichols on 1 September 1888 commences "The Star reporter says..." which is a bit of a giveaway. When it comes to the inquest, however, I think they were using a press agency report because it can be found word for word in other regional newspapers.

Thanks David. I appreciate this.

Kind regards, Pierre

[David Orsam]

But how could we know that they took that from the Star in the case of the Nichols murder?

There's a big clue. Their report about the murder of Nichols on 1 September 1888 commences "The Star reporter says..." which is a bit of a giveaway. When it comes to the inquest, however, I think they were using a press agency report because it can be found word for word in other regional newspapers.

[Pierre]

Most regional newspapers relied on press agencies or syndicated reports from the London newspapers. In the case of its reporting of the Nichols murder, I believe that the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette was taking syndicated reports from the Star newspaper in London.

Great, I never even heard about syndicated reports before!

But how could we know that they took that from the Star in the case of the Nichols murder?

Regards, Pierre

[GUT]

I read them only as transcribers of original sources and I do not read their own ideas.

Regards, Pierre

Well at least that's an advance from when you were telling us you never read any ripper books.

[GUT]

Hi Bill,

You point out a big problem within "ripperology".

The best way to solve it is to use only primary sources. You find many of them in The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook written by Evans & Skinner.

Kind regards, Pierre

Sorry Pierre the Source book is great, but it isn't a Primary Source, it mau quote some, but it itself isn't ine.

[David Orsam]

OK. How do you think the journalists at that newspaper was working, did they go to London or Whitechapel to interview people or attend inquests or did they just copy what other journalists wrote?

Most regional newspapers relied on press agencies or syndicated reports from the London newspapers. In the case of its reporting of the Nichols murder, I believe that the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette was taking syndicated reports from the Star newspaper in London.

[Pierre]

What kind of information are you after? I mean, it was an evening newspaper published daily in the north-east of England (Sunderland being a north-eastern city). It wasn't a magic newspaper though, just a newspaper.

OK. How do you think the journalists at that newspaper was working, did they go to London or Whitechapel to interview people or attend inquests or did they just copy what other journalists wrote?

Regards, Pierre

[David Orsam]

Thatīs the one. Do you know anything at all about this newspaper, or do you know where I could find some knowledge about it? Was it a reliable newspaper? Was it just like any other newspaper or was there anything special with it?

What kind of information are you after? I mean, it was an evening newspaper published daily in the north-east of England (Sunderland being a north-eastern city). It wasn't a magic newspaper though, just a newspaper.

[Pierre]

I have heard of a newspaper called the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, Pierre.

Thatīs the one. Do you know anything at all about this newspaper, or do you know where I could find some knowledge about it? Was it a reliable newspaper? Was it just like any other newspaper or was there anything special with it?

Regards, Pierre