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Hi All,
I've been looking at Patrick (or Alfred) Mulshaw.
Here are the salient points from his testimony at Polly Nichols' inquest.
For narrative clarity I have pieced events together from The Times, Daily Telegraph and Illustrated Police News accounts of the inquest.
During the morning of August 31st 1888, Mulshaw, a night watchman employed by the Whitechapel District Board of Works, was on duty at the back of the Working Lads' Institute in Winthrop Street, watching some sewage works.
Mulshaw went on duty at about a quarter to five the previous afternoon, and remained [other than a sojourn in Bucks Row—my brackets] until about five minutes to six the next morning. He was not asleep between 3 and 4 o'clock. He did not see any one about during that period, and did not hear any cries for assistance, or any other noise.
He did not often see the police there. During the night he saw two constables, including Constable Neil, but was unable to say at what time he saw him.
Another man then passed by at about 4.40 am and said, "Watchman, old man, I believe somebody is murdered down the street."
The slaughterhouse was about 70 yards away from where he was. "In a straight line I was about thirty yards from the spot where the deceased was found."
Mulshaw then went to Buck's Row, and saw the body of deceased lying on the ground. Three or four policemen and five or six working men were there.
That was Mulshaw's story.
First of all, let us discover what he was doing that morning "watching some sewage works."
There was no sewage works (a sewage processing plant) in Winthrop Street. Nor was there one on the 6000 sq. ft. piece of land behind the Working Lad's Institute. This space was a children's playground built by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association and officially opened by the Countess of Lathom in May 1887. Its 102 ft. northern side faced numbers 32 to 46 Winthrop Street and its eastern side almost abutted Barber's slaughterhouse.
This leaves us with just one alternative explanation for Mulshaw's night watchman duties—that there was sewage work going on in Winthrop Street. Part of the street was being dug up, perhaps to lay new pipes, and Mulshaw was guarding a hole in the ground plus all the attendant tools and materials.
If so, where in Winthrop Street was he working?
It was established at the inquest that Barber's slaughterhouse was about 150 yards (walking around the Board School) from where Polly Nichols' body was found. Mulshaw said that the slaughterhouse was "about 70 yards away from where he was," and from this some people have concluded that he was working further down Winthrop Street (towards Brady Street), a total of about 220 yards from the murder scene.
However, Mulshaw also told the inquest, "In a straight line I was about thirty yards from the spot where the deceased was found." Also that he was "on duty at the back of the Working Lads' Institute."
These distances do not equate. 70 yards east of the slaughterhouse puts Mulshaw in Brady Street, and 70 yards west puts him almost by the Board School, neither of which could be described as being at the back of the Working Lads' Institute.
However, if we accept that Mulshaw was at the back of the Working Lads' Institute, and also about thirty yards in a straight line from the murder scene, we can place him and his coke brazier somewhere between numbers 32 and 46 Winthrop Street—with minimum and maximum distances from the slaughterhouse of about 8 and 40 yards respectively. The greater distance is closer to his inquest testimony, so I've elected to put Mulshaw by No. 46 Winthrop Street (lower pink dot).
So now we have a rough idea of what he was doing and where he was doing it.
Mulshaw claimed to have seen two policemen that morning, one of them PC Neil, but didn't know at what time. The other policeman may have been the PC who dropped off Thain's cape at the slaughterhouse (time unknown), or perhaps Thain himself when at about 4.15 am (according to slaughterman Henry Tomkins) he collected it. Mulshaw was not asleep between 3 and 4 o'clock. He did not see any one about during that period, and did not hear any cries for assistance, or any other noise.
Barber's slaughtermen finished work at 4.20 am. Five minutes beforehand PC Thain called in to pick up his cape. He told them of the murder, so instead of going home (in 1891 Mumford and Britten were living at Nos. 22 and 42 Winthrop Street respectively), the slaughtermen went to see Polly Nichols' body.
Interestingly, and unaccountably, in reply to a question from the inquest jury, PC Thain said that "when he was sent for the doctor he did not first go to the horse-slaughterers and say that as a murder had been committed he had better fetch his cape."
How did the jury get the idea that PC Thain had told the horse-slaughterers he was going to fetch a doctor? It couldn't have been true. By 4.15 am PC Thain had already fetched Dr. Llewellyn. At about 3.50 am PC Neil told him to "Run at once for Dr. Llewellyn," and the doctor himself testified that he was "called to Buck's Row at four o'clock."
PC Thain accompanied Dr. Llewellyn back to the spot where the deceased was lying. PC Neil stated that "Dr. Llewellyn arrived in a very short time."
It was only now, having delivered Dr. Llewellyn to Bucks Row, that PC Thain could recover his cape from the slaughterhouse at 4.15 and tell of the murder. His quickest route was around by the Board School and into Winthrop Street, returning the same way to Bucks Row for later duties (he was at the murder scene when Inspector Spratling arrived).
If this 'cape' scenario is correct, then on two occasions PC Thain would have passed the rear of the Working Lad's Institute and seen Mulshaw the night watchman. And here I find it inconceivable that PC Thain would not have stopped to question him. Here was a possible witness to suspicious goings-on positioned only thirty yards in a straight line from the murder scene, yet according to the official record no such questioning took place.
The first Mulshaw apparently knew of the murder was twenty minutes later at about 4.40 am when a man passed by and said, "Watchman, old man, I believe somebody is murdered down the street."
And before this incident, the slaughtermen had followed PC Thain's route to Bucks Row. Yet neither they nor Mulshaw reported encountering one another.
Where was Mulshaw?
Nobody saw him in Winthrop Street, which is possibly why PC Thain didn't quiz him about the murder and the slaughtermen didn't tell him about the murder.
Nobody saw Mulshaw that morning except for a mysterious passer-by, without whose timely intervention his subsequent presence in Bucks Row cannot be explained.
It's all very mysterious.
My grateful thanks to Rob Clack for allowing me to use a section of Goads Fire Map (1899).
Regards,
Simon
I've been looking at Patrick (or Alfred) Mulshaw.
Here are the salient points from his testimony at Polly Nichols' inquest.
For narrative clarity I have pieced events together from The Times, Daily Telegraph and Illustrated Police News accounts of the inquest.
During the morning of August 31st 1888, Mulshaw, a night watchman employed by the Whitechapel District Board of Works, was on duty at the back of the Working Lads' Institute in Winthrop Street, watching some sewage works.
Mulshaw went on duty at about a quarter to five the previous afternoon, and remained [other than a sojourn in Bucks Row—my brackets] until about five minutes to six the next morning. He was not asleep between 3 and 4 o'clock. He did not see any one about during that period, and did not hear any cries for assistance, or any other noise.
He did not often see the police there. During the night he saw two constables, including Constable Neil, but was unable to say at what time he saw him.
Another man then passed by at about 4.40 am and said, "Watchman, old man, I believe somebody is murdered down the street."
The slaughterhouse was about 70 yards away from where he was. "In a straight line I was about thirty yards from the spot where the deceased was found."
Mulshaw then went to Buck's Row, and saw the body of deceased lying on the ground. Three or four policemen and five or six working men were there.
That was Mulshaw's story.
First of all, let us discover what he was doing that morning "watching some sewage works."
There was no sewage works (a sewage processing plant) in Winthrop Street. Nor was there one on the 6000 sq. ft. piece of land behind the Working Lad's Institute. This space was a children's playground built by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association and officially opened by the Countess of Lathom in May 1887. Its 102 ft. northern side faced numbers 32 to 46 Winthrop Street and its eastern side almost abutted Barber's slaughterhouse.
This leaves us with just one alternative explanation for Mulshaw's night watchman duties—that there was sewage work going on in Winthrop Street. Part of the street was being dug up, perhaps to lay new pipes, and Mulshaw was guarding a hole in the ground plus all the attendant tools and materials.
If so, where in Winthrop Street was he working?
It was established at the inquest that Barber's slaughterhouse was about 150 yards (walking around the Board School) from where Polly Nichols' body was found. Mulshaw said that the slaughterhouse was "about 70 yards away from where he was," and from this some people have concluded that he was working further down Winthrop Street (towards Brady Street), a total of about 220 yards from the murder scene.
However, Mulshaw also told the inquest, "In a straight line I was about thirty yards from the spot where the deceased was found." Also that he was "on duty at the back of the Working Lads' Institute."
These distances do not equate. 70 yards east of the slaughterhouse puts Mulshaw in Brady Street, and 70 yards west puts him almost by the Board School, neither of which could be described as being at the back of the Working Lads' Institute.
However, if we accept that Mulshaw was at the back of the Working Lads' Institute, and also about thirty yards in a straight line from the murder scene, we can place him and his coke brazier somewhere between numbers 32 and 46 Winthrop Street—with minimum and maximum distances from the slaughterhouse of about 8 and 40 yards respectively. The greater distance is closer to his inquest testimony, so I've elected to put Mulshaw by No. 46 Winthrop Street (lower pink dot).
So now we have a rough idea of what he was doing and where he was doing it.
Mulshaw claimed to have seen two policemen that morning, one of them PC Neil, but didn't know at what time. The other policeman may have been the PC who dropped off Thain's cape at the slaughterhouse (time unknown), or perhaps Thain himself when at about 4.15 am (according to slaughterman Henry Tomkins) he collected it. Mulshaw was not asleep between 3 and 4 o'clock. He did not see any one about during that period, and did not hear any cries for assistance, or any other noise.
Barber's slaughtermen finished work at 4.20 am. Five minutes beforehand PC Thain called in to pick up his cape. He told them of the murder, so instead of going home (in 1891 Mumford and Britten were living at Nos. 22 and 42 Winthrop Street respectively), the slaughtermen went to see Polly Nichols' body.
Interestingly, and unaccountably, in reply to a question from the inquest jury, PC Thain said that "when he was sent for the doctor he did not first go to the horse-slaughterers and say that as a murder had been committed he had better fetch his cape."
How did the jury get the idea that PC Thain had told the horse-slaughterers he was going to fetch a doctor? It couldn't have been true. By 4.15 am PC Thain had already fetched Dr. Llewellyn. At about 3.50 am PC Neil told him to "Run at once for Dr. Llewellyn," and the doctor himself testified that he was "called to Buck's Row at four o'clock."
PC Thain accompanied Dr. Llewellyn back to the spot where the deceased was lying. PC Neil stated that "Dr. Llewellyn arrived in a very short time."
It was only now, having delivered Dr. Llewellyn to Bucks Row, that PC Thain could recover his cape from the slaughterhouse at 4.15 and tell of the murder. His quickest route was around by the Board School and into Winthrop Street, returning the same way to Bucks Row for later duties (he was at the murder scene when Inspector Spratling arrived).
If this 'cape' scenario is correct, then on two occasions PC Thain would have passed the rear of the Working Lad's Institute and seen Mulshaw the night watchman. And here I find it inconceivable that PC Thain would not have stopped to question him. Here was a possible witness to suspicious goings-on positioned only thirty yards in a straight line from the murder scene, yet according to the official record no such questioning took place.
The first Mulshaw apparently knew of the murder was twenty minutes later at about 4.40 am when a man passed by and said, "Watchman, old man, I believe somebody is murdered down the street."
And before this incident, the slaughtermen had followed PC Thain's route to Bucks Row. Yet neither they nor Mulshaw reported encountering one another.
Where was Mulshaw?
Nobody saw him in Winthrop Street, which is possibly why PC Thain didn't quiz him about the murder and the slaughtermen didn't tell him about the murder.
Nobody saw Mulshaw that morning except for a mysterious passer-by, without whose timely intervention his subsequent presence in Bucks Row cannot be explained.
It's all very mysterious.
My grateful thanks to Rob Clack for allowing me to use a section of Goads Fire Map (1899).
Regards,
Simon
If nothing else, you've shattered my mental image of Mulshaw either sitting in a wooden chair out from a sewage plant or sitting visible just behind a window. You say he must have been standing out in the open air guarding an outdoor worksite? That better explains why the man passing would feel compelled to speak to Mulshaw, although I also feel it makes him less likely to have been the killer since he wouldn't want to draw attention to himself. 
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