How strange is this

[Penhalion]

Just because the return address said it came from that address doesn't mean it did. No one checked up on these things. It could have been sent by anyone from any address. However, putting that specific address on it probably means the person was at least familiar with the area and knew that a lodging house existed at that address. Really, what better way of staying completely anonymous while looking legit than using a large lodging house as a (fake) return address?

[Natasha]

Is it possible the letter was sent to Yarmouth as a pun for yar mouth? Out there I know but was this a joke in 1880s? Could the letter writer have been a pun-ter?

, something about that idea sounds a bit Jamaican.

I think that the letter was somehow coded, and was meant to be seen by someone who knew what the author was talking about.

I don't think it was a coincidence that the letter was sent, because it was sent before Kelly's murder.

[richardnunweek]

Hi Rosella,
More then possible explanation..
We in my opinion, should not just dismiss this letter, as a coincidence, a non starter as a clue, instead look at any relevance..
The Smith girl/ family [ if any living there] and their connection to the Yarmouth area, should be considered important..
I would suggest that the killer of Kelly was staying in that lodging house, and from that advantage point ,premeditated the murder of Mary Kelly....lets's face it , he would not have had far to travel after that bloodbath..
Regards Richard.

[Rosella]

The victorians were very fond of puns and riddles, Rocky, but I think that one might have been a bit beyond them!

My guess, for what it's worth, is that the sender of the letter was someone then lodging in Dorset St but originally from the Ipswich or Great Yarmouth area.

That someone had an odd sense of humour and probably wrote to friends and family back home about the Ripper killings. As a joke he/she then decided to honour their local newspaper back home with a warning letter from 'Jack'.

I'll bet the murder of Mary Kelly came as a huge shock to the anonymous writer, who maybe was the Smith girl or one of her family.

[RockySullivan]

Is it possible the letter was sent to Yarmouth as a pun for yar mouth? Out there I know but was this a joke in 1880s? Could the letter writer have been a pun-ter?

[Natasha]

I don't know why the nun would lie, though seeing as the murders appeared to cease after Kelly, the nun may have come to the conclusion the murders were because of Kelly. But if it wasn't and there was more to what the nun said then she possibly knew what the motive was.
I wonder if she had anything to do with the letter. Though actually the way she blames Kelly for all of the murders, makes me wonder weather the nun had any sympathy for her at all.

Maxwell's address: How long did she live there for? Who lived there before?

Maxwell's description matches Cox's description almost exactly, is there anything significant about that?

Someone knew that the murder was going to take place. So what if the letter was roughly telling the killer where to strike next? That could explain why the letter was sent to Yarmouth.

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
Its almost like someone is playing games with the police, or is it someone who wants the police to watch that establishment, as someone suspects a person..there is almost a possibility that Mrs Maxwell, was attempting to give someone a alibi, by suggesting to the police a alternative T.O.D.. as they had no night one..?
Regards Richard.

[pinkmoon]

What is even stranger is that someone sends a hoax letter and puts the address from where it was sent on it I think we have a large can of worms on our hands.

[Amanda]

Hi,
I stated this thread in 2012, because I felt that it was one step ahead of a coincidence.
For a police force to receive a letter , from a address directly opposite the next Ripper killing, exactly one week prior to it, is a coincidence in itself, but to add the fact that it was the address of one Mrs Maxwell, who gave a remarkable statement to the police, surely sets alarm bells ringing?
There is a popular belief that all roads lead to Dorset street..., and most likely with reason.
Regards Richard.

Hi Richard,
Must say I'm inclined to agree with you. It's strange, very strange indeed.

Amanda

[richardnunweek]

Hi...
This was on the Barlow and watt investigation series,, one has to take that with a pinch of salt. however, if it derives from a authentic nuns recollections, it is most likely true..
Regards Richard

[Rosella]

I think that was a very old nun who once worked at the Providence Row Night Refuge and Convent. She was interviewed by the BBC in 1973. Mary Kelly had been taken in to the Night Refuge at one time and this nun stated that an elderly nun had once told her that "if it had not been for the Kelly woman none of these murders would have happened."

However, I think that the early 1970's was a time when the Sickert/Knight story was being taken up by the media, and Mary Jane was supposed to have been a witness to the Cleveland St happenings and Annie Crook/Prince Eddy. Whether the remark of years before was related because of that, I can't say.

[Natasha]

Hi,
I stated this thread in 2012, because I felt that it was one step ahead of a coincidence.
For a police force to receive a letter , from a address directly opposite the next Ripper killing, exactly one week prior to it, is a coincidence in itself, but to add the fact that it was the address of one Mrs Maxwell, who gave a remarkable statement to the police, surely sets alarm bells ringing?
There is a popular belief that all roads lead to Dorset street..., and most likely with reason.
Regards Richard.

Hi Richard,

I think you're right. I seem to remember a woman saying (speaking of Kelly I think) 'if it wasn't for that woman, none of this would have happened'. I think it was on here some where.

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
I stated this thread in 2012, because I felt that it was one step ahead of a coincidence.
For a police force to receive a letter , from a address directly opposite the next Ripper killing, exactly one week prior to it, is a coincidence in itself, but to add the fact that it was the address of one Mrs Maxwell, who gave a remarkable statement to the police, surely sets alarm bells ringing?
There is a popular belief that all roads lead to Dorset street..., and most likely with reason.
Regards Richard.

[Amanda]

Thanks Eaglebauer, appreciate that.

Amanda

[Eaglebauer]

The Daily Telegraph, November 10, 1888:

"Dorset-street is made up principally of common lodging-houses, which provide not less than 600 registered beds. In one of these establishments Annie Chapman, the Hanbury-street victim lived. Curiously enough, the warehouse at No. 26, now closed by large doors, was until a few weeks ago the nightly resort of poor homeless creatures, who went there for shelter. One of these women was Catherine Eddowes, the woman who was murdered in Mitre-square."

Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper:

"Millers Court is really the back parlour of 26 Dorset Street, the front shop being partitioned off and used for the storage of barrows, etc. This was formerly left open and poor persons often took shelter there for a night; but when the Whitechapel murders caused so much alarm, the police thought the spot a temptation to the murderer, and so the front was securely boarded up."