Tumblety and Pinkerton

[mklhawley]

I found an interesting comment in a book called The Record of the Class of 1891 of the University of Pennsylvania.

It links Pinkerton's agency with a suspect but it isn't Tumblety. The quote from the book is..."But the expedition will be a complete failure; the English authorities will not allow the champion to land because he has said so many rude things about England, while Bud Hogg will be arrested through the agency of Billy Pinkerton and taken to England on the suspicion of being Jack the Ripper."

If this story is true... and if William Pinkerton felt that Tumblety was a solid suspect for reasons other than him being homosexual, why would his own agency be arresting someone else?

Side note...if this story is true... I find it interesting that they would take Mr. Hogg to England (presumably from Ireland as earlier on the same page in the book it says Hogg was travelling to Ireland). So what did he do in Ireland that lent to him being suspected? And why did Pinkerton have detectives in Ireland?

DRoy

Hi DRoy,

Scotland Yard commonly used the Pinkerton Agency for foreign work. I have a few articles to attest to this. William Pinkerton was exceedingly close with Scotland Yard officials. Not only was Pinkerton at Scotland Yard at the beginning of the Ripper murders, Chief Inspector Littlechild and Inspector Abberline worked for the Pinkertons after they retired from Scotland Yard.

A few reasons why they would have bothered with Hogg. If the affair was in 1889 or later, Scotland Yard no longer considered Tumblety a suspect because they believed the post-Kelly murders were from the hand of the Ripper. Since Tumblety was in the US at these times, then this would have ruled him out as a Ripper suspect. Most are now convinced that Kelly was the last victim.

Lastly, William Pinkerton did not claim Tumblety was the killer, only that he could be, since he was -in his mind- insane and a woman hater. There would be no reason why Pinkertons would reject a Scotland Yard request for assistance, anyway.

Sincerely,

Mike

[Simon Wood]

Hi DRoy,

A brief reading of the article by Edward Adams Shumway [1870-1941] reveals it to be a light-hearted satire which was not meant to be taken literally.

Regards,

Simon

[DRoy]

Thanks Simon!

I could tell that many of the stories were light-hearted but I assumed it was still written based on true events. It was written almost like a diary.

DRoy