Hutchinson's signature

[IchabodCrane]

Hello,

I'm sure there used to be a thread on this on the old boards, but I couldn't find one now, so I'm opening one to discuss the possibility that the George Hutchinson signatures on the witness statement were performed by Sgt. Badham. Because the handwriting looks the same to me, and maybe Hutchinson had good reason not to sign by himself if the Lusk letter and Eddowes Kidney were genuine.

Merry Christmas!
IchabodCrane

[Ben]

Hi Ichabodcrane,

That's possible. Or as an alternative, Hutchinson may have signed the first page, with Badham adding the latter two for the sake of formality. Whoever wrote the spidery scrawl signature of the first page was clearly not used to writing "Hutchinson". It's very haphazard and the "o" is missing. I'd also suggest that the clockwise tail on the last "n" is rather distinctive even for Victorian penmanship, though I may be wrong.

Merry christmas to you!

Ben

[IchabodCrane]

I mean more like whether it was allowed by police procedures to have a proxy sign if oneself was not able to, or whether in that case finger print or 'XXX' what we know from the movies was required.
And the capital 'H' on the first page looks more like Bradham's, the 'H' on the last page looks like someone trying to write who couldn't, and another person finishing the signature.

[Dr. John Watson]

In the days before Xerox, documents were copied by hand, including legal instruments such as deeds, mortgages, etc. It's likely that police files were routinely copied by hand for distribution within the department. Do we know if the Hutchinson document (and signature) in question is an original or a copy?

[Sam Flynn]

Probably original, Dr John. The crossings-out and spelling mistakes look as if they were made in "real-time" to me.

[claire]

Interesting that you mention that, Ben, because I was reading something recently that said that people often write more elaborately and fancily when they write as someone else, eg. if they're trying to forge something. Also (and this is simply my own observation so I can't cite source), it seems that when people change their name (for example, when women get married), they often make the signature more elaborate for a little while (til the gloss wears off, heheh).

[Ben]

Interesting observation, Claire, and very plausible.

The first signature in particular has elements that seem quite self-consciously embroidered and unnatural.

Best regards,
Ben

[caz]

Whoever wrote the spidery scrawl signature of the first page was clearly not used to writing "Hutchinson". It's very haphazard and the "o" is missing.

One wonders what prompted the choice of Hutchinson as an alias, if indeed it was one. Adams, Baker or Carter might have a been a sight easier to take on, and one less thing to worry about when walking into the unknown quantity that was the cop shop.

Love,

Caz
X

[Ben]

Good question, Caz. Hutchinson is a pretty common name, and the inspiration for an alias is often very personal to the alias-user. He could have met someone recently with that name, or it could have been the surname of his dad's best mate for all we know. Either way, it had to be a name he was likely to remember.

Best regards,
Ben

[harry]

Sgt Badham would have taken many witness statements.Therefor I feel that if Hutchinson had been unable to either read or write ,Badham would have entered that information at the end of the statement,citing what method had been used to appraise Hutchinson what had been entered on the statement,and to signify what method Hutchinson had authenticated it.I believe Hutchinson both read and signed each page himself.