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Phil Hill
Detective Sergeant
Username: Phil
Post Number: 54
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 3:52 am: | 
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I seem to recall (I haven't checked) that in an early edition of the "A-Z", the authors stated their belief that if enough money were thrown at the case, the identity of JtR could be firmly established.
The statement has always fascinated me.
I have some questions for you:
a) what did the authors mean? Does anyone know whether they had a particular idea in mind?
b) Does anyone wish to speculate on what they meant?
c)Do other posters agree or disagree with the view that Jack could be identified given the money?
d) Perhaps more entertainingly, if you won a HUGE sum on the National Lottery (so money was no object) how would you spend it to further Ripper research and specifically to try to identify "Jack". Why do you think that route would be successful?
e) If you personally had limitless funds would you use them for this purpose?
I haven't thought out my answers to (d) yet, though I will. On (e) yes I almost certainly would. I'd canvas the leading experts (Rumbelow, Begg, Fido, Evans, etc and others on here) to ascertain their ideas on how to allocate and target cash to further research, then go for it. I'd also look into funding a university research grant on the wider aspects of the economics, sociology, and documentation of the East End in 1888.
I'll be very interested in your thoughts.
Phil |
Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 3900
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 4:23 am: |
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Hi Phil
I'm afraid I do not have the A-Z.
If money really was no object, I would obtain copies of all birth, marriage and death certificates which might conceivably be of any use in gathering info on any suspect.
I would send researchers to every local record office which houses newspapers from that period, so that they could be searched.
I would pay for all large newspapers to be digitised - is that the word? - I mean, I'd want to arrange things so that the papers could be searched by computer. And as money is no object, I'd have the same done for the local papers too.
I'd institute searches for all documents that have gone missing, i.e. those where we can't say that we definitely know they no longer exist.
I'd pay all the top Ripperologists who were interested, to undertake research. Directories, electoral rolls, censuses, bmd registers, asylum records, newspapers, not just here but abroad, would be ransacked. You did say that money was limitless.
And I'd pay for the 1841, 51 and 61 censuses to be made available in searchable form.
I'd have the Diary and watch tested.
I'd pay to have descendants of all those involved in the case contacted, to see if they have any info.
These are just a few things off the top of my head.
Whether we'd end up any closer whatever to The Answer would be anyone's guess, but we'd know a lot more about the suspects, conditions etc.
On the other hand, though, I might just change my mind and spend it all on teabags. There's something unappealing in the idea of buying a solution. Up to now, Ripperology's been a hard slog, and maybe that's one of the reasons we like it.
Robert |
Richard Brian Nunweek
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Richardn
Post Number: 1276
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 4:43 am: |
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Hi Guys,
Patricia Cornwall, spend the lottery many times over in a futile attempt to identify the culprit, the problem we have is the huge distance of time between then -now.
my own personal quest would be to search for the relative of Barnett who showed those press clippings, for if these were original reports [tested] that had been in non storage facilities, then i would be even more confident that the cuttings relating to Tabram would indicate a sinister prospective, for only the killer of these women would know that a stabbing on a staircase was to be the start of the series.
because Barnett must have aquired that paper at the time, it would be unthinkable that he went out of his way to purchase a copy weeks old.
Simply if it was proven that these old papers were kept by someone since the actual dates, and not obtained from modern day 'actual resources ' that would help to place a nail in Barnetts coffin.
Regards Richard.
Ps. Of course we have only the word of the author that such a meeting took place and these paper clippings existed.... |
Jfripper
Sergeant
Username: Jfripper
Post Number: 24
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 6:27 am: |
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Hi All,
Just to answer (e) at the moment.
If I had unlimited funds I would invest it in quantum physics and have all the boffins in the world on the payroll to build me a "Time Machine".
Then it would be 1888 here I come.
A lot easier than all the paper-trails to follow to who knows where.
(I can but dream).
Cheers,
Michael |
Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 3902
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 6:57 am: |
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Hi Michael
Just on a point of logic : if you had limitless funds you could spend them on anything and everything - they're limitless. 
Robert |
Alan Sharp
Chief Inspector
Username: Ash
Post Number: 756
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 7:27 am: |
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Okay, well if I had limitless funds the first thing I would do is do an Abramovich and buy Spurs the league title. 
But then I might think about the Ripper!
What I would find fascinating would be to build a full digital virtual world of Whitechapel in 1888, all the streets, alleys and houses as accurate as we can possibly make them.
Then institute a worldwide search for any kinds of documents, not just the ones usually used but anything, receipts, letters, diaries, everything we can get our hands on, to populate this model and try as accurately as possible to identify where every person in it would have been at any given moment in time.
Of course this wouldn't catch the Ripper, but it would be fascinating nonetheless, and might help to eliminate a few of the current suspects.
"Everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise."
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Maria Giordano
Inspector
Username: Mariag
Post Number: 286
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 9:15 am: |
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I Love Alan's idea--Ripperland. I'll take a season pass.
Everything Robert said plus getting genetic samping from all descendants and gathering every bit of contemporary material possible as Alan has also pointed out.
A big fund to bribe government officials if needed.
Mags
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Chris Phillips
Chief Inspector
Username: Cgp100
Post Number: 628
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 6:04 pm: |
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It's an interesting question - what would you do with "limitless funds", but the "limitless" bit makes it a bit removed from reality (as illustrated by the answer about a time machine).
Perhaps an even more interesting question is - can people suggest useful research projects based on more modest funds - for example, the amount of money that subscribers to a popular Ripper-based website might be willing to provide?
This sort of thing is discussed peripherally from time to time - for example, could money be raised by subscription for further testing of the Maybrick artefacts? Not a thing I would advise anyone to spend any money on, even if permission were forthcoming from the owners of the artefacts (nor would I wish a sensible thread of discussion to be dragged down into the maelstrom of Maybrickery).
But no doubt there are all sorts of more sensible research projects that could be carried out. Maybe people could do worse than offer a donation to this website to further the valuable work of newspaper transcription.
Chris Phillips
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Phil Hill
Detective Sergeant
Username: Phil
Post Number: 56
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 1:05 pm: |
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I had not intended to create problems by mentioning "limitless funds" but to ease them!!  Best laid plans!!
I had thought that if I had said (maybe) "You have a £1Million (or same in dollars)", someone would have said, "Oh but my idea would take more than that".
So I tried to avoid amounts. Perhaps I should have said, "You don't have to worry about money".
But my main interest in starting the thread was in whether we CAN but our way to a solution as the A-Z authors appeared to suggest.
I don't know enough about ongoing or proposed JtR research (Kitty's of course excepted) to know whether funds are the problem.
Phil |
Si
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 6:58 pm: |
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With limitless funds I would pay Stephen Hawkins to build me a time machine and go back to 1888 and see the events for myself!! Imagine though If i caught jack red handed in Bucks row. What would we be doing now instead of ripperology 
Si |
Harry Mann
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 4:00 am: |
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'The identity of JTR could be firmly established'.
It will never happen.No amount of money or effort or research,will uncover the evidence to prove who committed the crimes.That evidence,along with the criminal,is long dead.
I am sure that his name has already appeared in the mountain of known information on the crimes.Keep sifting that information by all means,but do not expect any startling new facts to emerge. |
Claresa Mandola
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, January 31, 2005 - 3:20 pm: |
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LOOKING FOR FAMILIES FOR HIT REALITY SHOW! If you're a two-parent household with kids and looking for the experience of a lifetime, please email claresa.mandola@rdfmedia.com for more information. |
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