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Stephen P. Ryder
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 2742
Registered: 10-1997
| | Posted on Sunday, June 15, 2003 - 9:37 pm: |       |
Someone asked me to scan this information for them, and I figured it might be of enough general interest to post it here. Its a short few pages out of "The Life and Memoirs of John Churton Collins" (1912), which includes a description of a 1905 "Crimes Club" walk taken by Collins, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dr. Browne and many others through Whitechapel. Its useful in terms of letting us know what Dr. Browne's opinions were of the murderer's medical skill.
Stephen P. Ryder, Editor
Casebook: Jack the Ripper |
Jeffrey Bloomfied
Detective Sergeant
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 69
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 1:05 am: | |
Hi Stephen,
Interesting error by Churton Collins. The murder
that is non-Ripper centered that he mentions is
the 1896 murder of John Goodman Levy and his housekeeper (Sarah Gale) by the burglar William
Seaman. Seaman hinted in a statement that Levy
was a receiver in stolen goods who did not give
him enough for a haul. He was captured in a
daring rooftop battle by future Scotland Yard
High Constable Frederic Porter Wensley, who talks
about the crime in his memoirs FORTY YEARS OF
SCOTLAND YARD. Seaman was hanged with the Muswell
Hill Burglar Murderers, Albert Milsom and Henry
Fowler, in part to make sure the double hanging of
those two would be more peaceful than their joint
appearance at the Old Bailey for trial (Fowler
nearly killed Milsom in the courtroom, and had
a real battle with the constables before being
subdued). When Seaman saw himself placed between
the other two on the scaffold, he muttered it was
the first time he was ever a bloody peacemaker.
Why Collins called Levy "Myers" is unknown to me.
Collins was a founding member of the exclusive
club, "Our Society", with Conan Doyle, Fletcher
Robinson, H.B.Irving, and several others. He was
actually a literary figure (and a controvertial one - he was a scholar and critic, but could be
quite a vicious pendant). Collins died under
mysterious circumstances in September 1908, when
he drowned in a freak accident. Supposedly he
was taking a medication, which made him drowsy, and while walking near a country inn he was at he
slipped and fell into a small pool of water after
a rain. Officially it was labelled an accident,
but he was supposedly on a trip to investigate a
major mystery of the period (I believe the Luard
Case, but I may be wrong about that).
Best wishes,
Jeff |
Martin Austin Fido
Police Constable
Username: Fido
Post Number: 1
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 8:26 am: | |
Yes, but why has this frustrated Professor of English been ennobled in this thread's title? (His vicious pedantry was in part disappointment that he was not given the chairs at Oxford or Cambridge, which went to Sir Walter Raleigh - not the cloak and puddle expert - and Arthur Quiller-Couch respectively).
All the best,
Martin F |
Kevin Braun
Sergeant
Username: Kbraun
Post Number: 45
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 9:46 am: | |
"Seaman was hanged with the Muswell
Hill Burglar Murderers, Albert Milsom and Henry
Fowler, in part to make sure the double hanging of
those two would be more peaceful than their joint
appearance at the Old Bailey for trial (Fowler
nearly killed Milsom in the courtroom, and had
a real battle with the constables before being
subdued). When Seaman saw himself placed between
the other two on the scaffold, he muttered it was
the first time he was ever a bloody peacemaker."
Photographs of Milsom and Fowler can be viewed ,here. Interesting bit of history. "Muswell Hillbilly" boys.
Welcome back Martin!
Take care,
Kevin
|
Martin Austin Fido
Police Constable
Username: Fido
Post Number: 2
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 1:56 pm: | |
Thanks Kevin.
Additionally, they were caught because they used and left behind a toy lantern which was identified by Milsom's 15-year-old brother-in-law as his.
Seaman is, perhaps, even more interesting. He was caught when Wensley saw a hole in the Turner Street bedroom ceiling showing that the murderer was attempting a rooftop escape, and Seaman, seeing himself followed by the police, threw himself violently into the small crowd below, hurling antiSemitic imprecations at them. This broke both his legs, making his arrest relatively simple. The villain Arthur Harding who hated Wensley declared that the Great Detective didn't deserve any credit at all for this first "triumph" which was just a matter of being called to the spot where the perp was red-handed and thoroughly bungling his escape.
Seaman was a violent and unpleasant type by any standards. He had just come out of prison where he served a substantial sentence for a viciously savage assault in the course of robbing a bakery in... our very own Long-Liz-frequented Berner Street.
All the best,
Martin F |
Andy and Sue Parlour
Sergeant
Username: Tenbells
Post Number: 23
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 4:33 pm: | |
Hello Martin,
Nothing to say on above post's.
But good to see you back 'posting' again.
A. |
Jeffrey Bloomfied
Detective Sergeant
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 70
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 9:26 pm: | |
The only thing to add is that Fowler did show an
unexpected sense of humor at the execution. His
barrister, at the Old Bailey, was Edward Abinger,
who subsequently defended Stinie Morrison in 1911.
Abinger wrote a book of memoirs, and mentions that
when Fowler was at the scaffold, and heard Seaman's last comment, he smiled (possibly in part
because Milsom - who had tried to save himself at
Fowler's expense - was on the scaffold too) and
said, "This is the first time I ever was a bloody
penitent!"
Milsom and Fowler's victim was Mr. Henry Smith.
Best wishes,
Jeff |
John Ruffels
Detective Sergeant
Username: Johnr
Post Number: 65
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 - 6:56 am: | |
Good to see Mr Martin Fido back on the Case(book).
Now all we need is a peacemaker on the scaffold between some of the other 'absent friends'to make
life really worthwhile.
Come and support Stephen P. Ryder and Ally.
Really enjoyed your well researched Ripper book Martin. |
Martin Fido
Police Constable
Username: Fido
Post Number: 7
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 - 8:21 am: | |
Many thanks, John.
And in case anyone thinks my long absence was due to umbrage about things said on the boards, may I make it clear that I now disappear for nine months of the year only because I think that students who pay exorbitant fees are entitled to my full attention, and playing the boards is so seductive that I really must relegate it to the long vacation. People are absolutely entitled to disagree with me forcefully and challenge my competence. I only insist that if they either indulge in personal vituperation themselves, or post it on behalf of another without disassociating themselves from it, I shall assume they do not want any direct communication with me and will decline to answer any communications from them or respond to their arguments.
All the best,
Martin F |
Caroline Anne Morris
Detective Sergeant
Username: Caz
Post Number: 144
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 - 12:14 pm: | |
Hi Martin,
I have absolute faith that you won't find anything smacking of 'personal vituperation' here these days - it's a whole new board game. The old one belongs in the past, a place where they did things differently.
Love,
Caz |
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