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Chris Scott
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Chris
Post Number: 1257
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2004 - 6:58 pm: |       |
Evelyn John Ruggles-Brise
This high ranking civil servant, principal private secretary to Henry Matthews (and to three other Home Secretaries) is fequently mentioned in the Ripper documentation. He merits 11 entries in the Ultimate Sourcebook and it is apparent that a lot of correspondence relating to the case was delegated to him or passed through him. The A-Z says:
"He was well informed on the Ripper case, seeing and annotating many of the documents sent to the Home Office."
He was even proposed as a Chief Constable for Scotland Yard in 1891. It was Matthews' proposal of him for this post which, among other things, prompted Monro's resignation.
He was exactly the same age as Montague Druitt (both were born in 1857) but the most interesting thing is that he provably met Montage Druitt on at least one occasion.
There was a report on a cricket match for Eton (Ruggles-Brise's school) versus Winchester (Druitt's school). Ruggles-Brise is listed as playing for Eton against the Winchester team captained by Druitt. The report is from the Times and is dated 26 June 1876.
Of course their paths may well have crossed on other cricketing occasions and it is impossible to know how weel they knew each other, but it is certainly intrigiung that they met at all!
Chris
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David O'Flaherty
Inspector
Username: Oberlin
Post Number: 319
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2004 - 8:50 pm: | |
Hi, Chris
If you're interested, Ruggles-Brice also captained a team against another suspect, J.K. Stephen (Oppidans v. Collegers) on St. Andrew's Day, 1875--see the transcript for the Times, 1 Dec 1875. I guess at that social level, everybody moved in small circles  |
Jeffrey Bloomfied
Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 386
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2004 - 10:02 pm: | |
Hi Chris,
Nice little item again. I know next to nothing about cricket. According to Tom Cullen's AUTUMN OF TERROR Druitt was actually a good cricketeer. I just wonder if you know if Monty was doing well in the game against Ruggles-Brice.
Best wishes,
Jeff |
Andy and Sue Parlour
Detective Sergeant
Username: Tenbells
Post Number: 115
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 2:27 pm: | |
Hello All,
Nothing to do with above, but I actually met Evelyn Ruggles-Brise grandson Sir John Ruggles-Brise. I was presented to him in 1992 when I refereed an Essex County F.A. football final. He was at the game because of his connections with the Essex F.A.
Sir John was then the Lord Lieutenant of Essex. Every county in England has a Lord Lieutenant, they are the Queen's representative for that county.
Just another useless bit of info.
A. |
Chris Scott
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Chris
Post Number: 1258
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 3:16 pm: | |
Jeff
I cannot claim to be an expert on cricket - in fact I loathe the game!! I was forced to play it at school and have never gone anywhere near it ever since!
However from the scorecard above we can see that Ruggles-Brise was bowled out after scoring 34 runs. Druitt was runout after scoring only 10 runs. However Druitt did take two wickets by bowling out Studd and Bury from the Eton team. From the match reports I have read Druitt seems distinctly average as a batsman and was certainly much more accomplished as a bowler.
Chris |
John Ruffels
Inspector
Username: Johnr
Post Number: 237
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 7:16 pm: | |
Chris,
From your musings about Ruggles-Brise I get the impression that IF they knew each other better than we had previously been aware of, and because
R-B was in the thick of the Ripper investigations then we should cast a strong hard look at R-B.
Whilst Ruggles-Brise was Principal Private Secretary to a couple of Home Secretaries, it is my opinion another personnage close to THREE Police Commissioners would merit that strong hard look.
There is an entry in the A to Z concerning WALTER ERNEST BOULTBEE."Married, 1885 Ellen Baker, neice of Alfred Mayo, a lasting friend and distant relative of Archdeacon Thomas Druitt(Monty's Uncle
in Australia).
Now I take a closer look, it would be stretching things to say they were close. But hearsay, and the distinctive name "Druitt" might have made Boultbee prick up his ears. More likely, if he had confided to Munro he was distantly related, he could have been useful in nominating a Druitt contact for discreet inquiries.Interesting. |
Phil Hill
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 6:55 am: | |
In the 1880s social contacts depended a great deal on "introductions". Ruggles-brise and Druitt may have played in opposing teams, whether they had been introduced socially could be another matter. Ettiquette was very strict then.
As Private Secretary to the Home Secretary, R-B would not necessarily have been a SENIOR civil servent. (Today the press refer to middle-ranking civil servents as senior, the real top ones as "mandarins".)
A Private Secretary (PS) to a Minister is usually regarded as a post for a fast-streamer, a younger man (or woman these days0 seen as capable to reaching high rank in quick time. The post exposes him to a wide range of departmental issues and gives him experience of handling senior people and important matters with a sure hand.
Of course, the longer a PS serves and the more he has a rapport with his Minister, the greater his likely influence. But the Permanent Secretary (non-political Head of the Department) - in this case Geoffrey Lushington (?) - would have been more likely to be formally consulted and listened to on important issues.
Matthews was a notoriously "difficult" Home Secretary and thus R_B might have been important as a damper and conduit between the Minister and his other departmental officials.
Just some thoughts,
Phil |
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