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Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 860
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 1:42 pm: | 
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Here is a list of suicides in London reported by the Times between Kelly's murder and the end of the following January. Note that this may not be a complete list of such suicides (the date of the article is given first followed by the presumed date of the suicide in parentheses):
1. Nov. 17 (15)-- Mrs. Wright, poisoning.
2. Nov. 19 (12)-- Frederick Augustus Nethaway, aged 50, struck by train.
3. Nov. 20 (12) -- Annie Hancock, aged 32, drowned in Thames (found off Wapping). Note -- this is the only drowning in the Thames during this period that I could find in the Times, which did not report on Druitt's death.
4. Nov. 20 (16) -- Richard Brown, aged 36, formerly a PC, shot himself with revolver in Hyde Park.
5. Nov. 26 (22) -- Mary Whyte, aged 32, wife of City PC, jumped from window.
6. Nov. 28 (25) -- Mr. Wellbury James Mitton, a solicitor aged 50, shot himself at home.
7. Nov. 29 (26) -- James Jervis, aged 35, killed himself after murdering wife and two children. Note -- Jervis' wife was killed by cutting her throat and this was also Jervis' means of suicide. He apparently had his face blackened at the time of the attack.
8. Dec 13 (12) -- Rev. Thomas Sotham, aged appox. 30, shot himself for no apparent reason.
9. Dec. 29 (24) -- Unknown male, aged (approx?) 40, struck by train. Description: 5'7", dark complexion, dark hair, moustache, and "tuft" on chin, black overcoat, diagonal coat,... dark felt hat. Had more than 2 pounds in his possession (a rather large sum in those days).
10. Dec 31 (24) -- Elizabeth Foakes, aged 50, poisoning.
11. Jan 5 (1) -- William Whitby, aged ?, drowned himself in Regent's Canal on New Year's Day which was also his birthday.
12. Jan 16 (12) -- Isaac Hyams, aged 29, shot himself.
13. Jan 28 (25) -- A 12-year old girl with the surname Chandler by drowning apparently in a canal. She committed suicide after being severely chastised by her schoolmaster. Her father, out searching for her, encountered her body being wheeled in a barrow by workers who had found her. This is a poignant article to read.
Again, this may not be an exhaustive list. There were probably other suicides reported in other papers and I may have missed some that the Times did report on. I would like to know more about the unidentified male who was struck by a train on Christmas Eve. It sounds vaguely familiar to me.
Andy S. |
Jeffrey Bloomfied
Chief Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 708
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 10:07 pm: |
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Hi Andy,
Thanks for getting a suicide list begun. Of the names listed, I recall that P.C. Richard Brown's suicide was the subject of an article in the Ripperologist in the last year. The name of Isaac Hyams is also familiar (a witness possibly?).
I agree with you about the anonymous train suicide. The fact that it is within a month of Monty's suicide, and like Monty this man was carrying a large sum of money at the time, is interesting. Of the drownings, Whitby is the only one that is a male and an adult, but he's in the Regent's Canal - not the Thames. No doctors listed in this group - unless you stretch the term "Dr." to include Reverends, like
Thomas Sotham. The only lawyer in the list is Wellbury Mitton, but (unlike Monty) he is a solicitor - and he shot himself.
Best wishs,
Jeff |
Howard Brown
Chief Inspector
Username: Howard
Post Number: 605
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 11:13 pm: |
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Nice work,Andy.
That story of the young Miss Chandler has my blood pressure up. Although not impossible,suicides at that age are rare. God knows what the schtup schoolmaster said to make her take that tragic step.
HowBrown
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Dan Norder
Chief Inspector
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 732
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 12:39 am: |
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Hi Andy,
Wait, Jervis also had his face blackened?!
Man, between that and the things I emailed you about, there's apparently quite a string of notable blackfaces going on during a few months' time there...
Dan Norder, Editor
Ripper Notes: The International Journal for Ripper Studies
 Profile  Email  Dissertations  Website
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Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 863
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 1:02 am: |
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Dan,
Yep! It seems to have been a method of cheap disguise.
Check out the description of that Christmas Eve suicide, the unidentified man. Awfully close to our murderer. I'm sure the police checked it out, though.
Howard,
No doubt. But in fairness, the young lady was described as being "of a self-willed, excitable disposition" and that she was "aroused by correction administered by the head schoolmistress." Still, I am reminded of the inscription on the grave of Miss Lulu Flowers (age 16) at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago: "Many Hopes Lie Buried Here" In this grand orgy of funereal opulence, the likes of which see the tombs of merchants Richard Sears and Aaron Montgomery Ward, one Chas. Schwab, Mortimer Adler, and on and on, one wealthy person after another, the simple grave of Lulu with its glass-encased marble likeness speaks volumes.
Andy S.
(Message edited by aspallek on June 19, 2005) |
Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 4570
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 5:44 am: |
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I'm wondering whether the doctor business can be put down to something as simple as Monty's initials - someone at some point writes "MD" and this is taken in a medical sense.
Robert |
Frank van Oploo
Chief Inspector
Username: Franko
Post Number: 657
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 6:43 am: |
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Thanks for posting the suicide list, Andy.
One addition from me, there was another suicide on November 19 -- Edward Buchan, aged 29 years, carrying on business at 42 Robin Hood Lane, Poplar, cut his own throat with a knife, nearly severing his head from his body.
Especially Isaac Hyams sounds interesting.
And by the way, except for his age and 'tuft' on chin, the unknown male who was killed by a train does sound a lot like the man seen by PC Smith.
All the best,
Frank
"There's gotta be a lot of reasons why I shouldn't shoot you, but right now I can't think of one."
- Clint Eastwood, in 'The Rookie' (1990)
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ipi3ptt
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 12:19 pm: |
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ive done some digging, with some curious results. isaac hyams was reportedly one of the friends who was a key witness to one of the killings. he was repirted to have been with the witness drinking before hand. Interesting coincidence..no? |
Jason
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 11:07 am: |
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Did anyone out notice that suicide number 9 - the unknown male - matches up with several eyewitness discriptions of suspects seen with the victims. |
Gareth W
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 8:06 am: |
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I presume it's the following Isaac Hyams (born 1859) we have here. A 2nd-generation slipper maker, he lived at Umberston Street, Whitechapel, according to the 1881 census. He can't be found in the 1891 census or subsequently.
Household:
Isaac HYAMS Head M Male 22 b. Whitechapel, Middlesex, England Slipper Manufacture
Maria HYAMS Wife M Female 21 b. Bristol, Somerset, England
Joseph M. HYAMS Son Male 2 b. Whitechapel, Middlesex, England
Source Information:
Dwelling 2 Umberston St
Census Place London, Middlesex, England
Umberston Street is just off Commercial Street, within two blocks of Berner Street in fact, and certainly slap bang in the middle of the atrocities of 1888. Whether Isaac Hyams was still living/working there at that time I don't know.
There has been speculation on these Boards that a witness, Joseph Hyam Levy, may have thought the suspect he, Harry Harris and Joseph Lawende saw prior to the Eddowes killing was a relative. This Isaac Hyams would have been in the right age-group to match Lawende's, Harris' and Hyam Levy's description of a 30 year old man.
For what it's worth I can find no definite trace of this Isaac Hyams' wife or son after the 1881 census, indeed they seem to vanish completely. Rather than speculate about Isaac being Jack, perhaps a more reasonable speculation would be that a family tragedy (such as divorce, death or both) precipitated his suicide. OTOH, he may have known someone or something.
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Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 4571
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 1:53 pm: |
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Gareth, I think Maria may have re-married, to Herman or Hyman Kepper, shoe manufacturer, in 1890. There is a family in 1891 living Cambridge Rd, Bethnal Green. Maria's age is 31, birthplace Bristol. Youngest stepchild is 2 years old. The ref. is RG12/271 Folio 45 page 21.
Name Year Quarter Record Type District County
Goldsmith, Henrietta
1890 March Marriages London City London Middlesex
Hyams, Maria
1890 March Marriages London City London Middlesex
Kepper, Herman
1890 March Marriages London City London Middlesex
LEVY, Alexander
1890 March Marriages London City London Middlesex
Robert |
Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 864
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 5:16 pm: |
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Addendum:
I missed this suicide, which followed the account of Hyams in the Times:
Jan. 16 (10) -- William Julius Clyde, aged 54, poisoning. Despondent over wife's death.
Apparently the Times did not report on Buchan's death.
Andy S. |
Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 865
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 5:25 pm: |
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Gareth, you got the right man.
The Times, January 16, 1889:
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Gareth W
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 5:22 pm: |
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Robert,
Well spotted. It looks like our Maria and Joseph all right, and that she and her first husband had quite a few offspring in the years between the two censuses. On that basis, perhaps Isaac's suicide had something to do with an increasing struggle to support a growing family. (As an aside, the census shows Betsy as 2 years old in 1891. However, the records show a "Betsy Hyams" born in Whitechapel, birth registered June 1887, making her 4 years old in 1891.)
There could be a perfectly innocent chain of events behind all this. Kepper was in the same trade as Maria's first husband and may have comforted her after Isaac's death. Alternatively - and this is where it gets interesting - Maria may have left Isaac for Kepper (who was very much younger than her), or Isaac became aware of an affair, shortly before he shot himself. Another possibility is that Maria and Isaac separated in mid to late 1888, Isaac went off the rails and ... (don't even go there!)
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Gareth W
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 8:07 pm: |
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Andrew,
A sad story indeed. So there we have it - a burgeoning family to feed and financial worries.
Thanks for finding this - by the way, how did you get hold of the paper cutting? |
Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 867
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 20, 2005 - 4:06 pm: |
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Gareth,
This is from the Times Digital Archive. You have to obtain access through a library.
Andy S. |
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