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Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 875
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 7:20 pm: | 
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I discovered an interesting lot of coincidences today:
Directly across the Thames from Chiswick Mall, site of the Osiers and Thornycroft's Wharf (where Druitt's body was found) at Barnes is a major thoroughfare by the name of Lonsdale Road! Have we a connection here to the family of John H. Lonsdale, who appears to have been a common acquaintance of Druitt and Harry Wilson? Was this Montague's Destination on Dec. 1, 1888?
Located on Lonsdale Road, Barnes, today is St. Paul's School. St. Paul's had moved across the Thames in 1968. From 1884 to 1968 it was located in Hammersmith, very near the Rail station at which Montague departed his District Railway train on that Dec. 1. In just a few years, a young man named Leonard Woolf (who would later marry Virginia, J.K. Stephen's cousin) would study at St. Paul's (As would, incidentally, Bernard Montgomery a few years after that. This "Monty" would set up his London wartime headquarters there at which the invasion of France was planned. Also, G.K. Chesterton was a student at St. Paul's in 1888 as was his friend, poet Edmund Bentley). Furthermore, I believe there is some association between St. Paul's and Winchester College where Montague studied as a young man. Was Montague going to see about a position at St. Paul's (but on a Saturday?). St. Paul's was experiencing phenomenal growth at this time (from 211 boys in 1884 to 573 at the new Hammersmith location in 1888).
This is getting a little weird. Here we have a school next to Montague's rail destination with ties to the Stephen family, a possible connection to Montague's old school, a potential connection to Lonsdale, the present campus of which is within sight of the Osiers and Thornycroft's Wharf.
Can someone with some local knowledge elucidate me?
Andy S. |
Caroline Anne Morris
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Caz
Post Number: 1902
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, June 30, 2005 - 6:57 am: |
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Hi Andy,
The trouble is, it could easily be a coincidence, as there are prestigious schools like St. Paul's (ok maybe not quite in the same league but close) all over London, and it seems that the upper classes and celebrity set all seemed to know one another and mix in the same circles in the late 19th century. So it might have been odder for someone in Monty Druitt's position not to have any links, directly or indirectly, with a school such as St. Paul's.
BTW, my mother was a pupil at St. Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith, during the late twenties and early thirties, and was taught music by Gustav Holst. It's odd to think that my mum and her classmates used to call him Gussie! It's like a different planet... 
She also happened to see Alfred Hitchcock in his cameo role in Frenzy, as she walked along the Embankment one day, and saw the filming of the murder victim's body being fished out of The Thames.
You see, you can find connections with Hammersmith and bodies in the Thames in lots of lives lived in London.
Love,
Caz
X
(Message edited by caz on June 30, 2005) |
Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 880
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, June 30, 2005 - 11:18 am: |
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Caz,
Thanks for your note. Gustav Holst, another "planet." A clever pun. Seriously, that is very impressive.
But that's my point. It would be natural for Montague Druitt to have connections with someone at St. Paul's. The question I'm asking myself (and others for that matter) is, what (or who) specifically might that connection be? This could lead to an important "clue." Or it could be a dead end.
It may all be coincidence. But it seems like a lot of coincidences tied together: Lonsdale Road, the Osiers, St. Paul's being adjacent to the railway station where Montague alighted, connection to the Stephen family, ties with Winchester College. Lots of coincidences. Of course, none of this means that Montague is Jack the Ripper.
Andy S.
(Message edited by Aspallek on June 30, 2005) |
Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 887
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, July 03, 2005 - 1:29 pm: |
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Let me try again, keeping it simple this time. Can anyone provide some historical information on Barnes (SW London), in particular whether Lonsdale Road has any connection to the J H Lonsdale that was acquainted with Harry Wilson and almost surely with Montague Druitt? I can find no historical information on Barnes on the internet.
Andy S. |
Chris Phillips
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Cgp100
Post Number: 1126
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, July 03, 2005 - 2:53 pm: |
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Andy
Lonsdale Road in Barnes seems to have been named after the Earls of Lonsdale, who owned land in Barnes (e.g. see http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/online/online-mss-catalogues/cats/denison_oss1.html) for correspondence from the 1840s about their farm on the Thames at Barnes.
I don't think there can be any connection with J. H. Lonsdale, as the family name of the Earls of Lonsdale was Lowther.
Chris Phillips
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Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 888
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, July 03, 2005 - 8:16 pm: |
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Good detective work, Chris. Just an interesting coincidence, I guess.
I suppose it's sill possible that St. Paul's School was Montague's destination at Hammermsith but there really is no connection other than Leonard Woolf that I know of. The move of the school to Lonsdale Road is what caught my attention and raised hopes that the Lonsdale family might have had a connection. It seems not.
Thanks,
Andy S. |
Jeffrey Bloomfied
Chief Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 733
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, July 04, 2005 - 2:01 am: |
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Hi all,
I believe years ago I saw a book about the Earl of Lonsdale who was current with the Whitechapel Murder. It was called THE YELLOW EARL, because the Earl favored that color. I can't recall the author, but it was written between 1950 and 1970.
Best wishes,
Jeff |
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