|
 |
 |
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
    
Chris Scott
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Chris
Post Number: 2225
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 2:55 am: | 
|
I thought these details of an unpublished account by James Druitt, Montague's uncle, might be of interest. There is no direct mention of MJD but the timing of the writing is interesting.
First a little background:
A glimpse of pre-Victorian Wimborne
Roger Guttridge has been reading the memoirs of James Druitt
A rare glimpse into everyday life in pre-Victorian Wimborne is provided by the unpublished memoirs of James Druitt, a member of the well-known Wimborne/Christchurch family of surgeons and lawyers. In a manuscript dictated to his daughter, Barbara, towards the end of his long life, Druitt looks back at his schooldays and describes Wimborne’s social side and some of the town’s characters – among them the famous smuggler, Isaac Gulliver.
And this re the timing:
Interestingly, this document was begun in November 1888, just one month before the weighted body of James’s nephew, Montague John (Monty) Druitt, was pulled from the Thames in London. It then appears to have been abandoned for six years before being resumed in 1894. James makes no mention of Monty or his immediate family, stating simply that ‘now, alas, no representative of the family is to be found’ at Wimborne. At the time only a handful of people knew that Monty (who is buried at Wimborne) was a leading suspect for the Jack the Ripper murders – although James’s surgeon brother, William (Monty’s father), was one of them.
These two passages are part of a longer article at:
http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/articles/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=428
which gives details of where this manuscript can be viewed
|
Chris Phillips
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Cgp100
Post Number: 1487
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 3:55 am: |
|
Chris
Thanks for that interesting link.
Dan Farson was shown this manuscript by James Druitt's granddaughter Sarah, and recounts some of the details in his 1972 book.
Of course, the author of the article is wrong about Druitt's father knowing about the Ripper suspicions, as MJD survived his father.
Chris Phillips
|
John Ruffels
Inspector
Username: Johnr
Post Number: 477
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 7:26 am: |
|
Hello Chris (times two),
Well done in finding another useful Druitt related document without fanfare , Chris.
And nicely spotted Chris.P., the link with Farson is interesting.
If you have looked at the two postings on the Suspects/M.J.Druitt thread by Druitt relative Chris King, you will see he refers to Sarah as the daughter of James' seniors son James. She married her cousin Edward Montague Hare.
It was she, Chris King's great grandmother, who was presented with the book "Flowers of The Field"
by Montague Druitt in June 1881.
No doubt, the William referred to as knowing about the "Montague suspicion" was Monty's brother, also a William.
King later says the book was given to Chris King's great-aunt, Dorothy a spinster who knew a great deal about the family.
The Barbara mentioned above was one of James Druitt senior's younger daughters (the twelfth child).Born in November 1867, she married in Madagascar in 1903 to Reverend Harold Holmes Blair BA. She died February, 1960.I do not know of any children.
Any chronicles which talk about the Druitt family are important. well done again, Chris Scott.
I wonder if Sarah was the young girl Montague Druitt entertained on a visit with a quizz from
one of the Classical Greek poets? Ther letter is preservedin the West sussex Records office. |
|
Use of these
message boards implies agreement and consent to our Terms of Use.
The views expressed here in no way reflect the views of the owners and
operators of Casebook: Jack the Ripper.
Our old message board content (45,000+ messages) is no longer available online, but a complete archive
is available on the Casebook At Home Edition, for 19.99 (US) plus shipping.
The "At Home" Edition works just like the real web site, but with absolutely no advertisements.
You can browse it anywhere - in the car, on the plane, on your front porch - without ever needing to hook up to
an internet connection. Click here to buy the Casebook At Home Edition.
|
|
|
|
