| Author |
Message |
    
Chris Scott
Chief Inspector
Username: Chris
Post Number: 579
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 9:49 am: |       |
I have the text of a letter signed "Jack the Ripper's pal" from a newspaper account of 16 jan 1889. I have the Book Letters from Hell and have not been able to find it in there so would be grateful if anyone could tell me is this has been commented on before.
Hope it is of interest
Chris
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Chris Scott
Chief Inspector
Username: Chris
Post Number: 580
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 10:17 am: | |
With regard to the above letter I looked at the following:
1) Did Thomas Porter, a saddler in Hucknall, appear in available data
2) the article says the writer was in his employ when he was still a saddler and before he went to US
I looked in 1881 census and Porter is indeed there and is listed as having a 17 yesr old apprentice at that time
Address: Baker Street, Hucknall Torkard, Nottinghgam
Head
Thomas Porter, aged 72, born Hucknall Torkard
Saddler
Wife:
Ann Porter, aged 70, born Widmerpool, Nottingham
Apprentice:
George W M Fisher, aged 17, born Sleaford, Lincoln
Saddler's apprentice
Anything else I am able to find I will post |
Andrew Spallek
Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 164
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 2:17 pm: | |
Chris,
This is a very interesting find. I have never encountered it before. Could you give the newspaper reference for the above article? The letter has a strange semi-detached ring to it that gives it an air of authenticity. It is very unlike the typical "Ripper" letters.
So we should look for a George W M Fisher, born about 1864 who lived in Colorado sometime in between 1881 and 1888 and perhaps again in late 1889 or thereafter (realizing this may or may not be the man in question). If this letter would happen to be from the (co-)murderer, one would probably not expect to find similar crimes in Colorado since the partner seems to have been described as the catalyst and the parner was not met by the author until he was on his way (presumably) back to England. It is unlikely that the partner would have travelled to Colorado with the author if he did indeed return as he indicated he might and it seems unlikely the author would have conintued killing without his partner. It seems a long shot, but it is interesting.
Andy
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Chris Scott
Chief Inspector
Username: Chris
Post Number: 581
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 2:51 pm: | |
Hi Andrew
The article above is from a New Zealand paper called the Te Aroha Times.
I agree that the tone is very unlike the bantering, mocking tone of most Ripper letters. Of course, on a note of caution, there is nothing to say that Porter did not have other apprentices in the 1881-1888 period. It is just that Fisher is the only name available so far from the data.
Glad you found the article of interest
Chris
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Chris Scott
Chief Inspector
Username: Chris
Post Number: 583
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 3:42 pm: | |
Just traced that Thomas Porter's death is registered in June 1890 aged 83. The death was registered at Basford, the reistration district that inluded Hucknall. |
Andrew Spallek
Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 165
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 4:38 pm: | |
Chris,
Actually, we can narrow it down a bit more. If the author of this letter has been "living in America some years" then he would have to have left England not too long after 1881. This increases the liklihood of the person being George W M Fisher. Although, we must bear in mind that Porter may have had other employees besides his apprentice.
Unfortunately, he won't show up in the 1880 US census and probably not in the 1890 US census (unless he returned to America right after writing this letter, which does not seem his intent). Can you find him in the British census of 1891 in the London area?
Andy
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Chris Scott
Chief Inspector
Username: Chris
Post Number: 584
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 - 5:57 am: | |
I looked for a 27 year old George Fisher whose birth place was listed asSleaford in Lincoln and could not find one (London or anywhere else)
Regards
Chris
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Christopher T George
Inspector
Username: Chrisg
Post Number: 340
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 - 9:54 am: | |
Hi, all
I agree that this letter has a different tone to the other known Ripper letters. However, the circumstances described, the feeling of a spell coming over the individual, the remorse, etc., are reminiscent of a couple of instances in American newspapers in which the writer or the person described "confesses" to the crimes. These appear to be concoctions of newspapermen. I have to wonder whether this is another of the same type which actually might have inspired or was inspired by the longer narratives of Ripper confessions. Such tales often shade into purple prose and come across as having been transparently made up. One of these I discussed in "An 1888 Jack the Ripper Diary?" in Ripper Notes a while back. You can see the cover of the issue at Ripper Notes - October 2002 which shows the front page of the Chicago Tribune with a sample of the handwritten code in which this early Ripper "diary" was written.
All the best
Chris |
Andrew Spallek
Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 168
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 02, 2003 - 12:52 pm: | |
Chris,
I agree that something such as you suggest is the most likely explanation for the letter. However, it is so strikely different from other letters that it is worth considering as just possibly authentic.
If our George Fisher is not listed in the 1891 British census then (assuming he was not omitted inadvertently -- which must have happened not infrequently) he must have been either dead by then or living abroad. Now, can we find him in the 1890 or 1900 US census?
Chris, I'd like to read your article. Would it be possible to reproduce it here? I know there are copyright matters to be considered.
What would also be very useful to read would be the original article reffered to from the "Nottingham Daily Express." Can anyone dig that out for us?
Andy
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Christopher T George
Inspector
Username: Chrisg
Post Number: 343
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 02, 2003 - 2:23 pm: | |
Hi, Andrew:
I'll see if CMD and Stephen might be amenable to us putting my article on the 1888 Ripper Diary in the dissertations section. I'll keep you posted on if and when it is included here on the Casebook.
All the best
Chris |
Erin Sigler
Detective Sergeant
Username: Rapunzel676
Post Number: 59
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 3:23 pm: | |
Weird. Sounds to me like the work of someone who's either mentally ill or seriously under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. |
shelley wiltshire
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 7:46 pm: | |
Well said Erin..... even though it sounds different from the traditional ripper letters (which by the way a few of the ripper letters were written by the editor of a newspaper) I think you could safetly class this article of the letter to be from a ripper wannabe and nut, without having committed a murder. The witnesses statements of the victims last seen alive with a suspect, do not fit the age range of George Fisher, nor of Thomas porter. Also on average people will look older than they were, but people of the time would have given a fair and accurate age description at the time. |
