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** This is an archived, static copy of the Casebook messages boards dating from 1998 to 2003. These threads cannot be replied to here. If you want to participate in our current forums please go to https://forum.casebook.org **
What about John Netely
Casebook Message Boards: Ripper Suspects: General Discussion :
What about John Netely
Author: Geoff Evans
Thursday, 09 January 2003 - 04:20 am |        | Hi
I'm Geoff and this is my first posting on JTR. I
live some 5 minutes away from where John Netley (the carman who allegedly drive JTR on his nightly
excursions)lived in in Bell Street London. Does anybody have any firm information regarding netley?. |
Author: Christopher-Michael DiGrazia
Thursday, 09 January 2003 - 09:15 pm | | Dear Geoff -
Welcome to the boards. In the case of John Netley, one can do no better than to turn to the Jack the Ripper A-Z. Their entry on Netley is too long to reproduce here, but I give you the opening paragraph:
NETLEY, JOHN CHARLES (1860-1903)
Identified by BBC researchers with a man of the same name alleged by Joseph Gorman Sickert to have driven the carriage for Sir William Gull and his co-conspirators to commit the Whitechapel Murders.
Born in northwest Paddington, a twin, the son of an omnibus conductor, Netley still lived in the Paddington district in 1903. He was, at his death, a bachelor carman, employed by Messrs Thompson, McKay and Co., who described him as very steady. He died in a traffic accident when the wheel of his van struck the obelisk on a pedestiran refuge in Park Road, where it joins Baker Street, near to the Clarence Gate of Regent's Park. Netley was flung out under the horses' hooves and his head was crushed by a wheel. The inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death with a recommendation that van-drivers should be offered safety straps. The above are the only proven facts of Netley's life. (3rd ed., p 315)
BTW, a 'carman' is one who drives a cart or other such vehicle.
And that is where it stands. No-one has yet been able to discover more about Netley, nor answer the question of how such an obscure figure, who died 20 years before 'Hobo' Sickert was born, could have been known to him. It has been suggested that the Netley element of the 'Royal Conspiracy' story is a result of a misunderstanding by Sickert and that 'Netley' (or someone such) was actually Sickert's grandfather. The truth, however, is likely never to be known.
A picture of someone who is said to be Netley can be found in Melvyn Fairclough's The Ripper and the Royals (Duckworth, 1995, ISBN 0-7156-2444-X)
I hope this is of some help to you.
Christopher-Michael |
Author: Geoff Evans
Friday, 10 January 2003 - 04:40 am | | Christopher-Michael -
Thank you very much for this information which
confirms my own knowlede of Netley. It is indeed
an intriguing question as to why such a relatively insignificant individual has been named in such a away. I will continue my research into netley, and with any luck maybe just maybe something might turn up!. A minor point to note for all; Netley lived(as I understand it) in Bell Street London(towards the Lisson Grove end) as such he lived not in Paddington but in Marylebone.
Geoff |
Author: chris scott
Friday, 10 January 2003 - 05:58 pm | | Netley is mentioned in the 1901 census as unmarried and still living with his widowed father. The details for their entry is as follows:
The Netley details are as follows:
Address:
3 Amberley Road
Paddington London
Head of Household:
JOHN NETLEY
Aged 69
Widower
Born in Sussex
Profession: Hackney Carriage driver
His son:
JOHN NETLEY
Aged 40
Single
Born in Paddington
Profession: Carman
I find it unlikely that Netley was a blood relation to Jospeh "Sickert" for two reasons.
- He is still described as a bachelor at the time of his death and is described as single in 1901, only two years before he died. Of course, a child born outside marriage is possible but impossible to prove
- Joseph "Sickert"'s family name is in fact Gorman. If Netley were in anyway directly related it would have to be matrilineal. Again this is far from impossible but cannot be demonstrated at present.
Interestingly, neither John Netley is listed in the 1881 census under that name. The nearest in age and profession to John Jnr is this household:
George A. NETLEY Head M Male 23 Paddington, Middlesex, England Coachman
Jessie NETLEY Wife M Female 24 Paddington, Middlesex, England
Address is 1 Netherwood St, London
I hope this is of interest
Chris |
Author: Geoff Evans
Saturday, 11 January 2003 - 04:54 am | | Chris
Thanks for your comments. I believe that Netley
had a married brother and it is possible that this is the George A. Netley you refer to(together with his wife Jessie). I think in 1881 John Netley was possibly living in Bell Street(as his employer Thompsn & Mckay & sons were just round the corner).Netley may well have moved to
Amberley Road after the ripper period. |
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