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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 **
Handwriting
Casebook Message Boards: The Diary of Jack the Ripper: General Discussion:
Handwriting
Author: Martin Fido
Friday, 09 March 2001 - 12:10 am |        | Madeleine -
The letters were traced by Paul Feldman and Keith Skinner. The source, I think, was ultimately the Richmond County Court. (Check via index through Feldman's 'Jack the Ripper: The Final Chapter'.
Martin Fido |
Author: Madeleine Murphy
Friday, 09 March 2001 - 10:48 am | | Martin--
Thank you! I will hunt down the Feldman book. (You see the backward state of my research.) I did think it impossible that any Victorian gent, let alone a successful merchant, could NOT have left a clutch of letters somewhere. They were distressingly prolific correspondents.
madeleine |
Author: Christopher T George
Friday, 09 March 2001 - 01:02 pm | | Hi, Madeleine:
Indeed the Maybrick letters are, as Martin says, in Richmond Chancery Court, Virginia. One of the big weaknesses of Feldman's book is that he shows one of these office memos written by James Maybrick from his office, Maybrick & Co., in Norfolk, Virginia, but the writing is nothing like the handwriting in the Diary. Yet he still claims the Diary was written by Maybrick!!!
Chris George |
Author: Madeleine Murphy
Friday, 09 March 2001 - 01:29 pm | | Richmond, VA! I assumed it was Richmond near Kew.
Virginia, eh? I know--Maybrick was in the C.I.A!
And I've just been sidetracked for twenty minutes by the intriguing "Hammersmith" discussion above.
I think one of the reasons this, and so many other similar mysteries, become so absorbing is our desire to believe there is a reason for everything--that underlying connections can be unearthed and brought into the light, thus making all things plain. Actually, the more one tries to answer the question "Why?" the greater complications arise.
madeleine |
Author: Ken McSpeak
Friday, 26 April 2002 - 01:28 pm | | Hi all,
About 3 weeks ago a poster suggested that I compare the handwriting in the Galashiels letter with the handwriting of James Maybrick (another post told me not to bother, but I went ahead and did it anyway).
Sorry I cant remember who posted the message or in what thread, but I guess this is a sensible place to post a reply.
In my own opinion the Galashiels letter was certainly not written by James Maybrick. There are far too many inconsistencies between the two.
A good example is the lower case 'k'. In the Galashiels letter the writer's pen leaves the page after the initial downstroke. Maybrick, on the other hand, would produce a kind of V shape before his pen left the paper and then complete the 'k' shape.
Both documents (I took Maybricks handwriting from his will) appear to be in the natural hand of the writer. As I said in my previous post, the way in which letters are formed just don't vary like this. An individuals handwriting may vary enormously from one day to the next - big/small/slanted to the left/slanted to the right etc, but not normally the way in which the letters are formed.
Besides which, why would any Maybrick fan claim that he wrote that letter anyway? The text is not consistent with the diary and the writer does not even appear to be claiming to be 'Jack'.
Ken |
Author: Stuart
Monday, 06 January 2003 - 06:25 am | | Just a thought on the "Mrs Hammersmith" issue.
I knew a guy once, but could never remember his name. All I could ever remember was that he came from Huddersfield. Consequently I called him Mr Huddersfield.
I know more than 1 Dave as well, so I call 1 of them Dave Burnley because that's where he was from originally.
Just some possible explanations as to who Mrs Hammersmith was. |
Author: Caroline Morris
Monday, 06 January 2003 - 10:33 am | | Hi Stuart,
You make a good point. I often wonder if the writer of the diary meant this to be a nickname along the lines you suggest. It's also less of a risk for a forger than inventing a character and giving them a real name that can easily be checked.
Did you catch any of the Ealing Comedy repeats on tv over Christmas? I've seen 'The Lady Killers' more times than I care to remember, but I settled down happily with a large slice of Chrissie cake and a glass or three of wine to watch it again the other day.
The dear old lady (Mrs Wilberforce?) is referred to as Mrs Lopsided by the gang who involve her in their criminal activities, because her house is badly affected by subsidence.
Had the diarist referred to Mrs H as Mrs Busybody or Mrs Shepherd's Bush, I suspect no one would have been sent scurrying to look for her in the census! 
Love,
Caz |
Author: Stuart
Monday, 06 January 2003 - 11:57 am | | Hi Caz.
I was going to watch the Lady Killers, but like the bungling oaf I am, I watched the programme that was on before it...which covered the Ealing Studios...AND IT GAVE THE FILM AWAY.
Gah, I was annoyed, so sadly I didn't watch it.
Going back to names again...I call various people (people in the street you bump into, but don't know them well enough to get to know well) I don't know the names of things like...Mr Washcar, Mrs Hairdo, Mr Badsuit etc.
They probably call me Mr Appallinghair :-) |
Author: Guy Hatton
Tuesday, 07 January 2003 - 04:58 am | | My God, there are people out there who don't already know how The Ladykillers ends? Now I feel old!
I have a very nice DVD box set with The Ladykillers, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Man in the White Suit and Kind Hearts and Coronets, which I think should be compulsory viewing for everybody (not my copy - get your own!).
The Ladykillers is also one of those films where the use of real locations results in a nice additional record of how parts of our major cities used to look before the developers moved in; in this case, the St Pancras/Kings Cross/Copenhagen Tunnel area of London in the mid-50s. Although Argyle Street (used for the shots away from Mrs. Wilberforce's front door) is comparatively little changed, Frederica Street (looking towards the front door) has all but disappeared. (Incidentally, Mrs. W's house is a set constructed at the end of an otherwise genuine street. Looking closely, it looks to me as though the other houses in the street are already, at this time, empty and awaiting demolition.) Billy Liar is similarly interesting for its views of 'modern' Bradford under construction - ironically, much of the 'new' building going on then is now about to be swept away in the development of an enormous shopping mall.
But that's enough off-topic rambling from me for one day (or more!).
Cheers
Guy |
Author: Andy & Sue Parlour
Tuesday, 07 January 2003 - 03:38 pm | | Hello Guy,
Had to answer your post. Your mention of Frederica Street, (just off the Caledonia Road),
nearly bought a tear to my eye. One of my best mates Harry Ford lived at No 15. I lost touch with him when we moved out of London in the early '60's. One of his relations was in Pentonville Prison only about half a mile down the 'Cally Road'. Harry used to be able to shout up to him at his cell window from the road, and keep him up to date with family affairs.
Great days.
A. |
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