A Ripperologist Article

This article originally appeared in Ripperologist No. 31, October 2000. Ripperologist is the most respected Ripper periodical on the market and has garnered our highest recommendation for serious students of the case. For more information, view our Ripperologist page. Our thanks to the editor of Ripperologist for permission to reprint this article.

I BEG TO REPORT…
In Brief

Jack the Ripper – Through the Mists of Time. A new book by Peter Hodgson from Minerva Press Ltd., and due for publication probably May 2001.

Peter says that in the book he has provided a detailed overview of the case, considered the social and historical factors surrounding the crimes and looked at the Ripper in fiction and film. The book also contains an artist’s impression of both the Ripper (based on witness descriptions and on the appearance of the author’s preferred suspect) and Mary Kelly (based on what can be discerned from the surviving photograph).

The book will also have a chapter of fiction in which the killer’s identity is revealed by the use of ‘gravitime’ (time travel using gravitons) and exploring the repercussions if such was actually possible.

The final chapter provides a profile of the murderer and suggests the hidden fantasies which drove him.

All in all it sounds like a book offering a diversity of themes and much of interest.

Joseph Sickert has reportedly been seen around the East End in the company of a television producer from Carlton Television, apparently doing some preliminary work on a television programme to be shown later this year or next year. Inquiries with Carlton have failed to garner any further information, a spokesperson for Carlton saying that she could discover nothing about such a project. Nevertheless, Mr. Sickert has been seen in the Ten Bells.

DATES TO REMEMBER October The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook by Stewart Evans and Keith Skinner. Robinson/Constable October 4-7 Jack the Ripper by Pember and deMarne performed by the Woodford Operatic and Dramatic Society at the Kenneth More Theatre, Oakfield Road, Ilford, Essex October 13 Excerpts from the Midnight Theatre Company's Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper plus talks by Andy Aliffe and Paul Begg at Waterstones, Salisbury. Tel: 01722 744196 October 27th - 28th Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper at The Chapel Club, Salisbury. Tel: 01722 504255. October 27th-29th Dead on Deansgate. Tel: 0161 837 3030 or check out the programme of events on http://www.waterstones.co.uk/dod. October 30th - November 4th London premier of Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper at the Wimbledon Studio Theatre. Shows start at 8.00p.m. (Matinee Sat. 3pm). Tel: 020 8540 0362 The Cases That Haunt Us: From Jack the Ripper to Jonbenet Ramsey by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Scribners. November 11th The Lord Mayor's Parade. November 28th - December 9th The Lodger by Peter Pryor at The Churchill Theatre, Bromley. Tel: 020 8460 6677. December 2nd Cloak and Dagger Club meets at the City Darts. February 2001 Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond The Usual Suspects by R. Michael Gordon. Macfarland. May 2001. Jack the Ripper: Through the Mists of Time by Peter Hodgson. Minerva Press. Unknown The Quest For Jack the Ripper: A Literary History by Richard Whittington-Egan From Hell movie currently in production due for release in 2001. Jack the Ripper book due from Sutton Publishing in the autumn of 2001

Conferences: The planned Jack the Ripper conferenceto be held in the UK in 2001 has been the topic of much conversation by the organisers, the Committee of the Cloak and Dagger Club, and various locations have been scrutinised. Popular front runner Bournemouth came up against stiff competition from Manchester, Wolverhampton, Brighton, and Birmingham, eventually being pipped at the post by – Birmingham!

Birmingham was in fact the hands down winner, having a central location, lots of facilities, and sensible pricing.

And Ripperologist has also heard a whisper that plans are moving ahead for the US Conference in 2002, to be held in Baltimore. Apparently an ideal venue has been spotted near the subway station that can take folk into Baltimore itself and from there onto the home of Gore/Bush, Washington D.C.! It’s apparently a comfortable hotel, the food is great and it has the closest one can get in the States to a pub. Prices are very reasonable, the low rates can be extended for those who’d like to stay longer, and there is a 24-hour free shuttle to and from the airport. And the food’s good, or did we mention that already…

The Lodger an adaptation of Marie Belloc Lowndes novel by Patrick Prior will be staged at The Churchill Theatre, Bromley from Tuesday 28th November through to 9th December. This will be prior to the play’s transfer to the West End.

The Churchill Theatre is located at High Street, Bromley, Kent BR1 1HA. Telephone: 020 8460 6677. Prices range from £11.50 through to £17.50.

1980s rock band Spinal Tap are in the news with the launch of their own Web site Tapster.com., their comeback new release ‘Back From The Dead’, and the release on 12th September of the rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap on video and DVD (the DVD will contain more than one hour of additional scenes taken from 30 hours of original camera negative unearthed by Paris-based STUDIOCANAL in 1996 from a salt mine in Kansas).

According to an interview with David St. Hubbins in The Hollywood Reporter, if tapster is a success then the band will put some rare material on the site. Said Hubbins: “If this goes well, we'll be making some very, very rare items available on the Web. We may make available a song that we recorded years ago called Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare and the opening number from Saucy Jack, the musical based on Jack the Ripper that Derek (Smalls) and I wrote. Well, we just have an opening number, really.”

Ripperologist hopes the band has better luck at finding their Ripper song than they’ve had at finding the stage!

You can trust Donald Rumbelow, he’s a tour guide. Donald Rumbelow, author of the essential The Complete Jack the Ripper and London’s premier Ripper tour guide, has not only been seen around the East End giving actor Johnny Depp a private tour of the Jack the Ripper murder sites, but he featured in the Evening Standard’s ‘Just the Job’ supplement on 7th August 2000.

In an article looking at three types of London guide, the driver guide, the bus guide and the walk guide, Don represented the latter, explaining the numerous wrinkles involved in doing the job. He quite rightly pointed out that the secret was to ‘spark the imagination, to get people picturing what it must have been like to live here – in overcrowded slums, with no streetlights, and a killer on the prowl.’

A weekend of crime is scheduled for 27-29 October at Waterstone’s in Manchester. Called Dead on Deansgate, it is the UK’s biggest crime fiction convention and one of the biggest festivals of crime writing in the world.

The programme, which looks packed to the gills with panels and author interviews, has Ruth Rendell as the International Guest Author, Janet Evanovich will be over from the States and Reginald Hill is the British GoH.

Other authors present include Peter Lovesey, author of the ‘Cribb’ novels, Lindsay Davis, and H.R.F. Keating.

Waterstone’s, which has organised the event with The Crime Writers’ Association, is one of the largest crime fiction and non-fiction bookshops in the country.

It’s not cheap though! A Full Weekend Pass costs £75. But this includes entry to all events, a Waterstone’s voucher worth £15, a bag of goodies and admission to the Gala Dinner!

Briefly, other prices are £15 for a Day Pass for Friday or Sunday, £35 for Saturday, and £65 for the Saturday plus the Gala Dinner. If you are interested, contact 0161 837 3030. Or check out the programme of events on http://www.waterstones.co.uk/dod.

Criminal Intent is a new Online Bookshop at http://www.crimebookshop.co.uk in association with Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com. Blackstar, Streets Online, Magazineshop.co.uk, and BOL.

Nothing to do with the Ripper, except that Christopher George is editor of Ripper Notes, a well-known contributor to the Casebook Message Boards and an organiser of the U.S. Ripper conferences, all of which entitles his non-Ripper book, Terror on the Chesapeake, to a mention within these pages. The book was published in September by White Mane Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 152, Shippensburg, Pensylvannia, in hardcover. It runs to 256 pages ISBN: 1572490586. So go and buy it now!

Lord Mayor’s Parade. As most people know, the body of Ripper victim Mary Kelly was discovered on the day of the Lord Mayor’s Show.

The 2000 Lord Mayor's Show will take place on Saturday 11 November. It is expected that half a million people will turn up to see the newly elected 673rd Lord Mayor of the City of London with his entourage and parade as it weaves its way from Guildhall through the Square Mile, passing St. Paul's Cathedral before continuing on to the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand.

The origins of the show can be traced as far back as 1215, when King John granted a charter giving the people of London the right to elect their own Lord Mayor. The Mayor is the head of the Corporation of London, the local authority for the Square Mile, and is also Chief Magistrate of the City, Admiral of the Port of London, and President of the City of London Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve.

Dominic Reid, Pageantmaster for the last nine years commented: "This year's show has been 18 months in the planning and promises to be a great occasion. 6,500 participants, including 200 horses, 20 carriages plus the Lord Mayor's beautiful golden state coach and 60 floats representing all the diverse aspects of life in London will work to combine a colourful modern carnival and the unique traditions of an ancient city. A great free day out for all the family."

Spitalfields Festival. The Spitalfields Festival, the annual and much respected classical music event held in the wonderderful Chrstchurch, will this year also have a winter festival in December.

Centenary Celebrations. The Whitechapel Art Gallery was opened in March 1901 and there are some special events lined up to mark the centenary next year, including exhibitions and a variety of debates, lectures and performances featuring people such as the novelist Peter Ackroyd and the playwright Harold Pinter.

Already planned is an exhibition accompanied by a publication charting key moments in the Whitechapel's history from its founding by Canon Samuel Barnett and his wife Henrietta. It will include elements of a major research project being undertaken by Rachel Lichtenstein and Alan Dein, bringing together some of the rich threads of local cultural history that have passed through the library.

Whitechapel Art Gallery, Whitechapel High Street, E1 7QX. Tel: 020-7522 7878 or go to their Web site at www.whitechapel.org. The nearest underground station is Aldgate East.

The Commercial, which we reported in the last issue of Ripperologist was undergoing refurbishment, re-opened to good business at lunchtime on Monday 18th September. The refurbishment is excellent, and avoided the feared ‘trendyness’ which seems to destroy the atmosphere of these old pubs. Many original features have been preserved, including an original Victorian moulded ceiling and marble fireplace in what will be a private room for diners upstairs, where there will soon be a traditional fish and chip restaurant. The new owners, real East Enders, Pat and Mick Lloyd, are also very welcoming hosts and are turning the Commercial into a real regulars boozer. Great. Pay it a visit in Commercial Road.

The East End Hilton! Back in February Tower Hamlets passed detailed planning permission for the Hilton Group to build a 10-storey, 388-room hotel in Middlesex Street and Whitechapel High Street. Due to open in 2003, the Hilton joins about ten other hotel schemes in the area involving operators such as Bass, Granada, Accor and Grange Hotels, who will have hotels in the area.

The Hilton Group owns the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in Baker Street. Will it follow this example and name its new hotel after the East End’s equally notorious local, Jack the Ripper? It is to be doubted! The establishment will likely be far more prosaicly named Hilton City of London, although Hilton Whitechapel has not been ruled out.

Work will begin on the building, designed by John Seifert Architects in glass, metal and light-coloured stone, later this year.

The Blind Beggar at 337 Whitechapel Road E1 1BU (Tel: 020-7247 6195), famous as the pub where Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell in 1966, was sold earlier in the year by Peter and Kay Ferdinando, landlords for the past 17 years, to CCC Leisure.

Ronnie Biggs, another East Ender, though best known for his part in the 1963 sensation the Great Train Robbery, has launched his own Website. Just point your browser at www.ronniebiggs.com.

It’s an odd site, Ron portraying himself almost as an avuncular uncle offering tourist info about his home town – Rio de Janeiro that is – through the opportunity to buy copies of his books to info about the fabled robbery itself.

If you’re in Rio, look him up, as countless tourists do. You’ll find him in the ‘phone book under ‘Biggs, R’. Otherwise, take a look at his site, the brainchild and creation of his son, Mike.