The
Trial of Jack the Ripper - The Case of William Bury 1859-1889
Author:
Euan Macpherson
ISBN:
1845960114
Publishers:
Mainstream Publishing
Price
£9.99 RRP UK
Publication
Date: 2005
Publisher’s
Information.
A
shocking and brutal murder had taken place in the city in February that year,
and the words 'Jack Ripper is at the back of this door' were found written in
chalk on a door at the scene of the crime. When he was arrested, the accused,
William Bury, admitted that he was ‘afraid he would be arrested as Jack the Ripper’.
The police investigation uncovered some disturbing details. William Bury was a small dark-haired man who was known to have been violent towards women. He had been born and brought up in the Midlands but had moved to the East End of London in the late autumn of 1887. On 20 January 1889, he and his wife travelled by boat to Dundee. This meant that he had arrived in London before the start of the Jack the Ripper murders and had left around the same time that they ceased. Could this be coincidence, people wondered. Could it also be a coincidence that the murder in Dundee carried all' the hallmarks of a ‘ripper’ murder?
In
the month before the trial, the local newspapers in Dundee began to run
sensational stories linking the accused with the notorious Whitechapel murders.
When the trial opened to packed courtroom, many in the public gallery were
wondering if the man standing in the dock was none other than Jack the Ripper
himself.
In
this sensational and ground-breaking book, Euan Macpherson presents the evidence
that the long arm of the law really did catch up with Jack the Ripper ... in a
dingy basement flat in Dundee in the cold winter months of early 1889.
FOREWORD by Richard Whittington-Egan
ALTHOUGH
IT IS NOW 117 YEARS SINCE THE WHITECHAPEL KILLER ripped the life from his five pathetic
victims, when I was born a mere 36 years had elapsed since the commission of
the crimes. And it is possible,
probable even, that he, Jack the Ripper, was still alive. But then, after
reading Euan Macpherson's conclusions, I thought maybe not!
Ever
since I paid, at the age of 11, my first visit to Whitechapel - just in time to
catch the fading shades of horror in the eyes of ageing East Enders who had
actually witnessed the awful events of 1888 - I have watched for the past 70
years as the long procession of suspects has been - literally - booked.
Although
there had been a 32-page, threepenny pamphlet, The Whitechapel Horrors, Being
an Authentic Account of the Jack the Ripper Murders, published by the Daisy
Bank Printing and Publishing Company of Manchester in the 1920s, its author,
Tom Robinson, an old-style Fleet Street journalist, beyond reporting that a
policeman who had been on the beat at the time always believed that the Ripper
was a foreign sailor, hazards no guess as to the identity of the killer.
It
all began in earnest - the guessing-game, that is - with Leonard Matters's
book, The Mystery of jack the Ripper, which was published in 1929, and his
accused was the surely fictitious Dr Stanley.
After
that, there was a break until 1937, when a pre Paperback Revolution paperback,
Jack the Ripper, or, When London Walked in Terror, issued from the
none-too-impressive pen of Edwin T Woodhall, a retired London detective who,
despite introducing George Chapman, aka Severin Klosowski, as one whom `many
believe to have been none other than Jack the Ripper himself, supported
Matters's now generally discredited Dr Stanley nomination. A couple of years later, in 1939, William
Stewart brought out jack the Ripper: A New Theory, which put Jill the Ripper, a
sadistic midwife, in the dock.
A
further 20 years were to elapse before Donald McCormick perpetrated a fantasy
titled The Identity of Jack the Ripper, in which a totally bogus Russian dubbed
Dr Alexander Pedachenko was paraded as the indisputable Ripper.
Considerably
more plausible - although in my view not guilty - was the suspect brought
forward in Tom Cullen's Autumn of Terror: Jack the Ripper, His Crimes and Times
(1968): Montague John Druitt, barrister and schoolmaster. The involvement of the Royal Family, in the
dubious shape of the Duke of Clarence, aided and abetted by the royal
physician, Sir William Gull, was heralded in 1976 by Stephen Knight's Jack the
Ripper: The Final Solution. This is an answer to the riddle which has been
widely - though in my opinion wrongly - accepted.
And
in 1994 that doughty researcher and professional explorer of myths, the late
Melvin Harris, finally declared his belief that Robert D'Onston Stephenson was
the culprit. The previous year had seen
the absurd nomination of the Liverpool cotton broker James Maybrick as the East
End slaughterman, in The Diary of Jack the Ripper narrative by Shirley
Harrison. I consider Maybrick to be as
unlikely a suspect as that other Liverpudlian, the wife-killer James Kelly, who
was James Tully's choice for the Ripper in The Secret Prisoner 1167.
Stewart
Evans and Paul Gainey submitted their own candidate for the bloodstained
laurels in The Lodger: The Arrest and Escape of Jack the Ripper (1995). He was an American herbalist and medical mountebank,
Dr Francis J. Tumblety. So meticulously
is their prosecution case fashioned that one hesitates before, eventually,
declining to convict. That same year
Bruce Paley offered up Joseph Barnett, Mary Jane Kelly's lover, as the guilty
party.
Then
there is Walter Sickert, indicted first by Jean Overton Fuller in 1990, and
again, with a fanfare of brass trumpets, in 2002 by Patricia Cornwell in her
somewhat over-confidently titled Portrait of a Killer. Jack the Ripper - Case
Closed, wherein,
icidentally,
she contrives never to so much as mention the work of her predecessor in that
particular field. Not that it really matters, for neither of them succeeds in
making the libel stick.
The
foregoing is just a selection of some of the more rationally, or at any rate
less irrationally based suspects, out of upwards of a hundred widely and indeed
wildly nominated candidates.
There
is to my mind absolutely no doubt that Mr Macpherson's nominee is deserving of
our fullest attention. The 29-year-old
Englishman whom he would bring to the bar of justice is a miscreant and
murderer by the name of William Henry Bury.
This is not strictly Bury's first committal. He was summoned with a case to answer by Mr Macpherson in his
article `Jack the Ripper in Dundee' in the Scots Magazine back in January 1988;
and thereafter by William Beadle, in his Jack the Ripper Anatomy of a Myth
(1995); and by Stewart Evans in an article, `The Ripper's Nemesis', in the
magazine Rippermania in January 1997.
And there can be no gainsaying that in a great many aspects his
circumstances do fit in most satisfyingly with those which could well have
applied to Jack the Ripper.
Admittedly,
though, it does require a conscious effort of will for those of us who have
grown long-toothed in the service of Ripperology, and accustomed to the picture
of the dark, wraith-like slayer shadow flitting murderously through the East
End night, to readjust to the novel visualisation of a solid, bearded figure
set against an alien Caledonian background.
Even so ...
If
Jack the Ripper had in fact exhibited surgical skill, this would, Mr Macpherson
agrees, have put paid to Bury as a viable suspect, for there is no rhyme or
reason, no evidence, to support the notion that he was so endowed. But, equally, there is no secure evidence -
merely conflicting opinion - that `Jack the Whitechapel knife' wielded it with
a practised anatomist's or a surgeon's touch.
Even
supposing that you are not prepared to accept - that you resist - the idea of
William Henry Bury as the veritable Ripper, Mr Macpherson's book is still of
prime value as the first complete account of the misdeeds, investigation, trial
and ultimate fate of a man who shows himself a classic practitioner of homicide
in the best Victorian tradition.
Did
Mr Hangman Berry, in dispatching his phonetic namesake in Dundee at 8 a.m. on
that April morning in 1889, really, as legend has it, 'polish off Saucy Jack'?
It is for each reader of Mr Macpherson's strongly argued prosecution case to
reach his or her verdict. He has certainly given me reason, if not to quit, at
least to shift uneasily in my seat on the bloodied fence.
Richard
Whittington-Egan 2005
Is this the solution to the Whitechapel Murders
as the title proclaims, or as the sub-title infers, merely the story of a contemporary
murder case?
The simple facts behind William Bury’s involvement began with his visit to a Dundee police station in early 1889. He said that a few days earlier, he had awoken from a drunken stupor to find his wife had been strangled. On an inexplicable mad impulse he took a large knife and plunged it several times into her abdomen. Later, he said that he thought he might be suspected of being ‘Jack the Ripper,’ so put the body into a large box. For several days this had remained in their rented room. The police were hot-foot to the premises and found Ellen Bury’s body had indeed been crammed into a box. Among her many injuries were mutilations to the abdomen. For good measure there were two references to ‘Jack the Ripper’ chalked on a door to the premises.
Inquiries showed that Bury had a streak of
violence in him having attacked his wife previously. Importantly for any proposition that he really was the
Whitechapel murderer, was the fact that he had lived briefly in London. The murders had started shortly after he
arrived, with Martha Tabram’s death and ended with Mary Kelly’s shortly before
he left for Scotland. Those are the
main facts on which we are asked to add Bury’s name to the long list of
Whitechapel suspects.
The facts presented have their sources mainly in
records of Bury’s trial and excerpts from contemporary newspapers. The latter range from the factual to the
sensational, but serve to show that in 1889, there were reports of other
similar, albeit multiple murders elsewhere in the world. Presumably the facts in those cases would if
examined, raise similar suspicions?
Justice was swift in those days. A little over a month after his visit to the
police, Bury was tried and convicted following a hearing lasting 13 hours. This concluded in candlelight to avoid
sitting a second day! A month later,
his appeal having been considered and dismissed, he was hanged.
So what to make of the book? It is an excellent record of the life, times
and trial of William Bury, which is
clear, concise and easy to read. The
author captures the squalor of the times, the efforts of the press to provide
the public with a story and the similarities and differences between the
Scottish and English legal systems. In
particular, he highlights the problems of communication in the 1880s, whether
by rail or telephone. A visit by
Scotland Yard officers to make brief inquiries in Dundee during 1889, had one been made, would have involved an
absence of about a week. The author
also implies an apparent reluctance on the part of the Scots to use the forms
of ‘instant’ communication available to them.
However, the fact that the Metropolitan Police knew of Bury’s case is
clear and that they did not see him as a serious suspect. Neither it seems, did the Dundee police
follow up his initial comments about ‘Jack the Ripper’. After all, he had not said he was the
Whitechapel Murderer, merely that people might gain such an impression from his
wife’s injuries.
The foreword to the book is by Richard
Whittington-Egan. He includes a brief
resume of the Whitechapel murders (the author does so in more detail later in
the book) and considers a selection of suspects put forward by various
writers. Mr Whittington-Egan ends by
suggesting that it is for each reader to reach his or her own verdict. His verdict was that the facts gave him reason,
if not to quit his search for the Whitechapel murderer, then to shift uneasily
on his seat on the bloodied fence. This
reviewer joins him on the same fence, sitting more firmly and inclined to
continue the search elsewhere.
PR
Both Sides Of The Fence-A Life
Undercover
Author: David Corbett (a pseudonym)
ISBN: 1840187697
Publishers mainstream Publishing Company
Price: £7.99
Publication Date: 2003
As one of a handful of UK police
officers trained in SAS deep-cover surveillance, David Corbett infiltrated the
toughest communities, living among junkies, prostitutes, murderers and firearm
dealers, in order to gather evidence which would lead to dozens of convictions.
His rapport with hardened criminals was
forged during his youth on the mean streets of Glasgow, where he ran with the
gangs, joyriding and stealing. But when his friends began disappearing into
borstals, Corbett decided it was time to take himself in hand and followed his
father into the police force. His ability to mingle with gangsters was soon
identified as an asset, and after serving time in the CID - where he was
involved in investigating the murder of Arthur Thompson Junior, the son of
Glasgow's Godfather - he became an undercover agent with the Scottish Crime
Squad. He trained in urban and rural surveillance and invented a fictional past
for himself.
Like Donnie Brasco, the legendary US cop
who won the trust of the Mafia, Corbett risked his life every day: one false
move and his cover would have been blown. The pinnacle of his career was an
operation in the former pit town of Blyth, where there had been 15 drug-related
deaths in 12 months. Leaving his wife and family he spent five months
undercover, wired up, winning the confidence of the dealers, and had to cope
with having his life endangered by a corrupt officer. Corbett's work led to 31
convictions and commendations from the Chief Constable and a Crown Court judge,
but, without any form of counselling, the stress took its toll and he was
forced into early retirement.
Now, betrayed by the force that sent him
out on these dangerous missions, Corbett reveals the gripping story of life in
the perilous world of an undercover cop.
The Old Bailey: Eight Centuries of Crime, Cruelty and Corruption
History
Edition: 2003 Revised and Updated
Author: Theresa Murhhy
ISBN: 184018762x
Publishers Mainstream Publishing Company
£7.99 paperback
Publication Date: 2003
This is the story of an arena of crime
and degradation, of infamy and human suffering. It is the history of the Old
Bailey, an institution as flawed as all manmade attempts at justice are doomed
to be.
In the beginning there was barbarity and
injustice. The court was packed with a restless, muttering mob, eager for the
verdicts of `Guilty' so they could enjoy public executions, hurling abuse and
missiles at those with the noose around their neck. Today we fool ourselves
that we have evolved beyond barbarism, but are made uneasy by the continuing
exposure of miscarriages of justice. If we use the Old Bailey as a yardstick,
it ii possible to argue that mankind has not made much progress through the
centuries.
In these pages we tour the courts of
long ago~ meeting the Dracula-garbed court chaplains, drunken, brutal judges
and cold-blooded hangmen. With wit and skill, Theresa Murphy brings to life a
cast of hundreds, from the well known to the less infamous, who together make
up the harrowing history of the Old Bailey.
The author of 30 books, Theresa Murphy
has written on diverse subjects ranging from television comedy, through,
nautical history, to worldwide travel.
If you consider reading this book then perhaps some history of the Old
Bailey will whet you appetite.
The place where the Central Criminal Court now stands is the site of the
principal west gate of the Roman City of London. Part of the adjoining Roman
City wall can still be seen in the basement of the new east wing. Excavations
in 1903 and 1907 uncovered signs that the gate was twice rebuilt by the Romans.
At the time of the Norman Conquest it was known as Chamberlain's Gate and it is
recorded in the Doomsday Book, page 309, as "kept by William the
Chamberlain". At about that time the gate began to be used as a prison. It
was renamed New Gate in the 12th Century, probably as the result of substantial
rebuilding and by 1190 was again being used as a gaol. It served as a gaol both for the County of
Middlesex and for the City of London. The officers primarily responsible for the
safe custody of the prisoners were the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, who,
by Royal Charters of 1131 and 1199, were elected by the citizens of London.
In 1423 the old gate and gaol were demolished and rebuilt in accordance
with the wishes of Richard Whittington by his executors. Whittington's Newgate
continued to serve as a prison until 1767 when it was decided to erect a new
gaol from designs by George Dance. A sessions house for the 3ustices, distinct
from the prison, was first built in 1539 and rebuilt in about 1770. Newgate
itself was demolished in 1777, but the new prison of George Dance retained the
famous name.
Newgate Prison and the sessions house were demolished in 1902 to make way
for the present (old) building designed by E.W. Mountford, which was opened by
H.M. King Edward VII in 1907.
Newgate was for centuries a symbol of the harsh criminal law of the time.
when a person was sent to Newgate he was sometimes said to have "gone
west". Some think this was the origin of the phrase used today. Carts set
out from there for Tyburn (the present site of Marble Arch) with condemned
criminals who, if they were petty thieves or murders, were subjected to abuse
and a pelting with garbage, but, if they were notorious highwaymen, were often
given a resounding cheer.
From 1783 Tyburn ceased to be the place of execution, and thereafter the
death penalty was carried out in public outside Newgate prison, providing a
"Roman Holiday" for Londoners. The crowds were so great that on more
than one occasion many people were crushed and even trampled to death.
The last public execution took place in 1868 when Michael Barrett, a
member of an Irish political organization known as "Fenians", was
executed for the murders which resulted when his group blasted the wall of the
Clerkenwell House of Detention and released some of their friends who had been
placed there for the murder of Lord Henry Cavendish, Chief Secretary of
Ireland, at Phoenix Park, Dublin.
Apart from the executions, which were all too frequent and for a wide
category of crimes, Newgate was the place from which thousands started the long
journey which ended in the colonies. For over 200 years transportation for
periods varying from 7 years to life was a much used (and abused) form of
punishment. For example it is recorded that in 1835 a 10 year old child was
transported for life for a petty larceny. Newgate was breached twice during its
long history. In 1381 1Wat Tyler and his mob stormed Newgate and
released the prisoners. At the time of the Gordon riots in the 18th century the
building was gutted.
In the old days there was only one Session every 12 months, sitting by
authority of Royal Commissions of Oyer (to hear), Terminer (to determine), and
Gaol delivery (to deliver the Gaol of its prisoners). In other words the Gaol
was to hand over the prisoners to be tried and to determine whether they were
guilty or not guilty.
The Court consisted of 8 or 9 Judges who were Barons of the Common Pleas,
the Recorder, the Common Serjeant and Aldermen of the City. Crowds of prisoners
were brought up to plead together, which is why the Docks are so large.
Prisoners were crowded into Newgate for so many months that they became
infected with diseases of all kinds. In 1750 "Gaol fever" carried oft
the Mayor, I Alderman, 2 Judges. I Under Sheriff and 50 others. The Courts were
disinfected with sweet herbs and flowers, and this is still done on the first 2
days of each Session. The floors of the benches are strewn with sweet herbs,
and flowers are carried by all in Court, i.e. The Lord Mayor, Judges, Aldermen,
Sheriffs, Under-Sheriffs, etc.
In the old building on the first floor is a marble statue to the memory
of Elizabeth Fry, who was born 1780, and died in 1845. It is said that
she was very rich, but spent her money and time in assisting in the remodelling
of the prisons, whereby the men and women were separated and the prisoners were
cared for.
The Central Criminal Court was established by the Central Criminal Court
Act 1834. That Act gave the Court jurisdiction "to inquire of, hear and
determine all treasons, murders, felonies and misdemeanours" committed
within the City of London and the County of Middlesex and in those adjoining
parts of the Counties of Essex, Kent and Surrey within the parishes listed in
the Act and "to deliver Newgate Gaol" of the prisoners therein.
On I January 1972 the Courts Act 1971 came into effect. This Act
established a single Crown Court to take the place of the old system of Assizes
and Quarter Sessions, and having the same jurisdiction. The Crown Court sits at
various centres throughout England and Wales. The Central Criminal Court is the
name of the Crown Court Centre in the City of London, the name being
specifically preserved by Section 4 (7) of the Act.
The court building now comprises the original wing, which contains 7
courts and was opened in 1907 on the site of Newgate Prison, and the new south
wing which contains 12 Courts and was opened in 1972.
In March 1973 the building was damaged by an IRA terrorist bomb which
exploded in a car parked by the pavement in Old Bailey. Many windows were
broken and some structural damage was caused both to the Court and to
neighbouring buildings, including the Old George Public house opposite the
Court. Nobody was killed, although many suffered shock and injuries from flying
glass. A piece of glass can still be seen embedded in an inside wall on the
ground floor.
About 1500 cases (1973) are now committed to the Central Criminal Court
for trial each year and 1200 members of the public are called upon each month to
serve as jurors.
CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES THROUGH THE CENTURIES
YEAR
966 First reference to Court of Hustings. Genesis of London's legal
Rights and customs.
1086 Reference to Newgate as a "Heynhouse" or hateful jail.
1132 Charter granted by Henry I to citizens of London confirming their
ancient rights and granting new ones. The right to appoint their own
"Justicier" was granted. "And none other shall be Justicier over
these same men of London".
Pipe Roll of this date shows site value as £3.6.8d.
1241 Certain Jews imprisoned in Newgate until their kinsmen in Norwich
paid a fine. Crime was the common one then brought against Jews, usually
ill-founded, of circumcising a Christian child.
1235 Sheriff imprisoned for allowing a prisoner to escape. Prisoner
supposed to have murdered a cousin of the Queen.
Wat Tyler broke open Newgate and freed the prisoners.
1414 Fever broke out. Keeper and 64 others died of it.
1423 There is a reference to "Whit's Palace". Money left by
Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor, for charitable purposes was used for
renovating Newgate.
1518 "Evil May Day". May put to death at Newgate for May Day
rioting. King Henry VIII judged the prisoners in person. Many reprieved at foot
of scaffold on the intervention of the King's wife and sister.
1539;First Court erected. Up to this time Courts held in the open (as
Hustings) or on private premises.
1657 Press Yard in use in Newgate. For those who refused to plead,
weights were placed on top of body and added to until dead. Those convicted of
Felony forfeited their goods so this end was opted for by prisoners to avoid
forfeiture. Mayor Strangeways died in this way.
Jury fined for not convicting defendants. imprisoned in Newgate until
fines paid. Some sent message to Lord Chief Justice who reviewed their case and
confirmed the important right of juries to bring in their own verdict without
interference by the Judge. See plaque on ground floor of old building.
1689 Lord Chief Justice Wright imprisoned in Newgate.
1690 Record of man imprisoned for 47 years; married and had several
children in Newgate. Held on a Fiat of the Attorney-General and never brought
to trial.
1696 Keeper paid £3,500 for his post. Could charge "fees". Kept
a sort of Wet Canteen where prisoners and warders regaled themselves with
liquor. Prisoners usually paid.
1718 Hangman hanged for murder of a woman in Moorfields. Drunk from time
of entering prison to time of execution.
1724 Jack Sheppard made his series of sensational escapes. Hanged at
Tyburn when "All London turned out to see him".
1750 Outbreak of Jail fever (probably typhoid) in Newgate. Many died,
including the Lord mayor and two judges. Bunches of flowers began to be carried
and sweet smelling herbs spread about in an attempt to ward off illness. Still
done today at opening of summer Sessions.
1772 Edward Dennis, public hangman, imprisoned in Newgate for
pickpocketing.
1777 Gate removed. See plaque.
Mary Jones, aged 19, mother of 2 children, convicted at the Old Bailey of
shoplifting in Ludgate Hill and hanged. Had baby at the breast while being
taken from Newgate to Tyburn. Case used in Parliament in an attempt by Sir
William Meredith to reduce the number of of fences carrying the death penalty,
which totalled about 190.
1780 June. "No popery" riots by supporters of Lord George Gordon
(1751-93). Excuse by underprivileged person for destruction and looting.
Newgate broken into and rioters already imprisoned there released. Some due for
execution next day.
Edward Dennis, public hangman, again imprisoned in Newgate and tried and
sentenced to death for taking part in the riots in Holborn. Later reprieved so
that he could hang his fellow rioters. In office 1771-1786. Had a right to the
clothes and personal property of his victims.
1781 Lord Gordon acquitted of High Treason charge arising out of 1780
riots.
1783 November. Last execution at Tyburn. A place of execution for 600
years. 50,000 executions. Executions then carried out in front of Newgate
Prison, opposite present old building, up to 1868.
1785 John Howard, prison reformer, introduced solitary confinement in
Newgate.
1787 Lord Gordon imprisoned in Newgate with Jewish servant, being unable
to find sureties after his conviction for publishing pamphlets libelling the
Queen of France and the English Judges and Law.
1793 Death of Lord Gordon in Newgate.
1800 The Editor of the Times imprisoned in Newgate for libelling the Duke
of York. Received state pension while in prison.
1813 Elizabeth Fry, prison reformer, began work in Newgate.
1830 Last use of the pillory which had existed since time immemorial
outside Newgate.
1835 Three boys under 14 hanged for burglary.
1868 Last public execution; Michael Barrett. Executions then within the
walls.
1881 Newgate ceased as a prison.
1902 Last execution.
First hand appeared through the wall from the inside. It was that of a
workman engaged in demolishing Newgate to make way for the new Court building.
This fulfilled an old prophecy that "an innocent man will one day break
through the walls of Newgate".
1907 New Court opened by King Edward VII.
1941 North West corner hit by bomb. 2 officials killed. Court 2
destroyed.
1950 Rebuilding commenced.
1952 New Court 2 opened.
1956 North murals painted by Professor Moira to replace those destroyed.
1972 New South block opened, containing 12 modern courtrooms.
1973 West front damaged by IRA car bomb. No one killed but many injured
by flying glass.
The Memories of a City of London Policeman's Daughter 1921-1940
