During the search for Jack the Ripper members of the public wrote to the newspapers and the police with their theories. On 3 October 1888 the Daily Telegraph published a letter from X of St Albans who reported that a lunatic, considered dangerous to women, had escaped from Leavesden asylum the previous year. His name […]
On 19 September 1888 Sir Charles Warren, Head of the Metropolitan police, named a suspect in the search for a murderer who would soon be called Jack the Ripper. He wrote: “A man named Puckeridge was released from an asylum on 4 August. He was educated as a surgeon – has threatened to rip people […]
I am often asked to recommend a book about Jack the Ripper. My answer is always Phillip Sugden’s Complete History. First published in 1994 this is a masterclass of quality research presented in a readable narrative. It persuaded historians to take the topic seriously, with the forthcoming Routledge Handbook showcasing the growing interest of professionals […]
One of the interesting aspects of Jack the Ripper research is the discovery of coincidences and connections between seemingly unrelated events or individuals. In October 1895 newspapers published an interview with a recently released prisoner about her encounters with Florence Maybrick in Woking Prison. In 1889 Florence was convicted of poisoning her husband, James Maybrick, […]
On 15 August 1914 the poet John Barlas died in the Gartnavel Royal Asylum, Glasgow, aged 54. According to his friend, Robert Sherard, Barlas gave away his fortune and became destitute. On New Years Eve 1891 he fired a revolver at the House of Commons. Oscar Wilde paid part of his bail. Afterwards his mental […]
The Routledge Handbook of Jack the Ripper studies will be published on 27 November 2025. This is an extensive multi examination of the 1888 Whitechapel murders across multiple disciplines with forty chapters written by experts in each field. My contribution covers copycat and legacy killings. More information is available here, https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Jack-the-Ripper-Studies/Kilday-Nash-Watson/p/book/9781032203348
One of the fascinating things about researching Jack the Ripper is the characters that are connected, however indirectly, to the case. In my latest Ripperologist article, I talk about Lizzie Halliday and her interview with Nellie Bly. At that time Bly was at the peak of her fame, after breaking the record for travelling around […]
My research into the Jack the Ripper suspects involves reading books that seek to connect individuals to other crimes with no evidence other than his presence in the same area. Contemporaries also made unwarranted connections. An American newspaper in October 1888 thought that the Ripper was identical with the Austin Axe murderer of 1884-85, a […]
A biography of the famous barrister, Sir Edward Marshall-Hall suggests that serial killer Thomas Cream had an underworld double. Marshall-Hall once defended Cream on a charge of bigamy at the Old Bailey and was amazed to secure an acquittal with proof that Cream was in prison in Sydney at the time of the offence. Aware […]
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