Death of the Maybrick Diary

[Peter Birchwood]

So here we are after page after page of discussion in Another Place about the thing, and now the whole thing has bombed disgracefully with no explanation as of this moment except more and more pages to come about whose fault it was.

All of this of course totally disguising the obvious and immediate answer that if anyone connected with the diary truly believed it to be real then they would have organised a proper and professional test years ago.
So in the absence of anyone speaking up for it I hereby proclaim that the Maybrick Diary is now dead and buried. There will be no services and flowers are not requested.

[How Brown]

Dear Mr.B.:

While you and I and everyone else can speculate on why this recent cancellation of submitting the Diary to a test may have occurred.....the sad thing about it is how Smith should have done this a long time ago on his own. This is not a slap at anyone else involved with the Diary at present,only a fact.

If I have in my possession a manuscript that could definitely alter Ripperology to a great degree or provide the solution once and for all, I would have,not should or could,taken the necessary steps a long time ago to get it done right. Being responsible. ...Being straight forward and being honest.

If I find a bit of information on a suspect,say....Stephenson....that proves he was in the Hospital on August 31st or say, Sept. 29-30,due to a chart or ledger which specified this....and did not divulge this,I would be a detriment to the Stephenson camp and Ripperology in general. We should be all on the same team and same page.

The same holds true for someone who apparently waited as long as he has just to string us out on the Maybrick junk. Simply put,its a disgrace to keep this unnecessary banter up.

Personally,I recognize that Ripperology is a gescheft...its a business at bottom and selling the individual theories in books or periodicals is percieved as necessary to keep the field "moving along". Its a good idea in many ways for many reasons.

But the downside to it is the animosity within the field that has arisen all because of the less than satisfactory attitude of the person who has had this accursed Diary for many years now.

I think you may be right,Peter. It might not get tested for some time now...if ever. I hope you are wrong,if you know how I mean that.

[Maria Birchwood]

The bottom line Howie, is that the diary camp chickened out of the tests !

And now... you can see Caroline Morris advertising her book which on the jacket cover says that the Jack the Ripper diary is genuine ! Amazing.

Only the other day, I got this book called FAKES AND FORGERIES The true Crime Stories of History´s Greatest deceptions. The Criminals, the Scams and the victims.

And you know what ? I found the Fake Jack the Ripper diary sandwiched in that book between the Hitler diary and the Vinland Map forgery.

So it is an acknowledge fake, and the people associated with it have now their reputations in the mud where they belong.

-Maria

[admin tim]

Well, I am no prophet, seer, or revelator, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that the Diary would never be tested, regardless of any dialogue to the contrary.

As a well-known ripper author often states, "people can't handle the truth". And that would seem to be the case here - the Diary Camp really DOESN'T want to know for sure if the thing is authentic; they have faith that it is and that is all that is needed. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they are TERRIFIED at the prospect of the thing ever being rigorously and definitively tested as John Omlor had proposed. So, when push came to shove, the Owner blinked and here we are at a seemingly-permanent impasse. :banghead:

Speaking for myself, I find it harder and harder to entertain any further claims of authenticity, given this chain of recent events. Next to the Owner, I should imagine the person most relieved by the non-testing would be 'Surely' Harrison, who now has a chance to finish her latest book, the premise of which is that James Maybrick actually faked his own death in 1889 and was responsible for the Borden Murders in Fall River. Massachusetts in 1892. ;)

[How Brown]

Tim:

If what you say is true,then Mrs.Harrison's book should just be overlooked period. That sucks. I guess trying to pin those Austin Murders on Maybrick didn't go over well....try,try again. There's always something else to pin Maybrick with it seems....;)

It may be just best to totally ignore the whole thing for some folks.....By talking about it,we keep it alive for those who profit without verification of whether it would pass scrutiny in the tests proposed. I know I've said that although many dismiss it,it still has yet to be proven impossible or "wrong" or a fake. However,the opportunity may have come and gone for some years now with this latest episode.:(

So instead of ruminating ( for me,personally ) about the Diary,I'll wait until the day it is tested once and for all for chloracetimide.

[Donald Souden]

It would be nice if people tried to arm themselves with the facts before casting aspersions. For the record, the Florida tests were cancelled solely by Jennifer Pegg for reasons she felt right and proper. These was no "chickening out" nor did the owner of the diary have anything to do with the decision.

Don Souden.

[How Brown]

Don:

Thanks for the clarification. I'm reminded of what was mentioned to me by someone recently,which will not be mentioned out of courtesy to that person.

But a lot of people are legitimately concerned that it will never be checked into...after this latest letdown.

[admin tim]

Is that straight dope, Don?

Well, I have to admit that I do not follow the diary saga any longer and I rarely even visit the casebook these days. But it seems that there has been external traffic lately about the diary, which indicated that the tests were off - again, and so maybe I jumped to an erroneous conclusion. :o

This just goes to show that sources should always be checked even on so mundane a topic. Given the past history, I just assumed it was more of the same and had never even seen Jennifer Pegg's name mentioned as part of this effort. Obviously, I am out of the loop. Very far out. :o :o

So, I apologize to any parties whose honor has been unjustifiably impugned. This is useful in itself, as it never hurts to show a select few, and one in particular, that apologies don't hurt, but they do make things better.

[Maria Birchwood]

Howie:

It has been proven already. The handwrite of the diary doesn´t match at all with the real James Maybrick´s handwriting, not only on his will but on business letters that he wrote.

Besides, Peter was asked to be part of the conspiracy by doing investigation that only favoured the diary by a man called Standley Dangar. We were invited there not knowing that the investigation that they wanted was required to be bias. Peter walked away from it. We were told that there was no money to be made in finding the diary to be a fake. The man´s wife is called Jenni. She used to work at a publishing company. After us, Alan Gray the investigator was invited there for the same purposes and Dangar failed with him as well.

The people peddling the diary CANNOT risk ridicule by having a test Howie, it is best to have it the way it is in order to hurt the future sales, its as simple as that.

Tim

I didn´t know about Shirley Harris´s future book, but I´m not surprise. While the diary remains untested which can be easily and inexpensively done, they can continue milking the cow.

-Maria

[admin tim]

Well, I had thought that the winking smilie and ridiculous (even for Shirley Harrison) premise would be a tip-off, but this mention of her new book was a joke on my part - at least I am unaware of another SH book with the premise I had earlier described. :D But if it does appear, remember, you heard it here first. :smoker:

I thought I had better say something to set the record straight before this rumour appears over at the Casebook. :eek:

[Maria Birchwood]

Don:

Excuse me that I have to remind you that Robert Smith is the owner of the diary. Talking to Jennifer Pegg was the same as talking to the monkey when you need to talk to the organ grinder.

-Maria

[Donald Souden]

Admin,

Is that straight dope, Don?

Yes, the straight dope.

Don.

[Maria Birchwood]

Tim:

As to Jennifer´s honour, she states very clearly in her chikening out of the tests that she is acting in Robert Smith´s INTEREST not in the interest of finding the truth or impartiality.

So, from the fact that my husband was offered a bribe by Standley Dangar a close friend of Shirley Harris, to be part of this fraud and Peter rejected straight out. What Am I suppose to think of Jennifer´s Pegg honour ?

A poor student. I can only go by our own experience. We didn´t accept to be part of a fraud. Who knows what has happened here. You cannot blame me to think the worse.

-Maria

[admin tim]

Hello, Maria:

Well, I blame no one for anything concerning the diary; certainly I blame you and Peter for nothing. But, having corresponded for several years now with John Omlor, I think that things must be pretty bad if he quit the diary argument in disgust.

I do blame myself for just assuming this was merely more of the same without bothering to ascertain the true facts here. After Don's post I did venture over to casebook to see what there was to see - and it was different than had been expected.

So I now plan to take my own good advice and avoid any further diary discussion like the plague. No profit can come from it, only ill-will. Thank you for your contribution here, but henceforth I will leave this matter to others more qualified than I.

[Maria Birchwood]

Dear Tim:

I have had nearly dialy correspondence with John Omlor for 4 years now and helped him trace the only source for Diamine pre-1992 who was rumoured to have it. The person in question contacted John only yesterday, after Jennifer Pegg or rather Robert Smith pulled out of the tests.

I will have copies of all the e-mails about the debacle, but as you must understand, I don´t need any convincing that the diary is a pathetic hoax because I have had my own experience first hand experience. John needed to have his and I have noticed that Caroline has rewritten history as to the events the way everything happened, when in reality, she ´hasn´t read any of the e-mails and has indulged in wild speculation.

About what she wrote in Casebook, on the FIRST attempt 7 years ago, when John Omlor had, in trying to get the diary tested, couldn´t be further from the truth too. The demands that Smith required for the diary to be tested at the time, were impossible to meet and now, on this second attempt, supposedly, with no strings attached, well.... suddenly, they chickened out of the tests ! Pulled out WITH NO EXPLANATIONS AT ALL. It wasn´t until after TWO days had elapsed that Pegg came up with an excuse. Before that, it was only a statement in a rude and condecending manner, where she simply announced that the tests were off !!! Just like that ! Not even a thank you John for having arranged the tests nor to his colleague who had the generosity to offer them. Just a pedantic terse announcement that they were off, no explanations were offered, until after two days. Pegg left people wondering what had gone wrong, and John even pleaded with her for an explanation on the very day of the refusal for the tests was given, to no avail ! Pegg didn´t even have the decency to reply on the same day, but left everyone guessing for 2 days.

Unfortunatelly, Casebook deleted John´s 2 letters where he is pleading with Pegg for an explanation and then a second letter by John written in desperation without having had any reply from the first ! They were treated in a shoddy fashion ...

At least this time they cannot say it was John´s fault, it was them who chickened out of the tests. We were all ready to fly and the flight was cancelled, it is as simple as that. Why it was cancelled ? Because it is best NOT to know the truth, its best to live in ignorance.

-Maria

[How Brown]

Lets all ( me included ) fight nice.:thumbsupbud:

Lets let Jennifer respond when the smoke clears,which will hopefully be soon. Jen's keen eye did, after all, uncover the unusual circumstances in the Uncle Jack affair.

I'd like to hear what Shawna has to say about the document as well. Few supporters or objective observers get to speak,since the atmosphere is top heavy with nay sayers.....

Top heavy like Jayne Mansfield.:eek:

Lets leave invective out of it. That *******ed diary can make enemies out of folks who shouldn't be.

Thanks !:)

[Peter Birchwood]

Donald:
To be more specific, Pegg states that it was her decision to abort the tests. All we know is what she says.

[Maria Birchwood]

Howie:

In trying to be friendly with the world, sometimes its not possible in life between what is right and decent and what is wrong and deceitful. There is no middle ground here.

It was Jennifer who pulled out, we were all set to go, everything was arranged for, and for no rational reason. To this day, she´s never even written to John´s colleague to give him any reason for her sudden and stupid decision. That´s because she has none. She eventually made something up on the boards about not knowing how much diary ink would be used but the truth is that John´s colleague had answered all the questions.

John had nothing to do with this process, other than to put Jennifer in touch with his colleague, and bug her when she would remain silent for ages and without so much as asking a question and never making a decision even after 3 months had elapsed of the generous offer. Jennifer´s decision was made despite the fact that John´s colleague cooperated fully and completely and in a timely fashion. And her decision came out of the blue, completely unprovoked and unprofessional. And it was communicated to John´s colleague in a rude, abrupt and immature manner.

To me, this is like biting the hand that wants to help you. John´s colleagues do not have any axes to grind, they don´t know who Pegg or the rest of the Ripperologists are, they were asked if they would volunteer to make these tests and offered their services at no cost. To be given a terse message with a pedantic refusal was unforgivable !!!! I would at the very least had had the decency to thank them and state the reason. None was given and to this day, they were offered none. This is very embarrasing for the Ripperology community.

-Maria

[Donald Souden]

Peter,

Because of the animus on this thread I had no intention to make any additional posts. However, since your statement was directed to me I will address your point.

For reasons that are personal and not germane to the discussion I will not go into details, but I can state categorically that the decision was Jennifer's exclusively. And the decision was made for reasons she felt were compelling.

You may believe me or not -- I really don't care.

Don Souden.

[Maria Birchwood]

Don:

And so the "reasons" are SECRET then. They sound more like an excuse to me. :)

[admin tim]

No profit can come from it, only ill-will.

And truer words were never written. Another mystery has now been added to that of the diary's origins - who said what to whom, when, and why, in regard to events leading to the cancellation of the long-awaited diary testing.

I say we all get over it and move on. There is already enough hard feelings and invective around to last another decade, and it won't change anything anyway. Life is too short to spend it like this, people, so I exhort you all to follow my example and just ignore the thing. Everyone pretty much has his or her mind made up by now anyway.

[Maria Birchwood]

A quotation from All President´s Men. Deep Throat

Follow the money....

:)

Maria

[Maria Birchwood]

The Maybrick Diary, Buried and gone, no flowers, no sorrow good riddence too.


-Maria

[Peter Birchwood]

Donald: you do not seem to have got the point. I am happy that you are convinced that JP was able to make her own decision to ditch months of discussion about tests but unless I am mistaken, she still doesn't own the thing so would she be able to take a decision binding the owner to pull out of tests without any consultation?
And more importantly, if, as seems true, the damage would be clipping out a millimetre or two of ink what's the harm? Is it all down to deciding finally whether the diary is worth hundred of thousands or whether it's worth the £1 that it was sold for? If I owned it and was convinced that it was a true historical document then scraping off a letter would be worth-while.

[Mr.Invisible]

Whilst not a perfect comparison, the church did a similar thing with the Turin Shroud. Despite the risks associated with proving the item to be (in the end) a fake, the church still carried out the tests.

Mr I

[Maria Birchwood]

Donald, Peter:

Can you imagine if the decision to evaluate my valuables would be left to a stranger who just came out of the streets ???

Nobody knows much about this Jenny Pegg to be frank, people had been trying for years to have the diary tested to no avail, then, suddenly, out of the blue, comes a perfect stranger who doesn´t only get the diary tested for some irrelevant tests but secures the right whether it can be tested or not ? Doesn´t this sound a little fishy to you ? Roger P who has been a member for many years standing at the other place, had to go through this mysterious Miss Pegg to see whether he could have the diary tested too and guess what ? He didn´t get anywhere either !! So it wasn´t only the prof. in Florida who was " unlucky " here !

So what am I suppose to think ? but the worse then. Specially, as you, Peter, were offered bribe money to support the diary and keep quiet ?

I wouldn´t trust my valuables to anyone, unless it is my husband, my family and with consultation and MY permission. But a stranger ??? Pleeease ? Do not insult our intelligence.

-Maria

[Maria Birchwood]

Mr. Invisible:

Exactly so. The Catholic Church gave access for a scientific examination to be done on the Turin Shroud. The samples of the Shroud were delivered to Walter McCrone.

In the case of the diary, the only people who have access to it are the ones that are writing about the diary.

So we won´t be surprised if Jennifer Pegg appears next writting about her first laughable test or other useless tests on a book of her own in the future. And you Don, will have to forgive me, that I´m already thinking about her next move, and cast doubts in her character and credibility.

-Maria

[Maria Birchwood]

Mr. Invisible:

I also forgot to mention that Jenni´s supposed confusion or misunderstanding about how much ink would be used, is a lot of TOSH
Only one or two " full stops " were required for the tests done 10 years ago.

And Caz confirms it in her post of 27th of February THIS year. Everyone knew it. It isn´t even a believable excuse anymore.

-Maria

[Caroline Morris]

Hi All,

(Hey, that's not my picture! I wish it was though.)

This is just a fleeting visit and then I’ll leave you to the misinformation channel brought to you by Maria Birchwood. It may be that she has genuine problems with the language, but if so, her husband ought to set her straight for her own good, and that of modern hoax believers everywhere.

Also, she needs to be careful about her sources, and not slavishly believe everything they are feeding her. They seem to be happy to sit back and watch while the poor woman struggles with the facts and turns them into unmitigated bilge.

There's nothing like introducing false information about the people you want to see condemned, to undermine any real case you might otherwise have had against them. Dirt campaigns don't work if the dirt has to be brought in before it can be dished.

I’ve selected the most ghastly examples of where she gets the wrong end of the stick:

And now... you can see Caroline Morris advertising her book which on the jacket cover says that the Jack the Ripper diary is genuine ! Amazing.

Yes it is amazing - and completely untrue, as anyone with a copy can quickly confirm.

So, from the fact that my husband was offered a bribe by Standley Dangar a close friend of Shirley Harris, to be part of this fraud and Peter rejected straight out. What Am I suppose to think of Jennifer´s Pegg honour ?

What has Jenni Pegg got to do with the late Stanley Dangar? A close friend of Shirley Harris [sic] eh? Maria should be asking Shirley what she really thought of Stan and then ask herself if ‘close friend’ comes within a million miles of the truth. I don’t know what ‘fraud’ Maria is trying to connect Shirley with, but John Omlor’s ‘ugly’ has never been as applicable as it is to her attempt.

About what she wrote in Casebook, on the FIRST attempt 7 years ago, when John Omlor had, in trying to get the diary tested, couldn´t be further from the truth too.

So John was trying to get it tested in 1999? I must have missed that one. I certainly didn't write about it.

The McCrone affair began in 2002 and ended in February 2003, because neither John nor Paul Begg had managed to get a single testing proposal out of the lab. Paul's last email, dated February 10, 2003, asking for advice on how to proceed and how much a written proposal would cost, so that the money could be made available, went unanswered. No one appears to know why. Perhaps Maria could ask John if he can shed any light on why McCrone didn't want the business.

I also forgot to mention that Jenni´s supposed confusion or misunderstanding about how much ink would be used, is a lot of TOSH
Only one or two " full stops " were required for the tests done 10 years ago.

And Caz confirms it in her post of 27th of February THIS year.

But that was just the AFI test. And if it had done the trick and proved the diary modern, none of us would be here now!

All the blotches of ink that were in the diary when the facsimile was made have since been scraped away for other tests, which presumably needed more than AFI did. And the Florida option requires Diamine experiments before any determination can be made as to how much diary ink would be needed this time, in order to get accurate and meaningful results.

Peter chipped in with:

And more importantly, if, as seems true, the damage would be clipping out a millimetre or two of ink what's the harm?

Look - if it’s really that simple, and by saying the amount cannot be determined beforehand, John Omlor’s colleague merely meant he couldn't say whether it would be one millimetre or two, the whole thing borders on the farcical. Why on earth is Jenni the last to be told that she is actually worrying her sweet head over the difference between one dot and two??

If John Omlor now has a source of pre-1992 Diamine, original or made up to the written formula, and future tests depend on it, the information will of course be shared with those who need it, in the name of the fairness, truth and integrity the modern hoax believers are always accusing others of not possessing.

If we don’t hear anything, the kindest conclusion we can reach is that the source has dried up for good and can’t be reproduced.

We’ll see, won’t we?

Caz

[Peter Birchwood]

"Whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first make mad!"
I should watch out for lightning!

[How Brown]

Folks...

I'm going to ask for a moratorium until something concrete can be established on this Diary testing.

I like all the people involved with their differences of opinion.

We don't wish to see an escalation of acrimony...

Thanks !!:thumbsupbud:

Management

[Maria Birchwood]

Dear All:

I have been asked to pass this message through from John Omlor to anyone who is interested in the James Maybrick Diary. Here it is:

The people on the (other place) are such suckers. Robert comes on and says even more nonsense about wanting more tests and people buy it and think he really wants something done. Ten years have passed and nothing of any substance has happened. What does that tell you about what Robert really wants ?

Well, the same match isn´t going to burn me 3 times. Not even I´m that stupid.

And if anyone writes me and asks, I´m going to advice them strongly not to get involved in any attempt to test the diary. Because I know how it ends, with nothing actually happening and then more lame excuses being offered.

No one could get Paul Begg to phone the McCrone director for six months claiming he was " too busy " to do it.

And to cap it all off, Robert actually argued that my colleague was as responsible for Jenni´s stupidity as he was.

Of course, everything my friend ( the professor ) wrote was perfectly clear and Robert´s claim is nonsense. But you knew he was going to offer some ridiculous excuse for why these cheap and simple tests never happened.

Well, you´d have to be an idiot to fall for this all over again. But apparently, after a few more nice words and some talk about being " open" to new tests, people fall right back into sucker mode. No wonder this game has been kept alive for so long. I truly believe these people all deserve each other.

Now I really am glad I´m out. I know the book´s a modern hoax and I know that after the noble talk and generous gestures of Mr. Smith, nothing will happen, there´ll be no substantial tests, and the excuses will flow year after year.

In the end, it´s not a question of " alternative " its a question of inevitability there will be no substantive tests so everyone has two choices :

1) Continue working to try and make them happen, despite the fact that no substantive tests will ever be done.

2) Recognize what history and the behaviour of those involved has clearly demonstrated for a decade now, and move on to other things.

To me, ( John O ) option one seems silly, what´s the old slogan fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me 3 times - I must be really stupid.

I understand that personal attacks do not help matters. However, matters cannot be helped in any case, so the personal attacks ( which are completely justified given their past history) can´t really hurt either.

And Jennifer is not a bad communicator-- she is completely unqualified to make the sort of decisions that she made. That is not a personal attack, its a simple statement of fact.

We have known for some time now that simple, inexpensive GC-MS testing will indeed tell us what´s in the ink and in what quantities. Yet it hasn´t happened. And it won´t happen.

And since I´m smart enough to learn from past mistakes, I won´t have to suffer the disappointment the next time when the excuses are found and the tests are called off.

People can want Robert Smith and all his nice talk about wanting the tests to do this and that. Over and over again, he´ll find a reason why any substantive tests proposed will not be good enough, and nothing will happen. I promise you that. Watch and see.
Meanwhile, I´ll be happily away from it all.

Signed John Omlor.

I had to bring this letter here, to see the other side of the coin.

Maria

[How Brown]

Thanks for sharing that with us Maria....much appreciated.

As I intimated to you,no one is pleased with the way this latest affair turned out. If an article appears anywhere in print to explain the decision to NOT conduct the test,I'll pass that opportunity to read it on by. There's no need to rehash the reasons why for me. There's really no need to bother with this perpetually frustrating situation. The owner of the Diary allowed,in my own opinion,the intermediary to twist in the wind. Just my opinion.



And I thank you for posting this with decorum and style:thumbsupbud: . Others can deliberate all they want on the issue of the Diary...include me out.

Besides,there's so much else to discuss than the damned "D" word.

[Maria Birchwood]

It will return once the stake in the heart is being removed.

So.... a proposed Maybrick trial to be done eh ? Tickets at 43 pounds...
I wonder if any of the proceeds of this event are going to go to charity ?
Naa...
I don´t think so... sittings for a thounsand people, pretty good going...

Specially if the event is organized before a book launch to follow... the publicity through radio is already lined up. I wonder how many more fools are going to fall for this financial hoax.

Of course, nowhere along the line a test is not mentioned at all, nowhere is it ? The plan is that the fiasco with the diary tests will be conveniently forgoten in a year´s time from now.

And everyone will enter into sucker mode...possibly people are not so stupid.

-Maria

[Jennifer Pegg]

Hi Maria,

Yes you are right the event does sound like it might well be interesting. And three big name Ripperologists will be speaking there as well as Shirley Harrison. I've never met Shirley but I hear she's great, really down to earth and everything. So anyway will you and Peter will be at the event? i don't know as I'm going to go myself yet but you both being there might sway it!

all those diary people from both sides under one tent ! What a thought!

I take it you and Peter are great cricket fans - just like James Maybrick (apparently!).I'm surpirsed they would let anyone out a marque on the pitch!


Do you think they will find Maybrick was guilty?

Jenni

[Maria Birchwood]

Hi Jenni:

I noticed that your birthday is very near the intended date of the 2007 Conference, and so is mine. My birthday is on the 24th of May when is yours? Because I have noticed that none of the two, are listed on the Forums calendar.

In any case, to answer your question, every 20th of May, Peter takes me anywhere wherever I want, for a whole week. This year, on the 20th we are going to St. Petersburg. Next year, I might be either in Paris or London, which are more " Cities of European Culture " than Liverpool will ever be.

There is no appetite to attend an event which is by all intents and purpuses a farse. In real trials there is a prosecution, I see none there. The best thing to do is to bury it. And the obituary for it, I have written it on the
Caption Competiton for this week.

I have met Shirley Harris twice, first on the occasion when she was claiming that Marco in Spanish meant James in English, but very quickly, I put her to rights in her theory and told her that the correct translation in Spanish for James is either Jaime or the ancient name Santiago.

The second time, was at the launch of the Patty Cornwell book about Sickert, where Peter appeared on T.V. and rattled Patty with the thought that maybe if the Sickert relatives if found, they could sue her for defaming their famous relative. She was really shook by it, and we had several e-mails from her office later after the show. I enjoyed meeting Peter Wood more than meeting Shirley Harris, who looked for the most part like if she had eaten lemons for breakfast.

-Maria

[How Brown]

Here is some information that pertains to the Trial of JTR.

I'm told that Messrs. Begg and Rumbelow will be defending Sir Jim from the charges made against him....

Looks like a fund raiser for the club. I wish we could host a Trial of Anyone to raise money for our site !! ;)



************************************

PRESS RELEASE
Chris Jones
Liverpool Cricket & Sporting Club,
Grassendale Road, Aigburth, Liverpool, L19
Tele:07932-642344 E-mail: c.jones@gateacre.liverpool.sch.uk



5th April, 2006
For immediate release


JAMES MAYBRICK – THE TRUTH AT LAST

Next year (2007) is the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Liverpool Cricket and Sporting Club in Aigburth, Liverpool and the club has been going through its archives looking for interesting historical details about its past. It was soon discovered that James Maybrick, one of the main suspects in the Jack the Ripper murders, was a member of the club in the 1880s. This is not too surprising as his former home, Battlecrease House, is directly opposite the club. The Cricket Club is hopeful of finding amongst its records some definitive proof that will finally and conclusively solve the controversial question of whether Maybrick was innocent or guilty of the Ripper murders.

The Club has also organised for May 2007 the Trial of James Maybrick. It will take place in a marquee in the club grounds in the shadow of his former house. Giving evidence at the trial will be some of the top Maybrick experts and so-called Ripperologists from all around the world. They include Shirley Harrison, author of the controversial book, The Diary of Jack the Ripper and Professor David Canter, the highly respected Head of the Department of Investigative Psychology at Liverpool University. Tickets for the two-day event go on sale, priced £40, on 16th April 2006, a date that marks the 121st anniversary of Maybrick becoming a member of the Cricket Club. Further details of the trial can be obtained from Chris Jones, the event organiser at the Liverpool Cricket Club. Chris Jones stated that "he was confident that the trial of James Maybrick at the Cricket Club would be one of the biggest and the most enjoyable cultural events that will take place in Liverpool in the whole of 2007."

[Jennifer Pegg]

Maria,
sounds like you have found a good one there.

Alas our birthdays are not on the same day and no one will be taking me anywhere!

Jenni

[Maria Birchwood]

Jenni :

You are absolutely right. A real gem of a man. This is why I have been married to him for 24 years and the next, we will have a special wedding anniversary, so we will celebrate it with a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea, fying off to Barcelona where we will take the Princess Yacht and visit 9 different cities along the way, Venice, Rome, etc. ending up in Turkey where we will be taking the flight back home.

-Maria

[Maria Birchwood]

Jenni :

So when is your birthday exactly ?

Howard:

By what you say down here... it looks like Don Rumbelow will be massively outnumbered by the defense team. I´m afraid Paul Begg doesn´t count to me as a credible prosecutor, given his history with the diary...

-Maria