How Brown
11-22-2007, 07:21 AM
5 Questions for Mike Covell
1. In your opinion and from what you have gathered from studying and researching Hull’s favorite son ( no...not Professor John Savage...) Robert Stephenson...can you reconcile the fact that for 134 days,he was in a hospital without being sick ?
Either RDS was a very ill man, or he was a very clever man.
I must say that I dont think he was ill, I think he was there because he was running low on funds and the only lifeline in the area who could help him was his brother Richard. Now at this moment in time Richard was a newlywed and for whatever reson didnt want his little brother around.
I believe that the two boys were given funds when they were married (I am not saying where from, wait for the book!!) and RDS had run out of money at this point.
One has to ask why he was not working in the 1881 census, and why Richard in the very same census is independant, both were recently married.
So RDS returns back to London to visit his brother who lets him stay for a short while before giving him his marching orders. He then books himself in with his complaint until he has the funds to move on. (Did RDS think his brother had some money left?)
We know he wrote several letters during this period of time, having several published, did he recieve money for these, and was it enough to set him up after leaving hospital?
If Stephenson was so ill how is it upon leaving hospital we discover he is back in bars drinking, smoking and taking drugs? During the period were my heart was playing up I decided to not drink alcohol, partly because of the medication I was on, partly because of the financial aspect and mostly because i have my life ahead of me, as a result i havent had a beer for two years (mmm beer) If he was genuinly ill would he have returned back to his previous ways?
Then the flip side of the coin would argue, surely the Drs would realise this man was not ill, perhaps they did but if they saw him as an educated man, possibly a former soldier or even a dr would they have turfed him out? We know RDS was a story teller, what yarns did he spin for the staff at the hospital to keep himself in?
2. Who are some of the more influential Ripperologists to you either for your research or in the whole?
Of course one cannot mention Stephenson without dropping names such as
O'Donnell, Whittington-Egan, Harris, and Edwards, wether I agree with there findings is another matter but these gents forged ahead and set the foundations for further research.
I also read a lot of Richard Jones, purely because I was coming from a paranormal background, but the masters such as Evans, Skinner, Rumbelow, Begg, Sugden, Fido et al have inspired and shown how it should be done. Not a day goes by when I dont look at a Ripper-Related book, and they can be found in hiding places all over the house!!
Other authors also inspire me who have come forward with there own suspects even if they were rubbished, and I have been spurned on by local crime writers.
Of course all the people on the boards who have contributed to the bigger picture have also helped.
3. Do you have someone at home with whom you can exchange Ripper related ideas with ? Being a Ripperologist amongst all the civilians can get lonely at times,as you know.
Several of the Yorkshire Paranormal Investigations team love discussing ideas with me, and have helped a great deal, Jo Affleck who is the Administrator for the Universaties Maritime Studies Centre at the Blaydes House is a source of info on who to contact and a great friend.
John Wilson Green, who is the most talented Psychic I have ever met has been great in listening to my ideas, and helping me keep my focus. He is also the funniest man I have ever met.
Ray Dowse of the Quality Royal Hotel is a great friend and has given me several late night access all area tours of the Victorian building were no less than four Ripper suspects had visited at some point.
I often sit and chat with my Dad, who is something of a local historian himself, and we often take my kids into the old town, looking at some of the older buildings.
And not forgetting my Wife, who I often discuss ideas and theories with, wether she is listening is another matter!!
4. Which document or Stephenson related data would you prize more than any other at this time? And why....
I have had copies sent of Birth, Marriage and Death for RDS, I have his fathers death cert, and thanks to yourself his last will and testament. These take pride of place in my Stephenson folders.
I also have a collection of photos that I have taken in the last year of all the locations in Hull the family had links with, there is about 100+ pics in the album, and 2 cd-roms worth of images.
I have had copies sent of the Stephenson letter held at the London Records Office.
I have two giant folders packed full of trade directory entries, burgess roll entries, polling book entries, census info, and other material relating to the man and his family. I also have my book and notes on an encrypted pen drive which is locked away. I also have newspaper reports, and advertisements for the compaines owned by the Dawbers. All of it is invaluble and very special.
5. Have you had time to fully digest the Cremers Memoirs ? If so,what are your views on this woman’s spiel?
Although I think it is an important historical document, everyone is prone to embellishment to further their story. As with most stories related from the past we must also rely on her memory of events, as im pretty sure she didnt write it down at the time.
I am also aware that several of the stories she relates may have come from other people in their little group and she is now relating them to O'Donnell.
What intrests me more is the fact that she came forward to relate this information, and what was in it for her?
If we hold a time line of factual provable events
alongside what RDS wrote over the years
alongside Cremers memoirs
we find much of it doesnt fit (and yet authors and "researchers" have published books on this).
There are still several grey areas in RDS life, but what we need is research not speculation, as this just further muddies the waters for those who follow.
1. In your opinion and from what you have gathered from studying and researching Hull’s favorite son ( no...not Professor John Savage...) Robert Stephenson...can you reconcile the fact that for 134 days,he was in a hospital without being sick ?
Either RDS was a very ill man, or he was a very clever man.
I must say that I dont think he was ill, I think he was there because he was running low on funds and the only lifeline in the area who could help him was his brother Richard. Now at this moment in time Richard was a newlywed and for whatever reson didnt want his little brother around.
I believe that the two boys were given funds when they were married (I am not saying where from, wait for the book!!) and RDS had run out of money at this point.
One has to ask why he was not working in the 1881 census, and why Richard in the very same census is independant, both were recently married.
So RDS returns back to London to visit his brother who lets him stay for a short while before giving him his marching orders. He then books himself in with his complaint until he has the funds to move on. (Did RDS think his brother had some money left?)
We know he wrote several letters during this period of time, having several published, did he recieve money for these, and was it enough to set him up after leaving hospital?
If Stephenson was so ill how is it upon leaving hospital we discover he is back in bars drinking, smoking and taking drugs? During the period were my heart was playing up I decided to not drink alcohol, partly because of the medication I was on, partly because of the financial aspect and mostly because i have my life ahead of me, as a result i havent had a beer for two years (mmm beer) If he was genuinly ill would he have returned back to his previous ways?
Then the flip side of the coin would argue, surely the Drs would realise this man was not ill, perhaps they did but if they saw him as an educated man, possibly a former soldier or even a dr would they have turfed him out? We know RDS was a story teller, what yarns did he spin for the staff at the hospital to keep himself in?
2. Who are some of the more influential Ripperologists to you either for your research or in the whole?
Of course one cannot mention Stephenson without dropping names such as
O'Donnell, Whittington-Egan, Harris, and Edwards, wether I agree with there findings is another matter but these gents forged ahead and set the foundations for further research.
I also read a lot of Richard Jones, purely because I was coming from a paranormal background, but the masters such as Evans, Skinner, Rumbelow, Begg, Sugden, Fido et al have inspired and shown how it should be done. Not a day goes by when I dont look at a Ripper-Related book, and they can be found in hiding places all over the house!!
Other authors also inspire me who have come forward with there own suspects even if they were rubbished, and I have been spurned on by local crime writers.
Of course all the people on the boards who have contributed to the bigger picture have also helped.
3. Do you have someone at home with whom you can exchange Ripper related ideas with ? Being a Ripperologist amongst all the civilians can get lonely at times,as you know.
Several of the Yorkshire Paranormal Investigations team love discussing ideas with me, and have helped a great deal, Jo Affleck who is the Administrator for the Universaties Maritime Studies Centre at the Blaydes House is a source of info on who to contact and a great friend.
John Wilson Green, who is the most talented Psychic I have ever met has been great in listening to my ideas, and helping me keep my focus. He is also the funniest man I have ever met.
Ray Dowse of the Quality Royal Hotel is a great friend and has given me several late night access all area tours of the Victorian building were no less than four Ripper suspects had visited at some point.
I often sit and chat with my Dad, who is something of a local historian himself, and we often take my kids into the old town, looking at some of the older buildings.
And not forgetting my Wife, who I often discuss ideas and theories with, wether she is listening is another matter!!
4. Which document or Stephenson related data would you prize more than any other at this time? And why....
I have had copies sent of Birth, Marriage and Death for RDS, I have his fathers death cert, and thanks to yourself his last will and testament. These take pride of place in my Stephenson folders.
I also have a collection of photos that I have taken in the last year of all the locations in Hull the family had links with, there is about 100+ pics in the album, and 2 cd-roms worth of images.
I have had copies sent of the Stephenson letter held at the London Records Office.
I have two giant folders packed full of trade directory entries, burgess roll entries, polling book entries, census info, and other material relating to the man and his family. I also have my book and notes on an encrypted pen drive which is locked away. I also have newspaper reports, and advertisements for the compaines owned by the Dawbers. All of it is invaluble and very special.
5. Have you had time to fully digest the Cremers Memoirs ? If so,what are your views on this woman’s spiel?
Although I think it is an important historical document, everyone is prone to embellishment to further their story. As with most stories related from the past we must also rely on her memory of events, as im pretty sure she didnt write it down at the time.
I am also aware that several of the stories she relates may have come from other people in their little group and she is now relating them to O'Donnell.
What intrests me more is the fact that she came forward to relate this information, and what was in it for her?
If we hold a time line of factual provable events
alongside what RDS wrote over the years
alongside Cremers memoirs
we find much of it doesnt fit (and yet authors and "researchers" have published books on this).
There are still several grey areas in RDS life, but what we need is research not speculation, as this just further muddies the waters for those who follow.