New book about Chapman

[Helena Wojtczak]

Hi all.

As some of you know, after watching that appallingly inaccurate Youtube video purporting to reveal the four buildings associated with Chapman in Hastings (three were wrong LOL), and subsequently becoming fascinated with everything about his life and crimes, I decided to produce a little local history booklet about him to be called "The Demon Barber of George Street."

However, it has grown out of all proportion and has taken over my life. I'm working on it from 5am till 10pm seven days a week for a month now, and have produced 60 pages of A4 text so far, and have twenty-one pages of illustrations! So I have now made the leap into deciding to make it not a local book but a national one. After all, he's never had a book devoted to him before, the poor old murdering bastard.

I shall call it something like "The Southwark Poisoner - The Life and Crimes of George Chapman", and if I can weave the words Jack the Ripper into the title without rendering it ridiculously long, I will.

So, I am inviting anyone who has anything that they wish to contribute to email me. Scans of documents, photos, press cuttings, snippets of information on him, relevant pages from books, anything that you have hanging around on your computer that you would like to share. So if anyone can help, and would like to help, I'd be most grateful and will of course gratefully acknowledge your help in the book.

I'm not particularly mobile, being semi-disabled and I don't drive, and so am looking particularly for photos of the London locations in which he worked or resided. If someone has high res photos of these I'd happily give an acknowledgement and a complementary copy of the book.

Thanks in advance!

Helena
hastings.press@gmail.com

PS Just want to add, reasons I am drawn to Chapman: well, my dad was born in Lublin, near where Klosowski grew up; my grandfather was a Polish conscript into the Russian army; my stepmother came from Kalisz, near where Lucy Baderska was born. I've travelled extensively within Poland and have stayed there with family and friends many times. My real mother was born in Lambeth and lived there or in Southwark much of her life; my best mate's dad was mayor of Southwark, in which borough I lived from age 7 to 21. I went to school in Harper Road, a stone's throw from Borough High St and where Southwark Police Court used to be, I used to go into the church next to the Crown with my stepmother, and I have used the library on the other side of the Crown; and I now live in Hastings, where I have written four and published eleven local history books. Because of the local history books I am well known to all the booksellers in town and lo and behold, Chapman's former shop is now a bookshop in which my books have been sold in the past. So I feel I have so many connections to this story.

cc The Other Place

[Nemo]

When arrested, Chapman said "Ah, you've got the Ripper at last"

That's one I haven't seen included in any book yet...

[Chris G.]

Originally Posted by Nemo

When arrested, Chapman said "Ah, you've got the Ripper at last"

That's one I haven't seen included in any book yet...

That's because it was Abberline who said it... or else it was Abberline's talking dog.

[Bob Hinton]

Originally Posted by Helena Wojtczak

Hi all.



However, it has grown out of all proportion and has taken over my life. I'm working on it from 5am till 10pm seven days a week for a month now, and have produced 60 pages of A4 text so far, and have twenty-one pages of illustrations!



cc The Other Place

Sorry have I got this right. You've been working on this for seventeen hours a day for a month and you've only got 60 pages of text?

How long do you envisage this book is going to be? At this rate 120,000 words which gives you about 250 - 300 pages is going to take you into the next millenium.

Please get yourself a really good editor and graphic design artist to sort out your pictures, other wise your book is going to be swamped with pictures like a certain book I reviewed not so long back.

Good luck with the project.

[Helena Wojtczak]

Originally Posted by Chris G.

That's because it was Abberline who said it... or else it was Abberline's talking dog.

I might include that this has been claimed, if I can find its provenance, but it won't be included as though it were fact.

It's going really well, Chris. So far 80% of my time has been spent reading and searching. Now I think I have found just about every source there is, the work will change to knuckling down to editing and re-editing the text.

I even have ideas for a modest launch: as I went to school in "Suvvuk", very close to Boro H. St, I thought I might try to get an invitation from my old school to have a meet-the-author session with this "Old Girl". Combine that with a public talk in the library next to the Crown, and so long as I make my train fare back in book sales, and enough left over to buy me a bag of fish n chips en route up from Warrior Square station, I'll be happy. (As you can see, I come from the 'frugal' school of publishing, not the ego-trip-throw-a-lot-of-money-at-a-launch type!)

Helena

[Chris G.]

Originally Posted by Nemo

When arrested, Chapman said "Ah, you've got the Ripper at last"

That's one I haven't seen included in any book yet...

Originally Posted by Chris G.

That's because it was Abberline who said it... or else it was Abberline's talking dog.

Originally Posted by Helena Wojtczak

I might include that this has been claimed, if I can find its provenance, but it won't be included as though it were fact.

It's going really well, Chris. So far 80% of my time has been spent reading and searching. Now I think I have found just about every source there is, the work will change to knuckling down to editing and re-editing the text.

I even have ideas for a modest launch: as I went to school in "Suvvuk", very close to Boro H. St, I thought I might try to get an invitation from my old school to have a meet-the-author session with this "Old Girl". Combine that with a public talk in the library next to the Crown, and so long as I make my train fare back in book sales, and enough left over to buy me a bag of fish n chips en route up from Warrior Square station, I'll be happy. (As you can see, I come from the 'frugal' school of publishing, not the ego-trip-throw-a-lot-of-money-at-a-launch type!)

Helena

Hi Helena

Good to hear that you are making good progress.

The source for Abberline's opinions of Chapman (Klosowski) and on the case generally is the two-part article in Pall Mall Gazette available on Casebook. It appeared in their issues of 24 March 1903 and 31 March 1903. Of course we have to trust the anonymous newsman that he was quoting Abberline accurately, but since the quotes are extensive and were not, as far as we know, later disowned by the retired Scotland Yard man, they are probably what he said.

Best regards

Chris

[Helena Wojtczak]

Originally Posted by Chris G.

Hi Helena

Good to hear that you are making good progress.

The source for Abberline's opinions of Chapman (Klosowski) and on the case generally is the two-part article in Pall Mall Gazette available on Casebook. It appeared in their issues of 24 March 1903 and 31 March 1903. Of course we have to trust the anonymous newsman that he was quoting Abberline accurately, but since the quotes are extensive and were not, as far as we know, later disowned by the retired Scotland Yard man, they are probably what he said.

Best regards

Chris

Thank you for your support Chris. You will recall I felt too nervous to go for a full biog, but all my trepidation has fallen away and I am now on a roll with it - the text is flying off my fingertips.

Yes, naturally I have been through the PMG stuff with a fine toothed comb, as it is a very important part of the Chapman story, in that, had these various police not suggested SK was the Ripper, he would almost certainly not appear in the subsequent million or so (lol) books weighing one suspect against the other. I'm including the full text and Sims's rebuttal.

I need to search for more obscure stuff, and I need people to send me things they have lurking about on their hard drives or archived in ringbinders on their shelves. This is everyone's big chance to contribute something to this, the first and possibly only biography on Chapman.


Helena

[Helena Wojtczak]

Originally Posted by Bob Hinton

Sorry have I got this right. You've been working on this for seventeen hours a day for a month and you've only got 60 pages of text?

How long do you envisage this book is going to be? At this rate 120,000 words which gives you about 250 - 300 pages is going to take you into the next millenium.

Please get yourself a really good editor and graphic design artist to sort out your pictures, other wise your book is going to be swamped with pictures like a certain book I reviewed not so long back.

Good luck with the project.

I thank you for your wishes of "good luck", Bob.


Yours,

"Babcia" Wojtczak

[Chris G.]

Hi Helena

It would have surprised me if you had not known about the two-part interview with Abberline that appeared in Pall Mall Gazette in late March 1903, but I thought I should alert you to it if by chance you had not seen it.

All the best

Chris

[Robert Linford]

Hi Helena

If you are not already a member, it might be worth your while to join Genes Reunited. There are 8 people who apparently have him in their trees - you never know, there might be one or two crumbs to be gathered (that's if they reply - it's always pot luck).