Jean Overton Fuller....& D'onston

[Howard Brown]

In 1965,Mrs. J.O. Fuller wrote the book, "The Magical Dilemma of Victor Neuberg"....which mentions D'onston Stephenson & the Cremers Memoirs.

My question is for anyone who has this book....

Does Ms. Fuller mention D'onston by his real surname at any point in this book? Or does she refer to him as Mr.Bernard O'Donnell did in his manuscript as "D'onston" only?

Good call How,

I haven’t read this work but your post has reminded me that I’ve had it on order for some time and it hasn’t materialised (must do something about that). An search in text of Google Book Search suggests that on page 147 of this work Jean Overton Fuller refers to RDS as

“Dr Roslyn d’O. Stephenson, alias Dr Roslyn d’Onston, rightly Robert d’Onston Stephenson, not a doctor.”

This is taken from the 1990 edition so I’m not sure if this is a post-Harris modification – I’ll attempt to track down a first edition for comparison. The year 1990 also saw the publication of JOF’s Sickert and the Ripper crimes: An investigation into the relationship between the Whitechapel murders of 1888 and the English tonal painter Walter Richard Sickert.


JOF’s memoirs were supposed to have been issued last year but are now scheduled for this year (maybe) – should be an interesting read.

Graham W.

[Howard Brown]

Thanks a lot for this information,Graham. I should have checked Google Books myself...and it might well be a modified edition from the 1965 one.

Hope all is well for you buddy.

How

How, I have two copies of the 1965 edition (don't ask me why) and a copy of the revised 1990 paperback edition. He is merely referred to as 'the doctor' in the 1965 edition. In this first book Ms Overton Fuller gives an insight into the standard of her Ripper research - "I do not wish to press a melodramatic hypothesis; but I have done a good deal of Jack the Ripper research since this came to me (in particular I have studied The Identity of Jack the Ripper by Donald McCormick) and it seems at least as tenable as any other [theory] which has been put forward. A curious fact which emerged from this study was that although the murders were all committed in a small area between the north bank of the river and Liverpool Street Station, the police were of the opinion he lived on south bank which puts Norwood in the picture. He was never caught or identified but the crimes ceased of their own accord - which suggests something happened to him." (Pages 167-168).

By the time the book was updated in 1990 there were many more easily accessible Ripper sources and the name of 'Dr Roslyn d'O Stephenson' appears in her book (p. 157) and Colin Wilson, Melvin Harris are mentioned as using O'Donnell as a source.

[Howard Brown]

By the time the book was updated in 1990 there were many more easily accessible Ripper sources and the name of 'Dr Roslyn d'O Stephenson' appears in her book (p. 157) and Colin Wilson, Melvin Harris are mentioned as using O'Donnell as a source.

Thank you Grey Hunter for this information. Its much appreciated,sor...

It appears Mr.Harris was the first person to discover the true surname of Stephenson....but was not given credit for the discovery.

Again,thank you sir.

Howard,

Melvin Harris should of course be credited for a great deal since 1987 including the first full length study on Stephenson but finding the surname is not one of them. I think rather that Greyhunter was referring to the O'Donnell Manuscript as a source for developing the theory further as Bernard O'Donnell was the first to examine the suspect known to him as Roslyn D'Onston given to him by Vittoria Cremers.

The first to published the surname Stephenson was Richard Whittington-Egan in 1975 and shortly after in 1976 by Stephen Knight. Both authors had access to the research notes of Paul Bonner who had early access to the files in 1972 for a BBC Ripper television docu-drama. So Bonner should be credited with first having found the surname Stephenson to which subsequent research on this suspect was made possible. Joe Gaute the true crime author and publisher also had early access to the Whitechapel murders files and the O'Donnell Manuscript who was probably also aware of the correct surname.

Jean Overton Fuller in her 1965 edition to the book above appears not to have been taken by Cremers and her Ripper story very well and she does not seem to be the source for her information. Apart from the other stated source being McCormick, Overton Fuller also had access to the unpublished papers of Aleister Crowley and his "Jack the Ripper" article completed in 1943 where he is simply named as "Captain Donston".

[Howard Brown]

Spiro...

Thanks very much for mentioning Paul Bonner,a name I have heard and had overlooked. Of course if I was thinking at all at the time I put the first post up,I would have recalled that a reference to Stephenson was in Knight's and W-E's books. I have Knight's book,not W-E's. Grey Hunter also mentioned Knight as an early book source for Stephenson elsewhere.

So I suppose JOF's 2nd edition was modified to include the true surname of Stephenson. And you are correct,old bean....Mr.Harris took the surname and ran with the ball to our benefit.

Why not email me and let me know if any articles a la Spiro are coming along?

Later

How