Albert Bachert aka Alfred Charrington

[Debra Arif]

Excellent find, Jerry. Fascinating stuff.

[Gary Barnett]

Fascinating stuff, Jerry.

It seems the 'Skeleton Army' was a country-wide phenomenon, with the most unlikely places, such as the small Devon town of Honiton, being hotbeds of skeleton activity. As early as 1883 it was being said that its leader General Charrington was a young engraver's apprentice.

[Jerry Dunlop]

One last post for the evening, sorry. The Skeleton Army marched under a banner with a Skull with Crossbones. Their motto was Blood and Guts/Thunder. "'Skeletons' used banners with skulls and crossbones; sometimes there were two coffins and a statement like, “Blood and Thunder” (mocking the Salvation Army's war cry "Blood and Fire") or the three Bs: “Beef”, “Beer” and “Bacca” - again mocking the Salvation Army's three S's - "Soup", "Soap" and "Salvation".[Charles Jeffries Wikipedia]

This is a Ripper letter from October 9, 1888. Notice the Skull and Crossbones, the word BLOOD spelled out, a coffin and a skeleton drawn to the right. Coincidence? Or from Bachert? Bachert was an Art engraver and would be talented with drawing skills I would think. The messy writing doesn't match the somewhat artistic drawings.

[Jerry Dunlop]

Didn't Charrington (the actual brewer) own the Three Nuns?

[Jerry Dunlop]

Joshua Rogan had started a thread regarding the Skeleton Army, here.

http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=10554

[Jerry Dunlop]

Here is Backert lying in 1890 about his alias.

Evening News and Post
October 13, 1890

[Jerry Dunlop]

This was a real surprise to me. The first article I found stated Backert was "late" of the Skeleton Army. The second one I found after the first indicates he was actually the founder and General of the Skeleton Army under the alias Alfred Charrington. Check the address out at the bottom of the second article(13, Newnham Street, Whitechapel).

London Evening News and Post
April 8, 1892



Guardian
February 7, 1883