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How has asked me to post some information about one Henry Wentworth Bellsmith.
As many of you will know, in August 1888 a Mr E Callaghan let rooms in Sun Street, Finsbury Square to a man whose name was reported as G Wentworth Bell Smith. The lodger's behaviour was sufficiently suspicious [see elsewhere for more details] that Callaghan was quoted as saying "without a doubt this man is the perpetrator of these crimes". Callaghan subsequently told Forbes Winslow of his suspicions, and Winslow came to the conclusion that Bell Smith was indeed Jack the Ripper.
A couple of years ago I tried tracing Bell Smith in census, birth, death and marriages records. The only person who came close to matching was one Henry Wentworth Bellsmith - fortunately one of Henry's descendents had posted a family history on the web, so I contacted him to see if he knew anything of the elusive 'G Wentworth Bell Smith'. The information that he gave me led me to the conclusion that 'G' and 'Henry' must be one and the same, for example: -
- HWB is known to have come to London from Toronto at exactly the same time as 'GWB'
- The surname did not exist prior to Henry's artist father John Smith, who made it up as there were so many John Smiths around
- 'GWB' was reported as walking peculiarly with his feet wide apart and knees bending in ... amazingly his family recognised this as a trait affecting HWB's direct descendents
The reason for this further post is that a few weeks ago I obtained a copy of a book written by HWB in 1897 which adds further weight to the idea that he was Callaghan's lodger. The book is a semi fictional account called 'Henry Cadavere - A Study of Life and Work'. The central character is clearly based on HWB himself. I have noted the following points: -
- 'GWB' was known for his religious outpourings, which is typical of the writing of HWB
- 'GWB' was supposedly in London to raise funds - the purpose of HWB's book was to raise funds
- 'GWB' claimed to be able to outwork many men - the central character in HWB's book made the same claim
- 'GWB' was described as about 5ft10, dark hair, closely cut facial hair, dark complexion - HWB's character is 6ft, with black hair, a short beard and dark complexion.
As posted a couple of years ago, HWB cannot have been guilty of killing Kelly as he was aboard a steamship at the time (as pointed out by R J Palmer) - however, he remains of interest as much of the evidence against him relates to the nights of non-canonical murders, furthermore his own son served time for attacking a female (his daughter, ie HWB's granddaughter).
Some more info to follow...
As many of you will know, in August 1888 a Mr E Callaghan let rooms in Sun Street, Finsbury Square to a man whose name was reported as G Wentworth Bell Smith. The lodger's behaviour was sufficiently suspicious [see elsewhere for more details] that Callaghan was quoted as saying "without a doubt this man is the perpetrator of these crimes". Callaghan subsequently told Forbes Winslow of his suspicions, and Winslow came to the conclusion that Bell Smith was indeed Jack the Ripper.
A couple of years ago I tried tracing Bell Smith in census, birth, death and marriages records. The only person who came close to matching was one Henry Wentworth Bellsmith - fortunately one of Henry's descendents had posted a family history on the web, so I contacted him to see if he knew anything of the elusive 'G Wentworth Bell Smith'. The information that he gave me led me to the conclusion that 'G' and 'Henry' must be one and the same, for example: -
- HWB is known to have come to London from Toronto at exactly the same time as 'GWB'
- The surname did not exist prior to Henry's artist father John Smith, who made it up as there were so many John Smiths around
- 'GWB' was reported as walking peculiarly with his feet wide apart and knees bending in ... amazingly his family recognised this as a trait affecting HWB's direct descendents
The reason for this further post is that a few weeks ago I obtained a copy of a book written by HWB in 1897 which adds further weight to the idea that he was Callaghan's lodger. The book is a semi fictional account called 'Henry Cadavere - A Study of Life and Work'. The central character is clearly based on HWB himself. I have noted the following points: -
- 'GWB' was known for his religious outpourings, which is typical of the writing of HWB
- 'GWB' was supposedly in London to raise funds - the purpose of HWB's book was to raise funds
- 'GWB' claimed to be able to outwork many men - the central character in HWB's book made the same claim
- 'GWB' was described as about 5ft10, dark hair, closely cut facial hair, dark complexion - HWB's character is 6ft, with black hair, a short beard and dark complexion.
As posted a couple of years ago, HWB cannot have been guilty of killing Kelly as he was aboard a steamship at the time (as pointed out by R J Palmer) - however, he remains of interest as much of the evidence against him relates to the nights of non-canonical murders, furthermore his own son served time for attacking a female (his daughter, ie HWB's granddaughter).
Some more info to follow...
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