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In 1895, Jabez Spencer Balfour was convicted and given a custodial sentence for fraud.
On his release in 1906, Jabez wrote a series of articles called 'Crimson Crimes' published in the Weekly Dispatch. Part of the series included articles on Jack the Ripper, including Jabez's personal account of a man pointed out to him in both Portland and Parkhurst prisons, as being Jack the Ripper,and reproduced below:
“Crimson Crimes.” 1. — Jack the Ripper
THE SEPTEMBER MURDERS AND THEORIES AS TO
THE RIPPER”S IDENTITY
Mr. Jabez Balfour’s Investigations
Weekly Dispatch 1906
“Do you see that tall and villainous looking ruffian there?” a warder once said to me“Of course I do. What’s the matter with him?” I answered.“Oh, nothing,” was the laconic reply; “Only he’s Jack the Ripper.”Naturally, the assertion startled me. The man who made it was a staid and sober-minded officer, not given to romancing, and much better educated than many of his fellows. I set myself to sift it as thoroughly as I could. To my astonishment I found that a prisoner, a man once high up in the detective service, was firmly of the same opinion. He had himself been actively engaged in the Whitechapel cases, and he knew the man in question well. On one occasion he had arrested him for another offence; but much as I was impressed by these views, I was not convinced.Cruel, Evil Man So far as I could make out, the opinions were based on this sufficiently startling fact. The man was believed by all whoknew him, and who knew the criminal classes, to be the most likely man in all England to commit such atrocities. The most likely morally, for he was dept in depravity. A lustful, cruel, evil man, delighting in every kind of abominable wickedness; passing his life among abandoned women, and thriving on the wages of their sin; the most likely naturally, for he was wonderfully skillful in the use of a knife; swift as a panther, cunning as a fox. Known to have been the perpetrator of many serious offences, he had only been convicted of two. There was not aworse, a more likely man in all London. By nature, by personal gifts, as well as by habits and surroundings, he was as near an approach to what Jack the Ripper might be expected to be as any man ever known to the police. I never could find out, however, that there was ever any satisfactory evidence to connect him personally with any of the crimes, and however likely he might have been, without some such connection, the suspicion was little else than a mere conjecture.
In the 1901 census, Jabez appears listed as a convict at Parkhurst Prison:
Jabez Spencer Balfour, convict, convict, married, 58, company promoter, born London RG13 piece 1022 folio 116 page 6
Another convict of interest in the same prsion in 1901 is this man, Charles Le Grand:
Charles Grande, convict,single, 47, engineer, electrical, born Denmark RG13 piece 1022 folio 115 page 3
But also, there is this man, someone who until today I had completely forgotten was also in Parkhurst Prison in 1901:
William Grant, convict, single, 41, fireman born Cork Ireland RG13 piece 1022 folio 116 page 6
-Also known as William Grant Grainger..a man convicted of stabbing a woman in Whitechapel in 1895
According to 'Jack the Ripper: A Suspect Guide' by Christopher J Morley
view here
"William Grant Grainger was born in Cork in 1860, and in 1883 joined the Cork City Artillery, but was dismissed in 1889 as being of bad character. He spent the next few years wandering back and forth between Cork and London, and it is claimed that while he was in London he frequented the company of loose women, and was frequently robbed and cheated by them. In 1891 he spent a month at Banstead asylum, Surrey, and also spent time in prison for drunkenness. At the time of his arrest he said he was working as a fireman on a cattle boat, though could not identify any ship he had served on.
A story appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette dated 7 May 1895, which reported that Grainger had been unhesitatingly identified by the one person whom the police believe saw the murderer with a woman a few moments before her mutilated body was found. If the witness was Joseph Lawende, he told the police in his original statement that he had only noticed the man's height, and did not think he would recognise him again. It is therefore curious as to why he was expected to identify him several years later.Grainger, in his favour as a Ripper suspect, did possibly have some medical training, he did attack a prostitute with a knife, and may have held a grudge against them on account of him being frequently robbed and cheated by them..."
Was William Grant/Grainger the man pointed out to Jabez Balfour as being the Ripper?
On his release in 1906, Jabez wrote a series of articles called 'Crimson Crimes' published in the Weekly Dispatch. Part of the series included articles on Jack the Ripper, including Jabez's personal account of a man pointed out to him in both Portland and Parkhurst prisons, as being Jack the Ripper,and reproduced below:
“Crimson Crimes.” 1. — Jack the Ripper
THE SEPTEMBER MURDERS AND THEORIES AS TO
THE RIPPER”S IDENTITY
Mr. Jabez Balfour’s Investigations
Weekly Dispatch 1906
“Do you see that tall and villainous looking ruffian there?” a warder once said to me“Of course I do. What’s the matter with him?” I answered.“Oh, nothing,” was the laconic reply; “Only he’s Jack the Ripper.”Naturally, the assertion startled me. The man who made it was a staid and sober-minded officer, not given to romancing, and much better educated than many of his fellows. I set myself to sift it as thoroughly as I could. To my astonishment I found that a prisoner, a man once high up in the detective service, was firmly of the same opinion. He had himself been actively engaged in the Whitechapel cases, and he knew the man in question well. On one occasion he had arrested him for another offence; but much as I was impressed by these views, I was not convinced.Cruel, Evil Man So far as I could make out, the opinions were based on this sufficiently startling fact. The man was believed by all whoknew him, and who knew the criminal classes, to be the most likely man in all England to commit such atrocities. The most likely morally, for he was dept in depravity. A lustful, cruel, evil man, delighting in every kind of abominable wickedness; passing his life among abandoned women, and thriving on the wages of their sin; the most likely naturally, for he was wonderfully skillful in the use of a knife; swift as a panther, cunning as a fox. Known to have been the perpetrator of many serious offences, he had only been convicted of two. There was not aworse, a more likely man in all London. By nature, by personal gifts, as well as by habits and surroundings, he was as near an approach to what Jack the Ripper might be expected to be as any man ever known to the police. I never could find out, however, that there was ever any satisfactory evidence to connect him personally with any of the crimes, and however likely he might have been, without some such connection, the suspicion was little else than a mere conjecture.
In the 1901 census, Jabez appears listed as a convict at Parkhurst Prison:
Jabez Spencer Balfour, convict, convict, married, 58, company promoter, born London RG13 piece 1022 folio 116 page 6
Another convict of interest in the same prsion in 1901 is this man, Charles Le Grand:
Charles Grande, convict,single, 47, engineer, electrical, born Denmark RG13 piece 1022 folio 115 page 3
But also, there is this man, someone who until today I had completely forgotten was also in Parkhurst Prison in 1901:
William Grant, convict, single, 41, fireman born Cork Ireland RG13 piece 1022 folio 116 page 6
-Also known as William Grant Grainger..a man convicted of stabbing a woman in Whitechapel in 1895
According to 'Jack the Ripper: A Suspect Guide' by Christopher J Morley
view here
"William Grant Grainger was born in Cork in 1860, and in 1883 joined the Cork City Artillery, but was dismissed in 1889 as being of bad character. He spent the next few years wandering back and forth between Cork and London, and it is claimed that while he was in London he frequented the company of loose women, and was frequently robbed and cheated by them. In 1891 he spent a month at Banstead asylum, Surrey, and also spent time in prison for drunkenness. At the time of his arrest he said he was working as a fireman on a cattle boat, though could not identify any ship he had served on.
A story appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette dated 7 May 1895, which reported that Grainger had been unhesitatingly identified by the one person whom the police believe saw the murderer with a woman a few moments before her mutilated body was found. If the witness was Joseph Lawende, he told the police in his original statement that he had only noticed the man's height, and did not think he would recognise him again. It is therefore curious as to why he was expected to identify him several years later.Grainger, in his favour as a Ripper suspect, did possibly have some medical training, he did attack a prostitute with a knife, and may have held a grudge against them on account of him being frequently robbed and cheated by them..."
Was William Grant/Grainger the man pointed out to Jabez Balfour as being the Ripper?
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