The A To Z 2010 : Discussion Thread 2

[SirRobertAnderson]

Hi Colin,
I for one am indebted to you for what you do here---for supplying this great mass of information collected into specific statistics of the political geography of the East End in the 19th century, though I sincerely hope that other people dont feel it in anyway diminishes their own splendid research.

Sorry for the delay in chiming in but let me second that, Colin. You do great work, in fact unique work.

[Colin Roberts]

In corrolation with infant mortality and the number of 'murders' committed in the area at the time is the sadly high presence of infanticide... far outnumbering the murders of adults.

Or, at the very least, far outnumbering the murders of adults, in any particular five-year age interval, Cris.

In Accordance with the Fifty First Annual Report of the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England, 1888:

England

Registered Deaths Classified as 'Murder', within Specified Intervals of Victim Age (Male)
Infancy - Age 4: 55
Ages 5 - 9: 2
Ages 10 - 14: 2
Ages 15 - 19: 2
Ages 20 - 24: 5
Ages 25 - 34: 3
Ages 35 - 44: 2
Ages 45 - 54: 7
Ages 55 - 64: 2
Ages 65 - 74: 3
Ages 75 - 84: 1
Ages 85 - xx: 0

Total: 84

Registered Deaths Classified as 'Murder', within Specified Intervals of Victim Age (Female)
Infancy - Age 4: 48
Ages 5 - 9: 3
Ages 10 - 14: 2
Ages 15 - 19: 2
Ages 20 - 24: 8
Ages 25 - 34: 12
Ages 35 - 44: 17
Ages 45 - 54: 11
Ages 55 - 64: 1
Ages 65 - 74: 6
Ages 75 - 84: 1
Ages 85 - xx: 0

Total: 111

A focus, on the 'Infancy - Age 4' intervals, for both the 'Male' and 'Female' sets of data, is ... horrifying.

Registered Deaths Classified as 'Murder', throughout England; within Specified Intervals of Victim Age, 1888 (Male)
0 - 1 Month: 42
1 Month - 1 Year: 6
1 Year: 2
2 Years: 2
3 Years: 0
4 Years: 3

Total; Infancy - Age 4: 55

Total; All Ages: 84

Registered Deaths Classified as 'Murder', throughout England; within Specified Intervals of Victim Age, 1888 (Female)
0 - 1 Month: 35
1 Month - 1 Year: 6
1 Year: 2
2 Years: 3
3 Years: 1
4 Years: 1

Total; Infancy - Age 4: 48

Total; All Ages: 111

[Colin Roberts]

Sorry for the delay in chiming in but let me second that, Colin.

Thank you, Bob!

[Howard Brown]

One addition I'd like to make if I may be so bold...is to the entry for Jack The Ripper, The 21st Century Investigation on page 240.

The authors write..."Marriott (Trevor Marriott) believes Jack The Ripper to have been a merchant seaman,unaware that the police thoroughly investigated this possibility at the time...."

Mr. Marriott is on record as claiming that the contemporary police didn't consider that a seaman or sailor may have been the Ripper. We have ample evidence to show otherwise.

The italicized line would cover all bases if it read...

Marriott (Trevor Marriott) claims that the contemporary police did not consider the possibility that the Ripper may have been a mariner ,unaware that the police thoroughly investigated this possibility of the Ripper being a mariner at the time...."

[Howard Brown]

For Trevor Marriott:

http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread....686#post115686

[Howard Brown]

Johann Kerslo

In the new edition,on page 284...a minor & inconsequential gaffe is found in regard to an April 11th,1889 (not 1888) Pall Mall Gazette article which mentions Johann Kerslo ( not Kelso)...a German pamphleteer who was sentenced to two weeks in jail for distributing a pamphlet entitled, The Latest Atrocities of Jack The Ripper, in Stuttgart.


Thanks to the A to Z authors for mentioning this episode. I hadn't heard of it before...and I don't recall anyone else ever being jailed for distributing literature about the Whitechapel Murders before.

[Phil Kellingley]

Not sure Nemo.

I've noticed the entry on Harriett Buswell ( 1843-1872) listed on page 79 as a suggested suspect. Buswell was the victim in the Great Coram Street murder of 1872.

Damn. I thought I was the only person who noticed that. Trust How to get in first.