Mrs. Fiddymont

Informant.

Mrs. Fiddymont was the wife of the proprietor of the Prince Albert pub which stood at the corner of Brushfield Street and Steward Street.

She stated that at 7am on 8th September 1888, soon after the death of Annie Chapman, she was standing in the 'first compartment' of the bar talking with her friend Mary Chappell. A man entered the pub (in the 'middle compartment') whose appearance frightened her. He was wearing a brown stiff hat, a dark coat, and no waistcoat; his hat was pulled down over his eyes and with his face partly concealed he asked for half a pint of 'four ale'. She served the drink whilst looking at him through the mirror at the back of the bar. As soon as he saw Mary Chappell watching him from the other compartment, he turned his back and got the partition between himself and her. Mrs. Fiddymont was struck by the fact that there were blood spots on the back of his right hand. She also noticed that his shirt was torn. The man drank the beer in one gulp and immediately left.^[1]

Mary Chappell followed the man into Brushfield Street and noting that he was heading in the direction of Bishopsgate, pointed him out to a bystander, Joseph Taylor.

Mrs. Fiddymont, Chappell and Taylor later attended two identity parades, the first including suspect William Piggott and the second with John Pizer. In the first line-up, only Chappell picked out Piggott, but then stated that she was not sure if he was the man seen in the Prince Albert. With Pizer, no identification was made.

Following the arrest of Jacob Isenschmidt, another parade was intended as soon as he was deemed to be in a satisfactory mental condition to participate^[2] . Inspector Frederick Abberline stated in a report that Isenschmidt was "identical with the man seen in Prince Albert P.H."^[3] It is not clear whether this identity parade ever went ahead.

References

1. ↑ Pall Mall Gazette, 10th September 1888
2. ↑ The Jack the Ripper A-Z, Paul Begg, Martin Fido, Keith Skinner (Headline 1996)
3. ↑ MEPO 3/140, ff.242-56