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Chris Phillips
Chief Inspector
Username: Cgp100
Post Number: 516
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 10:38 am: | 
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Here's a review of a new book by Andrew Cook on the career of William Melville, entitled M: MI5’s First Spymaster:
http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=1338242004
[Sorry, you'll have to cut and paste that, as the Casebook system doesn't like the URL for some reason.]
... much of this book is not about Melville at all, but rather about the times in which he lived and the institutions in which he worked. He’s only a bit player in the first 100 pages. They are filled with convoluted descriptions of the arcane machinations of the police force and the London underworld. The reader is treated to drama by association: for instance, an entire chapter is spent discussing the Ripper case, but Melville’s actual involvement in that case is unclear, since no one is absolutely certain of Jack the Ripper’s real identity.
That's meant as a criticism, but no doubt many Ripperologists will find it right up their street. But beware - although the reviewer found the research impressive, he thought the author's treatment was boring and lifeless.
The review includes a further snippet on the Ripper's possible identity:
he writes that the man who might have been Jack the Ripper "died under the name Frank Townsend and he left almost £140,000. One can only speculate about the extent to which his wealth played a part in his escape."
(Evidently Frank Townsend was one of Tumblety's aliases.)
Chris Phillips
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Stepan Poberowski
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 5:02 am: |
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You can read more about the book here:
http://www.williammelville.com/
All the best,
Stepan Poberowski |
Malta Joe
Detective Sergeant
Username: Malta
Post Number: 90
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 3:46 pm: |
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Answers.com claims that William Melville was chosen to be one of the founding members of the Special Irish Branch in 1882. This Branch was founded to work against Fenians, Irish Republic dynamiters, and anarchists. The web site claims that Melville was posted to Le Havre, France and that he captured the fleeing Dr. Tumblety at that port. It also states that the French authorities forced Melville to release Tumblety.
In 1893, Melville became Superintendent of Scotland Yard's Special Branch when Littlechild retired to become a private investigator. Does anybody know anything more about these claims?
Joe the Curious |
Dan Norder
Chief Inspector
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 597
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 4:10 pm: |
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Answers.com is just repackaging Wikipedia's article on the topic. Wikipedia is written by members of the general public, so very often is not accurate. I suspect whoever put that info there got it from the publishers the book mentioned above, as they made claims like that which were not actually in the book.
Dan Norder, Editor
Ripper Notes: The International Journal for Ripper Studies
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