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R.J. Palmer
Police Constable
Username: Rjpalmer
Post Number: 7
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2003 - 1:23 am: | 
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This might prove a little unpalatable to some, but at least it's interesting. I pass no judgement, but only report the news....
The following was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, while Aaron K. was safely caged...[my italics in the section dealing with Swanson].
February 14, 1891.
A Clew to London's Brutal Murderer
Extra Efforts Being Put Forth to Capture the Ripper---His Latest Guise.
Special Dispatch to the Chronicle.
London, February 13.-- The latest victim of "Jack the Ripper" has been identified as "Carroty Nell." It was about 2 o'clock Friday morning, as Patrolman Thompson was passing under an archway of the Blackwall Railway leading from Chambers into Royal Mint Street, that he stumbled over the body of a woman.
She was lying in a pool of blood, which was oozing from a gash in her throat. As he stooped to listen to the sound as of heavy breathing coming from the prostrate form he suddenly heard receding footsteps.
In an instant he had darted forward, expecting to grasp the assassin, but nobody was to be seen. He raised the alarm, and when assistance came every nook and doorway was searched without result.
When the police surgeon, Dr. Phillips, arrived the woman was found stiff in death, she having breathed her last while the search for the murderer was being made.
The police declare, of course, that none but "Jack the Ripper" was guilty, and that the arrival of the constable prevented the usual mutilation which he has hitherto indulged in.
The spot where the body was found is a favorite resort for women at night, two having been arrested there for loitering early Thursday evening.
Inspector Swanson says that any ruffian might have cut the unfortunate woman's throat in the way that this was done, but when a second soft felt hat rolled from under the victim's arm, in addition to the one she wore, he felt that this must have been done by the "Ripper." The theory has long been that he paraded in woman's attire, and Swanson thinks he dropped the hat while struggling with his victim.
Commissioner Sir Edward Bradford professes to be confident that he will unearth the murderer of "Carroty Nell," and the public hopes he will.
The location of the tragedy is near the city boundry in the vicinity of the docks, and viler in some respects than the scenes of the "Ripper's" former crimes. For this reason had not the officer actually stumbled over the body the "Ripper" might have returned to his horrible task after the policeman had passed, and the officer's statement indicates that the murderer was waiting in the darkness with this object when frightened into [retreat?] by the officer's detection of the body.
Constable Thompson is the most unhappy man in London to-night, as he fels that he had the most noted criminal of the age almost in his grasp.
The inquest will be held tomorrow (Saturday). Meanwhile, the police are scouring the city for suspicious characters, and Sir Edward has spent all day in his office directing the operations."
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AP Wolf
Sergeant
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 12
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 1:12 pm: |
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Well RJ
as you know I do not believe that Swanson's suspect was Kosminski, however this is the first time I have seen Jack portrayed in drag by a senior policeman of the time, so perhaps we are looking at a little bit of disinformation from the press. Not unusual now and certainly not unusual then.
Highly interesting piece though.
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R.J. Palmer
Police Constable
Username: Rjpalmer
Post Number: 9
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 5:00 pm: |
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AP--I'm fairly sure no one will want to touch this one with a ten-foot pole. The Ripper in drag: shades of Conan Doyle and Donald McCormick, but coming from Swanson himself. 'Disinformation' from the press is the easy answer, and, frankly, I hope it's the right one. Off hand, however, I can't see any glaring mistakes in the article. The reporter must have had some access to good information. As you no doubt know, the fact that Frances Coles had two bonnets was confirmed and explained during Swanson's interview with James Sadler the following day:
Sadler: "Then she went for her hat, and got it. and brought it to me at the pub: ho: and I made her try it on...I wanted her to throw the old one away, but she declined, and pinned it on to her dress." [Evans & Skinner, p 555.]
So, we know at least that the bonnet wasn't from murderer. |
AP Wolf
Sergeant
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 14
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 5:38 pm: |
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RJ
Yes, Sadler's testimony is well known to me.
I guess I just liked the idea of a senior police officer thinking that the bonnet could have been from the Ripper in drag.
Perhaps another convalescent for the Seaside Home at Brighton?
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Geeper
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 6:14 pm: |
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Here's a thought... A lot of our suspect are said to be "sexually insane" or having some sort of sexual problem... In 1888, cross dressing would have certainly be thought of as sexually insane and you would have been locked up in an institution for it. |
AP Wolf
Sergeant
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 15
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, March 08, 2003 - 4:00 am: |
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Yes, Geeper, you are probably right in your assumption.
What amuses me no end is the reference to 'solitary vices' when discussing the so-called insanity of some of the suspects. I can understand this primitive and mistaken belief on the part of people locked into the sexually repressive Victorian age, however there are a few modern contributers still around who run with this theme. I believe it should be mandatory for every contributer, researcher and writer on the subject of JtR to have read 'Hites' report on Male Sexuality' to at least give them a basic understanding of such contentious issue.
It is not just about Jack. |
Chris Phillips
Police Constable
Username: Cgp100
Post Number: 7
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - 8:32 am: |
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Some support for the idea that a senior police officer was giving out statements of this sort comes from two reports of the Coles murder in the Bristol Times and Mirror, 14 February 1891
(p. 8).
One is headed IMPORTANT DISCOVERY, and runs as follows:
What seems strange in connection with the crime was the finding of another woman's hat partly hidden by the folds of the murdered woman's dress, and up to the present time nothing like a satisfactory explanation of the matter has been forthcoming. In the course of a conversation, one of the most experienced local police officers pointed out that this discovery suggested a new and important clue. Hitherto, he remarked, nearly everything had been done on the supposition that the murderer was a man. Might it not be the case that the crime was the work of a man in female attire, if not a woman? On the other hand, the officer points out that some strange inducement must have been offered to get one woman to accompany another to such a spot. That the scene of the tragedy was selected after careful investigation, or by a person thoroughly conversant with the intricacies of the neighbourhood, seems evident to anyone who visits it.
Another report contains the following:
An interview with a prominent police official elicited facts which throw some light upon the matter. It appears that besides the hat worn by the victim there was discovered another old and rather battered woman's hat, in the folds of her dress. The discovery has led the police to believe that the murder was committed by the same hand as the several others, the details of which are well known. Some time ago, it was suggested that the murderer, designated as "Jack the Ripper," disguised himself as a woman, and this discovery appears to corroborate the theory ...
Actually, these two versions aren't really consistent, but they do lend credibility to the idea that "one of the most experienced local police officers"/"a prominent police official" was discussing the possibility of Jack the Ripper wearing women's clothes, on the basis of the second hat (which was later explained quite innocently, of course).
Chris Phillips
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Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 2658
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2004 - 9:03 am: |
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Hi all
I was just wondering if anyone was familiar with Swanson's family tree. I found an item in the "Times" for June 23rd 1888 which mentions a Dr James Hutchinson Swanson attending a patient in Colney Hatch. It would be interesting if Swanson had a relative who had access to the asylum.
Robert |
Jennifer D. Pegg
Inspector
Username: Jdpegg
Post Number: 454
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2004 - 10:18 am: |
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Robert,
Here's something to do if you have a lot of time on your hands go on family search http://www.familysearch.org and put donald swanson in!
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Age Birthplace Occupation Disability
Donald S. SWANSON Head M Male 32 Thurso, Scotland Inspector Of Police
Jula A. SWANSON Wife M Female 27 Hoxton, Middlesex, England
Infant SWANSON Son Male 1 m Lambeth, Surrey, England
1881 census
born 1848 thurso (a-z)
Jennifer
Uncle Bulgaria,He can remember the days when he wasn't behind The Times.....
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Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 2662
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 02, 2004 - 4:40 pm: |
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Hi Jenni
Thanks for that. Yes, Donald Swanson shows up in the censuses. James Hutchinson Swanson is proving a bit elusive, though. There's probably nothing in it, anyway. I just thought it might be interesting if a connection was ever found - just like Valentine's school having a matron called Sims.
Robert |
Jennifer D. Pegg
Inspector
Username: Jdpegg
Post Number: 459
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2004 - 5:20 am: |
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Robert,
I think he came from a long line of Donald Swansons.
Jenni
"Think things, not words." - O.W. Holmes jr
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AmateurSleuth
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Saturday, December 03, 2005 - 10:57 pm: |
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Donald Swanson was born in 1849 not 1848. |
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