Jack The Ripper

UPDATE:

Since writing my first book, 6 months ago, I was fortunate enough to obtain the Black Sheep/Police Index for Alfred Pearson, the moulder who threatened Thomas Plant and his sweetheart on the night of October 8, 1888 in Brierley Hill. The following comes from the Birmingham Weekly Post:

Stupid Freak. – On Monday, at the Brierley Hill Police Court, Alfred Pearson, moulder, was charged with threatening Mr. Thomas Plant in John Street, Round Oak. The complainant stated that a few nights ago he was walking with a young lady in the street named. When they arrived in a dark part the defendant suddenly started up in front of them, and, brandishing what appeared to be a butcher’s knife, cried out, “I am Jack the Ripper.” The young lady fainted away, and then the defendant threatened witness with the weapon. The lady was afterwards very ill and had hysterics. The defendant did not offer to carry his threats into execution. The defendant now pleaded that he had no intention of hurting anyone, and the supposed knife was a large trowel. (A laugh.) The bench commented on the folly of the defendant’s conduct, and said he might have been committed. Under the circumstances they should order him to find sureties to keep the peace for six months, and to pay the costs; in default of the sureties a month’s imprisonment, and in default of the payment of the costs seven days’ imprisonment.

What I find interesting is that if the normal sentence for this sort of crime was 1 month’s imprisonment or a committal to an institution, then Alfred Pearson, moulder, did receive quite a light sentence, under the circumstances. Also, according to Steve Pearson, Dr. Alfred Pearson’s great-great-great nephew, most of the Magistrates, Judges, Police Officers, Bailiffs and Lawyers in Brierley Hill, were either friends or relatives of the Pearson Family. It may also be noted that Dr. Pearson resided in Townsend House, Dudley, which is approximately 2 miles from Brierley Hill. I believe that this whole incident was a contrived hoax – notice how even the Police enjoyed a bit of laughter at this debacle.

Taken from The Brierley Hill Advertiser 6 Oct 1888.

'On Thursday an elderly man named James Skidmore of John Street, employed as a wagon oiler on Lord Dudley's estate at Round Oak, got between the buffers of 2 trains, and was badly crushed about the body. He was removed to the Guest Hospital, and there succumbed to his injuries. The deceased was a well known character. He was an old miner and has had narrow escapes from death on more than one occasion. As the father of the man 'Mughouse' [George] who was one of those stopped in the Nine Locks pit years ago, the deceased will be remembered by many in the locality'.

From both newspaper articles appears the same address John Street, Round Oak, which was the exact location of Lord Dudley’s estate. I find this fact more than a coincidence since the Pearson family and Lord Dudley owned coal and fireclay mines in the same areas of Staffordshire and a moulder with the exact same name as the Doctor threatens a couple with a trowel in the vicinity of Lord Dudley’s estate. Then, when he is brought to the Brierley Hill Police Court, he receives a very light sentence and the Police even laugh at the whole event. This further corroborates my deduction that Dr. Pearson orchestrated this “hoax” for either two reasons – he was just playing his funny little games again and wanted to make a statement that he WAS the Ripper by having a man named Alfred Pearson yell out, “I am Jack the Ripper!!” whilst holding a Masonic building implement. Or, it was a ploy to deflect attention away from the name of Alfred Pearson, especially if Scotland Yard or the City of London Police knew the location or name of the killer. Pearson must have figured that if a Police Officer from London traveled to Kingswinford to begin asking questions pertaining to an Alfred Pearson, the Brierley Hill Police, which in all likelihood were Pearson family members or friends, would dismiss any interest in that particular name by explaining that Alfred Pearson just turned out to be another hoaxer. After searching the background of Alfred Pearson’s family, I discovered that he had 6 brothers and one of them named John Jewkes Pearson had a son named Arthur Pearson, who was an iron moulder and would have been 24 years old in 1888. More than likely this was the trowel-brandishing man who threatened Thomas Plant and the young lady he was out walking with on the night of October 8, 1888. Arthur was born in West Bromwich, Stafford, England in 1864 and in the 1881 Census, he was listed as an iron moulder, living with his parents, John Jewkes Pearson and Jane Pearson at 26 Eldon Building Winshill, Derby, England which was situated in the East Midlands.