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The Detective Diaries podcast series not only examines the true stories behind famous Detectives in history but also provides an insight into the inner workings of a genuine Private Detective agency
While there is a lot of media coverage of the Whitechapel Murders, this podcast delves into something interesting - the real story behind the lead detective in the 'Jack the Ripper' case - Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, starting with a visit to his town of birth in Blandford Forum, Dorset to on-loction broadcasts from Whitechapel and Shoreditch
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Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline investigates the Cleveland Street Scandal, which rocked Britain in the 19th century, and the notorious 'Turkish Bond Robbery' - the 'Italian Job' of the 19th Century, ending with a visit to his home of retirement in Bournemouth and the story of how his grave was finally marked 75 years later - recorded on location
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Another story of a famous Detective - an account of Italian Detective Giuseppe Dosi
If you liked this podcast, hear more in Seasons 1 and 2 of Detective Diaries,
Back in the modern age, we interview Chief Superintendent Robert Hoblin
Profile of Narrator Nigel Parsons
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Welcome to Detective Diaries brought to you by Private Detective Answers investigation.
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If you are captivated by the art of deduction, the thrill of something unsolvable or the
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enigmatic word of private investigation, you have just found your new favorite podcast.
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Detective Diaries are where secrets are unraveled and the truth is always a clue away.
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Presented by private detective answers investigation, each episode contains off beat conversations about
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the real people involved in investigation. Enjoy.
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You join us for one of our occasional historic episodes where our resident geek travels
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back in time to examine some of the detectives of history, both fictional and real.
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Some of these have been the inspiration for our profession.
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Everyone has heard of Jack the Ripper, but Frederick Abberline was the lead detective involved
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in the investigation. There was much more to his life and story.
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So sit back and enjoy the tale of Frederick Abberline.
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Hello once more from Detective Diaries.
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I have been a private detective for a very long time.
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With an interest in history, my work has developed my intrigue to learn more about the detectives
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in history, who are the foundation of our profession.
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I hope you have listened to some of the other podcasts we have broadcast on famous detectives,
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including the very first one we recorded while working in Naples about the Italian detective
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Giuseppe D'orsi.
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Tonight we are stepping back into the dark heart of Victorian London, the world of
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gaslit streets and stark social divides.
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Our destination is the year 1888 and our guide is a man whose name is forever linked with
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one of history's most infamous unsolved mysteries.
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I'm referring to Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline, the real detective of the Jack the
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Ripper case.
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When you think of the Ripper investigation, the image that probably comes to mind is not
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one of a portly unassuming police officer.
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Thanks to decades of sensationalised books, films and TV series, Frederick Abberline has
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been fictionally portrayed as everything from a clairvoyant opium addict to a cynical,
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washed up drunk.
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But the truth is, the real Inspector Abberline was none of those things.
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He was a highly competent, well respected, and above all decent man, but thrust into the
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most chaotic and brutal investigation of his career.
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Born in 1843 in the quiet Dorset town of Blandford Forum, Frederick George Abberline's
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path to Scotland Yard was hardly a dramatic one.
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He began his professional life as an apprentice clockmaker, a detail that feels almost poetic,
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given his later career in meticulously tracking time and events.
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When I'm telling the story of a historical figure, be they fictional or real, I like to visit
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the places they lived and worked.
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It helps me to imagine not only their historic time, but the person themselves.
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A few weeks ago, I travelled to a friend's wedding in Bridport in Dorset near to where I grew
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up.
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It gave me the opportunity to visit nearby Blandford, where Frederick Abberline was born.
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Standing on the corner of Salisbury Street, I recorded this.
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Wherever I go to, I like to know the history of the place, which is why travelling through
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Blandford Forum in Dorset, I'm standing on the corner of Salisbury Street.
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This is where Frederick Abberline, a name synonymous with Jack The Ripper, was born in the early
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1840s.
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It's uncertain which house his parents, Hannah and Edward lived, but they are listed in the
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1841 census.
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And in the 1851 census, it lists Frederick as living around the corner in East Street, the
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other side of Market Place, just where I'm going to now.
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The sound of Sunday traffic is perhaps a far cry from the sounds of 1851.
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However, whilst streets have changed, many of the buildings seem to resonate with the architecture
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of the 19th century.
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I'm standing and looking behind me at Blandford Forum church, and the buildings
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in Market Place, which leads into East Street.
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And it's within East Street that Frederick Abberline lived.
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It's easy to imagine that 16 year old Frederick, leaving his house in East Street to work in his job
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as a clockmaker.
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And then in 1860, he left for London, which is where his history really begins.
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A 20 year old Abberline arrived in the chaotic metropolis of London and joined the Metropolitan
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Police on the 5th of January 1863, being appointed to N division in Islington.
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His warrant number, 43519.
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His diligence and his dedication were quickly noted by his superiors and he earned promotion
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after promotion, moving steadily up the ranks.
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He was promoted to Sargent after two years on the 19th of August 1865.
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On his promotion, he moved to Y Division Highgate, investigating Fenian activities as a plain
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clothes officer.
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On to 1878 and Abberline is transferred to H Division, the local inspectorate responsible for policing White
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Chapel, the very district that would, a decade later, become the Ripper's hunting ground.
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This wasn't some remote ivory tower position.
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Abberline spent 10 years on the beat, getting to know the Labyrinthine, Alleyways, the Crowded
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lodging houses and the people who lived in them.
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Roll on to the end of 1887, and Abberline's dedication and service were recognised with
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a promotion to Central Office at Scotland Yard.
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A farewell dinner was held for him by the White Chapel Station in commercial street in
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December, at the Unicorn Tavern on Shoreditch High Street.
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It was decided early on in the Jack the Ripper case that the local detective force would benefit
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from the involvement of experienced officers from Scotland Yard.
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Abberline's intimate knowledge of the East End and his reputation for honesty and hard
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work made him the obvious choice when Scotland Yard was scrambling to manage the storm of the
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White Chapel murders in 1888.
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When the Ripper murders began in August of 1888, the public and the press were in a frenzy.
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The police were overwhelmed by the brutality of the killings and the lack of concrete
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evidence.
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Abberline, now a chief inspector, was called in from Scotland Yard to take command of the
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on-the-ground investigation.
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The media, in particular, was relentless- criticising every single misstep and fueling
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a sense of panic.
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The police station associated with the Jack the Ripper murders was Leman Street Police Station,
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built in 1830 but sadly demolished in 2020.
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Abberline, however, was stationed at Commercial street police station.
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Sadly, the Unicorn Tavern, where Frederick had his farewell supper with his White Chapel
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colleagues before moving to the lofty heights of Scotland Yard, is long gone.
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While it closed as a police station many years ago, Commercial street police station still
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stands, albeit a residential block called Burhan Uddin House.
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In my custom of living the location, I decided to go and take a look.
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Walking out of Shoreditch High Street Station, on what is now the Windrush Line in London's
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White Chapel, we step onto Commercial street, the site of the Commercial street police station
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to which Frederick Abberline was assigned during the White Chapel murders.
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Now residential flats called Burhan Uddin House, the building is much as it was in the time
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of Jack the Ripper.
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Apart from the graffiti on the walls outside, which I'm sure would not have been tolerated
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in Abberline's day, boundaried by Elder Street and Fleur de Lis Street, there is an additional
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story which was added in 1906.
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To get away from the noise of the traffic, I'm stood in the original entrance from which
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one can imagine police officers of the day entering and leaving.
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The Commercial street police station was where many of the police officers, including Inspector
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Abberline were based.
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At the time of the White Chapel murders a very different investigation occurred in the
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case of Annie Farmer, the reason being that the victim of the attack survived and was able
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to give an account of what had happened to her.
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Annie Farmer was attacked at a lodging house in nearby George Street, which was very close to
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a previous murder scene.
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A man had attempted to cut her throat, but Annie Farmer was able to scream to raise the alarm
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and the attacker fled.
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She was taken here to Commercial street police station, where she was placed in a comfortable
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room and given time to sober up before being interviewed.
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The cut to her throat was only superficial, so once she had been attended to by the doctor
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she was able to give a description of her assailant, describing him as about 36 years old, 5
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foot 6 inches tall, with a dark complexion and no facial hair.
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The circumstances of the case gave the public reason to believe that the attacker could be
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Jack the Ripper.
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Although the police felt the attack was probably not the work of the prolific murderer they
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were desperately looking for.
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Walking a few hundred yards south, come to Fournier Street on the corner of which stands
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the Ten Bells pub.
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It's opposite Spittlefields market above which lies a plaque which reads 'Spittlefields market,
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rebuilt by Robert Horner during the year of Queen Victoria's Jubilee'.
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Which I think was 1893, so it really conjures up the image of the time.
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It's beside Christchurch spittle field, again, an iconic building of the era.
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Ten Bells itself is very much as it probably appeared during the time of the White Chapel
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murders, perhaps without the sign outside now saying 'beer and burger for 12 pounds'.
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Two of Jack the Ripper's female prostitute victims are supposed to have frequented the
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Ten Bells.
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Prostitution remained a feature of Commercial street until recently. Dorset Street which
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runs off Commercial Street to the West, and immediately south of Spittlefields market,
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was dubbed the worst street in London.
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It's too tempting, I have to go inside for a quick refreshment.
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Abberline's work, and that of his team was incredibly challenging.
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This was a time before modern forensic science.
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The technology we take granted today simply didn't exist.
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There was no DNA, no fingerprint analysis.
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Listen to some of the other episodes in our podcast if you wish to learn about fingerprint
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analysis and no centralised criminal database.
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Detective work relied on old fashioned methods.
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Questioning witnesses, gathering intelligence and following up on every single lead no matter
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how outlandish it might be.
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And there were countless outlandish leads.
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Abberline later spoke of feeling 'lost almost in theories', a sentiment that catches the
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impossible complexity of the task he faced.
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Abberline was first called in to give an opinion on the crimes in the immediate aftermath of
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the murder of Mary Nichols, which took place on the 31st of August 1888.
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The St James Gazette mentioned his involvement in the case in it's addition of Saturday, September
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1st, 1888.
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''So far the police have satisfied themselves but as to getting a clue to her murderer they
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express little hope.
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The matter is being investigated by Detective Inspector Abberline of Scotland Yard, and Inspector
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Helson, J. Division''. 42 years old at the time of her death, Mary Ann Nichols was a casual prostitute,
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who was residing in an lodging house in Thrawl street.
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Despite producing five children her marriage failed in 1880 due to her frequent over indulgence
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in alcohol.
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Just two years later, Mary Ann Nichols had begun working the streets in order to earn a living.
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Undoubtedly, this is what she had been doing on the night that she died, especially since
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it later transpired that she had been turned away from her doss house for failing to provide
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the sum of fourpence for her bed.
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Looking back, it was ascertained that she may have spent the money on alcohol as she had been
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seen leaving The Frying Pan Pub on Brick Lane, beforehand.
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PC John Neill was patrolling Bucks Row, a gloomy street in Whitechapel for what must have
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been the umpteenth time on the wet dreary night of the 31st of August 1888.
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As he approached the stable yard next to the Board school he noticed the body of a woman
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lying on her back.
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Upon closer inspection by the light of his lamp he found that the woman's throat had been
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cut.
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PC Neill noticed another policeman from passing at the end of the street, used his lamp to
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signal for assistance, and was swiftly joined by PC Thain.
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Dr Llewellyn's post-mortem revealed several injuries, including two deep cuts to the
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throat, both of which had penetrated down to the spine.
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The first cut was approximately four inches long and the second approximately eight inches
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in length, and stretched from ear to ear deep enough to sever the large artery.
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The cuts were framed by two small bruises to both sides of the jaw that were not unlike
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the impressions left by recent pressure of a thumb and finger, suggesting that the killer
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had held the woman's throat prior to slitting it twice.
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There were also a number of abdominal injuries thought to have been made with the same instrument,
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a strong bladed knife.
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One deep hacking gash had jaggedly torn the left side of the lower part of the abdomen
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and as far up as the sternum, leaving the intestines exposed.
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Similar cuts were found on the right side of the torso, including further slashes across the
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abdomen, but no internal organs had been removed from the body by the murderer.
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Initially, based on the visible injuries and mutilations, Dr Lewellen believed that the
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killer was left handed, and had attacked the victim from the front.
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He concluded that the murderer must have had some rough anatomical knowledge, and that
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the wounds would have been the work of a single killer, taking only a mere four or five
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minutes to inflict.
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By the time of the murder of Annie Chapman on the 8th of September 1888, Inspector Abberline
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was seen very much as the lead officer on the case, as is attested to by the following
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account which appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle on Friday 14th September 1888.
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Detective Sergeant Thick, Sergeant Leach and other detective officers were soon on the spot,
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the backyard of 29 Hanbury Street where Annie Chapman's murder had occurred, while a telegram
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was sent to Inspector Abberline at Scotland Yard, apprising him of what had happened.
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It will be recollected that this officer assisted in the inquiry concerning the murder in
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Buck's row'.
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The press began to focus on one particular individual as a potential suspect.
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This person's vicious habits have been recounted by several local prostitutes, who described
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tales of him stalking streets, threatening women with a knife, robbing them or even attempting
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to kidnap them.
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Due to his habit of wearing a leather apron he had been nicknamed 'leather apron'.
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'Leather apron' was believed to be of a marked Hebrew type, which set him apart as a member
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of a large Jewish community that had been growing in the East End over the previous decades.
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With this development the next few years would prove to be a highly dangerous time for
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these settlers, racism and resentment towards Jews was already rife, and before long they
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were being blamed for undercutting job markets and taking over local neighbourhoods.
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As such they would go on to provide the public, and many journalists, with an easy scapegoat
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for the killings.
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Leather apron proved to be an elusive character, but would eventually be identified by the police
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as John Pizer, however the police downplayed his role as a suspect.
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On Monday the 10th of September 1888, Abberline was the officer who headed to Gravesend to escort
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William Henry Piggott back to London.
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Piggott had been arrested the previous evening, at The Pope's Head tavern, in West Street, Gravesend.
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The central news agency reported...
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'His hand is badly bitten, and there are blood marks on his clothes.
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He answers somewhat to the description published on the man wanted.
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He admits to having been in Whitechapel on the Saturday morning, about the place where
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the woman's body was found'.
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After the murder of Elizabeth Stride, Abberline was being recognised as the lead detective
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on the case, albeit he was now sharing the burden of the murder's investigation with
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Chief Inspector Donald Swanson.
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In the aftermath of the murder of Mary Kelly in Miller's court, Abberline was soon on the
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scene, and one of his first actions was to give orders that no one should be allowed to
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enter or leave the court.
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Abberline also had the unenviable task of sifting through the ashes of the grate in Mary
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Kelly's room, to see if they could yield up any clues. In the grate were traces of women's
.
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clothing haven't been burned.
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One of the most famous leads involved a German Polish immigrant named Aaron Kosminski.
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Kosminski was identified as a suspect by a witness, but was never formally charged due to
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the witnesses refusal to testify.
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Abberline never publicly named Kosminski, but evidence suggests he privately believed the man
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to be a prime suspect.
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It's just one example of the dead ends and the frustrations that dogged the investigation.
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By 1889 Abberline had been removed from the white chapel murders investigation, no one actually
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knows why. and by July he had been replaced by Inspector Henry Moore as the officer in charge.
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Abberline would go on to investigate the Cleveland Street scandal.
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In many ways, while Frederick Abberline found notoriaty for the Whitechapel murders, and
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the media labelling of the Jack the Ripper case, the Cleveland Street scandal was the focal
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point of his career.
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Lesser known, than the infamy of the Whitechapel murders, it has been overshadowed by the populist
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legacy of Jack the Ripper.
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In part two of the story of Frederick Abberline we will examine the Cleveland Street scandal
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and it's devastating upheaval of Victorian society, as well as Abberline's second career with
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the Pinkerton detective agency.
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So why remember Frederick Abberline?
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Because his story serves as a crucial counterpoint to the lurid myth of Jack the Ripper.
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It's a reminder that behind every famous criminal case are the lives of the people who dedicate
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themselves to solving it.
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Abberline was no cinematic hero, but a diligent, hard working man, who did his duty to the
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best of his ability, under almost unimaginable pressure.
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His failure to solve the Ripper case was not a personal one but a reflection of the limitations
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of his time and the inherent darkness of the mystery itself.
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He was a good policeman, and he deserves to be remembered for that, not for the fictional
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ghosts that have haunted his story for over a century.
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Here at Answers Investigation we take on cases few ever see.
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So why not dive into our history, and explore the hidden world of criminal defence?
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Here, on Detective Diaries.
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We hope you've enjoyed this slightly different episode- stepping back in time to trace the
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shadow career of Frederick Abberline.
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Do keep with the story, as we have part two coming in the near future.
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If the stories buried in history and the minds that dare to unearth them draw you in, then stay
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with us.
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We'll be uncovering more stories from both the celebrated and almost forgotten figures
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who shaped the art of deduction.
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Looking ahead to season two? We'll be opening the door to fresh perspectives, from work experience
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candidates. Bringing you richer, more theatrical storytelling- courtesy of the brilliant Ellie
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Murton, from the Guildford Shakespeare Company.
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We'll then take a turn, exploring the darker corners of cyber psychology with Professor
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Emma Short. And as always- keep listening, stay curious and keep seeking the truth.
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[Music]
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You're listening to another episode of Detective Diaries,
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brought to you by Private Detective Answers investigation.
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This series explores often off-beat conversations and diverse topics
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with some of the real people involved in investigation.
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[Music]
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In part one of our two-part episode on the life of Frederick Abberline,
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the famous Victorian detective,
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we looked at his early life and his part in the infamous Whitechapel murders.
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The name Frederick George Abberline has become synonymous with that of Jack the Ripper,
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and he has been portrayed as everything from an alcoholic,
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a drug addict, a womanizer, and a bully.
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In reality, Abberline was none of these,
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but instead was a devoted husband and a dedicated policeman in a time of rampant corruption.
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Furthermore, the Whitechapel murders were not the only notorious cases he worked on.
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From his humble origins as a clockmaker,
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through to his rising through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police,
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I have told the story of a man who led some of the most infamous investigations in British criminal history.
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Long before the Ripper, Abberline infiltrated an Irish terrorist group known as the Fienians,
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before he came embroiled in the Cleveland Street scandal,
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an incident that almost brought the government to its knees.
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When he retired from the police at the age of 49,
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Abberline had received 84 commendations and awards,
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a testimony to his tenacity and his ability.
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If you've not listened to Part 1, you'll see a link in the show notes to this episode.
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In the meantime, we will transport you back to 1889,
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and the cases of the Cleveland Street scandal and the Turkish bomb robbery.
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[Music]
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In July 1889, police-constable Luke Hanks was investigating a theft
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from the London Central Telegraph Office.
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During the investigation, a 15-year-old Telegraph boy named Charles Thomas Swinscow
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was discovered to be in possession of 14 shillings equivalent to several weeks of his wages.
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At the time, messenger boys were not permitted to carry any personal cash in the course of their duties
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to prevent their own money being mixed with that of the customers.
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Suspecting the boy's involvement in the theft,
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Constable Hanks brought him in for questioning.
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After hesitating, Swinscow admitted that he earned the money by working as a prostitute for a man named Charles Hammond
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who operated a male brothel at 19 Cleveland Street.
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According to Swinscow, he was introduced to Hammond by a general post office clerk 18-year-old Henry Newlove.
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In addition, he named two 17-year-old Telegraph boys who also worked for Hammond.
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George Alma Wright and Charles Ernest Thickbroom.
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Constable Hanks obtained corroborating statements from Wright and from Thickbroom and armed with these,
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a confession from Newlove.
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Constable Hanks reported the matter to his superiors,
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and the case was given to Detective Inspector Frederick Abberline.
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Inspector Abberline went to the brothel on the 6th of July with a warrant to arrest Hammond and Newlove
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for violation of Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885.
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The act made all homosexual acts between men, as well as procurement or attempted procurement of such acts punishable by up to two years in prisonment, with or without hard labor.
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He found the house locked and Hammond gone,
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but Abberline was able to apprehend Newlove at his mother's house in Camden Town.
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In the time between his statement to Hanks and his arrest, Newlove had gone to Cleveland Street and warned Hammond
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who had consequently escaped to his brother's house in Gravesend.
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And this is where the intrigue started.
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On the way to the police station, Newlove named Lord Arthur Somerset and Henry Fitzroy, Earl of Euston,
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as well as a British Army colonel by the name of Jervois as visitors to Cleveland Street.
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Somerset was the head of the Prince of Wales Stables.
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While not implicated, aside from the connection to Lord Arthur Somerset, Albert Edward,
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the Prince of Wales and future Edward VII, the second child, and eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha,
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Edward, nicknamed "Bertie" was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years.
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During his mother's long reign, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the leisured elite.
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When the press caught hold of the scandal, his name became mentioned by implication.
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Although Lord Somerset was interviewed by Inspector Abberline, no immediate action was taken against him,
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and the authorities were slow to act on the allegations of Somerset's involvement, Abberline placed a watch on the now empty house
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and details of the case shuffled between government departments.
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An arrest warrant was issued on the 19th of August in the name of George Beck,
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who was an acquaintance of Hammond who pretended to be a clergyman.
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Beck had actually worked at the telegraph office but had been sat for improper conduct with the messenger boys.
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A 17-year-old youth found in Beck's London lodgings revealed to the police
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that Beck had gone to Portsmouth and was returning shortly by train.
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The police arrested Beck at London Waterloo Railway Station ,in his pockets
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they discovered letters from Algernon Allies.
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Abberline sent constable Hanks to interview Allies at his parents' home in Sudbury in Suffolk.
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Allies admitted to receiving money from Somerset having a sexual relationship with him and working at Cleveland Street for Hammond.
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On the 22nd of August police interviewed Somerset for a second time, after which Somerset left and fled to Bad Homburg
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where the Prince of Wales was taking his summer holiday.
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Because the press initially barely covered the story, the affair would have faded quickly from public memory
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if it was not for journalist Edward Park.
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He was the editor of the obscure politically radical weekly called the North London press.
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Park had got wind of the affair when one of his reporters had brought in the story of New Love's conviction.
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Park had begun to question why the prostitutes have been given such light sentences relative to their offence.
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The usual penalty for gross indecency was two years imprisonment
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and how Hammond had been able to evade arrest.
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His curiosity aroused, Park found out that the boys had named prominent aristocrats
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and he subsequently ran a story on the 28th of September, hinting at their involvement but without detailing specific names.
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A fortnight later on the 16th of November, Park published a follow-up story which specifically named Henry James Fitzroy,
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the Earl of Euston in and indescribably loathesome scandal in Cleveland Street.
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Park's further alleged that Euston may have gone to Peru and that he had been allowed to escape to cover up the involvement of a more highly placed person.
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That person not being named but who was believed by many to be Prince Albert Victor, the son of the Prince of Wales.
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Newspaper coverage of the day reinforced negative attitudes about male homosexuality as an aristocratic vice,
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presenting the telegraph boys as corrupted and exploited by members of the upper class.
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That attitude reached its climax a few years later when Oscar Wilde was tried for gross indecency as a result of his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas.
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Some conjecture that Wilde may well have alluded to the Cleveland Street scandal in the picture of Dorian Gray which was first published in 1890.
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The news of the denouncement of these notable characters spread like wildfire up the police hierarchy.
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Soon many members of the British government were involved.
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Both the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions believed that Lord Somerset should be tried and punished severely.
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But many cabinet members disagreed so prosecution was blocked for a long while.
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The issue ended up at the table of the Prime Minister Lord Salisbury.
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After long deliberation among the cabinet, the demand for justice and a swift end to the investigation outdid the desire to avoid an aristocratic scandal
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and in order to issue a warrant for Somerset was given.
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However the time it took for the cabinet to decide on what action to take meant that Lord Somerset was able to slip off abroad by the time the warrant was issued for his arrest.
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Lord Arthur Somerset first fled to France and then travelled to Constantinople, Budapest, Vienna and back to France, where he lived in comfortable exile in the south until his death in 1926.
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He had initially gone to Bad Homburg, but departed after being ticked off that the arrest warrants were imminent.
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On the 12th of November a warrant for Somerset's arrest was finally issued.
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By this time Somerset was safely abroad and the warrant caught little public attention.
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After an unsuccessful search for employment in Turkey and in Austria-Hungary, Somerset lived the rest of his life in self-imposed and comfortable exile in the south of France.
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The mismanagement of justice that allowed Somerset to escape was met with outrage by many.
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Most notably the radical liberal MP Henry Labouchère who had first introduced the Draconian Criminal Amendment Act of 1885.
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In his newspaper, Truth, Labouchère launched a cavalcade of attacks that condemned the government for its slothfulness in prosecuting the high-ranking perpetrators.
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He also denounced the government in various speeches in the House of Commons, asking why are the minnows to be imprisoned and the sharks to be allowed to go Scott-free, emphasizing that the high-class noble men were given legal immunity over men of lower estate.
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Even before Henry Labouchère made the case a nationwide political and social scandal, the North London press which was little known at the time, and its editor, Ernest Park, utilised the scandal to push their radical agenda and to attack Lord Salisbury's government who they despised.
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Park was, in fact, the first editor to discuss the story, having learnt about it from one of his reporters who wondered why the person's involved in the case all seemed to be getting off lightly.
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While other newspapers had hushed it down.
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If it was not for the efforts of Park himself, it is likely that the story would never have exploded, and it was likely that Labouchère would not have engaged with it.
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The main talking point of Park, and this North London press, was the guilt of Lord Euston, who had been mentioned by Newlove as a high-ranking patron of the brothel
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In keeping with the tradition of the time, Lord Euston brought a libel case against Park's allegations and brought with it a truly fascinating defence.
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It was that he had actually entered the Cleveland Street establishment, thinking that he would be seeing naked actresses and therefore he was not committing gross indecency.
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Despite this genius defence, it was only the inconsistent counts of Park's witnesses that won the case for Euston, who nonetheless would be chased by Rumours for the rest of his life.
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On 15th January, the Times of London reported,
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The libel action brought by Lord Euston against Mr. Park, editor of the North London press, for having in an issue of his paper stated that Lord Euston was implicated in the Cleveland Street scandal and had fled the country,
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was commenced at the Old Bailey Police Court today, when Mr. Park surrendered himself and pleaded not guilty and justification.
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Sir Charles Russell, QC, counsel for the Earl of Euston, opened the case.
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At the trial, Euston admitted that when walking along Piccadilly a tout had given him a card which read,
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Poses plastiques, C. Hammond, 19 Cleveland Street.
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Euston testified that he went to the house believing Poses plastiques meant a display of female news.
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He paid a sovereign to get in but upon entering Euston said he was appalled to discover the improper nature of the place and immediately left.
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The defence witnesses contradicted each other and could not describe Euston accurately.
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The evening news said:
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In the libel action, the Earl of Euston versus the editor of the North London press, which was resumed today at the Old Bailey, Mr. Lockwood, QC, counsel for the defendant, Mr. Park, called four witnesses, all of whom deposed that Lord Euston had visited
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the club in Cleveland Street several times.
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The plaintiff, however, in cross examination repeated the statement he made in the police courts that he visited the place once only.
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The case stands adjourned.
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The final defence witness, John Saul, was a male prostitute who had earlier been involved in a homosexual scandal at Dublin Castle and who had featured in a clandestinely published erotic novel, The Sin's of the Cities of the Plane,
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which was cast as his autobiography.
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Delivering his testimony in a manner described as "brazen effrontery" Saul admitted to earning his living by leading an immoral life and practising criminality
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and detailed his alleged sexual encounters with Euston at the house.
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The defence did not call either Newlove or Veck as witnesses and could not produce any evidence that Euston had left the country.
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The case did not go well for the defendant Ernest Park as reported in the Times the next day.
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In the course of the Euston Park case at the Old Bailey Today, the evidence of one of the witnesses named Saul, who testified that Lord Euston had committed horrible acts at the Cleveland Street club,
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was severely shaken in cross examination by Sir Charles Russell as to the identity of the man whom the witness assumed to be Lord Euston.
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The council for the plaintiff further elicited the fact that Saul's character was of the most abominable kind.
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The Earl of Euston, while under examination, swore that he was hitherto ignorant of Saul's existence.
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On the 16th of January 1890, the jury found Park guilty.
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The trial was concluded with a victory for Lord Euston. Under the law of the day, Park's fate was dire.
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The Euston Park libel action was concluded today and resulted in Mr. Park being found guilty and sentenced to one year's imprisonment.
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We have followed Frederick Abberline from his early days as a clockmaker in Dorset to his career as a dynamic police officer in London and his notoriety from being involved with Jack the Ripper.
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The real truth is that his famous cases are just a small part of his career.
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While Abberline finished his police career frustrated, at being hampered by higher powers in his probing of the Cleveland Street affair,
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it was not to be his last big case.
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The sound of cross-channel steamships and Victorian railway stations conjures up images of my favourite Abberline case.
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That of the Turkish bond robbery.
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Frederick Abberline was the primary officer in charge of investigating the Turkish bond robbery, which involved the theft and fraudulent trading of Ottoman Empire's government bonds in the early 1890s.
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The Ottoman Empire issued government bonds in the 19th century primarily to finance military modernisation and infrastructure projects and to cover large and persistent budget deficits.
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The first foreign loan, which marked the beginning of this practice, was specifically taken out to meet the expenses of the Crimean War in 1854.
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The Ottoman government consistently spent more than it generated in revenue due to an inefficient tax collection system and lavish spending by the Imperial Court.
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Bonds and foreign loans were used to cover these chronic deficits and repay existing high-interest domestic loans from local Galata bankers.
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A major portion of the borrowed funds was intended to be structure and modernise the Ottoman army and the Navy and to better defend the Empire against internal rebellions and external threats from major powers like Russia.
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The robbery involved bonds issued by the Ottoman Empire, which was subsequently stolen and illegally circulated. The investigation began when information surfaced in November 1891 regarding the presentation of some of these stolen coupons at the Imperial Ottoman Bank and the Union Bank in London.
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The matter was placed in the hands of our man Inspector Abberline, who then led the inquiries that resulted in a prosecution.
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On the 12th of January 1890, a parcel of Turkish priority bonds and a small quantity of Mexican bonds were insured in Paris for £8,400, around a quarter of a million pounds today, with the Marine Insurance Company and dispatched to a firm of brokers in London.
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They duly left by train on the 11th of January and were placed on board the South-Eastern Company steamer Mary Beatrice at Boulogne by the officials of the railway company.
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When, however, the safe where they should have been placed was examined on arrival of the boat on the English shore two of the parcels, namely those worth £8,400 were missing.
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From inquiries at Boulogne, it was found that sundry persons had been seen to lead the steamer in a hurry.
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Chief Inspector Abberline was sent over to Boulogne to see if he could recognise among the arriving passengers any persons unknown to him as repeated bond robbers.
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On the 8th of April, he caused to be arrested by the French police, four men whom he saw leaving the Channel steamer Breeze, one of them, a man named Powell,
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who had been suspected for years as a bond robber, was found at the police office to be vigorously eating something.
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A big French officer, seeing this, seized him by the jaw and forcing his mouth open, took out of his mouth a mass of somewhat pulpy paper,
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which, when it had been carefully handled, turned out to be a significant clue, a cloakroom ticket for an article left at Victoria Station in London.
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In Powell's hand, another ticket was found, which related to a valise left at Dover.
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This valise was found to contain sham bonds, which it was supposed it was intended to replace any genuine ones that might be stolen on the voyage.
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Two keys were found on another man, one of which was a master key, that could open a large number of locks of different patterns,
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and which fitted the locks of all the safes of the steamers on the fleet.
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Another of the men was noticed to be searching for an insect under his armpit, on his arm being removed from his coat,
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and his coat taken off, a crushed wax impression of one of the keys of the steamer breeze was found.
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The fourth man was found to be in possession of impressions of two other keys.
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Efforts were made to bring about the extradition of these men for last year on the British vessel, but unsuccessfully the French police contenting themselves with examining them and after detaining them for five months, turning them out of the country.
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The ticket of an article left at Victoria Station had in the meantime been found to refer to a hat box containing 62 of the coupons belonging to a part of the parcel of bonds stolen.
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The willy inspector Abberline thought it advisable to make inquiries at London's Cannon Street Station.
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While searching at Cannon Street, he found a Gladstone bag which had been lying in a cloakroom from about the time of the robbery,
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being able to open the bag without breaking the lock, he examined it and inside discovered a large number of the missing bonds.
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He then arranged with the railway police to be communicated with when anybody called for the bag, a woman called a few days later and was told to come again.
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However, instead of returning, she telegraphed to ask them to send the bag to the Piccadilly office of the company.
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While awaiting the bag's arrival at the office, Inspector Abberline went into the cafe Monaco, and there saw the woman in conversation with the man Powell and Koch, who Abberline had suspected as a bond robber.
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Kolch gave the woman something and she went into the office and on its arrival received the bag and drove with Koch to the St. John's Wood Road Railway Station and left it there.
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They then went into a house in Carlton Road in St. John's Wood where it was discovered by Inspector Abberlime that they were cohabiting.
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Inspector Abberlien went in and interviewed them, but when the bag was sent for, they were surprised to find an empty Abberline's colleague had removed the bond safely.
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For Koch and his mistress, the game was up.
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Subsequently, £2,000 worth of bonds were seized by the Vienna police in the possession of two men who were sentenced to terms of imprisonment in consequence.
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These recovered bonds with those found at Peaches House left only a few unaccounted for.
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You will recall the suspects who were held in France by the French authorities. To Abberline's disgust France released them after five months, expelling them from the country.
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However, the chagrinned Abberline did not lose heart. He charged the financial agent named Frederick Peach, not with stealing bonds but with obtaining a loan of £890.
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equivalent to around £150,000 today on a parcel of bonds well knowing them to be stolen property and that they had been stopped by the Ottoman government.
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Frederick Peach was a member of the Primrose Club and was from there that he corresponded with a Mr. Sears, whom he knew from previous dealings and to whom he owed £160.
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stating that a friend of his, Mr. Archibald Melville, who was about to be married, wanted an advance of £1,000 upon the security of 20 £100 Turkish bonds.
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After negotiations with Peach and also with a nominal borrower Archibald Melville, the money was paid over to Peach, who handed to Mr. Sears the 20 bonds with attached coupons. These were placed at the bank.
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The notes paid to Peach included 7 of £100 each. Most of these were afterwards found to have been changed by Peach himself.
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The fact that the bonds were stolen was ultimately discovered through the presentation of one of the coupons for payment at the Ottoman bank.
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Then, information was given to the Marine Insurance Company, who had been the losers by the original robbery and they called in the suave Abberline, who went very artfully to work.
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He found that Peach and the so-called Archibald Melville had occupied a house together at Eastbourne, that Melville was not at the time about to be married as he was already a married man with a family and occupied a house in Richmond, close by to Peach.
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One of the notes was traced to Brighton, where Abberline found it had been cashed by Archibald Melville.
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In Brighton, he was told by the bank that they knew Melville to be respectable as he was introduced to them by the wealthy Mr. Koch.
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Koch, of course, was already known to Abberline in connection with another phase of the bond robbery.
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Peach was arrested, but Melville somehow was missed. At Peach's house in Richmond, £2,300 of the stolen bonds were found in the cavity under the floor beneath the bed, together with the quantity of correspondence with Melville, which threw light on this and other transactions.
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At his trial, Peach contended that he was simply the agent for Melville and had no knowledge that the bonds had been stolen.
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Mr. Justice Hannigh remanded the prisoners offering to accept bail in two sureties of £200 each.
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Of the two major cases that we've talked about, the Cleveland Street scandal rocked England.
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There are some suggestions that Abberline may have voiced misgivings about the way the cover-up was handled, and this may have upset his superiors.
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Whatever the truth of the matter, the Cleveland Street scandal was the last significant case that Abberline investigated for the Met.
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Following his promotion to Chief Inspector the following year, he was reassigned to desk duties back at Scotland Yard, and retired on a full pension in 1892 after 29 years service.
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He was just 49 years old.
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Rather than relax into his retirement, Abberline was soon employed again by the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency who had recently opened a branch in Europe.
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He worked for Pinkertons for 12 years, during which time he earned a considerable reputation for cleaning up the gambling casinos of Monaco.
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He retired again for the final time in 1904 at the age of 61 and moved to the seaside town of Bournemouth with his wife, Emma.
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We can see his house at 195 Holdenhurst road, from where I stand on the opposite side of the road in the early evening by a pedestrian crossing.
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Abberline is today commemorated by a blue plaque on the House in Bournemouth where he spent his final years.
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This was unveiled in 2001 by the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. There's a picture in our show notes.
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Even in the early evening, the road is now busy, probably a dramatic change to 1904.
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The words on the blue plaque read, "EsCourt, 195, Holdenhurst Road, the final home of Inspector Frederick George Abberline."
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1843 to 1929. During his 29 years with the Metropolitan Police, Abberline gained 84 commendations and awards and became well known for his work on the case of Jack the Ripper.
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Frederick remained in Bournemouth, living with his wife, Emma, until he passed away in 1929, Emma following just three months later.
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The entrance to Wimbourne Road Cemetery where Frederick and Emma Lye is on a busy junction.
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You can hear the hum of traffic behind me. It is an impressive and beautiful place with a Victorian Gothic chapel designed by Christopher Creeke, built with local Purbeck stone.
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Not having a cemetery map, I found Frederick's grave from a photograph identifying the location from the houses in the background.
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For anyone who isn't previously aware, the headstone is a surprise. For a grave that is 100 years old, it is surprisingly pristine, made of black marble, and there is another story behind this.
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In 2007, a group of police officers campaigned for a headstone to be erected. A local stone mason donated the headstone.
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We tried to contact Matt Williams, the stone mason, who so generously gave of his time and skills, but were unable to do so.
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If you ever are listening, Mr Williams, we would love to talk to you. On the back of the headstone lies the credit.
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Memorial supplied by Williams Monumental Company, friends of the Metropolitan Police Museum, and Pinkerton's Detective Agency.
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As I look at the front of the headstone, I can read the epitaph to one of the most influential detectives of the 19th century.
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In memory of Frederick George Abberline, born 8th of January 1843, Blandford Forum died 10th December 1929, Bournemouth.
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Chief Inspector C.I.D. Scotland yard, and his wife Emma Abbeline, nee Vermont, 26 September 1844 to 15 March 1930.
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Frederick George Abberline- rest in peace.
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[birds chirping]
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Part one of our feature on the Detective Frederick Abberline is already available on Detective Diaries.
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You may also like to listen to our episode on the Italian detective, Giuseppe D'Orsi. They called him the artist detective, a man who didn't just solve crimes.
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He performed them into the light. Step back into the shadows of 1920s Italy, a world of rising dictators, political theater, and one man with 17 different faces.
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To a poet, he was a limping Czech veteran. To a criminal, he was a German doctor or a simple priest.
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D'orsi was a master of fregolismo detectivistico, the art of the total transformation. But behind the wigs, and the fake accents, was a man of absolute, dangerous integrity.
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When the fascist regime needed a scapegoat for Rome's most horrific crimes, they found one. But D'orsi refused to look away. He chose the truth over his own safety, defying his superiors to hunt the real monster of Rome, a quest that would cost him his career, his freedom and his sanity.
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Join us for a journey through the disguises and the heart of Giuseppe D'Orsi. This is Detective Diaries, brought to you by Answers Investigation. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you find your truth, or in the language of Giuseppe D'Orsi.
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Unite via noi per un viaggio attraverso i travestimenti al cuore di Giuseppe Dossi, questo e Detective Diaries, portato a te Answers Investigation.
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Ascoltate lo ora sus Spotify, Apple Podcast, o ovunque troviate la vostra verita.
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Get involved. Detective Diaries is interactive, which involves you, the listener. Do you have a case you would like discussed?
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A burning question about investigative life? Send an email to podcast@private-detectives.co.uk or reach out via social media.
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You may hear your story featured in an upcoming episode. Don't forget to leave your contact details. The email address is in the show notes.
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We hope you enjoyed today's podcast, brought to you by Answers Investigation and UK fingerprint.
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If you've enjoyed our conversation and want to learn more about the fascinating world of investigations, be sure to check out private detectives Answers Investigation.
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Their experienced team offers a wide range of discrete and professional services, helping you find the answers you need with integrity and expertise.
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As one of the leading fingerprint companies in the UK, they provide everything from identification to background checks, working with individuals, businesses, financial institutions and gambling companies.
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To find out more, visit www.private-detectives.co.uk, that's a minus sign, and www.ukfingerprint.co.uk
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These are your go-to resources for investigative solutions and fingerprint expertise. You can call their office on 02-0-7158-0332.
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Thanks once again for tuning in. Until next time, stay curious and keep seeking the truth.
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[Music]
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[MUSIC]
