Read Online Abberline: The Man Who Hunted Jack the Ripper by Peter Thurgood - Free Book Online
Authors: Peter Thurgood
Ads: Link
Martha’s body taken back to Oundle, Northamptonshire, where her family originally came from, and she was buried in the local churchyard. He stayed in the area for nearly two weeks, contemplating his future, which he found hard to perceive without his beloved Martha. Friends and family eventually talked him into returning to London and continuing with his career in the police force, which he eventually did. There was only one thing for it, in his mind, and that was to throw himself into his work with renewed vigour, in the hope of overcoming his distress. He couldn’t bear to move back into his old flat, which was filled with memories of his life there with Martha, so he put in a request for a change of accommodation and was quickly given a new place in Kentish Town Road police station.
He worked day and night, refusing even to take a Sunday off. His sole purpose in his private life was to try to forget Martha, which he never really did, but he did manage to turn his life around regarding his police work. Within a few months he had been promoted to police sergeant, which was a great achievement, especially at such a catastrophic time in his life. Although his promotion gave him more money and prestige, it still didn’t offer him exactly what he had always been looking for, which was more detective work. He had a taste of it while he was investigating the Fenians but had been demoted from it – something he was still smarting from. Now, however, his promotion would hopefully lead to another chance, but for the time being his duties consisted of him patrolling his North London beat, exactly as he had done as a constable.
As unexciting as this period in his life was, it did help him to an extent to take his mind off his great loss. It was probably the sheer quantity of cases he had to handle, rather than any real interesting facts they might possibly throw up, that helped in this instance. Most cases he had to deal with were very mundane: cases such as drunks charged with assault, a man charged with stealing a purse, another with forging a cheque, and yet another charged with stealing 5 s . In 1872, probably one of his more interesting cases was the arrest of three women, Elizabeth Sullivan, Maria Sullivan and Jane Adams, all three charged with disorderly conduct for the ‘heinous’ crime of dressing in male attire. If this law still applied in Britain today, probably 60 per cent of the female population would have to be arrested and charged with wearing trousers and masculine-looking shirts and jackets.
Another interesting case was that of Thomas Ross, who was charged with unlawful gaming; this involved two men or more playing a game of pitch and toss, where they toss up a coin and call ‘heads or tails’. Not exactly organised crime by any standards, but together with more petty larceny, and drunk and disorderly charges, Abberline somehow managed to fill his days and nights, and take his mind off the terrible loss of his wife. Another case, which is worth mentioning, was one that involved the Great Eastern Railway Company, which was charged with obstructing the public thoroughfare. It isn’t very clear just how a railway company managed to obstruct a public thoroughfare: not with a locomotive engine surely?
Abberline’s diligence, and his often very boring work, managed to get him through his bad period, although it didn’t happen overnight. The days progressed into weeks, the weeks into months, and the months into years, until finally, on 10 March 1873, he was promoted again, this time to inspector, and transferred to H Division, Whitechapel.
This was just what he had been waiting for: real promotion and a completely different setting. Whitechapel had long been known as a hotbed of crime, which would presumably be something he could really sink his teeth into.
There was more to Whitechapel than the newly promoted Inspector Abberline could ever have dreamt of. There were certain streets where police officers
He worked day and night, refusing even to take a Sunday off. His sole purpose in his private life was to try to forget Martha, which he never really did, but he did manage to turn his life around regarding his police work. Within a few months he had been promoted to police sergeant, which was a great achievement, especially at such a catastrophic time in his life. Although his promotion gave him more money and prestige, it still didn’t offer him exactly what he had always been looking for, which was more detective work. He had a taste of it while he was investigating the Fenians but had been demoted from it – something he was still smarting from. Now, however, his promotion would hopefully lead to another chance, but for the time being his duties consisted of him patrolling his North London beat, exactly as he had done as a constable.
As unexciting as this period in his life was, it did help him to an extent to take his mind off his great loss. It was probably the sheer quantity of cases he had to handle, rather than any real interesting facts they might possibly throw up, that helped in this instance. Most cases he had to deal with were very mundane: cases such as drunks charged with assault, a man charged with stealing a purse, another with forging a cheque, and yet another charged with stealing 5 s . In 1872, probably one of his more interesting cases was the arrest of three women, Elizabeth Sullivan, Maria Sullivan and Jane Adams, all three charged with disorderly conduct for the ‘heinous’ crime of dressing in male attire. If this law still applied in Britain today, probably 60 per cent of the female population would have to be arrested and charged with wearing trousers and masculine-looking shirts and jackets.
Another interesting case was that of Thomas Ross, who was charged with unlawful gaming; this involved two men or more playing a game of pitch and toss, where they toss up a coin and call ‘heads or tails’. Not exactly organised crime by any standards, but together with more petty larceny, and drunk and disorderly charges, Abberline somehow managed to fill his days and nights, and take his mind off the terrible loss of his wife. Another case, which is worth mentioning, was one that involved the Great Eastern Railway Company, which was charged with obstructing the public thoroughfare. It isn’t very clear just how a railway company managed to obstruct a public thoroughfare: not with a locomotive engine surely?
Abberline’s diligence, and his often very boring work, managed to get him through his bad period, although it didn’t happen overnight. The days progressed into weeks, the weeks into months, and the months into years, until finally, on 10 March 1873, he was promoted again, this time to inspector, and transferred to H Division, Whitechapel.
This was just what he had been waiting for: real promotion and a completely different setting. Whitechapel had long been known as a hotbed of crime, which would presumably be something he could really sink his teeth into.
There was more to Whitechapel than the newly promoted Inspector Abberline could ever have dreamt of. There were certain streets where police officers
Similar Books
