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The past week has been an amazing time of lectures, talks, speeches, award ceremonies, research, and tours. Thursday: Last Thursday I had the pleasure of speaking at the Treasure House, Beverley, to a great audience, my topic, Jack the Ripper - The Beverley Connection. The lecture looked at two suspects with links to the Easy Yorkshire Market Town, and two Ripper scares that occurred there. All in all it was a great night and the feedback was excellent. Friday: On Friday I researched a local history project for a local school. It was great fun and I prepared a slide show for the students. Monday: On Monday I had the pleasure of showing the students the slide show, and handing out some maps that I had prepared showing their school and surrounding area dating as far back as the 1850’s when the land was nothing more than cow filled fields. The children loved it, and that afternoon I lectured to no fewer than four classes in four separate lectures! Tuesday: On Tuesday I had a number of important meetings regarding future local history projects, all of which were really exciting. Hull History Centre Volunteering Award: On Wednesday I had the pleasure of being invited to the Hull History Centre for an award ceremony. The centre had recently been nominated, and won, the National Archive Volunteering Award from the Archives and Records Association. It was a lovely afternoon and I was asked to give a speech, which I will post here: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My name is Mike Covell and I am a volunteer with the Hull History Centre’s WWII project. As far back as the days of a separate local studies department, archival unit, and Hull university archival unit I was researching Hull’s history, so when the Hull History Centre opened I made sure I was one of the first to visit, and certainly one of the first to write a review of what the centre had to offer and keeps on offering. Since it opened in 2010 I have taken part in several courses, researched here, and even lectured at the centre. So when I heard about the WWII project I got very excited to say the least. I had seen an advertisement in The Hull Daily Mail for volunteers and on one of my next research trips I registered my interest with the staff so that I could become part of what I believe is a very important project. My family and I had always had an interest in WWII after it was revealed my late grandfather was photographed with his family in their home after a particularly horrific raid in Hull. As the photographer passed down the street, through the mountains or rubble, he saw my family and asked how they were. My grandfather did not answer, but instead smiled, threw his thumb up, and created a piece of local history. His photograph was used as propaganda for the war effort, and to this day still gets used in books and in the local press. With this in mind, and bearing in mind what he went through, I wanted to join the WWII project. For me the project is an important project for several reasons. It helps us to remember the past. It secures the past for future generations, and it gives us new skills and experiences that we can take forward. Since the project began we have learned how to correctly catalogue information, how to number the information so that it is easily found and accessible, and how to clean, store, and transcribe this information so that it is available to future generations. Every time we have a session it is a learning experience. We have uncovered families that changed their names to avoid retribution from German sounding names to names such as “Smith” and “Jones.” We have seen firsthand the destruction caused on the various air raids, and we have learned of the tragedies and heroic stories that occurred on our very streets, stories that up until now had been largely forgotten. During a recent session transcribing WWII documents at the Hull History Centre I was blown away by the great number of cards in just one of the piles I had in front of me. I kept asking myself about the importance of the cards and the names upon them. What really hit home is that these ladies and gentlemen who gave so much between 1939 and 1945 in this “North East Coastal Town” and received very little for it, but they all had one thing in common. They were all volunteers. With this in mind the least we can do as volunteers is to carry on what we do and remember them for what they did. You can read the full report of the award announcement here: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Volunteers-Blitz-spirit-helps-archive-award/story-19771061-detail/story.html#axzz2ef5gDx7L The George Hotel: Last night I had the pleasure of being invited to the George Hotel Re-launch, which has reopened and looking fantastic inside. They are currently offering a massive range of ales, and freshly cooked locally sourced food, and it was such an honour to be invited to speak at the historic pub. I was also tasked with taking a short ghost walk around Old Town, and it was really well received. The following is the speech I prepped for the night, but ended up making it up as I went along. Good Evening ladies and gentleman, my name is Mike Covell and I am a local historian, born and bred in Kingston upon Hull. For many years I have been researching hundreds of places and people in Hull, and lectures, taught, advised, and written on the subject for local, national, and international organizations. It is my great pleasure to be here this evening to talk about the history of the George Hotel. What can I say about the George Hotel that has not been said before? We all know the stories and theories surrounding “England’s Smallest Window,” but what do we really know about the building and its history? According to Visit Hull and The Hull Ale Trail, The George is the oldest surviving Licensed Public House in Hull, A claim that several other pubs also claim to hold. But what do we know. From historical records we discover that the building started off as an Elizabethan Mansion and it was claimed to be the home of the former Sheriff of Hull, John Oversale. Oversale was the Sheriff in 1546 and Mayor of Hull in 1550. By 1680 the building was a public house, trading under the name Ye White Frere Hostel, a nod to the local White Friars. But by 1683, Prince George of Denmark married Queen Anne, and the public house took on the name The George. The sign, however, shows King George IV, and not Prince George of Denmark. By the 1770’s it was listed as The George Inn and run by the Bamford family. By the early 1800’s it was run by Robert Hawkins and known as The George. Throughout the Victorian period it was used as an auction house for the sale of local property, land, and even furniture. It was also used as a place to hear about people of the town going bankrupt! One of the earliest of these was a lady called Charlotte Day, who in 1803 was declared bankrupt after her husband passed away. It was also used as a place for people to come and listen to inquests on the bodies of people who had died in the parish. It was also used by local politicians. One account in the Hull press features local politicians getting voters into the pub for copious amounts of ale, and then getting them to vote. In the Victorian period this was considered the norm. In 1810 John Woolley took over the pub, and the address changed from 66 Whitefriargate to 23 Silver-street! John Ran the pub until 1831 when his wife Hannah Woolley took it on. In 1851 she changed the name again, this time to The George Commercial Inn and Family Hotel. The 1851 Census shows her here with 7 servants! In 1863 E Taylor took over and the name was changed to The George Inn and Land of Green Ginger. In the years that followed M. Bellamy, S. Wallis, Jeremiah Charles Potter, and Hanna Woolley Junior, ran the pub. In the early 20th century the pub was ran by Jeremiah Charles Potter, Edwin E Spence, David George Bilham, T. B McCann and E. E. Spencer, Samuel Holman, Hewitt Bros, William Ellyard and many more followed. The name also changed constantly, from the George Hotel, to the George Hotel Vaults, to the George Hotel and Restaurant, and the George Hotel Land of Green Ginger. Throughout the years the pub has had numerous names, numerous landlords, and numerous uses, but what is common throughout, is that it remained the heart and soul of the local community, and hopefully will continue to do so, under Kevin and Fiona, for the next chapter in its history. |
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It seems like ages since I last wrote a blog, but to be honest, so much is happening right now that I barely have the time. In the last few months and weeks I have been busy on a number of projects locally that are slowly taking off but with many of them I cannot state the nature of them until they are officially released and ready for everyone. AMAZING HULL TOURS: I am pleased to announce that AMAZING HULL TOURS has really taken off. The Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/amazinghulltours has been gaining momentum and the number of people attending the tours is steadily increasing. The Jack the Ripper – The Hull Connection tour has been proving very popular, and feedback from all who attend has been wonderful. The full list of tours available includes: “Jack the Ripper” Hull Tours “Jack the Ripper” Beverley Tours Ghosts and Legends of Old Hull Tours Ghosts and Legends of New Hull Tours Unexplainable Hull Tours The Haunted Inns and Hostelries of Hull Tours The Ghosts of Beverley Tours The Ghosts of Cottingham Tours Heritage in Hull Tours Lost Pubs of Hull Tours Lost Churches and Chapels of Hull Tours Lost Theatres of Hull Tours Georgian Hull Tours Victorian Hull Tours F.S. Smith’s Hull Tours The Old Hull Pub Tours The Seven Seas Fish Trail The Hull Heritage Plaque Tours Hull’s High Street Tours The Garden Village Tours Victoria Dock Heritage Trail The Marfleet Mystery Tours The Caughey Street Murder Tour The True Crime Tour of Hulls The Hull at War Tour WWI The Hull at War Tour WWII Anyone with an interest can contact me via the blog, Facebook, Twitter, or email me at mcebe@hotmail.co.uk VIRTUAL AMAZING HULL TOURS: With AMAZING HULL TOURS doing so well I tried my hand at some technology to create VIRTUAL AMAZING HULL tours. A prototype of the project can be viewed on the screen inside The George Hotel, situated on The Land of Green Ginger and a stone’s throw away from the location of an October 1888 Jack the Ripper scare in Hull! The current format is in the form of hundreds of old photos of Hull, so pop along and see how many you recognise. The full list of VIRTUAL AMAZING HULL TOURS includes: “Jack the Ripper” Hull Tours “Jack the Ripper” Beverley Tours Ghosts and Legends of Old Hull Tours Ghosts and Legends of New Hull Tours Unexplainable Hull Tours The Haunted Inns and Hostelries of Hull Tours The Ghosts of Beverley Tours The Ghosts of Cottingham Tours Heritage in Hull Tours Lost Pubs of Hull Tours Lost Churches and Chapels of Hull Tours Lost Theatres of Hull Tours Georgian Hull Tours Victorian Hull Tours F.S. Smith’s Hull Tours The Old Hull Pub Tours The Seven Seas Fish Trail The Hull Heritage Plaque Tours Hull’s High Street Tours The Garden Village Tours Victoria Dock Heritage Trail The Marfleet Mystery Tours The Caughey Street Murder Tour The True Crime Tour of Hulls The Hull at War Tour WWI The Hull at War Tour WWII These are catered for youth clubs, community groups, schools and colleges. Anyone with an interest can contact me via the blog, Facebook, Twitter, or email me at mcebe@hotmail.co.uk JACK THE RIPPER – THE BEVERLEY CONNECTION: On Thursday September 5th 2013 I will be lecturing at the Treasure House in Beverley on “Jack the Ripper – The Beverley Connection.” The lecture will start at 18:30 and tickets cost £5. There are three ways to book: At the lecture I will be unveiling two suspects with links to the town, plus a series of Ripper scares that occurred in the East Yorkshire market town in the Victorian period. LECTURES: I have a series of lectures booked with a number of private groups around Hull and East Yorkshire well into 2015, if you or your group wants a lecture please do not hesitate to contact me either through my blog, or via email at mcebe@hotmail.co.uk OTHER PROJECTS: In the past few weeks I have been involved in a number of projects locally that will soon become apparent, needless to say the people that I am working for are keeping details quiet for the moment, but all will be revealed soon. NEWS ROUNDUP: Notable Ripperologist Jennifer Sheldon has started up her own Ripper blog. Jennifer is a great Ripperologist, historian, and researcher, and her work on the likes of Uncle Jack is the stuff of legend. I hope her blog takes off and wish her, and Neal, all the best in the future. Jenni’s blog can be found here: http://jacktheripperinvestigations.blogspot.co.uk/ Jack the Ripper and Twitter have gone hand in hand for some time with some amazing Ripperologists, writers, researchers, historians, and people with an interest sharing and talking about the case on the micro blogging network, so it will come as no surprise that the people behind History press have launched a real time Ripper experience. Follow them here: @WChapelRealTime. Read about the project here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23759777 |
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Some years ago I lectured at Carnegie Heritage Centre in Hull on “Jack the Ripper - The Hull Connection.” It was the first ever lecture that I did, and I am pleased to say after a number of years lecturing in Hull and London, I am returning to my roots for a one off special lecture at Carnegie. This time round the lecture will exclusively reveal a previously named suspect with links to Hull, but who has never been linked to the city before, and his identity will be sure to shock. My recent research has uncovered a suspect with links to the Royals, the Freemasons, and some of the highest in the land, and his time in Hull was well documented and thoroughly reported in the local and national press. As usual the lecture will also feature Ripper scares, Ripper suspects, and Ripper letters with a connection to Hull. The lecture will be at Carnegie Heritage Centre on Wednesday July 31st 2013 and starts at 20.00. Tickets for the event are £3.00 and available from Carnegie, with all proceeds going to the library to enable the staff to keep up their excellent work. For inquiries contact Carnegie at 01482-561216 or email them at enquiries@carnegiehull.co.uk |
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Yesterday the weather in Hull was warm and dry, and as such it made an ideal night for the first ever Hull based “Jack the Ripper” tour. For many years most people will know I have been busy researching away trying to find out information on the 11 previously named suspects with links to Hull. Alongside this I have been gathering material from the local, national, and international press on “Jack the Ripper” scares and scandals, as well as letters to, from, and mentioning Hull. In the past I have presented the bare basics of my research, on scares, scandals, and letters, in Ripperologist Magazine, and my research has also appeared in Casebook Examiner, with reports of my work appearing in The Hull Daily Mail, The Hull Advertiser, on BBC Look North, BBC Radio Humberside and on both the Rippercast and Ripper Radio. Last night it was time to pull it all together and present it as a walking tour for AMAZING HULL TOURS. Now Hull has very few walking tours, and those that do exist have never offered a tour on “Jack the Ripper” so I knew it would be difficult getting people round to the idea of a Hull based tour; we are, after all, 200 plus miles from London and the scene of the murders. So last night late I took a tour around Hull City Centre. It was a “Jack the Ripper” tour with a difference, because whilst the events in the East End of London were referenced, the tour had a unique slant on it, and took in locations associated with Hull. The tour took in locations associated with the likes of Robert D’Onston Stephenson, Frederick Bailey Deeming, and 9 other suspects. It passed the scene where, in October 1888, a threatening letter said to be from “Jack the Ripper, was sent, and it passed the location of an 1888 “Ripper Scare.” The tour ended back in the present, with the conclusion of the tour ending where the recent Prime Suspect: Jack the Ripper was shot. All in all it was a fascinating night and everyone was full of praise for Hull’s first, and only, “Jack the Ripper” tour. |
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TOURS WEEK COMMENCING JUNE 17TH 2013 Wednesday: THE HAUNTED INNS AND HOSTELRIES OF HULL: Starting at Royal Station Hotel and working East via Hull’s pubs that have ghostly tales to tell. £4.00 per person - Start time 20:00 Friday: “JACK THE RIPPER” THE HULL CONNECTION: Starting at Royal Station Hotel and working East through Hull City Centre, this tour will take you to locations associated with 11 suspects with links to Hull, where a number of Ripper Scares occurred, and see the spot where a letter, said to have been written by “Jack the Ripper” was sent on October 5th 1888! £5.00 per person - Start time 20:00 Saturday: THE GHOST’S AND LEGENDS OF HULL CITY CENTRE: Starting at Royal Station Hotel and working its way around Hull City Centre, this tour takes in a number of new locations that one would not necessarily associate with ghostly activity. Hear the histories, see the locations, feel the terror! £4.00 per person – Start time 22:00 Sunday: THE GHOSTLY MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF OLD HULL: Forget all the old stories of 19th century vicars, skulls, and the claim that this building is the most haunted in Hull, this tour uses primary historical sources to finally put to rest some of Hull’s ghost stories. Based on Mike Covell’s research that featured in The Hull Daily Mail, The Hull Advertiser, and which has appeared in lecture form at the Hull History Centre, the Hull Heritage Centre, Hull’s Central Library, and at The Ghost Club. Starting at Holy Trinity Church, £3.50 per person – Start time 20:00 |
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Research Latest This week I had a free block of time so I headed on out to the Hull History Centre to conduct some research. It seems like ages since I last visited, and had in that time gathered together a list of items I wanted to view. These were mainly newspaper reports in the Hull Press covering various “Jack the Ripper” suspects such as Frederick Bailey Deeming, James Maybrick, Charles Le Grand, James Thomas Sadler, and a number of local “Ripper Scares.” As my many “Jack the Ripper” writing projects draw to a close I was chasing up a few loose ends to provide alternative views on some of the topics covered in some of the Hull based newspapers on the London based crimes. After a couple of hours I came away with some new newspaper reports on the Hull Ripper Scare of 1900, when 5 women were stabbed. I also came away with reports on a Doncaster Ripper Scare, and articles, featuring contemporary sketches, on Frederick Bailey Deeming, James Thomas Sadler, James Maybrick, and Charles Le Grand. The Hull History Centre gets “Touch Screen Technology.” I have, for many years now, used the various Newspaper Readers and Printers at the Hull History Centre, so I was surprised and excited to learn that the old machines are to be replaced with state of the art machines. As part of the £7.7m History Centre Project, these new machines will be easier to load, easier to use, have touch screen technology, have clearer imaging, and as such the copies will be clearer. A central printing hub will also form part of the set up, and the Hull History Centre will be the first facility to utilise these models. As a result of instillation and set up, the Hull History Centre will be closed over Thursday July 4th and Friday July 5th. This is a small price to pay for such an amazing step forward in Hull’s arsenal of local history research and I for one look forward to the new machines. Future Projects At the minute I am busy working on new projects for the end of the year and 2014. These will be revealed in time but include new lectures, events, tours, and media collaborations. |
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During the month of February 1988 a series of newspaper articles were posted in the Hull press. They hinted that information had been discovered that would link a Hull born man to the “Jack the Ripper” murders in London’s East End. The stories opened a floodgate of similar reports, all asking whether this particular man could have been the notorious murderer. They hinted that a new book would cast light on the claims. More stories followed, but by July 1988 the Hull press were in a frenzy and reports were published hinting at a possible tourism boom based on the claims in the book. By August 1988 more reports followed, claiming that as the 100 year anniversary of the murders came closer, a possible influx of tourists could descend in the city. Sadly, it never happened. Looking back it is easy to see what the stories were all about. The late Melvin Harris, and supporter of the candidacy against Robert D’Onston Stephenson, who was born in Sculcoates, Hull, had been in touch with the local newspapers and local studies library asking questions about Stephenson and his life in Hull. All, however, was quiet, and the tourism boom did not arrive in Hull. The links between Hull and the “Jack the Ripper” case were lost, and possible tours of the venues associated with Robert D’Onston Stephenson never occurred. Now, in the year of the 125th Anniversary of the “Jack the Ripper” murders, a Hull based tour operator, known as AMAZING HULL TOURS, is set to launch “JACK THE RIPPER – THE HULL CONNECTION TOUR.” This time around, however, Robert D’Onston Stephenson will play only a small part of the tour, with 11 suspects linked to Kingston upon Hull, a number of letter, said to be written by “Jack the Ripper” sent to, sent from, and mentioning Hull, and a selection of “Ripper Scares” in the city, the tour will take on much much more than previously expected. The first tour will commence on SUNDAY JUNE 2ND 2013 AT 19:00. ANYONE INTERESTED CAN TEXT AMAZING HULL TOURS ON 07582085321 to book tickets with tickets for the tour priced at £5.00. |
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This week has been a busy week, not just for research, writing, and helping on local history matters, but it has also featured two lectures on Jack the Ripper at two different locations. The first lecture of the week took place Bilton Village Hall where I was invited to speak to the Bilton Social Circle on “Jack the Ripper – The Hull Connection.” The group were fantastic and I was warmly welcomed and hope to return at some point. The second lecture of the week was at Hull University on behalf of the Part Time Provision’s Alumni and Social group, and again I was warmly welcomed and had a lovely evening. Both locations are locations that I hope to return to in the not too distant future to give more lectures on other subjects. |
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It is one of the perils of historical research that sooner or later you will meet a dead end in inquiries. As many readers of the blog will know I have for some time been researching the still unsolved murder of Mary Jane Langley, who was found brutally murdered on Preston Long-lane, now known as Neat Marsh-road. Over the years I have amassed over a thousand newspaper articles from 1891 – 2012 on the case, from local, national, and even international sources. The newspaper articles give a clear idea of the events of the period, and for many years I had hoped to trace the elusive files from the murder inquiry. The problem was, the case involved both Hull and Borough Police forces, the murder took place on Hull and Borough Boundaries, and the Hull and Borough Magistrates carried out inquests and hearings in Hull and Preston. These issues mean that tracing the file would be a problem from the start as neither the Hull nor Borough Police forces exist per se. They are today amalgamated into one larger force, Humberside Police, and as such a lot of the older files were sent for safe keeping and/or destroyed. I had hoped that the files were held at the Hull History Centre, the East Riding Archives, or the National Archives, but searches at all three establishments failed to find any evidence that despite a series of Humberside/Hull/Borough files being available, none of the files featured the Mary Jane Langley file. The other problem encountered was the fact that the case was never solved there was no murder trial as the charges laid against John Rennard, aka Jack Renny, were dropped and he was acquitted. At the time of the trial, murder cases were usually held at the York Assizes, but with no murder trial there was no paper trail. Imagine my surprise when a re-read of A. A. Clarke’s Killers at Large (Arton Books, 1997) stated that unsolved murder cases are kept in Humberside Police’s headquarters and “protected by a heavy wire mesh and padlocked against the curious.” With this snippet of information I made more inquiries, this time with Humberside Police. After a series of telephone calls to various departments, I was asked to put my query in writing. Yesterday the reply arrived and sadly despite having a series of files that date back to 1909, there is nothing for the year 1891 and therefore nothing held on the still unsolved murder of Mary Jane Langley. I must, however, thank Humberside Police for the help, assistance, and speedy reply in help solving this unique cold case from Hull and East Yorkshire’s past. |
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On the morning of January 30th 2013 I made my way to the Hull History Centre with a view to carrying out some research into the Hull Watch Committee and their views on the still unsolved murder of Mary Jane Langley, who was found brutally done to death in a ditch between Preston and Marfleet. The reports in the Hull Press of September 1891 hinted at a rift between the Hull Police, the Borough Police and the Hull Watch Committee on account of the two police forces seemingly employing the work of a psychic. The newspaper report read like a comical interchange with members of the Hull Watch Committee making fun of the Hull Police Force. It was certainly a very interesting series of articles and I was interested in tracing the primary sources at the Hull History Centre. Sadly, the Hull Corporation’s Hull Watch Committee Minutes books for the period are missing and only the typed up versions are available. I was soon to discover that these offered very little information on the case, so I consulted the Hull History Centre Catalogue and found a reference to the Hull Watch Committee files. Whilst these might not include the 1891 minutes, they do hold other interesting snippets of information on other crimes and topics that bear some relation on the case.
One particular area of interest was a file that stated “Police Reports: Regina Vs Henry Lawson.”
Previously I had uncovered the typed up version of this file which was more of a summary, but at the time I had searched for more information and found nothing. The typed up version of this document covered less than half a page and simply asked for funds in the extradition of Deeming from Monte Video. The second section of this typed up document again was short and sweet and stated that funds would be laid out on the pretext that someone else would foot the bill. It seemed to me as if there was more to this issue, but as the file on Deeming’s trial for fraud had been unearthed, and made no mention of this issue I was at a loss. Luckily perseverance (and a bit of luck) paid off and I was able to secure a look at a previously unseen file of material on Frederick Bailey Deeming and his time in Hull.
The file is essentially a 23 page file of material relating to the manhunt from Hull to Monte Video to track, and bring to justice, Frederick Bailey Deeming for the crime of fraud, and covers the principle police officials, the town clerk, Deeming’s legal team, and the Home Office, as they struggle to recoup money spent on the manhunt.
The file comprises of several pages of the Hull Watch Committee Minutes from their meeting at the Hull Town Hall on December 23rd 1891, it features:
As you can imagine this is a wonderful piece of the jigsaw that has been missing for some years. The material falls before and after the massive trial file on Frederick Bailey Deeming, uncovered some years ago, and casts more light on Deeming’s time and illustrious career in Kingston upon Hull. It shows more on the workings of the Victorian Hull police force, the Hull Watch Committee, and the lengths they, along with the Home Office, went to in order to recuperate the money spent on an international manhunt for one of the world’s worst criminals throughout history. |
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