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Frederick Bailey Deeming

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Frederick Bailey Deeming (30 July 1853 – 23 May 1892) was an English-born Australian murderer who was convicted and executed for the murder of a woman in Melbourne. He is remembered today because he was suspected by some of being the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper.

Frederick Bailey Deeming
Born(1853-07-30)30 July 1853
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England, UK
Died23 May 1892(1892-05-23) (aged 38)
Old Melbourne Gaol, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)Murder
Criminal penaltyDeath
Details
Victims6, (possibly others in the Whitechapel murders)
Span of crimes
1891–1892
CountryEngland and Australia

Life

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Early life and first murders

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Frederick Bailey Deeming was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England, the son of brazier Thomas Deeming and his wife Ann (née Bailey).[1] According to writers Maurice Gurvich and Christopher Wray, Deeming was a "difficult child."[2] At age 16 he ran away to sea, and thereafter he began a long career of crime, largely thieving and obtaining money under false pretenses. Deeming was also responsible for the murder of his first wife Marie and their four children at Rainhill, England, on or about 26 July 1891; and a second wife, Emily Mather, at Windsor, Melbourne, on 24 December 1891.

Less than three months elapsed between the discovery of Mather's body in Melbourne, in March 1892, and Deeming's execution for her murder in May 1892; a remarkably short time by comparison to modern western legal standards.[3] This was not only due to efficient police work, but also a result of the considerable international media interest Mather's murder attracted. For example, it was an English journalist working for the Melbourne Argus who first approached Mather's mother in Rainhill and delivered the news of her daughter's murder.[nb 1] Another factor was Deeming's behaviour in public, for while he often used different names, he usually drew attention to himself with behaviour variously described as aggressive, ostentatious, ingratiating and overly attentive to women.

Australia in the 1880s

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Following his arrest in 1892, police investigations[5] revealed that Deeming had moved to Australia ten years earlier, chiefly working in Sydney, but was also employed by John Danks, a Melbourne importer of plumbing and gas fitting supplies. Deeming's Melbourne employers regarded him as an excellent worker and extended him 200 pounds credit, supposedly to open a business in Rockhampton, Queensland. The money was never repaid.[6] Deeming is also known to have worked for a Sydney gasfitter, where he was charged with theft of brass fittings from his employer. He indignantly denied the theft, but the items were found at his home and he was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment. Deeming pretended to faint when the sentence was pronounced.[7] After his release from prison, Deeming continued to work in Sydney as a gasfitter until, in December 1887, he was again committed for trial, now on a charge of fraudulent insolvency. He disappeared from New South Wales while on bail.

Deeming was accompanied by his wife Marie (née James), "a typical Welsh lass", while in Australia.[7] He had married her in Lower Tranmere, England, in February 1881 and they had lived briefly at Birkenhead before leaving for Melbourne.[8] Deeming's brother Alfred had married Marie's sister, Martha. By 1886 Deeming and Marie had two Australian-born daughters, Bertha and Marie. In 1888 Deeming's brothers Alfred and Walter learned that he and his family were returning to England "with a considerable fortune."[8]

South Africa and return to England

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Later police and newspaper research discovered Deeming had been active in Cape Town in 1888–1889, but his exact movements at this time are unclear and it appears he returned to Birkenhead at least once. Marie had another child at this time.[nb 2] Deeming was known to have been involved in conducting a Transvaal diamond mine swindle in 1889.[8] His return to England via the steamship Yumna was well-remembered by the captain and passengers because of his ostentatious display of jewellery and money, and his unwanted attention to some of the female passengers.[10]

Deeming had arrived at Hull by November 1889, lodging in the nearby town of Beverley. Here he passed himself off as "a retired sheep farmer" named Harry Lawson from Mount House Farm, Rockhampton, Queensland, living on 1,500 pounds a year.[11] He wooed Helen Matheson, the 21-year-old daughter of his landlady, and married her, bigamously, on 18 February 1890.[1] About a month later, after a honeymoon in the south of England, Deeming suddenly disappeared, taking his expensive gifts to Matheson with him. Deeming's wife and extended family had heard of his bigamous marriage to Matheson, according to Gurvich and Wray.[8]

Deeming was later found to have then visited Marie and his (now) four children in Birkenhead. He apparently gave Marie several hundred pounds and announced he was leaving for South America. He would send for her and the children, he stated, once he was settled.[12] Before leaving he conducted another swindle at a jeweler's in Hull. He was arrested for this offence on arrival at Montevideo and extradited back to England on a charge of "obtaining goods by false pretenses" being sentenced to nine months prison.[12]

Rainhill

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On his release from prison in July 1891, Deeming headed to the Liverpool area, settling into a hotel in the village of Rainhill, Merseyside under the name Albert Williams. A mysterious woman (almost certainly his wife Marie) who appeared at the hotel was dismissed as his "sister", visiting before she left for Port Said. Deeming then took a lease on Dinham Villa, a house in Rainhill, supposedly on behalf of a military friend, a certain "Colonel Brookes". However, Deeming himself took up residence at Dinham Villa, while a woman and several children were seen at the house and were again dismissed as merely his "sister and her children" visiting, who had "since returned home".[13] Shortly afterward, Deeming complained that the drains at Dinham Villa were defective, and the kitchen floor needed to be replaced. He closely supervised the work on the floor.

While in Rainhill, Deeming began to court Emily Lydia Mather,[14] the daughter of a widowed local shopkeeper, Mrs. Dove Mather. Mather and Deeming (as Albert Williams) married on 22 September 1891.

Windsor murder

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In November 1891, Deeming (still using the name Williams) took Mather to Australia in the German steamship Kaiser Wilhelm II. They arrived in Melbourne on 15 December 1891. Deeming rented a house on Andrew Street in Windsor,[1] a suburb of Melbourne. On 24 December or early on 25 December 1891, he murdered Mather and buried her under the hearthstone of one of the bedrooms, covering the body with cement. He had paid a month's rent in advance, giving the name Mr. Drewn, but almost immediately left the property. The owner, nearby butcher John Stamford, had been happy to rent to the man, because of his air of respectability, and at first, had not even known the man's name.

On 3 March 1892 a prospective tenant of the Windsor house complained of "a disagreeable smell" in the second bedroom.[15] The owner and estate agent later raised the hearthstone to investigate whereupon the smell became so overpowering "they found themselves barely able to breathe".[15] The police were called and Mather's body found. A postmortem conducted on 4 March found that although her skull had been fractured by several blows, the most likely cause of death was that her throat had been cut.[16]

 
19th-century illustration comparing Deeming and 'Jack the Viper' of Whitechapel

Publicity surrounding the gruesome finding of Mather's body was considerable. Within a few days, The Age newspaper had connected the murder to the Whitechapel murders of London:

From the outset a suspicion of insanity is almost suggested and a tinge of the Whitechapel murders is hinted. The body hacked and mangled, the cool manner in which the cementing was carried out, the taking a house etc, the laborious obliteration of all traces of the crime – all these things suggest the malevolence and craft which can scarcely accompany the sane murderer, no matter how callous and brutal.[17]

From clues found at the vacant Andrew Street house and from information provided by local tradespeople, including Stamford and his agent, a local laundress, an ironmonger who sold Deeming cement and several carriers, investigating Victoria Police sergeants William Considine and Henry Cawsey were able to trace the recently arrived Mr. Williams to the Kaiser Wilhelm II. They were then able to interview other passengers, who gave corroborating descriptions of Mr. Williams and Mather. In the weeks at sea, Mather had talked to other passengers of her family at Rainhill, and the connection was now made. Deeming's behaviour as Mr. Williams had also attracted considerable attention during the voyage. Many passengers stated they "detested Williams, [but] all agreed he had treated his wife in a loving and considerate manner".[18] Police now also had a very good description of Mr. Williams, which they circulated to other Australian colonies, but at this stage, his real identity was still unknown.

At an inquest held on 8 March, it was discovered that a man answering Mr. Williams's description had auctioned a variety of household goods, possibly wedding presents, in the city in early January 1892. At this time he was staying at the Cathedral Hotel in Swanston Street, Melbourne, registered as Mr. Duncan. It later transpired that Deeming had also written an affectionate letter (as Albert Williams) to Mather's mother several days after Mather's murder. Deeming had found time to approach Holt's Matrimonial Agency (as Duncan), wishing to meet a young lady with matrimonial intentions.[19] He had also found time to swindle a local Melbourne jeweller.

Capture

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In the meantime, on or about 12 January 1892, Deeming had travelled to Sydney, and was now using the name Baron Swanston. During the voyage and in Sydney Deeming met and courted Kate Rounsefell. He told Rounsefell that if she agreed to become his wife, "she would never regret it, and would always congratulate herself on having entered into matrimony with him".[20] After a whirlwind romance, during which Deeming gave Rounsefell several items of what was later shown to be stolen Melbourne jewellery, Rounsefell consented to marry Baron Swanston. Having also agreed to follow him to Western Australia, Rounsefell and Deeming parted company. By means of forged testimonials, Deeming had obtained a position at a mine at Southern Cross.

On 22 January 1892 Baron Swanston departed for Fremantle. Again, Deeming as Baron Swanston made a name for himself on the ship, boasting of his wealth and position in society. He made approaches to Miss Maude Beech, a young woman in the care of her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Wakeley. In this case, Deeming's charm came to nothing. Mr. Wakeley told Swanston; "I may tell you plainly, that I don't believe your stories and I am not in the habit of allowing men of your class to enter my family circle."[21] Once settled at Southern Cross, Deeming maintained a barrage of pleas to Rounsefell, writing on 8 February; "Don't keep me waiting dear. If you love me half as much as I love you, you would not keep me waiting a day".[22] [nb 3]

Police were closing in, however, and following telegrams by Victoria Police to Western Australia, Deeming was arrested at Southern Cross on 12 March 1892. He began by denying he was Deeming but later said "I think I know the party who has been murdered. I don't believe anyone would have the heart to murder a girl like that".[24] Found in his possession at the time of the arrest were a number of Mather's belongings, including her prayer book.[25]

 
Grave of Emily Mather, Melbourne General Cemetery

At about the same time Deeming was being returned to Melbourne, news of the discovery of the Rainhill murders in England arrived in Australia.[15] A family acquaintance of the Mather family, Edward Thunderbolt, Melbourne's Inspector of Public Nuisances, arranged a public subscription, and erected a monument to Emily Mather at Melbourne General Cemetery.[nb 4]

Rainhill murders

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Following publicity surrounding the discovery of Mather's body at Windsor, investigations at Rainhill revealed the decomposing bodies of Marie Deeming and the four children; Bertha (aged 10), Mary (7), Sidney (5) and Leala (18 months) buried beneath the re-concreted floor of Dinham Villa. The throats of most had been cut (Bertha had been strangled). The murder and burials had apparently occurred while Deeming (as Albert Williams) was courting Mather, on or about 26 July 1891.[27] At an inquest held at Rainhill on 18 March 1892, Deeming's brothers identified Marie and gave some accounts of his activities.[28]

The Rainhill murders had gone undetected for eight months. It appears Deeming's brothers and Marie's sister had been led to believe that Marie and the children were in Brighton on a holiday and then assumed they were overseas again. Deeming had made several visits to Birkenhead to reassure Martha that her sister and the children were well.[29] Detection of the murders was also obstructed by Deeming's lease (as Williams) on Dinham Villa, which stipulated that the house should not be sold or relet for six months, because of the imminent arrival of Colonel Brookes and/or Williams' sister. The lease also allowed Williams to resurface the concrete floor.[30]

Trial and execution

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Furious demonstrations against Deeming were made on the journey to Perth, and again on the way to Albany. Deeming was tried at Melbourne Supreme Court on 25 April 1892.[31] The prosecution case was conducted by Robert Walsh, Q.C.[32] Alfred Deakin, his counsel (later Prime Minister of Australia), tried to mount a plea of insanity. The defence also questioned the impact of newspaper reporting of Deeming on the jury.

Perhaps wishing to aid the defence of insanity, Deeming also claimed to have caught syphilis in London and to have received visitations from his mother's spirit, which urged his actions. Before the jury retired, Deeming made a "lengthy,... rambling, speech of self-justification". He repeated a story he had told police that Emily had "run off with another man". "That is my one comfort...knowing that she is not dead".[33]

Deeming was found guilty as charged, however. Deeming spent the last days writing his autobiography and poetry; "The Jury listened well to the yarn I had to tell, But they sent me straight to hell."[34] He also spent time talking to the Church of England ministers, to whom he supposedly confessed. The sentence of the court was confirmed by the Executive Council on 9 May 1892 and the judicial committee of the Privy Council refused leave to appeal on 19 May 1892. Deeming was hanged at 10:01 am on 23 May 1892, he weighed 143 pounds (65 kg), 14 pounds (6.4 kg) less than when he entered prison.[35] The autobiography which Deeming wrote in jail was destroyed.[1]

Jack the Ripper theory

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As Australians struggled to comprehend the savageness of the Windsor murder, significant press speculation grew, suggesting Deeming was Jack the Ripper.[36] The speculation was also found in overseas reports of the case. For example, on 17 March 1892 The New York Times reported the story with the headlines:

Perhaps Jack the Ripper. The Startling discovery made in Liverpool. A Man arrested in Australia.[37]

Deeming's movements at many stages of his career are obscure, but it appears he may have been in England in late 1888, the time of the Whitechapel murders. Kreitmayer's Melbourne waxworks of 1912 probably reflected widespread public opinion when it depicted in wax Deeming burying Mather, commenting that it was suspected he was "identical with Jack the Ripper".[38] Speculation that Deeming was Jack the Ripper continues today[39] and Robin Napper a former Scotland Yard detective and currently forensic researcher, along with a team of researchers, came to the conclusion that most of the evidence leads to Deeming as Jack the Ripper.

This aired on a Discovery Channel documentary in 2011. According to Napper the display of Deeming's death mask as that of "Jack the Ripper" in the Metropolitan Police's Crime Museum at New Scotland Yard shows that the police had, in fact, always considered him a prime suspect. The reason that the police officially dismissed Deeming as a suspect of the Whitechapel murders, according to Napper, is that they had believed he was either in jail at the time according to some[40][41] or that he was in South Africa according to others.[42] The Last Podcast on the Left lists Deeming as one of two "reasonable" Jack the Ripper suspects.[43]

The Crime Museum no longer accepts Deeming as a "Ripper" suspect and its copy of his death mask is instead on display at the Metropolitan Police Museum in Sidcup. Another copy is on display at the Old Melbourne Gaol in Melbourne, where he was executed, whilst a third is in the collection of the State Library Victoria alongside a cast of his right hand and photographs, books, newspaper articles and letters relating to the case.[44]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The account first appeared in The Argus on 14 March 1892; "Mrs. Mather had not heard of any murder in Melbourne [or]…the fate of her daughter. When I told her of the tragedy, she fainted". Gurvich and Wray also list numerous newspaper reports on the Windsor murder.[4]
  2. ^ He possibly travelled to South Africa without his family.[9]
  3. ^ For the full text of this letter. Gurvich and Wray also argue that the suggestion Deeming purchased cement at South Cross, in preparation for Rounsefell's arrival, is incorrect.[23]
  4. ^ The monument still stands and reads: EMILY LYDIA MATHER beloved daughter of JOHN&DOVE MATHER of RAINHILL, ENGLAND.MURDERED 24 December 1891, AT WINDSOR, MELBOURNE.AGED 26 YEARS. Erected by public subscription. Who all her days while yet alive, To live in honour she did strive. Till he she trusted as her guide, without cause or warning her life denied. ADVICE; To those who hereafter come reflecting, Upon this text of her sad ending. To warn her sex of their intending. For marrying in haste, is depending, On such a fate, too late for amending. By her friend, E.THUNDERBOLT.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Jones, Barry O. (1981). "Deeming, Frederick Bailey (1853–1892)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 8. Melbourne, Australia: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 268–269. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  2. ^ Gurvich, Maurice; Wray, Christopher (2007). The Scarlet Thread: Australia's Jack the Ripper, A True Crime Story. Sydney, Australia: Fairfax Books. pp. 15, 115. ISBN 978-1-921190-42-1.
  3. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 290.
  4. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). pp. 94–95.
  5. ^ See Victoria Police notes on Deeming's criminal career Archived 15 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. – Public Record Office Victoria. – Government of Victoria.
  6. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 99.
  7. ^ a b Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 101.
  8. ^ a b c d Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 115.
  9. ^ Victoria Police notes on Deeming's criminal career Archived 15 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. – Public Record Office Victoria. – Government of Victoria.
  10. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 105.
  11. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). pp. 106–7.
  12. ^ a b Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 108.
  13. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 111.
  14. ^ Studio portrait of Mather Archived 18 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. – Public Record Office Victoria. – Government of Victoria.
  15. ^ a b c Proactive, Number 40, Winter 2007: Journal of the Public Records Office. "The Crime of Century Revisited". page 4.
  16. ^ Autopsy report of Emily Mather Archived 18 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. – Public Record Office Victoria. – Government of Victoria.
  17. ^ "Search For the Murderer: Discovery of Clues". The Age. 5 March 1892. p. 7. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  18. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 51.
  19. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 65.
  20. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 84.
  21. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 89.
  22. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 90.
  23. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 276.
  24. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 79.
  25. ^ Deeming's possessions on arrest Archived 16 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. – Public Record Office Victoria. – Government of Victoria.
  26. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 304.
  27. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 117. NOTE: However, it may have been as late as 11 August 1891.
  28. ^ See: The Australasian. 26 March 1892. Archived 15 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. – Public Record Office Victoria. – Government of Victoria.
  29. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 119.
  30. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 118.
  31. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 199.
  32. ^ Mennell, Philip (1892). "Walsh, Hon. Robert" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
  33. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). pp. 258–9.
  34. ^ Gurvich & Wray (2007). p. 273.
  35. ^ "Deeming at the Gallows; The Wife Murderer Hanged at Melbourne This Morning". The New York Times. 23 May 1892. p. 1.
  36. ^ Newspaper clipping comparing Deeming's and Jack the Ripper's handwriting Archived 15 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. – Public Record Office Victoria. – Government of Victoria.
  37. ^ "Perhaps Jack the Ripper. The Startling discovery made in Liverpool". The New York Times. 17 March 1892. p. 1.
  38. ^ Kreitmayers Waxworks pamphlet, see page 11. items 152 and 153 Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. – Government of Victoria. (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document).
  39. ^ Millar, Paul (15 April 2009). "Missing skull may hold Melbourne clue in hunt for Jack the Ripper". The Age.
  40. ^ Fido, Martin (1987). The Crimes, Detection and Death of Jack the Ripper. London, England: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 182. ISBN 0-297-79136-2.
  41. ^ Rumbelow, Donald (2018) [1975]. The Complete Jack the Ripper: Fully Revised and Updated. New York City: Penguin Books. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-14-017395-6.
  42. ^ Evans, Stewart P.; Skinner, Keith (2001). Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell. Stroud, Gloucestershire, England: Sutton Publishing. p. 241. ISBN 0-7509-2549-3.
  43. ^ "Episode 258: Jack the Ripper V - the Suspects Part II". Spotify. 10 February 2017.
  44. ^ "Not Ned's head, maybe Deeming's". State Library Victoria. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
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