Irish Ghost Tales (3 page)

Mary started to leave a sandwich and a drink on her bedside table so that she could eat if she woke up in the middle of the night but even though she ate a big meal before bedtime and consumed the sandwich and drink when she woke during the night, it didn't seem to work. She still woke up in the morning starving.

A visit to her doctor didn't help either. She was given sleeping pills and told that she was suffering from anxiety brought about by some as yet unknown cause. The doctor told her to try to think of any changes she had made to her life recently, any new people she had met or new foods she had started eating, but Mary couldn't think of anything that would account for her strange dreams. She began to look very drawn and dark shadows appeared under her bloodshot and tired eyes. She became nervous and was afraid to sleep. Soon people who knew her began to comment on her appearance. Some even began to suspect that she was suffering from some illness.

Her best friend eventually decided to question Mary to see if she could offer her any help. They sat at the kitchen table. One of the questions she asked her was whether Mary had introduced anything new or different into her home recently. The only thing Mary could think of was her purchase from the charity shop, the old doll. Her friend asked Mary if she could see the doll. Of course Mary thought that her friend had lost her mind but nevertheless she went to her bedroom and brought the doll into the kitchen.

As soon as she saw the doll her friend's face changed. She began to cry and she looked incredibly sad. She told Mary that the doll was extremely sad and didn't know where she was. She desperately wanted love and missed her mammy.

Over the next couple of weeks things got worse – cold air, unexplained noises, and the sound of a young child crying. Mary called her friend.

Her friend suggested that they call on the services of a local woman who had a reputation for being sensitive to those who have gone before. Some suggested that she had psychic abilities. Mary didn't really believe in that sort of thing but she was willing to try anything, so she agreed.

When the woman arrived she knew immediately that there was a spirit in the house. She decided to conduct a séance and found that the spirit, which was in the body of the doll, was willing and eager to communicate. The spirit said that her name was Noreen and that she was only six years old when she died. Her father had left her and her mammy to find work on the roads scheme but didn't come home so after a week or two her mammy had gone to look for him. Her mammy promised to be back shortly and told her to be a good girl. She was left with what little food they had. But even though she had been very good, her mammy and daddy didn't come home. Eventually she decided to go looking for her parents as she had no food left and she was very hungry. She walked for days but the only people she saw were also starving. There was a very bad smell in the air and it made her feel sick.

Eventually she reached a small town and there she saw a big stone building. She thought it was bigger than the landlord's house and was not surprised when she saw nuns outside. They were handing out bowls of something hot, so Noreen joined the long line. She said she was afraid that it would all be gone by the time she got to the front but eventually she was given a bowl of thin soup. The nun asked her where her parents were. Noreen told her she didn't know, so the nun took her into the building and there she remained. She couldn't get out. She said that shortly afterwards she began to feel very cold and everything was dark.

Mary couldn't understand this until the medium explained that Noreen was describing her death. After some research Mary and her friends discovered the place Noreen had described. The stone building from her story turned out to be a workhouse, long gone now. The people who died there were buried in a mass grave; men, women, and children all thrown in together with no proper burial service. No record was kept of the children who died and were buried there so nothing could be done for Noreen's spirit.

She still sits on her little chair in Mary's bedroom but now she appears to be a little happier. Mary talks to her every night and Noreen feels loved at last. Sometimes Mary can hear singing at night. It is the sound of a child's voice.

W
hat is it that makes a series of horrific murders so fascinating for a particular group of people? This is the story of the first set of murders to cause a media frenzy and it remains unsolved. The mystery is as captivating today as it was over 120 years ago. There have been countless books written about it, television programmes and films made about the events, as well as stage shows and stories. Yet no one was ever apprehended, no one was convicted, no one ever served a single day in prison and the crimes remain unsolved. There is as much speculation now as there was in 1888-1891 as to who committed these horrific murders. The question remains: ‘Who was Jack?'

The last to fall victim to the knife of the Ripper was an Irishwoman called Mary Kelly, but there was another Irish connection. One of the least likely suspects was a rather dubious character called Francis Tumblety (1833-1903) who was thought to have been born in Ireland, although he may have been born in Canada. However, he certainly had Irish parents, named James and Margaret, and he was one of eleven children. He spent his early years in Rochester, New York, and it was there that his rather unsavoury personality was forged. Neighbours remembered him to be a dirty scruffy boy who was uneducated and always getting into trouble. By the time he was a teenager, Tumblety was working for a shady pharmacist and was also selling pornographic material. It looks like his life was mapped out.

It's possible that while working for the pharmacist Tumblety picked up a little knowledge as he began to practise as an ‘Indian Herb Doctor' – or, as we would call him today, a quack – selling pseudo cures and ‘snake oil'. This may also account for his basic knowledge of anatomy as he had no real medical training, although he paraded himself as a doctor. It is important to point this out as Jack the Ripper was suspected of having some knowledge of anatomy due to the fact that he extracted various organs from his victims.

In 1857, Francis Tumblety was known to have been in Montreal, where once again he posed as a doctor. He was arrested for trying to carry out an abortion by administering pills and liquid medication to an unfortunate prostitute. For some reason he was released within a week.

In 1860 he had made his way to St John's, where once again he found himself in trouble with the law. He was questioned regarding the death of one of his ‘patients', who had died after taking medicine he had prescribed. He went on the run to Maine and from there to Boston, all the while making a handsome profit from his medical pretence.

While in Boston, Tumblety began dressing in pseudo-military uniform and wearing service medals that he had certainly never earned the right to wear. He began to ride around the streets on a white horse and developed an air of self-importance. He believed himself to be above everyone else. He left Boston and began to move around the country. The American Civil War saw him arrive in Washington, DC, where he posed as a surgeon in the Union Army. He impressed all he met with stories of heroism. He also claimed to have met many famous people, including President Abraham Lincoln.

While in Washington, Tumblety let it be known that he hated women with a passion. This is yet another thing that links him to Jack the Ripper. He was reported to have called women no better than cattle, especially fallen women. When asked why he had such hatred he replied that he had once been married only to find out later that the woman in question was a prostitute. What happened to her was never made clear. At a dinner party hosted by Tumblety, one of the guests took note of a hideous collection of jars containing human uteruses, each marked by medical condition and category. The social class of the people they belonged to was also marked on each jar. This was exactly how Jack the Ripper acted. This does not mean that Tumblety was the Ripper, but it certainly seems possible.

Next we head to Missouri. Here Tumblety was arrested twice for wearing medals that he was not entitled to. He was also arrested in connection with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (later released) and he was arrested for having homosexual affairs. In 1888 he was arrested in Liverpool for indecent exposure and indecent assault.

Jack the Ripper committed the first of his known murders in 1888. Francis Tumblety was arrested on 12 November 1888 and questioned about the murder (he was a likely suspect in the case at that time). He was bailed on 16 November and fled the country for France eight days later, after which the murders stopped.

He returned to New York, where the police arrested him after being contacted by the British authorities. However, there was no proof that he had committed any of the Ripper murders so he was released. He then returned to Rochester, New York where he lived with his sister. He died in 1903 in St Louis after amassing considerable wealth as a medical quack.

There was never any proof that Tumblety was violent towards women, so all of this is mere conjecture. In fact, in 1888, when the first murder was committed, Tumblety was 55, older than anyone described by witnesses at the time. Also, homosexual serial killers usually prey on their own sex rather than on women. However, serial killers are not exactly predictable. So the case remains unsolved. It won't be the last time you will hear a story about Jack. As long as no real evidence surfaces there will always be speculation. I'll leave you to make up your own mind about whether or not it could have been our Francis Tumblety …

A
skull identified as that of a murder victim from sometime in the late nineteenth century was unearthed by workmen in the backyard of naturalist David Attenborough's south-west London home. It has been suggested that it is the skull of Julia Martha Thomas, age 55, who died in 1855. However, it is the circumstances of her death rather than the discovery of her skull that is of interest to me as it concerns an Irishwoman whose name was Kate Webster.

It was on 13 January 1879 Julia Martha Thomas of No. 2 Vine Cottages, Park Road, Richmond Hill, London, instigated a sequence of events that would result in her tragic demise. The number thirteen has long been considered unlucky by some. For Mrs Thomas it certainly was as it was on this date that she made a mistake that would ultimately cost her life. She took into her employ a maid, but, unknown to her, this maid was a convicted thief, fraudster and all-round nasty piece of work. Her name was Kate Walker and she was an ex-con who had just been released and was on the lookout for easy pickings. Unluckily for Mrs Thomas, Kate Walker had turned down another job because, as she said later, ‘there weren't anything worth nicking'.

Now, at first the two women got on rather well, but this did not last as Kate Walker had no intention of working hard and her sloppiness annoyed Mrs Thomas. Walker was a heavy drinker whose aggressive manner intimidated Mrs Thomas. On 28 February Mrs Thomas plucked up her courage and sacked her. Kate Walker asked if she would be allowed to stay on for a couple of days to give her a chance to find employment elsewhere. Sadly for Mrs Thomas, who was a kindly old soul, she agreed.

On the evening of Sunday, 2 March 1879, Mrs Thomas went to church as usual, but was seen to leave the service early in an agitated state. This was to be the last time Julia Martha Thomas was seen alive.

The following Tuesday afternoon Kate Webster went to see some friends. She was seen wearing a very smart silk dress of some value and carrying a heavy-looking Gladstone bag. She mentioned to her friends that she had come into some property; her aunt had died and left her a house complete with contents. She asked them if they had any contacts that could help with its disposal. Her friends, the Porters, asked Kate if they could have a private talk as they considered her request and so Kate went for a walk, taking the Gladstone bag with her. After a time she returned but without the Gladstone bag. Later that evening the Porters' son Robert helped Kate carry a heavy box down to Richmond Bridge. She explained to Robert that someone was meeting her there and taking the box from her but when he was questioned later he said, ‘As I walked away I heard a loud splash as if something heavy had hit the water.'

The following day, a coalman recovered the box from the Thames. Imagine his horror when he broke it open to find what was later identified as ‘parts of a female body', apparently boiled. Unfortunately, the head was missing so it was impossible for the police of the time to take the case any further (remember this was pre-DNA). It became known by both the police and the press as ‘The Barnes Mystery'.

Kate Webster was now walking around the streets of south-west London wearing the late Mrs Thomas's clothes and jewellery and was even calling herself ‘Mrs Thomas'. It was under this name that she persuaded a general dealer to buy the contents of No. 2 Vine Cottages. Now she had some money in her pocket she went on a cruise up the river, enjoying her newfound wealth, unaware that the noose was beginning to tighten around her neck.