subject: Frederick Bailey Deeming – Was he Jack the Ripper? [print this page] For many years now, speculation has been rife about who exactly was Jack the Ripper. Suspects range from John Pizer, a Jewish shoemaker to Sir William Gull, the Royal Physician. Even Queen Victorias grandson Albert Victor was not above suspicion, although this was probably just too ridiculous to contemplate, despite his well-known visits to the East End of London. While many suspects were either discounted or convicted for other crimes, one possible, (some say probable), suspect was Frederick Bailey Deeming. Although the evidence against Deeming is flimsy, nevertheless he perhaps should not be totally discounted. After all, he was a serial killer! Without doubt, Deeming was a strange individual. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire on 30 July 1853, the youngest of seven children, he was often referred to as Mad Fred. Beaten regularly by his father (who was himself committed to a lunatic asylum), he turned to his mother, with whom he developed a deep relationship; probably too deep, since he apparently suffered a mental breakdown on her death in 1875. His mother was a Sunday school teacher; she was also so puritanical that Deeming became obsessed with ideas of sin and punishment. It is likely that these attitudes were the trigger for his future murderous behaviour. A man to be avoided, he nevertheless had an ability to charm women, a characteristic amply displayed by a number of psychopaths - Ted Bundy, the American serial killer, springs to mind. However, charm could turn to seething anger as his first wife, Marie found to her cost when she betrayed him. Marie was his childhood sweetheart and first wife, by whom he had four children. Incidentally, her sister Martha, who was in service in Birkenhead, married Fredericks brother Albert. Being somewhat of a wanderer as well as a professional criminal, Deeming would often go missing. He is known to have abandoned his family at least twice, moving to Australia on the first occasion and to South Africa on the second, where he was involved in several crimes. It was in South Africa where he met married a Miss Mathieson. Marie, however, tracked him down as she always managed to do. She informed his second wife of the bigamous relationship, but the latter preferred to defend her own reputation, rather than go to the police. It was probably just as well. Marie on the other hand had no qualms. She was well aware of his philandering and criminal behaviour so sought justice (and money) for herself and her family. Subsequently, as well as having Deeming arrested, Marie blackmailed him. This sealed her fate. While in prison, Mad Fred decided the only way out of his trouble was to get rid of Marie. He also had other plans, and they didnt include his family. After his release on 16 July 1891, Deeming sent Marie a letter offering reconciliation. Foolishly, she forgave him and the couple later moved to Rainhill, a sleepy village, 10 miles from the city of Liverpool. In one of his letters, Frederick told his wife that he wanted to settle down and find suitable employment. So, Marie sent him 1000, which he used to help find a suitable home. Posing as a military officer called Albert Oliver Williams, who had returned home from a spell of duty in India, Deeming leased Dinham Villa from Mrs Mather, an elderly widow. Fred told her that the lease was for a fellow officer who would be taking up residence in the near future, but for time being he would look after the place himself. Ever the conman, not only did Mrs Mather fall for the ruse, Frederick also managed to convince her that the floors needed cementing. Of course, he would pay for the work to be done, and soon conscientiously set about creating a tomb for his family. Shortly after the work was completed, Deeming invited Marie and the children 3 girls and a boy - to come to Rainhill. He murdered them on 11 August 1891 using an axe to knock them unconscious, probably while they slept, and then slit their throats; his eldest daughter, Bertha, was strangled. Perhaps she woke and disturbed him? Wasting no time in getting rid of the bodies, Frederick spent the rest of the night burying them under the hearth in the kitchen and mopping their blood. He later hired a charwoman to thoroughly clean the house to ensure nothing could incriminate him. It seems the idea for building a tomb came from his work experience as an apprentice plumber at Chester Cathedral. As part of his job, he had to reseal the Cathedrals tomb with cement. Unfortunately for Marie and her children, his skill was perfect for the task. Up to the time of his familys demise, Deeming had been courting Mrs Mathers daughter, Emily. When Marie turned up, Deeming told Emily that she was his sister, a fact confirmed in Emilys mind when Marie and children disappeared just as quickly as they came. Convinced that everything was alright, Deeming proposed to Emily, the couple marrying on 22 September 1891. The spectacle was so public the whole village was invited. They left Rainhill as Mr and Mrs Williams on the pretext that Deeming (under his alias Williams) had been given a new military assignment in India. But the ship SS Kaiser Willhelm II arrived at Victoria in Australia. How Deeming managed to convince his new wife that everything was alright, will never be known. Whatever he said obviously did the trick, since the couple rented a house in Windsor, a suburb of Melbourne. Deeming though, kept his wife out of sight he had already decided to kill her. Emily probably suspected nothing. She was after all a woman in love. For Fred Deeming though, Emily was just a means to an end? Emily was unaware that Deeming had previously made plans in Rainhill to incriminate her in the murder of first wife and family, if ever his crime was found out. His strategy involved first using a labouring friend of the Mathers to cement the area where Marie and the children were entombed. Second, if the police found the bodies he could blame Emily, suggesting she had killed them in a fit of rage, and then asked her labourer friend to help bury them. Luckily for Fred, no suspicions were aroused and so he slaughtered Emily on the 24 December 1891 a Christmas to remember. Afterwards, he moved out of the area, telling neighbours his wife had returned to Britain on business. Deemings luck though, was about to change. The owner of the house was showing prospective householders around the property, when he was alerted to a strange odour coming from the dining room. Emilys decomposing body was found underneath the hearthstone embedded in concrete. A post mortem revealed a smashed skull. Her throat was also cut. During this time, Deeming used another alias Mr. Druin. A local ironmonger remembered delivering various building materials and tools to the house in Windsor a few weeks earlier. These included: cement, a broom, trowel, closet pan and a spade. Druin (or rather Deeming) was described as being in his mid-30s, fair haired with a fair reddish beard and a large distinctive moustache. He was of medium height and slight build. According to the ironmonger, Deeming was a flamboyant gentleman who wore a lot of jewellery and spoke with a Lancashire accent. After killing Emily, Frederick Bailey Deeming disappeared, turning up in Perth, Western Australia a short time later. He had now become Baron Swanston and was also courting a fourth possible wife 22 year old, Kate Rounsefell. However, Freds luck finally ran out. A WANTED poster was circulated in every settlement in Western Australia. The police caught up with him at Southern Cross a gold mining village - where Deeming (under his new alias) had taken a job as an engineer, working for the Fraser Gold Mine. He was placed in charge of machinery. Why Deeming chose to mingle with drunken miners and their families is unclear. Did he hope to blend into the community? Its highly unlikely. His manner and dress would have made him stick out like a sore thumb. Perhaps he believed the police wouldnt bother looking in such places. Frederick Deeming was arrested on 14 March 1892 and subsequently extradited back to Victoria. Shortly after, Emilys mother was informed of her daughters murder and the circumstances surrounding it. This prompted her to recollect what Deeming had been doing at her house in Rainhill. The police were called and the bodies of Marie and her children discovered. The unearthing caused a sensation and not just for the local population. Extra telegraph lines were installed, and more clerks hired to handle the demands of the many journalists who were covering the inquest. Not to mention the arrival of hundreds of curious people to the area to watch the funeral of Marie Deeming and her children. They were buried in an unmarked grave in St. Annes Church in Rainhill. Interestingly, about eight years ago, Dinham Villa was knocked down. Despite the murder taking place over a hundred years ago, many local residents decided to take home one of the house bricks as a memento. Fascination with murder never dies. What was the connection with Jack the Ripper? On 8 April 1892 the Melbourne Evening Standard published a report incriminating Deeming in the Ripper murders. The paper claimed a dressmaker identified him as being present in the East End on the occasion of Catherine Eddowes murder. The dressmaker knew him as Mr Lawson, the latter stating to her that he had intimate knowledge of the mutilation of Eddowes. Belief that Deeming was the Ripper was apparently reinforced by a conversation with one of the doctors attending him. The doctor stated that Deeming told him he contracted Syphilis from a prostitute. He had intended killing her, but lost her. He also told the doctor that all such women should be exterminated. He is reported to have told the physician I've had my own back, as more than one of them found out. Syphilis is a debilitating disease which causes madness. Deeming knew this as well, since he used this fact as an excuse in his defence for why he killed. Perhaps today, with our increased medical knowledge, Mad Fred might have been incarcerated in a Mental Hospital. In 1892 however, the jury would have none of it. It took them less than an hour to find him guilty. Frederick Bailey Deeming was subsequently hanged on Monday, 23 May 1892. Fred Deeming may or may not have been Jack the Ripper. Newspapers published as early as 1888 were reporting that Deeming had been seen in the Whitechapel area at the time of the murders. But, is this sufficient evidence of his guilt? He did admit to buying knives in the area; he even admitted to fellow prisoners that he was Jack. But, is the word of a mad serial killer proof of his guilt? Perhaps he really just wanted the notoriety. If this was his intention, at least he got what he wanted. A death mask was made which, for many years, was placed on show. Today, it can be seen at the Melbourne Gaol Museum. A verse was also written: On the twenty-first of May,
Frederick Deeming passed away;
On the scaffold he did say --
"Ta-ra-da-boom-di-ay!"
"Ta-ra-da-boom-di-ay!"
This is a happy day,
An East End holiday,
The Ripper's gone away It should be noted though the date of his death in the poem is wrong. While the evidence for Deemings involvement in the Ripper murders is circumspect, it hasnt stopped people theorising why he killed his family. Perhaps his first wife found out about his awful secret, and was silenced. After all, she did blackmail him.
