Dr Jonathan Oates - Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Lewisham & Deptford

FOUL DEEDS AND SUSPICIOUS DEATHS Series

Wharncliffes Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths series explores, in detail, crimes of passion, brutal murders and foul misdemeanours from early modern times to the present day. Victorian street crime, mysterious deaths and modern murders tell tales where passion, jealousy and social deprivation brought unexpected violence to those involved. From unexplained death and suicide to murder and manslaughter, the books provide a fascinating insight into the lives of both victims and perpetrators as well as society as a whole.

Other titles in the series include:

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Bolton, Glynis Cooper

ISBN: 1-903425-63-8. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Londons East End, Geoffrey Howse

ISBN: 1-903425-71-9. 10.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in & around Durham, Maureen Anderson

ISBN: 1-903425-46-8. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Hampstead, Holburn & St Pancras, Mark Aston

ISBN: 1-903425-94-8. 10.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Colchester, Patrick Denney

ISBN: 1-903425-80-8. 10.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Newport, Terry Underwood

ISBN: 1-903425-59-X. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths Around Derby, Kevin Turton

ISBN: 1-903425-76-X. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in and Around Scunthorpe, Stephen Wade

ISBN: 1-903425-88-3. 9.99

More Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Wakefield, Kate Taylor

ISBN: 1-903425-48-4. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in York, Keith Henson

ISBN: 1-903425-33-6. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths on the Yorkshire Coast, Alan Whitworth

ISBN: 1-903425-01-8. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Coventry, David McGrory

ISBN: 1-903425-57-3. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Manchester, Martin Baggoley

ISBN: 1-903425-65-4. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Newcastle, Maureen Anderson

ISBN: 1-903425-34-4. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Hull, David Goodman

ISBN: 1-903425-43-3. 9.99

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths Around Newport, Terry Underwood

ISBN: 1-903425-59-X. 9.99

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First Published in Great Britain in 2007 by

Wharncliffe Books

an imprint of

Pen and Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright Jonathan Oates 2007

ISBN: 978-184563-031-7

eISBN: 978-178303-735-3

The right of Jonathan Oates to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Contents

Introduction

T he aim of this book is to study in detail a number of serious crimes which occurred in Lewisham and Deptford from the late sixteenth century to the early twentieth. The time period has been chosen deliberately and not because serious crime was particularly prevalent in these centuries (certainly not compared to the last half century). First it has been selected because, although an archbishop was murdered by Vikings sailing up the Ravensbourne at Deptford and assaults were being recorded on Blackheath in the fourteenth century, little is known about them. Secondly, although there have been many murders in Lewisham since 1938, I have thought these to be too recent as they are still in living memory for some. They are also too numerous. Finally, there is far more information available about earlier crimes because police files and other official data can be examined by researchers, unlike more recent and thus confidential information.

The book does not aim to be comprehensive, even within the limited time span which has been set. I have chosen cases which are varied and which are of interest. These include a discussion of a local man who has been suspected of being Jack the Ripper, the murder investigation in which a fingerprint was first used to convict killers, the death of a great Elizabethan playwright and a vicious murder of a young woman on Blackheath which has never been solved until now.

Although some of the crimes chronicled here are not unknown, such as the killing of Marlowe in 1593 and the hitherto unsolved murder of Louisa Steele, the majority have not, to my knowledge, appeared in the many published histories of Lewisham and Deptford, of which there has been a renaissance of late. Nor have they been examined by writers of crime in London. Although previous writers of Lewisham and Deptford history have not neglected local crime, their attention has necessarily been drawn to many other key topics, such as transport, the growth of local communities and to social and economic life. Although serious crime is uncommon, it leaves bloody stains.

Researching for a book about crime is a little like detective work itself. The four major sources for this book are as follows. First, there are the files of the Metropolitan Police Force, held at the National Archives at Kew. These include witness statements taken by the police, confessions of criminals and correspondence of the police and police surgeons. None of this information has been published hitherto and, indeed, two of the files used have never before been open to public inspection (they were in part accessed by the author under the recent Freedom of Information legislation). Second, there is The Times digital archive, which provides an extremely useful way of searching two centuries of one of the countrys leading newspapers. The newspaper reports for the nineteenth century and early twentieth century are very detailed. Third, there are the local newspapers, chiefly The Kentish Mercury (Lewisham was part of the county of Kent until 1889 and the newspaper retained the county title for decades) which are available at Lewisham Library. Because this is not indexed, a researcher needs the two former sources in order to find relevant cases and their dates. Once the latter have been ascertained, finding reports of crime is easy.

Finally, there are the miscellaneous sources. Speaking to the staff at Lewisham Local Studies Centre was of great use, as was a suggestion from the commissioning editor. Wide reading also helps I am an omnivorous reader remarked Sherlock Holmes and I have followed this dictum. Supporting works, such as the major works on Lewishams history, gave useful background material. On the whole, most of the chapters in the books are the product of original research into primary sources, but the chapters concerning Marlowe and the Ripper are mostly the result of syntheses of recent works on these subjects. All these sources are listed at the end of the book.