On the Crime Trail! So Who Was Jack the Ripper?

GMS . on the crime trail! So who was Jack the Ripper? “Aaron Kosminski,” said Mike. “He was a Polish hairdresser and was Mike starts his ‘Crime & The Craft’ walking tour at Charing Cross locked up in an insane asylum soon after the fifth and final murder. By Station. the way, he was not a mason.” Mike Neville was initiated into a Croydon lodge in 1995. At that time he was a young policeman in the Met. In January, he retired as a Detective Chief Inspector. He is a reknowned historian, lecturer and author and he pulls no punches. “I say it as it is!” he added. Aaron Kosminski Page 1 Heroes and villains introduction of forensic science to police investigations and whose many cases included the infamous Dr Crippen and the ‘Brides in the Gloucestershire Masonic Society was embarking on a walking tour bath’.” around Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, taking in the Embankment, Parliament Square, St James’s Park, Horseguards and Admiralty Arch. Brother Sir Bernard Spilsbury. “Having worked the patch, I thought I knew central London pretty well, but was amazed at how many masonic connections we were to be introduced to in such a compact area,” said Dick Smith, the Society President and also a retired cop. “Mike explained the very plausible theory regarding Jack the Ripper and even before we’d taken a step,” continued Dick, “members and some of their ladies, and a couple of friends from the Bristol Masonic Society who we were very pleased had joined us, also learned about a villain who had been ‘on the square’. In 1929, the fraudulent actions of London mason, Clarence Charles Hatry, (left), had something of a knock-on effect, eventually causing the Wall Street Crash some 3000 miles away. The judge who sentenced him to 14 years, Mr Justice Avory, was a member of the St Peter and St Paul Lodge No 1410.” “Two years before that, the dismembered body of Minnie Bonati was found in a trunk in the Left Luggage Office just behind us. It resulted in the arrest of one John Robinson. He was convicted with the help of evidence from pathologist and mason, Sir Bernard Spilsbury. We were to learn a lot more about Brother Spilsbury, who is credited with the Page 2 “Proceeding in a easterly direction!” Mike indicates the site of the original Scotland Yard (1829-90) and below left, Dick Smith ‘captured’ uncharacteristically ‘outside’ a pub! “Just around the corner from the station, we passed the Sherlock Holmes pub, named after the character (and my hero) created by another mason, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle,” continued Dick. “Proceeding at the regulation copper’s pace, (1.5 mph), we crossed Northumberland Avenue into Great Scotland Yard, the site of the first ‘Scotland Yard’. We were to learn about the successes of the Yard’s top detective, Dick Tanner, a member of Domatic Lodge; then other real detectives and masons such as Fred Abberline and Edmund Reid, portrayed these days on TV’s Ripper Street. Then Franz Muller (not a mason), was the first man to commit a murder on a train, so we heard, but he was captured by a mason. Mike described the ‘Trial of the Detectives’ involving masons who ran a racing swindle and who were eventually captured by Superintendent ‘Dolly’ Williamson, a member of the Fortitude and Old Cumberland Lodge No 12. That trial led to the closing of the Detective Branch and the formation of CID.” Page 3 Doctor John Bodkin Adams “We found ourselves in Whitehall and learned about a Grand Master “We passed the new ‘New Scotland Yard’, adjacent to the first New who was probably murdered by a doctor, (not a mason), who was Scotland Yard, made famous in my youth by the likes of Fabian and suspected of being even more prolific that Harold Shipman. Cutting Edward Lustgarten. Then to the Houses of Parliament and, down to The Embankment, we stopped to make many advancements unsurprisingly, more tales of skulduggery. in masonic knowledge. Parliament Square Page 4 The man who never was! “We stopped briefly at the Westminster Arms; a pub which has served many a celebrity, including Desmond Tutu, Bill Clinton and Angelina Jolie. After suitable refreshment, we ambled along past Horseguards Parade, learning so much more about the Secret Societies Act of 1799. Into The Mall, we gazed up at the statue of the Grand Old Duke of York, a mason with an eye for the ladies. The anecdotes were coming thick and fast now; one tale following another, dotting between centuries. We heard more about ‘The man who never was’; the successful WWII deception of the Germans in ‘Operation Mincemeat’. The fictitious identity card of ‘Major William Martin’. The body used for ‘Operation Mincemeat’ was selected by Bro Spilsbury. Page 5 “Back into Whitehall, we arrived at the Silver Cross Tavern for a Visit: http://www.mike-neville-walks-and-talks.co.uk/ for details of the cracking lunch. (In 1999, the BBC claimed that the Silver Cross Tavern walks. was the only legal brothel in the UK, on the basis that a royal licence granted by Charles I was never revoked. For the record, it is not ‘Crime and the Craft’ and other books written by Mike are available via currently in operation as such!) Amazon or directly from him at [email protected]. Alternatively, GMS members may borrow a copy of ‘Crime and the “This was a very pleasant way to rest and refresh and talk over the Craft’ from the library at Wotton under Edge. countless stories with which we had been regaled during the three- hour jaunt. Mike signed copies of his 400-page book which contains these and a host of further ‘no-holds-barred’, well-researched accounts. “I have previously listened in lodge and chapter to Mike Neville delivering his entertaining lectures, so it was no surprise at all that everyone in the group congratulated him on a terrific performance. This and the many other tours which he conducts can certainly be recommended and he tells me his lectures have now raised over £50,000 for charity.” So, who was the Grand Master believed to have been murdered by Dr Bodkin Adams, (right)? You’ll have to read the book to find out! Page 6 .

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