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20181211 The Deeming Murders
The members and visitors much enjoyed an illustrated talk on the (probable) 'first global serial murderer' given by Dr Tom Preston, a local historian, former teacher and library archive publicist.
The murderer had married a number of women and had killed them and in some instances their children while also being a fraudster obtaining money to afford his lifestyle and inter-continental travel.
The audience were enthralled and horrified at the numerous aliases and 'easy' deception of law authorities by use of aliases, and travel to new areas, which the speaker illustrated by numerous census entries and other documents with a major one being a long 300 or so page 'scrap book' held in St Helens Archives. Where he wasHeritage Outreach Officer for St Helens Local History and Archives Library.
The 'popular press' view of the connection.
Paper illustration CCby2.0 450px DeemingRipper
Rather than repeat or attempt to repeat in newer words the story of Deeming I quote the Wikipedia summary below the two references.
For the longer article I recommend reading both the two website articles:
A) The Wikipedia one (remembering that it is never ‘authentic’ as no one checks Wikipedia)
Refer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Bailey_Deeming
and
B) A website with many of the illustrations used by Dr Tom Preston.
Refer https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2781682/Mystery-100-year-old-skull-Australia-s-serial-killer-onetime-Jack-Ripper-suspect-Frederick-Deeming-entombed-victims-concrete.html
The illustrations cannot be reproduced as many are not in the public domain.
The daily mail article is much recommended for its use of illustrations and somewhat graphic storytelling under the title:
“Mystery of 100-year-old skull and Australia's first serial killer and one-time Jack the Ripper suspect, Frederick Deeming who entombed his victims in concrete”
The House of Murder.
Dinham Villa where murder took place
Summary.
QUOTE
Frederick Bailey Deeming (30 July 1853 – 23 May 1892) was an English-born Australian gasfitter (white-metal-smith) and murderer. He was convicted and executed for the murder of a woman in Melbourne, Australia. He is remembered today because he was suspected by some of being the notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper.
Deeming was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England, son of Thomas Deeming, brazier, and his wife Ann, née Bailey. He was a "difficult child" according to writers Maurice Gurvich and Christopher Wray. At 16 years of age he ran away to sea, and thereafter he began a long career of crime, largely thieving and obtaining money under false pretences. He was also responsible for the murder of his first wife Marie, and his 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 Windsor, 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. This was not only due to efficient police work, but also a result of the considerable international media interest the murder attracted. For example, it was an English journalist working for the Melbourne Argus who first approached Mather's mother in Rainhill, delivering the news of her daughter's murder. Another factor was Deeming's behaviour in public; for while often using different names, he usually drew attention to himself with behaviour variously described as aggressive, ostentatious, ingratiating and overly attentive to women.
UNQUOTE
The memorial in Melbourne
Emily Mather Grave Melbourne General Cemetery
Dr Tom Preston has put many hours of work into his researches on the matter and included many census reports to track down Deeming’s many aliases and world wide places of residence, this enthralled our audience that he travelled so widely and had the funds to do so. The funds being mostly from fraudulent activities obtaining other peoples moneys, but these crimes were not covered as little is known about them.
Dr Tom has presented his talk to other societies and their is a picture of him giving it to WI meeting at Rainhill.
The Rainhill WI President and Dr Tom Preston. Rainhil being most appropriate to this tale.
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THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY IN RUNCORN & WIDNES
13th September 2018 talk. Notes by Eion MacDonald. Photos in Public Domain or CC by SA
Our meeting had 29 members and 8 visitors to a
Talk by Dr Diane Leitch MBE on:
The History & Development of the Chemical Industries in Runcorn & Widnes.
Catalyst Discovery Centre & Museum
Dr Diana Leitch took us through two centuries of the chemical industry's development, highlighting the key role that both Runcorn and Widnes and the surrounding area played when populated by ‘incomers’ and locals in the history of the chemical industry.
Dr Diana Leitch is a trustee of the Catalyst Discovery Centre in Widnes and has a background, as a local person, and is an eminent historical librarian to the chemical industry. While on her way to us she visited Croft Church where her great grandparents were married.
It is a story of new incoming people developing an industry with all the trials of invention, partnerships (often broken), using the area resources in travel, transport and raw materials, all of which playing a part. The ‘wastelands of Widnes’ was a relatively cheap place to erect a works and import labour from anywhere.
Before the industry came.
Refer website
From www.runcornhistsoc.org.uk website files. Copyright acknowledged.
http://www.runcornhistsoc.org.uk/old_runcorn_postcards/_postcard_nomans_land.html
Rural to Industrial.
Liverpool and Manchester people went to the rural villages of Runcorn and Widnes for the good of their health, sea bathing and ‘taking the waters’ in the eighteenth century. But within 50 years there were complaints about 'acid rain' killing trees, bad odours and ill health. Building of taller factory chimneys was a way to mitigate the pollution but it was ineffective, and living conditions deteriorated. The difficulty to get work meant the towns continued to attract people as they offered employment. The raw materials were obtainable by new transport arrangements then under development: salt from Cheshire, coal from Lancashire, lime from Buxton and North Wales obtained by canal or railway, and labour from Ireland, Russia, Lithuania, Romania, Scotland and Wales. New innovations including French developments (as some French patents were not enforced due to lack of funds to re-new them) assisted English use of the French new chemical knowledge. Immigrants have been constant in UK development over the last 2000 years or so.
Factories on Bridgewater canal.
(PD) Runcorn Dock Engraving by Hedley Fitton died 1929 Date 1880s Source Nickson Charles 1887 History of Runcorn London and Warrington Mackie Co. Author Scanned and enhanced by Peter I. Vardy800px Runcorn Dock
Developers.
The factory developers came from far afield. Johnson, Hazelhurst, Hutchinson, Gossage (an apothecary from Skegness), Gaskell, Mathieson and McKechnie (from the Mull of Kintyre) and Wigg (from Suffolk) became famous local names. Some of them lived in fine mansions in Runcorn, but others lived further away, e.g. Holbrook, Gaskell in Woolton and Neil Mathieson near Sefton Park. These people made the ‘must have’ products of the time (soap and bleach) which changed the health of others if not their workers.
Soap was regarded as a brilliant product because it made people and clothes clean. Heaps of the notorious waste product [galligu] were regarded as a necessary evil. The usual age range of workers were: children of say 12 years to “old” men at 40 years due to industrial ill health. 12-year-old boys made packing cases, and women cut up and packed the soap, with heavy labour on the vats by men.
Henry Brunner
( PD )Henry Brunner, chemist scanned and enhanced from Hardie, D W F, "A History of the Chemical Industry in Widnes" Henry_Brunner
John Hutchinson
(PD )John Hutchinson scanned and enhanced from Hardie, D W F, "A History of the Chemical Industry in Widnes" 524px-John_Hutchinson
The process developer.
CCby SA NicholasLeblanc
The product, soap
Gossage's Brand
Illustrations.
The talk was extremely well illustrated with many old photographs which showed the bad working conditions and the separation of labour for jobs, light work for children, medium work for females and heavy work by males.
Photographs of 'bleach men' swathed in cloth, whose bare hands suffered chemical burns.
Small companies and amalgamations.
The small initial companies went through the normal (industrial revolution) process of fighting each other, lawsuits, amalgamation, bankruptcies, and people going off to try their own thing, and do better than their previous masters, some emigrating to do so.
The Salt Union was founded in 1882, piping brine to Weston Point. Where still salt products are made.
The United Alkali Company was founded in 1890 as an amalgamation of small firms, to try to survive and fight off competition. The Hurter Laboratory was established in Widnes by a Swiss chemist. The Castner Kellner works was set up in Runcorn to produce chlorine . Chlorine is stil produced at Runcorn y the technical descendant of the old firms under the Ineos Group facilities “INEOS Enterprises / Inovyn” making chlorine derivatives in Runcorn some 120 odd years after starting.
20th Century.
The 20th century saw more mergers. Lever Brothers took over Gossages, and soap making in Widnes ceased. ICI was created in 1926, as a combination of United Alkali, Brunner Mond (of Northwich), British Dyestuffs (of Blackley) and Nobel (of Ayrshire). ICI was a philanthropic employer. Rose Queen festivals and pensioners' parties were recorded in the staff magazine; the copies held at Catalyst are now a major and useful historical source for these activities. The company name “ICI” has now disappeared, as the various divisions were sold off one by one, in order for some parts to survive under different ownership.
War activities.
World war I saw production of chemicals for munitions.
World war II saw Widnes play a key (though it was then a “top secret”) role in the development and manufacture of poison gas, and research on uranium isotopes. The workers at the Hurter Laboratory and the 'Hush Hush Works' on Wigg Island had to sign the Official Secrets Act. Which produced silence but locals all knew it as the “Hush Hush” plant, somewhat similar to the atomic bomb plant in USA where new arrivals at local town told to ask for a specific innocuous name were advised by local bus company “oh, you mean the new weapons plant”.
After the war, the research continued. Dr Charles Suckling, who lived in Woolton, invented Halothane, the first non-flammable anaesthetic. This was a major step in health, (and safety) and is used still in some low income countries while its derivatives are used in major economies.
Halothane container. (Catalyst photo)
INEOS salt in Runcorn today.
INEOS vacuum salt plant at Runcorn, Cheshire supplies a range of quality products that fit most applications and industry needs including food salts, water softening salts, animal feed, industrial and chemical, and de-icing salts and operates to ISO9001:2000 standard.
Picture on website: https://www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-enterprises/businesses/ineos-salt/
Todays bridges at Runcorn-Widnes
Spike Island today
Catalyst Discovery Centre
http://www.catalyst.org.uk/
This is now a major museum and record centre as it holds among other things the old ICI records which are important for their social history as well as their technical records. Genealogy takes a major interest in people’s life with computer searches and the social newspapers of ICI now are a ‘mine’ for social historical research.
The Catalyst Discovery Centre was founded in the former Gossages building in 1987 to preserve artefacts and archives and to promote teaching of the 'STEM' subjects in schools. This helps the local area and enables incoming industry to get human resources from the local population.
It is a superb place for youngsters to visit and activities for them include ‘sleep overs’ which can be arranged. [This adult was very jealous on visiting and seeing schoolchildren building a working child-carrying-bridge modelled on suspension bridge joining Runcorn to Widnes.]
We were told a Manchester Ship Canal cruise was a way of seeing what is left today, as the industry was based on the river and canals for transport the view from the water shows the old and new developments.
Please visit.
The author recommends a visit by members, some have already visited the Catalyst Discovery Centre
Links
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalyst_(museum)
John Hutchinson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hutchinson_(industrialist)
Duncan McKechnie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_McKechnie
Dr Diane Leitch MBE announcement in RSC Historical newsletter
http://www.sbcs.qmul.ac.uk/rschg/Newsletter/NL2014summer.pdf
2012 view on Uk chemical industry manufacturing.
Sites still operative, but ownership is diverse and not UK
https://www.aiche.org/sites/default/files/cep/20121228_0.pdf
Foreign Comment by The George Washington University, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences,
History News Network. “6/12/18”
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/169271
Local notes
Chemical Manufactories in Cheshire - Nitre Beds, Northwich Salt, Le Blanc & Brunner Mond
http://www.themeister.co.uk/hindley/chemical_factories.htm
Outside The Weaver Refining Company notes & GIF
The Weaver Refining Co Ltd
Riparian Manufactory, Acton Bridge & Witton Brook
http://www.themeister.co.uk/hindley/weaver_refining.htm
Halothane note Wikipedia (low cost still in use in undeveloped countries)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halothane
successor in developed countries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevoflurane
Photos CC by SA
Runcorn Widnes Gap Bridge
https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/SJ5083
Chlorine production
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_production
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Future Programme.
Next meeeting for 2023-24 session will be in September 2023
All talks and speakers are to be arranged and will be announced as arranged.
Meetings for 2024-2025 session.
Dates. |
Speaker |
Subject |
Sept. 12th, |
Jim Meehan |
Barbarous Wigan Murder. |
|
Brian Joyce |
Unwanted Pregnancies in Victorian England. Stratigies Available to Women. |
Nov. 14th, |
Tom McGrath |
The Miser's Home. |
Dec.12th, 2024 |
Philip Jeffs. |
Sewage and Smoke. |
January 09th, 2025 |
David Shawcross |
Pennington Flash. |
|
John Winnard |
Uncle Joe's Mint Balls. |
March 13th, |
Andy Green |
Inns, Pubs and Ale Houses in Bridge Street, Warrington. |
|
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Photographing Warrington
|
May , |
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Future Meetings
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Future Meetings will be notified when arrangements are made in autumn of 2025. |
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Autumn 2025 |
2025-2026 program to be advised. |
Enquiries about meetings: Zoe Chaddock Tel. 01925 752 276
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Reports on past meetings are viewed in a continous blog.
https://www.clhg.org.uk/index.php/blog-reports
2024 - 2025 session meetings:
We meet on Second Thursday in each month.
Starting time (refreshments) 7.15 pm for 7.30 pm,
NEXT MEETING: Date, Speaker, Subject.
September 12th, 2024 Speaker: Jim Meehan.
Subject: Barbarous Wigan Murder.
2024-25 arrangements were made in autumn of 2024.
Meetings are held at:
Culcheth Community Centre, on SECOND THURSDAY of month.
Culcheth Community Centre, 2 Jackson Avenue, Culcheth, Warrington, WA3 4EL, UK.
(See map and parking details under location heading in top menu OR
FROM "" "Blue Button" with white letters "CLHGData" and the drop down menu.)
Starting time 7.15 pm for 7.30 pm.
Tea from 7.15 pm to 7.30 pm at a small donation.
Group Publications.
Some members of the Group and others have written scholarly articles on
local history subjects, which have been published by the group or in other publications.
Details can be given on request.
Publications available :“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old”
with a subtitle of “A Memorial to Culcheth's War Dead”, by Zoe Chaddock.
A new version covering World War II is now available. Price GBP £5.
Publications available: Copies of this book are for sale at the local Culcheth bookshop, “Forget-me-not toys and books”, at CPS.
Culcheth Local History Group [ CLHG].
Culcheth Local History Group, founded at Culcheth local library in 2006, is an all age group,
who meet monthly in Culcheth, Warrington, England to hear speakers on wide ranging
matters of interest, visit local (and not so local) sites and events.
Visitors are very welcome.
Members pay a small annual fee. (This is changed from Sept 2024)
Annual fee is £15 payable in September.
(Edit:adjusted 20240727 by webmaster8)
Visitors pay a visitors fee per meeting. A fee £3.00 is payable at each meeting.
The Group meets on the Second Thursday of each month in
Culcheth Community Centre,
Jackson Avenue, Culcheth, Warrington, WA3 4EL, England.
Starting time 7.15 pm for 7.30 pm.
Refreshments available before meeting starts.
Parking is available at nearby council car park.
See 'location tab'.
Meetings for 2024-2025 session.
Dates. |
Speaker |
Subject |
Sept. 12th, |
Jim Meehan |
Bararous Wigan Murder.
|
|
Brian Joyce |
Unwanted Pregnacies in Victorian England.Stratigies Available to Woman. |
Nov. 10th, |
Tim McGrath |
The Miser's Home. |
Dec.12th, 2024 |
Philip Jeffs |
Sewage and Smoke. |
January 09th, 2024 |
David Shawcross |
Pennington Flash. |
|
John Winnard |
Uncle Joe's Mint Balls. |
March 13th, |
Andy Green |
Inns, Pubs and Ale Houses |
April 10th, |
Harry Wells |
Photographing Warrington (Continued).
|
May th, |
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Future Meetings
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Future Meetings will be notified when arrangements are made in autumn of 2025. |
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Autumn 2025 |
|
2025-2026 program to be advised. |
Links to other pages below this on small screens.