Record revealed
Hoax letter signed by ‘Jack the Ripper’
This is one of hundreds of letters in police files claiming to have been written by the infamous Whitechapel Murderer – otherwise known as 'Jack the Ripper'.
Item
Prisoner name: Thomas Buckley, aged 15. [James Purton, aged 12, from a family of...
Catalogue reference: HO 18/166/21
What’s it about?
This record is about the Prisoner name: Thomas Buckley, aged 15. [James Purton, aged 12, from a family of... dating from 1846 in the series Home Office: Criminal Petitions, Series II. It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- HO 18/166/21
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1846
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Description (What the record is about)
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Prisoner name: Thomas Buckley, aged 15. [James Purton, aged 12, from a family of 11 children, also mentioned.].
Court and Date of Trial: Central Criminal Court, 1846.
Crime: Larceny.
Initial sentence: Imprisonment 14 days.
Petitions and letters: Petition from N Gorton, Jan 1846, who was in communication with W S M Phillipps and states if the prisoners are released, he will reemploy them.
The prisoners came before Commissioner Bullock and pleaded guilty.
Letter from W W Cope, Feb 1846, to G Everest, who says he brought new evidence to the judge, on the day of the trial, and the judge altered the sentence from 3 months to 14 days.
Pencil note on the envelope to Sir James, saying Cope had no power to interfere with the case or to order the discharge of the prisoners. But with humanity and good feeling in making this proposal, it will be considered.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference (Former identifier given by the originating creator)
- 166/21
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C20875920/
Series information
HO 18
Home Office: Criminal Petitions, Series II
See the series level description for more information about this record.
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You are currently looking at the item: HO 18/166/21
Prisoner name: Thomas Buckley, aged 15. [James Purton, aged 12, from a family of...
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