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'.
Series
Royal Commission on Capital Punishment: Evidence and Papers
Catalogue reference: HO 301
What's it about?
HO 301
Papers of the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment appointed by the Home Secretary, to consider whether the rule of capital punishment for murder should be modified or limited. The files contain minutes of meetings, evidence, committee papers...
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
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HO 301
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Title (The name of the record)
- Royal Commission on Capital Punishment: Evidence and Papers
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Date (When the record was created)
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1949-1953
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Description (What the record is about)
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Papers of the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment appointed by the Home Secretary, to consider whether the rule of capital punishment for murder should be modified or limited. The files contain minutes of meetings, evidence, committee papers and correspondence.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
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Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
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English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, 1949-1953
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
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14 file(s)
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
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Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
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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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- Topics
- Crime
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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The Royal Commission was appointed by the Home Secretary on 4 May 1949 under the Chairmanship of Sir Ernest Gowers GCB, GBE. Its terms of reference were "to consider and report whether liability under the criminal law in Great Britain to suffer capital punishment for murder should be limited or modified, and if so, to what extent and by what means, for how long and under what conditions persons who would otherwise have been liable to suffer capital punishment should be detained, and what changes in the existing law and the prison system would be required; and to inquire into and take account of the position in those countries whose experience and practice may throw light on these questions." These did not include the question as to whether capital punishment should be retained or abolished.
The Report (Cmd.8932) was published in September 1953; it did not lead to any changes in legislation.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C9165/
Catalogue hierarchy
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This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
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Within the department: HO
Records created or inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related...
You are currently looking at the series: HO 301
Royal Commission on Capital Punishment: Evidence and Papers
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