|
Montague John Druitt (15 August 1857 – early December 1888)〔His body was discovered on 31 December 1888 about a month after his death. A train ticket dated 1 December was found in his pocket. His gravestone reads 4 December 1888; his death certificate gives the date his body was found. According to the probate records of his estate, he was last seen alive on 3 December (McDonald, p. 143).〕 was one of the suspects in the Jack the Ripper murders that took place in London between August and November 1888. He came from an upper-middle class English background, and studied at Winchester College and the University of Oxford. After graduating, he was employed as an assistant schoolmaster at a boarding school and pursued a parallel career in the law, qualifying as a barrister in 1885. His main interest outside work was cricket, which he played with many leading players of the time, including Lord Harris and Francis Lacey. In November 1888, he lost his post at the school for reasons that remain unclear. One month later his body was discovered drowned in the River Thames. His death, which was found to be a suicide, roughly coincided with the end of the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. Private suggestions in the 1890s that he could have committed the crimes became public knowledge in the 1960s, and led to the publication of books that proposed him as the murderer. The evidence against him was entirely circumstantial, however, and many writers from the 1970s onwards have rejected him as a likely suspect. ==Early life== Druitt was born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. He was the second son and third child of prominent local surgeon William Druitt, and his wife Ann (''née'' Harvey). William Druitt was a justice of the peace, a governor of the local grammar school, and a regular worshipper at the local Anglican church, the Minster.〔Cullen, p. 224; Leighton, pp. 10–12〕 Six weeks after his birth, Montague Druitt was christened at the Minster by his maternal great-uncle, Reverend William Mayo.〔Leighton, p. 10〕 The Druitts lived at Westfield House, which was the largest house in the town, and set in its own grounds with stables and servants' cottages.〔Cullen, p. 224; Leighton, pp. 10–12; McDonald, p. 80〕 Druitt had six brothers and sisters,〔 including an elder brother William who entered the law, and a younger brother Edward who joined the Royal Engineers.〔Leighton, pp. 13, 31; McDonald, p. 80〕 Druitt was educated at Winchester College, where he won a scholarship at the age of 13, and excelled at sports, especially cricket and fives.〔Cullen, pp. 224–225; Leighton, pp. 15–18〕 He was active in the school's debating society, an interest that might have spawned his desire to become a barrister.〔Cullen, p. 225; Leighton, p. 20〕 In debates, he spoke in favour of French republicanism, compulsory military service, and the resignation of Benjamin Disraeli, and against the Ottoman Empire, the influence of Otto von Bismarck, and the conduct of the government in the Tichborne case.〔 He defended William Wordsworth as "a bulwark of Protestantism",〔Cullen, p. 225〕 and condemned the execution of King Charles I as "a most dastardly murder that will always attach to England's fair name as a blot".〔Spallek, Andrew (October 2008) "Young Montie: Montague Druitt at Winchester", ''Ripperologist'' 96: 4–5〕 In a light-hearted debate, he spoke against the proposition that bondage to fashion is a social evil.〔〔 In his final year at Winchester, 1875–76, he was Prefect of Chapel, treasurer of the debating society, school fives champion, and opening bowler for the cricket team.〔 In June 1876, he played cricket for the school team against Eton College, which won the match with a team including cricketing luminaries Ivo Bligh and Kynaston Studd, as well as a future Principal Private Secretary at the Home Office Evelyn Ruggles-Brise. Druitt bowled out Studd for four.〔Leighton, p. 16〕 With a glowing academic record, he was awarded a Winchester Scholarship to New College, Oxford.〔Cullen, p. 225; Leighton, p. 20; McDonald, p. 82〕 At New College, he was popular with his peers, and was elected Steward of the Junior Common Room by them.〔Cullen, p. 226; Leighton, p. 28; McDonald, p. 82; Rumbelow, p. 155〕 He played cricket and rugby for the college team, and was the winner of both double and single fives at the university in 1877.〔Leighton, p. 24; McDonald, p. 82〕 In a seniors' cricket match in 1880, he bowled out William Patterson, who later captained Kent County Cricket Club.〔Leighton, pp. 24, 169〕 Druitt graduated from Oxford in 1880 with a third class Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics.〔 His youngest brother, Arthur, entered New College in 1882,〔Foster, Joseph (ed.) (1888) ''Alumni Oxonienses'', London: Parker and Co., vol. I: "Abbay–Dyson"〕 just as Druitt was following in his eldest brother William's footsteps by embarking on a career in law.〔Leighton, p. 31; McDonald, p. 83〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Montague Druitt」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|