Charles Allen Lechmere | |
|---|---|
 Lechmere in 1912 | |
| Born | Charles Allen Lechmere 5 October 1849 |
| Died | 23 December 1920 (aged 71)[2] Bow, London, England |
| Other names | Charles Allen Cross |
| Known for | Discovering the first canonical Jack the Ripper victim Jack the Ripper suspect |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Bostock (m. 1870) |
| Children | 11[3] |
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Charles Allen Lechmere (5 October 1849 – 23 December 1920), also known as Charles Allen Cross, is a Jack the Ripper suspect who was a native of East London and reportedly worked as a carman (delivery driver) for the Pickfords company for more than 20 years. On 31 August 1888, Lechmere apparently found the body of Mary Ann Nichols, the first of Jack the Ripper's five canonical victims, while on his way to work. Although long regarded as merely a passer-by at the crime scene, Lechmere has since been named as a Jack the Ripper suspect by contemporary true crime writers.
The suggestion that he might actually be the Whitechapel Murderer was first raised by Derek Osborne in 2000 in an issue of the magazine Ripperana.[4] The following year saw the possibility further explored in an article by John Carey,[5] while Osborne went on to examine a set of remarkable coincidences which suggested that the man who gave his name as 'Cross' at the inquest was in fact a man legally known as Lechmere.[6] Lechmere's possible guilt was further discussed by John Carey in 2002;[7] by Osborne in 2007,[8] by Michael Connor in four issues of The Ripperologist between 2006 and 2008.[9][10][11][12] and by Bob Mills in The Ripperologist 2021.[13]
Mainstream awareness of Lechmere grew in 2014 when journalist Christer Holmgren and criminologist Gareth Norris explored the case against him in the 2014 Channel Five documentary Jack the Ripper: The Missing Evidence.[14][15] In 2021, Holmgren produced a book[16] in which Lechmere is linked not only to the Whitechapel Murders, but also to the longer series of killings known as the Thames Torso Murders.
- ^ "Charles A Lechmere, St George In The East, London, Middlesex, England in England and Wales Census, 1871, database". January 20, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2023 – via FamilySearch.
- ^ Jack the Ripper Suspects: The Definitive Guide and Encyclopedia ISBN 978-1-986-32469-4 p. 32
- ^ Williams, Paul (2018). Jack the Ripper Suspects: The Definitive Guide and Encyclopaedia. Toronto: RJ Parker Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 9781986324694. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Google Books.
- ^ Derek F. Osborne: 'The Man Who Was Jack the Ripper', Ripperana, No.33, Jul. 2000
- ^ John Carey: 'Watchman, Old Man, I Believe Somebody Is Murdered Down The Street', Ripperana, No.36, Apr. 2001
- ^ Derek F. Osborne: 'To the Ripper a Son', Ripperana, No. 37, Jul. 2001, p. 12-17
- ^ John Carey: 'Chasing Shadows - Charles Cross - The Carman', Ripperana, No. 40, April 2002
- ^ Derek F. Osborne: 'The Man Who Hated George Lusk' Ripperana, No. 62, Oct. 2007
- ^ Michael Connor: 'Did The Ripper Work For Pickfords?', The Ripperologist, Issue 72, Oct. 2006
- ^ Michael Connor: 'Charles Cross Was Jack The Ripper', The Ripperologist, Issue 78, Apr. 2007
- ^ Michael Connor: 'A.K.A. Charles Cross', The Ripperologist, Issue 87, Jan. 2008
- ^ Michael Connor: 'Lechmere: The Man In Bucks Row', The Ripperologist, Issue 94, Aug. 2008
- ^ Bob Mills : 'All Roads lead to Lechmere’, The Ripperologist, Issue 170 Dec 2021.
- ^ "The Ripper of our nightmares: 5 theories about Jack the Ripper's identity". HistoryExtra. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- ^ "Was Jack the Ripper a cart driver from Bethnal Green?". The Daily Telegraph. August 31, 2012. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- ^ Holmgren, Christer (February 2021). Christer Holmgren: "Cutting Point: Solving the Jack the Ripper and the Thames Torso Murders." Timaios Press 2021. ISBN 9187611368, 9789187611360. Timaios Press. ISBN 9789187611360.