James Maybrick, (October 24, 1838–May 11, 1889) was a Liverpool cotton merchant. After his death, his wife, Florence Maybrick, was convicted of his murder by poisoning in a sensational trial. A diary later surfaced, which supporters of its authenticity claim shows Maybrick confessing to and describing his activities as Jack the Ripper. The diary has been widely dismissed as a hoax, but it (and other evidence that lends it legitimacy) cannot be so easily discredited. is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... Florence Maybrick was an American citizen who spent fourteen years in prison in England after being convicted of murdering her English husband. ... Jack the Ripper is the pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area of London, England in the second half of 1888. ... A hoax is an attempt to trick an audience into believing that something false is real. ...

Early life

Mr and Mrs Maybrick

James Maybrick was born in the slums of Liverpool, the son of William Maybrick, an engineer, and his wife, Susanna. He was christened on November 12, 1838 at St Peter's Church in the town. He was named after a brother who had died the year before and was one of several brothers - William (1835), Michael (1841), Alfred (1844), Thomas (1846) and Edwin (1851). Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2440x1676, 2772 KB) From The Graphic 1889 This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2440x1676, 2772 KB) From The Graphic 1889 This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. ... is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Maybrick's trading activities, in his capacity initially as a Commercial Clerk and then a merchant required him to travel regularly. On the 1871 Census, he was onboard a ship docked at Glasgow. For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ...

In 1871 he settled in Norfolk, Virginia to establish a branch office of his company. In 1874, while still there, he contracted malaria. The medication provided to him contained arsenic, to which he became addicted for the rest of his life. Motto: Crescas (Latin for, Thou shalt grow. ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. ... General Name, Symbol, Number arsenic, As, 33 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 15, 4, p Appearance metallic gray Standard atomic weight 74. ... This article is about the concept of addiction. ...

In 1880, Maybrick decided to return to the company's offices in England. Boarding a ship in New York on March 12, 1880 he arrived in Liverpool six days later. During the journey he was introduced to Florence (Florie) Elizabeth Chandler, and almost immediately they started planning their marriage. He was 42, Florence was 18, the daughter of a banker in Mobile, Alabama. Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Nickname: Coordinates: , Country State County Mobile Founded 1702 Incorporated 1814 Government  - Mayor Sam Jones Area  - City 412. ...

The wedding was delayed until July 27, 1881 where it took place at St James Church, Piccadilly, London. They moved back up to Liverpool to live at the family home "Battlecrease". is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Picadilly street sign. ...

They had two children: a son, James Chandler ("Bobo") Maybrick (born in Liverpool in 1882), who nearly died of Scarlet Fever, and later a daughter, Gladys Evelyn Maybrick, born in Liverpool in 1886.

Maybrick continued to divide his time between the American and the English offices of the company. This apparently strained the marriage. Both conducted extramarrital affairs, Florence with one of her brothers-in-law and Alfred Brierley, another cotton broker.

In Maybrick's case a common-law wife, Sarah Ann Robertson, is mentioned. Sarah Ann is mentioned in her stepfather's will as "Sarah Ann Maybrick, wife of James". It is said^[who?] that Florie began her affair with Brierley just after she found out about Sarah Ann. In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ...

Death

Maybrick's health deteriorated suddenly, starting on April 27, 1889, ending in his death on May 11, 1889. is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

The circumstances of Maybrick's death were deemed suspicious, and an examination of the body indicated that arsenic may have been the cause of death. If so, it remains uncertain whether a possible overdose was self-administered, administered by Florence, or another person. Florence was convicted and sentenced to death.

Controversy over the case, especially regarding the fairness of Florence's trial, led to her sentence being commuted to life imprisonment, part of which she served in a prison in Woking, Surrey and then at the "House of Detention" at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ... Life imprisonment or life incarceration is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime, often for most or even all of the criminals remaining life, but in fact for a period which varies between jurisdictions: many countries have a maximum possible period of time (usually 7 to 50 years... Woking is a large town in England, in the west of Surrey. ... This page is about Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. ...

A re-examination of her case resulted in her release in 1904. She supported herself through various occupations until her death on October 23, 1941. is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ...

Family

James Maybrick Jr. and Gladys Evelyn were taken in by a Dr. Charles Chinner Fuller and his wife Gertrude after their father died and their mother convicted.

James Jr. changed his name to Fuller before he died in Canada in 1911, by accidentally drinking cyanide. He was 29. Gladys eventually lived in Ryde, Hampshire, with her uncle and aunt Michael and Laura (nee Withers) Maybrick before marrying in London in 1912. This article is about the chemical compound. ...

Jack the Ripper Diary

In 1992, a document presented as James Maybrick's diary surfaced, which claimed that he was Jack the Ripper. The diary's author does not mention his own name, but offers enough hints and references consistent with Maybrick's established life and habits that it is obvious readers are expected to believe it is him. The diarist details his alleged actions and crimes over a period of several months, taking credit for slaying the five victims most commonly credited to Jack the Ripper, as well as two other murders which have to date not been historically identified. Jack the Ripper is the pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area of London, England in the second half of 1888. ...

The 'diary' was first introduced to the world by Michael Barrett, an unemployed former Liverpool scrap metal dealer, who claimed at the time that it had been given to him by a friend, Tony Devereux, in a pub. It was published as The Diary of Jack the Ripper in 1993 to great controversy. Few experts gave it any credence from the outset, and most immediately dismissed it as a hoax, though some were open to the possibility it might be genuine. Debate was often heated, and one writer notes that the "saga of the Maybrick diary is confusing, complicated and inescapably tortuous."^[1] Pub redirects here. ...

Generally, the current consensus is that the diary is a forgery. This conclusion was reached after various investigators noted that the diary contains mistaken notions about the Ripper crimes that were only introduced in the 20th century, as well as some textual anomalies that seem to refer to modern Liverpool landmarks not present (or not known by the name given in the text) in Maybrick's time. Also cited are tests conducted on the diary's ink, suggesting the diary was written recently, and in only a few sittings, not over the several months indicated in the diary's entries. It was written in an old scrapbook with the first forty-eight pages cut out, which indicated that an old half-used book was found and the original contents had been removed. Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ... For other uses, see Ink (disambiguation). ...

In 1995, Michael Barrett swore in an affidavit that he was "the author of the Manuscript written by my wife Anne Barrett at my dictation which is known as The Jack the Ripper Diary."^[2] Adding to the confusion, however, was Barrett's solicitor's subsequent repudiation of his affidavit, then Barrett's withdrawal of the repudiation. An affidavit is a formal sworn statement of fact, signed by the declarant (who is called the affiant), and witnessed (as to the veracity of the affiants signature) by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public. ...

Also presented shortly after the 'discovery' of the 'diary' was a pocket watch, with the initials "J.M." scratched on the inside cover, along with the initials of the five so-called canonical Ripper victims. Tests performed on the watch indicate that these markings are "many decades" old and lend a great deal of support to the idea that the diary is real. This article is about the portable timepiece. ...

A minority of persons, including Robert Smith, the present owner of the diary and original publisher of the associated book by Shirley Harrison, insist it may be genuine. They argue that scientific dating methods have established that the book and ink used to write in it are from the nineteenth century; that the symptoms of arsenic addiction, claimed to be described accurately in the book, are known to very few persons; that some details of the murders provided in it were known only to police and the Ripper himself before the book's publication; and that one of the original crime scene photographs shows the initials "F. M." written on a wall behind the victim's body in what appears to be blood. These, they claim, refer to Florence Maybrick, James's wife, whose possible infidelities were the purported motivation for the murders. They further argue that no one has successfully taken these facts into account when dismissing the journal. The veracity of all of these claims is however still a matter of heated debate and dispute.^[3][4]

Footnotes