CAMDEN TOWN MURDER

The Life and Death of Emily Dimmock
John Barber

The Camden Town Murder
The Life & Death of Emily Dimmock
John Barber
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 9781869928919
£15.00/US$22.00
Subjects: True Crime / Criminology.

Click HERE for The Camden Town Murder / UK

Click HERE for The Camden Town Murder / USA & AUS

Kindle UK Edition

Kindle USA Edition



“Her throat was cut, from ear to ear; her head almost severed from her body.’

On the morning of September 12th 1907, the body of Emily Dimmock was found in her rented rooms in Camden Town, London. The murderer has never been identified.

EMILY DIMMOCK followed the tragic fate of so many poor working class girls, by working as a domestic servant and then as a prostitute in London’s notorious King’s Cross area.

This is the story of the victim; along with an account of the times in which she lived, and the circumstances surrounding her death. Is this another crime of the imagination? Recent books have seen parallels between The Camden Town Murder, and the Whitechapel killings of Jack the Ripper, and the Peasenhall Mystery of 1902.

In THE CAMDEN TOWN MURDER, John Barber presents the reader with a modern day investigation, analysing and retracing the events with the story’s protagonists, with previously unpublished letters and a new interpretation of the forensic evidence.

This is also a social history and an account of the human condition of the people living in the Victorian and Edwardian eras: the upper classes and their domestic servants, the labouring poor, the ‘fallen women’, the music-halls, the artists, and the demi-monde. All these moving against alternating backgrounds of greys, black and crimson, and enraptured with the vapours of wormwood.

The Author: John Barber is a researcher and writer, whose published works include a collection of absorbing murder mystery novels. His popular and informative website, features books, articles, & gazeteers on the socio-cultural history of Britain and its great metropolis London.
www.johnbarber.com

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REVIEWS
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WALDEMAR JANUSZCZAK’s article on THE CAMDEN TOWN MURDER
in THE SUNDAY TIMES
www.waldemar.tv/2007/11/walter-sickert-murderous-monster-or-sly-self-promoter/

Review as featured in the Hertfordshire Mercury

‘Author usurps crime queen’s Ripper theory. A Hertford author has slammed crime writer Patricia Cornwell’s theories on Jack the Ripper in his latest book. John Barber, who is also the town centre manager, has penned The Camden Town Murder and is due to take part in a BBC documentary about the killer. In his book he pours cold water on the American crime queen’s speculation that a girl from Standon was the last victim of the Victorian serial killer. Ms Cornwell spent a fortune trying to prove that prostitute Emily Dimmock was killed by artist William Sickert, whom she believes was the Ripper. But John, 59, who has been researching the circumstances around Emily’s tragic death, claims Ms Cornwell has wasted her time and money. In the chapter entitled ‘Was Emily Dimmock a Ripper Victim?’ he writes: “In attempting to answer this question, one problem springs to mind. Why was there a gap of 19 years between the murder of Mary Kelly [a Ripper victim] and Emily Dimmock?”Surely a serial killer kills and then kills again until he is caught or dies. Rarely do they wait 19 years to strike. Yet this is what Patricia Cornwell would have us believe.”John, who lives on Folly Island, told the Mercury: “Ms Cornwell has got it wrong. It’s highly improbable that Emily was the Ripper’s victim.”Her throat was cut but the Ripper’s trademark was tearing open vital organs and sometimes taking body parts.”Sickert might have been the Ripper but he didn’t kill Emily – you’ll have to read the book to find out who did.”John, who has admitted that his fascination with the Ripper and Emily’s murder became an “obsession”, has been asked to take part in a BBC documentary on Sickert.He will take a film crew around north London and Whitechapel, in the East End, to the key sites of the Ripper attacks and the Camden Town murder. TV prankster Jeremy Beadle has already snapped up a signed copy of the The Camden Town Murder, which is available in Waterstones, Foyles, W H Smith, Barnes & Noble, Tesco and through Amazon. It is published by Mandrake.’

Review as featured in NW1 Magazine the groovy magazine for Camden.

The Camden Town Murder
By John Barber
‘ On the morning of 12 September, 1907, Bert Shaw returned to the lodgings he shared with his 22-year-old partner Emily (‘Phyllis’) Dimmock at 29 St Pauls Road (now Agar Grove). Unable to gain entry, he borrowed a key from his neighbour, opened the door and discovered Emily’s lifeless body lying on the bed. Her throat had been cut almost from ear to ear and her windpipe virtually severed. Her killer has never been found. The background to this gruesome murder, and its very public aftermath, is detailed in a new book, The Camden Town Murder.

Emily, a prostitute, was last seen the previous evening drinking with the principal suspect Robert Wood in what was then the Eagle public house and is now Mac’s Bar on the corner of Royal College Street and Camden Road. Wood was tried at the Old Bailey but, thanks to the efforts of Marshall Hall, England’s finest criminal defence barrister, he was acquitted on the grounds that he could not be placed at the scene of the crime and had an alibi. Although the author argues convincingly that Wood is still the most likely suspect, he does entertain other possibilities.

He has obviously carried out extensive research, and he identifies several other men who could have committed the crime, most notably the artist Walter Sickert, who must have known Emily as they both often frequented the Old Bedford Music Hall (demolished in 1969, now Bedford House, 123-133 Camden High Street), where Sickert used to sketch and paint the performers. Sickert is also suspected by many conspiracy theorists, in particular the crime novelist Patricia Cornwell, as having been Jack the Ripper and also having killed Emily, although there appears to be little direct evidence that this was the case. In any event, the modus operandi of Emily’s murder differed significantly from that employed by the Ripper. However, Sickert was apparently deeply upset by her death and embarked on a series of sketches and paintings called the Camden Town Murders, the best known of which – ‘what shall we do for the rent?’ – shows a young woman lying on her bed, in exactly the position in which Emily was found by the police. This painting is on the cover of the book.

Reading about true crime can be an unhealthy pastime, as writers and publishers tend to stress the lurid and sensationalist aspects, motivated no doubt by the public’s morbid interest in such matters, and thereby increase sales. This book, however, is forensic rather than febrile in tone, and dispassionately assesses the evidence for and against the various suspects. It will be of interest to students of crime and also to those seeking an understanding of the morality and underworld of Camden life in the early 20th century.’
– Rab MacWilliam in NW1 Magazine


Article feature in the Camden Gazette

‘Writer believes he has solved century old murder mystery’
nlnews@archant.co.uk
14 March 2007

‘Author John Barber spent years researching the book after growing up opposite the scene of the murder in what is now Agar Grove. Picture: Rob Bourne.

A murdered prostitute, a blood-stained bowl and an artist who cheated the hangman’s noose make up a 100-year-old Camden Town riddle a writer may have finally solved.

The 1907 murder of Emily Dimmock shocked the nation – especially as the murderer was never caught, although some believe that Jack the Ripper was responsible.

BERT Shaw – the partner of victim Emily Dimmock at the time of her death in 1907

Now writer John Barber – who grew up opposite the murder house in modern day Agar Grove and spent years writing The Camden Town Murder – thinks he has got to the bottom of the mystery.

He says a modern day jury would probably have convicted local artist Robert Wood – despite the fact that he was cleared of the crime by a court a century ago.

Mr Barber said: “One hundred years later it is very difficult to be sure, but with all the evidence available I have been able to point the finger at someone. Robert Wood was brilliantly defended at his trial but I think his alibi would have been shown to be false by a modern investigation.”

Mr Barber also hopes the book may bring some peace to the family of the murdered woman’s partner Bert Shaw. He said: “Bert Shaw’s family always talked about the murder in a hushed whisper. It was a dark secret but I think he had nothing to do with it. I hope the book gives a bit of peace to the family.”

Bert Shaw’s distant relation Alan Stanley – now 58 – remembers meeting his great uncle in the 1960s. He said: “In my childhood I vaguely knew there had been some sort of murder in the family. People referred to it without ever explaining what it was all about. I remember the fact that the murderer had washed his hands in a bowl and left blood-stains behind. Uncle Bert was old fashioned and always wore his suit even in the home. He was the first to come across her naked body lying with her throat cut – it must have been horrific. I don’t think anyone in the family ever thought he was the murderer.”

Exhumation of A Murder

The Life and Trial of Major Armstrong
Robin Odell
(Criminology) (True Crime)


Exhumation of A Murder
The Life and Trial of Major Armstrong
Robin Odell
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 186992892x New ISBN 9 781869 928926
£15.00/US$22.00
Subjects: Criminology / True Crime

Click HERE for UK edition

Click HERE for USA&AUS edition

”The case of Major Armstrong, the celebrated Hay Poisoner, the only solicitor ever to hang, is one of those classic, old-fashioned English murders which hail from the heyday of court-room drama when, with the hangman lurking in the pine-and-panel wings and the black cap an object of horrifyingly alarming currency rather than mere symbolism, the loser in ‘the black dock’s dreadful pen’ lost all. It comes straight out of the pages of George Orwell’s essayed nostalgia for the era of the Great British Murder, when, after a Sunday lunch of roast beef and Yorkshire, you put your feet up on the sofa and, with a good strong cup of mahogany-brown tea, read all about the latest ‘good’ murder in the News of the World. And the Armstrong case was unquestionably one of the best; right up there in the grand tradition of Dr Palmer of Rugeley, Neill Cream, Mrs Maybrick, Dr Crippen, Seddon, and George Joseph Smith.”
– Richard Whittington-Egan


”Now the case itself, as has been said to you, is a remarkable one, a deeply interesting one and I doubt whether any of us engaged here today have in recollection so remarkable a case in its incidents.”
– Mr Justice Darling, Herefordshire Winter Assizes, Thursday, 13th April 1922


”On the rim of the twentieth century loom the Titans – Seddon, Armstrong, Crippen, G.J. Smith and Landru, and then, in the era of booze and bullets, art descends literally to hack-work.”
– Dorothy Dunbar, Blood in the Parlour


Praise for EXHUMATION OF A MURDER

”This is, indisputably, a comprehensive study; embracing every aspect, exploring every angle; chronicling events and interpreting participants from remote and obscure beginnings to violent or peaceful ends. I advise anyone who has long subsisted on intriguing scraps and morsels about Armstrong to have this book ready to hand when leisure offers time for a satisfying repast…it is unique, and will inevitably become the last word on Armstrong and the case which bears his name.”
– Edgar Lustgarten

EXHUMATION OF A MURDER is the fruit of painstaking research over many years by J.H.H.Gaute, a well-known authority on the literature of crime and a former editor on the genre for a major publisher, and the late Dr Hubert Trumper who lived at Cusop, near Hay-On-Wye, the village where Armstrong lived and carried out his crime. This book contains a wealth of documents and photographs.

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SPECIAL EVENT

Featuring ROBIN ODELL in HAY-ON-WYE, at Murder & Mayhem Bookshop, Lion Street.
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Hay_clocktower
robin_odell3

On Saturday 2 September 2006, we travelled to the town of Hay-On-Wye to accompany Robin Odell for a book signing at the atmospheric Murder & Mayhem Bookshop, 39 Lion Street, where there is a good selection of True Crime and Murder & Mystery Fiction titles, by masters such as Dennis Wheatley, Sax Rohmer, Bram Stoker, and Robin Odell.

Robin was fresh from his lecture to the History of Medicine Society of Wales. Due to a booking mishap, it was relocated from Hay to Builth Wells! Even so there was a steady stream of interested customers and connoisseurs of the genre – some of whom, are shown in the photo: From left to right, Robin Odell, Anne & (sitting) Derek Addyman, Robin Odell’s partner ‘Non’, and holding glasses of wine are two lovely ladies, Joan & Friend. Thank you ; )
– Murder & Mayhem Bookshop, 5 Lion Street, Hay-on-Wye, Hereford, HR3 5AA.

Hay-On-Wye is a good place with a buzz to visit. There are lots of bookshops covering subjects for every interest, as well as eating places and shops for more retail therapy. We stayed up the road in Hereford and were directed to the Rose Garden pub just north of the Roman Road in Munstone. The beer was excellent – Flowers IPA and the home made food really was just that. In Hay we had another lovely pint, Old Black Lion Ale at the Black Lion in Lion Street – Major Armstrong’s ‘local’ so they say – although not too local as his wife didn’t like him drinking! The food there was also really good. The cafe opposite the Clock Tower (see below) is very user friendly – newspapers, real coffee –


For information about Hay-On-Wye, including town maps, books, the Literary Festival, places to eat, hotels, B&Bs, shopping, and things to do, please check out the Official Hay-On-Wye Website www.hay-on-wye.co.uk

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JACK THE RIPPER IN FACT AND FICTION

Robin Odell
(Ripperology) (True Crime) (Criminology)

Jack The Ripper in Fact and Fiction
Robin Odell
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 978-1869928-308
£15.00 / US $24.00
Subjects: Ripperology / True Crime / Criminology.

Click HERE for UK edition

Click HERE for USA edition

In the autumn of 1888, the streets of London were streets of terror. The cause – is a series of mysterious and apparently motiveless murders.

Respectable citizens cowered behind shuttered windows and multi-locked doors. Ironically, however, it was not respectable who were in danger.

The victims were all drawn from the trade which necessity still compelled to haunt dark alleys and doorways in dead of night – the prostitutes.

Theories on the identity of the murderer have been many and various: that he was a fashionable doctor, even that he was a she – a midwife.

Robin Odell has produced an absorbing factual reconstruction of all the crimes and a brilliant new theory, based on modern methods of detection,to solve the greatest mystery in British criminology. Most readers will accept his theory as the long-sought answer to a baffling real-life whodunit, as the most likely epitaph on a terror known as JACK THE RIPPER IN FACT AND FICTION.

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RESOURCES FOR CRIME & RIPPEROLOGY SPECIALISTS

Featuring: True Crime & Ripperology Conferences, Conventions, Seminars, Lectures, Moots, Forums, Societies, Crime Writers Guilds, Journals, Books, Media, Archives, Museums, Tours, Walks, Murder Mysteries, Detective Fiction.

LORETTA LAY
– is a Specialist Detective Fiction and True Crime Bookdealer and a leading authority on Jack The Ripper.
www.laybooks.com
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MURDER ONE UK
– Murder One UK is an online, mail order only bookseller and a successor to the famous Murder One bookshop that traded in the heart of Charing Cross Road for over twenty years.
www.murderone.co.uk
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CASEBOOK
– is the Web’s largest public Jack The Ripper Archive.
www.casebook.org
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JACK THE RIPPER FORUMS
– The place to be for all things Ripper.
www.jtrforums.com
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RIPPEROLOGIST
– The Journal of Jack The Ripper, East End and Victorian Studies, is available in electronic format on subscription.
www.ripperologist.co.uk
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THE WHITECHAPEL MURDERS
– Karyo Magellan’s website dedicated to Jack The Ripper.
www.karyom.com/The%20Whitechapel%20Murders.htm
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THE WHITECHAPEL SOCIETY 1888
– organize conferences, lectures, moots and tours on Jack The Ripper.
www.whitechapelsociety.com
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THE MUSEUM OF CRIME
www.themuseumofcrime.com
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JACK THE RIPPER WALK
www.jacktheripperwalk.com
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THE JACK THE RIPPER TOUR
www.thejacktherippertour.com
*****

JACK THE RIPPER TOUR
www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com
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CRIME & INVESTIGATION NETWORK
www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk
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MYSTERY WRITERS of AMERICA
www.mysterywriters.org
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RIPPER STREET / BBC TV series (DVDs)
– Haunted by the failure to catch Londonʼs most evil killer, Jack the Ripper, Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) now heads up the notorious H Division – the toughest police district in the East End. Charged with keeping order in the blood-stained streets of Whitechapel, Reid and his men fi nd themselves fi ghting to uphold justice and the rule of law; but always in the background lurks the fear of the Ripper – is he back for another reign of terror. The shadow of the Ripper is still felt in the neighbourhood by the vigilantes, the sensation-seeking newspaper hacks and the men who hunted – and failed to find – the notorious murderer. It seems that even though the notorious killer has disappeared, there are plenty more willing to stain the streets of Whitechapel with their victims’ blood…
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