Chapter 23

Reginald Treherne Bassett Saunderson

1895

At 11.30pm, on Sunday, 25 November 1894, Arthur Salter was walking towards 8 Holland Park Road, to collect his daughter. She had been visiting friends, and he planned to escort her home. As Arthur walked along Holland Park Terrace, he saw a young woman lying on the ground, close to some iron railings. Thinking that she was a woman of the lower classes, obviously the worse for drink, Arthur tutted and began to walk on. Only then did he notice that the woman lay in a pool of blood.

Arthur ran on to his destination, rang the doorbell, and told the occupants what he had seen. At the time another gentleman, an artist named Alfred Chautrey Corbould, was also visiting the house. He went out to see the woman for himself and then, realising that Arthur Salter had been telling the truth, went to find a policeman.

In fact, two police officers were soon on the scene. Constable Thomas Gordon and Constable William Patterson arrived at Holland Park Terrace together and, whilst Gordon went to fetch a doctor, Patterson made a careful search of the immediate area. It wasn’t long before he found a walking stick in a gutter nearby.

In a modern-day investigation, the scene of the attack would be cordoned off and remain undisturbed. At this time, though, procedures were rather less formal, so the two officers lifted the body and carried the woman to the police station. There she was seen, at 12.15am on 26 November, by Dr Meredith Townsend, who pronounced ‘life extinct’. He estimated that the woman had been dead for approximately half an hour, since her body was still warm and, though a post-mortem would need to be carried out, it was clear that she had been stabbed in the stomach and had probably bled to death.

The woman carried no form of identification, so a list of her belongings was made. She wore a black skirt, a red-striped flannelette bodice, low shoes and a black hat, trimmed with white lace. She also wore two rings on the third finger of her left hand, perhaps indicating that she was a married woman. A description of the woman and her clothing was published and this led Lilian Creber to come forward and make a positive identification. The victim of the attack was a thirty-year-old prostitute named Augusta Dawes.

The inquest on the dead woman opened on 29 November, at Kensington Town Hall, before the coroner, Mr C Luxmore Drew. Details of the formal identification by Lilian Creber were given and it was confirmed that she was also a prostitute and had lived with Augusta at 36 St Clement’s Road. She had last seen Augusta at 8.00pm on 25 November, when she left home, saying that she was going to Kensington.

Another witness was Kate Forsyth, who had once lodged with Augusta. She confirmed that the dead woman had never been married, but had had two children, one of whom was now living in the workhouse.

One other curious piece of information was given at the inquest. A letter had been handed over to the police. It bore a Belfast postmark and, dated 28 November, it was a full confession to the crime. The letter was signed Jack the Ripper. It must be remembered that the horrific Whitechapel crimes had only taken place in London some six years earlier and there was, initially, a good deal of press speculation that Jack had returned to the streets. This was, however, quickly dispelled and soon those same newspapers were confirming that this was not a crime of the Ripper type.

Over the next few days, more details of Augusta Dawes’ life were revealed. She had been a native of Bristol, but had left there, for London, some five years before. At the time she had been a most respectable lady, but she soon fell in with two gentlemen who were business partners. Apparently, both of these men were attracted to Augusta and both made advances towards her. Augusta chose to take one as a lover and rejected the other, leading to animosity between the two partners. They argued and an assault took place, which ended with one of the partners being sent to prison. Not long after this, Augusta had found herself pregnant, whereupon her lover abandoned her

Soon after this, Augusta found herself another lover and they began living together in 1892. Unfortunately, her bad luck had not improved and very soon afterwards, this new man was sentenced to ten years in prison for fraud. Augusta turned to drink and was forced to seek a living by selling her body on the streets.

In fact, although there were no such reports in the newspapers of the day, the police net was already closing in on the man who had attacked and killed Augusta Dawes. The dead woman’s landlady had told the police that Augusta had told her that she had recently met two men, one of whom she described as tall and dark who carried a cherry walking stick. That description matched the stick found at the scene, which indicated that the police were looking for a tall, dark man.

Next, there was the fact that a report had come in that a man, fitting that description, had recently absconded from a mental institution, not far from London. That man was also tall and dark. Then, there was the mysterious confession signed ‘Jack the Ripper’. That had been posted from Ireland to a friend of the wanted man and, when the handwriting on that letter was compared to known samples of the mental patient, a positive match was found. The police now knew that they were looking for twenty-one-year-old Reginald Saunderson.

Saunderson came from a most distinguished family, his father being Colonel Saunderson, the Member of Parliament for North Armagh. Contact with the family led to the wanted man’s location and Saunderson had been found. A warrant for his arrest was drawn up on 4 December, and executed in Armagh, the following day. Plans for his removal to London were immediately put into place.

By now, another important witness had come forward. Herbert Schmalz had been going to post a letter, at some time before 11.30pm on 25 November. As he strolled towards the post box in Holland Park Terrace, he saw a young couple walking some yards in front of him. Suddenly, the man threw one arm around the woman’s shoulders and appeared to strike her in the stomach. Schmalz did not see the knife and thought this had been just a severe blow to the stomach. He shouted out, ‘What are you doing you brute?’ The man turned, and seeing Schmalz running towards him, ran off. Schmalz had given chase but lost the man near Warwick Gardens. When the police then searched in that area, they found a bloodstained knife embedded in some timber in a builder’s yard, some 100 yards from the scene of the attack. Unfortunately for Augusta, Schmalz did not return to the scene of the crime. If he had, then perhaps Augusta’s life may have been saved.

Transferred back to England, Saunderson made a brief appearance at the West London Police Court on 10 December, where it was revealed that he had been in a mental institution at Hampton Wick, for six years. He had walked out of there on the afternoon of 25 November, but his disappearance had not been noticed until 8.30pm. After Augusta had been killed, Saunderson borrowed some money from a teacher at a school he had once attended, and used it to travel to Belfast. From there he had written a letter to a friend, in which he confessed to the murder, signing it Jack the Ripper.

The court returned a verdict that Augusta Dawes had been murdered by Reginald Saunderson and he was committed for trial at the next sessions. The trial actually took place on 28 January 1895, before Mr Justice Wills and it was clear from the outset that the state of Saunderson’s mind would be a major factor in the proceedings.

Before any evidence could possibly be heard, the court had to decide if Saunderson was fit to plead to the charge of murder. Dr George Walker, the surgeon at Holloway prison, where Saunderson had been held on remand, said that he was certainly insane and was unfit to plead to the indictment against him. Dr Walker went on to say that Saunderson’s mental condition had deteriorated even further whilst he had been in custody and he had become so violent at times that he had been placed in a straightjacket inside a padded cell. This evidence was confirmed by Dr Edgar Shepherd, who had also made careful observations of the prisoner inside Holloway.

The prosecution offered no arguments against the medical evidence and, after some discussion, the judge ruled that Saunderson was insane and had been at the time he took Augusta’s life. There was only one sentence possible and Saunderson was then informed that he would be detained until Her Majesty’s pleasure be known.