Lesson 5: A Look at the Maybrick Diary
In this lesson, we will explore the unusual life of James Maybrick and the controversial diary in which he identifies himself as Jack the Ripper. The primary source used for this lesson will be the essay "The Diary of Jack the Ripper" by Shirley Harrison which can be found in The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper by Maxim Jkubowski and Nathan Braud.
The Life of James Maybrick
James Maybrick was a wealthy cotton merchant who died in 1889. He was not a suspect at the time of the Ripper murders. Even without the Ripper angle, his is an intriguing tale, for it was his wife who was accused of murder - his murder.
Maybrick was the son of William and Susannah Maybrick. He was born in Liverpool, England and had six brothers. One of his brothers, Michael, became a famous composer. In 1871 he formed Maybrick & Co. Cotton Merchants. He lived in England until 1874, when he left for Norfolk, Virginia to set up a branch office of the cotton company.
Around that time, he contracted malaria. When quinine did not relieve his symptoms, he was prescribed a new medicine -- he was taking a combination of arsenic and strychnine to keep his illness under control. In the 1870's arsenic was taken by many as a health tonic believed to improve virility. Women also used it on their faces in beauty creams. Arsenic can be addictive and, unfortunately, Maybrick became addicted to the arsenic, which was ultimately responsible for his death.
On a ship back to England, aboard the SS Baltic, Maybrick was introduced and fell in love with a petite, pretty blonde Southern belle named Florence Chandler. He and the lovely young socialite Florence (Florie) were married soon after. She was seventeen years old and Maybrick was twenty-four years her senior. They had two children, James (Bobo) and Gladys. They spent time both in Norfolk and England and had a large mansion outside of Liverpool.
By 1886 the marriage was in trouble. A slump in the cotton trade left them financially unstable. In 1887 Florie discovered her husband had a secret life. He had a mistress with whom he had been involved even before his marriage to Florie. On most documents, Sarah Ann Robertson was listed as a single 44-year old living in London, but on other documents she was named as Sarah Ann Maybrick. It is unknown whether Sara Ann and James Maybrick were ever officially married, but he had for years passed her off as his wife.
In 1888 the Maybricks moved to Battlecrease House, not far from Liverpool. When Florie found out about his mistress, she retaliated by being unfaithful herself. She soon had an affair with cotton broker Alfred Brierley. Though Maybrick was willing to look the other way about his own adultery, he sorely resented his wife's infidelity.
Maybrick's drug addiction worsened. He was also described as a hypochondriac who often complained of headaches and numbness of the hands and feet. These could also have been symptoms of the arsenic gradually poisoning his body.
The couple began to fight and argue and there is evidence Maybrick blacked Florie's eye. In the spring of 1889, Florie purchased some fly papers soaked in arsenic. When Maybrick died on May 11, 1889, Florie was charged with poisoning her husband with arsenic.
After a quick and unfair trial, in which the judge refused any admittance of evidence about Maybrick's drug addiction, she was sentenced to death. Florie was convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but was released after serving fifteen long years in prison. She later wrote an account of her imprisonment called My Fifteen Lost Years.
Suggested Reading: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper
The Diary of Jack the Ripper by Shirley Harrison, page 204-227. For further reading, try the book by the same name and author.
