
Originally Posted by
twiz
The fella born on Rodney street who became prime minister was prime minister 5 times! And some debate he was our best PM ever.
And he's a Jack the Ripper suspect as well! Not that I believe it. I said the following in my essay, "Jack the Ripper's Liverpool," originally published in Ripperologist and now available on this site:
Gladstone, who was born on Rodney Street in Liverpool in 1809, himself has been named as a possible suspect—and the ‘Gladstone bag’ is a suspected receptacle for Jack to carry knives and organs. The great leader of the Liberal party had a penchant for wandering the streets at night to try to reform fallen women [i.e., prostitutes], though usually in the West End, not the East End. Did he take his reforming efforts a stage further? In 1888, as leader of her Majesty’s loyal opposition, and aged 79 at the time, he would seem to make an unlikely Ripper suspect. Supporters of the Gladstone-as-Ripper theory point to the fact that he remained a robust man even in old age, and could still chop wood on his Hawarden estate outside of Chester. But was he handy with a knife as well as an axe?
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Meanwhile, fantastic pictures in this thread, everyone! Glad to see we at Yo Liverpool are adding to what our knowledge of one of Liverpool's most famous streets!
Chris
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