Hi All,



As you all know by now I'm very much a PRO-DIARIST. That said however I am painfully aware that there are so many unanswered questions about it. Apart from the question of the handwriting (which is a great puzzle to me as I believe very much in the actual TEXT) the other great puzzle is that of where the diary has been all these years IF it is either a contemporary copy of James's original or b) genuine itself.
Thinking a lot as I do on this subject (sad git- get a life..there I'll say it for you! HA HA HA) I have come up with the following list of possibilities...

1) That it lay undiscovered for years in Battlecrease House.
2) That it was stolen from Battlecrease House at the time of James Death by one of the servants and has been in the family of that persons relatives for years. It could therefore have finally come to light if the last member of that family was to die with no children etc.
3) Along those same lines of thought that it Michael Maybrick took possesion of it and that it finally came to light when Michael Maybricks wife died. Chris, do you know when this was? Or this theory ditto any of the other Maybrick brothers or servants.
4) That Gladys Maybrick somehow had it amongst her possesions and that it came to light when her Bungalow was cleared either by relatives (not sure that she had any) or by someone connected to a house clearance firm.
5) That Mike Barrett's story of how he got the diary is TRUE and that there is indeed a family connection to Anne Graham his ex wife. It is also interesting to speculate that Mike used to be a 'scrap metal dealer'. Is it possible that Mike came by the diary through a connection from his past line of work? I mean scrap metal dealers would be quite likely to have contacts that dealt with house clearances don't you think? If this was to be the case however it would be somewhat of a puxzzle as to why Mike did not simply say this at the time (unless of course the diary was obtained illegally by the person or persons he got it from).
6) That it came to light when James's Liverpool office building was demolished (again Chris if you know what year this was I would be grateful).
7) That what we have is NOT the original diary but a contemporary transcript made by possibly George Davidson (Maybricks Friend) Edwin Maybrick, Michael Maybrick, The servants en masse at Battlecrease, Thomas Lowry (Clerk at Maybricks Office) or a host of any other close associates/ friends of any of the people known to be in the house at the time.
8) That Florence Maybrick had it in her possesion until her death in 1941 and that it was eventually shipped out to Anne Grahams family after that date. Does anybody know what happened to Florries possesions after her death?
9) That James (Bobo) Maybrick inherited it as part of his fathers things when he came of age and that it was then sent on to a relative when he tragically died. Such a theory of the diary being well looked after for a number of years would help to explain the relatively good condition it was in for it's age when first discovered.

If anyone can think of any other possibilities or shed some more light on the possibility of any of these I'd like to hear from you!

Well, that should jeep you thinking anyhow!!

Tony.