bomb went off outside the Junior Carlton Club, just off Pall Mall. There were well-financed Irishmen in Antwerp, Bremen and London ready to dynamite the Queen, the Prime Minister, various other notables and all the bridges of London. 18 HM Consul in Florence communicated intelligence about American Fenians living in Old Compton Street and the Consul in Philadelphia spent some time chasing around American chemical works on Col. Majendieâs instructions investigating the substance sold as âAtlas Powderâ he had found in a bomb. 19 Vernon Harcourt was overwhelmed by reports on âIrish mattersâ. He recalled Jenkinson to London. Jenkinson arrived, still arguing about his terms and conditions of service, in March.
In April a man called Daly was arrested with bombs in Liverpool. Daly had been fitted up, although nobody knew that at the time. On 12 April Jenkinson wrote from England to Spencer about
â¦three hand bombs which came over about three days ago in the City of Chester â¦Our difficulty was to get the things passed to Daly and then to arrest him, with the things on him, without throwing suspicion on our own informant. 20
But that was secret intelligence. For everyone else, the threat averted made the blood curdle just to think of it; and as if to prove the point, in May a police constable discovered dynamite at the base of Nelsonâs Column.
And then the Special Irish Branch blew up. When it happened, on 30 May, Jenkinson had settled to work permanently out of Room 56 at the Home Office. He had insisted at first that the visit must be on his own terms.
The work in the âordinaryâ Crime Branch is now so entirely distinct and separate from that in the âspecialâ Crime Branch that without any confusion, or the necessity for any special arrangements, the work in the former Branch could be carried on by Mr Anderson while all papers belonging to the latter could be sent to me daily in London⦠Mr Anderson⦠dealing with all papers belonging to the Ordinary Branch. All reports either from Mr Anderson, Major Gosselin, Mr Williamson or from any of the local police authorities in Great Britain, all information and all despatches from the Foreign or other offices relating to Fenian organisations or the operations or movements of dynamiters would be sent to me⦠21
The man had no life. Besides retaining his current position in Ireland he still wanted âa recognised official position in the Home Officeâ. 22 Harcourt had impressed Spencer that the English administration could not defend itself without him. Spencer sent him over but they remained in constant touch.
The Scotland Yard bomb went off at 8.40 p.m. in a cast-iron urinal beneath the Special Irish Branchâs first-floor offices, on the corner opposite the Rising Sun. It blew the corner off the building: the corner office vacated at 8.00 p.m. by Chief Inspector Littlechild. 23 As the dust and paper settled it would have been out of character for Jenkinson to resist Schadenfreude. He wrote to Harcourt two days after the explosion:
I did not find out till Saturday that there was a public urinal in Scotland Yard under the room in which the detectives sat. And the dynamite was no doubt placed in that urinal. Fancy their allowing the public to go in there at night, or indeed at any time, after the warnings they have received! 24
This was accompanied by a helpful diagram of the office, the urinal, and the pub, in which a bullseye marked the spot where the constable on watch should have been stationed, and X marked the spot where he actually was.
In the weeks that followed, heads rolled. Superintendent Williamson (âvery slow and old-fashionedâ, according to Jenkinson in a note to Spencer 25 ) was replaced by Chief Inspector Littlechild, whom Jenkinson knew from Dublin. The Assistant Commissioner in charge of CID, Howard Vincent, resigned. He had married a rich wife in 1882, and had since moved from
In April a man called Daly was arrested with bombs in Liverpool. Daly had been fitted up, although nobody knew that at the time. On 12 April Jenkinson wrote from England to Spencer about
â¦three hand bombs which came over about three days ago in the City of Chester â¦Our difficulty was to get the things passed to Daly and then to arrest him, with the things on him, without throwing suspicion on our own informant. 20
But that was secret intelligence. For everyone else, the threat averted made the blood curdle just to think of it; and as if to prove the point, in May a police constable discovered dynamite at the base of Nelsonâs Column.
And then the Special Irish Branch blew up. When it happened, on 30 May, Jenkinson had settled to work permanently out of Room 56 at the Home Office. He had insisted at first that the visit must be on his own terms.
The work in the âordinaryâ Crime Branch is now so entirely distinct and separate from that in the âspecialâ Crime Branch that without any confusion, or the necessity for any special arrangements, the work in the former Branch could be carried on by Mr Anderson while all papers belonging to the latter could be sent to me daily in London⦠Mr Anderson⦠dealing with all papers belonging to the Ordinary Branch. All reports either from Mr Anderson, Major Gosselin, Mr Williamson or from any of the local police authorities in Great Britain, all information and all despatches from the Foreign or other offices relating to Fenian organisations or the operations or movements of dynamiters would be sent to me⦠21
The man had no life. Besides retaining his current position in Ireland he still wanted âa recognised official position in the Home Officeâ. 22 Harcourt had impressed Spencer that the English administration could not defend itself without him. Spencer sent him over but they remained in constant touch.
The Scotland Yard bomb went off at 8.40 p.m. in a cast-iron urinal beneath the Special Irish Branchâs first-floor offices, on the corner opposite the Rising Sun. It blew the corner off the building: the corner office vacated at 8.00 p.m. by Chief Inspector Littlechild. 23 As the dust and paper settled it would have been out of character for Jenkinson to resist Schadenfreude. He wrote to Harcourt two days after the explosion:
I did not find out till Saturday that there was a public urinal in Scotland Yard under the room in which the detectives sat. And the dynamite was no doubt placed in that urinal. Fancy their allowing the public to go in there at night, or indeed at any time, after the warnings they have received! 24
This was accompanied by a helpful diagram of the office, the urinal, and the pub, in which a bullseye marked the spot where the constable on watch should have been stationed, and X marked the spot where he actually was.
In the weeks that followed, heads rolled. Superintendent Williamson (âvery slow and old-fashionedâ, according to Jenkinson in a note to Spencer 25 ) was replaced by Chief Inspector Littlechild, whom Jenkinson knew from Dublin. The Assistant Commissioner in charge of CID, Howard Vincent, resigned. He had married a rich wife in 1882, and had since moved from
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