1
THE ‘LAMBETH POISONER’
Dr Thomas Neill Cream
As he stood on the trapdoor in Newgate Prison on November 16, 1892, the noose around his neck, Dr Thomas Neill Cream began to speak. ‘I am Jack…’ he started to say, but before he could finish the sentence, the trapdoor opened and he fell through it, leaving the sentence hanging in mid-air, in much the same way as he now was. It was tantalizing. Was he going to say, ‘I am Jack the Ripper’ and finally put an end to the greatest of all criminal mysteries? The killer of five prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of London in 1888 and the man dubbed the Lambeth Poisoner had, after all, several things in common. They both wanted to purge the streets of ladies of the night and they were both heartless killers.
Cream, however, was serving time for murder in Joliet Prison in the American state of Illinois while the Ripper was conducting his deadly rampage. Or was he? Some sources suggest that he bribed his way out of prison earlier than the stated date. Others claim that he had a double who had taken his place in prison. There was a precedent for this because Sir Edward Marshall Hall, one of the most famous barristers in British legal history, claimed that he had once successfully defended Cream against a charge of bribery by claiming that at the time the offence was committed he was actually in prison in Sydney, Australia. The governor of the jail there confirmed to the court that a man fitting Cream’s description had been imprisoned there at the time, this, despite the fact that Cream had never set foot in Australia. Had it been the mysterious doppelganger the governor was describing? We will never know.
The enigma that was Thomas Neill Cream was born in Glasgow in 1850 but four years later, his parents emigrated to Canada. His father worked in shipbuilding and the family became prosperous enough to send their son to Montreal’s McGill College to study to be a doctor. He qualified in 1876.
After graduating, however, he became an abortionist, a trade that although illegal, was very lucrative. At the time, he was in a relationship with a woman named Flora Brooks whom he made pregnant and then almost killed while performing an abortion of his own baby. When Flora’s father heard about it, he forced Cream at gunpoint to marry his daughter. The following day, Cream left Canada and his new young wife behind, sailing to London to continue his medical studies and financing them through further work as an abortionist. He registered at St Thomas’s Hospital but six months later, failed the exams to gain entry to the Royal College of Physicians Surgeons in Edinburgh, obtaining, instead, a licence in midwifery.
After a year in Britain, Cream returned to Canada where he learned that his wife had died, ostensibly of consumption, but she had been taking medicine that he had been sending from Edinburgh and it is possible that it was this that killed her. He practiced as a doctor in London, Ontario, but carried on his sideline as an abortionist. In 1879, however, he found himself in serious trouble when a young woman named Kate Gardener was found dead in an alley behind his surgery. Kate was pregnant and had been poisoned by an overdose of chloroform.
Cream, a prime suspect in her death, decided to flee to the United States where he passed the Illinois Board of Health exam, setting up shop in Chicago, tantalizingly close to the city’s red light district which, he presumed, would provide him with plenty of opportunity to demonstrate his skill as an abortionist. In 1888, however, he was investigated in connection with the death of Mary Anne Faulkner whose baby he had aborted. He was lucky; he was not prosecuted due to lack of evidence.
Further problems arose with the deaths of two of Cream’s legitimate patients. One of them was a spinster who had been prescribed medicine by Cream. The other was a railway worker, Daniel Stott who was being treated by Cream for
THE ‘LAMBETH POISONER’
Dr Thomas Neill Cream
As he stood on the trapdoor in Newgate Prison on November 16, 1892, the noose around his neck, Dr Thomas Neill Cream began to speak. ‘I am Jack…’ he started to say, but before he could finish the sentence, the trapdoor opened and he fell through it, leaving the sentence hanging in mid-air, in much the same way as he now was. It was tantalizing. Was he going to say, ‘I am Jack the Ripper’ and finally put an end to the greatest of all criminal mysteries? The killer of five prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of London in 1888 and the man dubbed the Lambeth Poisoner had, after all, several things in common. They both wanted to purge the streets of ladies of the night and they were both heartless killers.
Cream, however, was serving time for murder in Joliet Prison in the American state of Illinois while the Ripper was conducting his deadly rampage. Or was he? Some sources suggest that he bribed his way out of prison earlier than the stated date. Others claim that he had a double who had taken his place in prison. There was a precedent for this because Sir Edward Marshall Hall, one of the most famous barristers in British legal history, claimed that he had once successfully defended Cream against a charge of bribery by claiming that at the time the offence was committed he was actually in prison in Sydney, Australia. The governor of the jail there confirmed to the court that a man fitting Cream’s description had been imprisoned there at the time, this, despite the fact that Cream had never set foot in Australia. Had it been the mysterious doppelganger the governor was describing? We will never know.
The enigma that was Thomas Neill Cream was born in Glasgow in 1850 but four years later, his parents emigrated to Canada. His father worked in shipbuilding and the family became prosperous enough to send their son to Montreal’s McGill College to study to be a doctor. He qualified in 1876.
After graduating, however, he became an abortionist, a trade that although illegal, was very lucrative. At the time, he was in a relationship with a woman named Flora Brooks whom he made pregnant and then almost killed while performing an abortion of his own baby. When Flora’s father heard about it, he forced Cream at gunpoint to marry his daughter. The following day, Cream left Canada and his new young wife behind, sailing to London to continue his medical studies and financing them through further work as an abortionist. He registered at St Thomas’s Hospital but six months later, failed the exams to gain entry to the Royal College of Physicians Surgeons in Edinburgh, obtaining, instead, a licence in midwifery.
After a year in Britain, Cream returned to Canada where he learned that his wife had died, ostensibly of consumption, but she had been taking medicine that he had been sending from Edinburgh and it is possible that it was this that killed her. He practiced as a doctor in London, Ontario, but carried on his sideline as an abortionist. In 1879, however, he found himself in serious trouble when a young woman named Kate Gardener was found dead in an alley behind his surgery. Kate was pregnant and had been poisoned by an overdose of chloroform.
Cream, a prime suspect in her death, decided to flee to the United States where he passed the Illinois Board of Health exam, setting up shop in Chicago, tantalizingly close to the city’s red light district which, he presumed, would provide him with plenty of opportunity to demonstrate his skill as an abortionist. In 1888, however, he was investigated in connection with the death of Mary Anne Faulkner whose baby he had aborted. He was lucky; he was not prosecuted due to lack of evidence.
Further problems arose with the deaths of two of Cream’s legitimate patients. One of them was a spinster who had been prescribed medicine by Cream. The other was a railway worker, Daniel Stott who was being treated by Cream for
Similar Books
