It
seems almost any high-profile mystery brings conspiracy theorists out
of the woodwork with at least one angle pointing to the Masons. From
the street patterns of Washington, DC, to alleged Masonic symbolism
on the dollar bill to the Kennedy assassination there are those who
would put the Freemasons behind it all. Not surprising, then, is the
belief by some that the Jack the Ripper slayings of the late 19th
century, also known as the Whitechapel murders, were a devious
Masonic plot.
There
are varying accounts as to how the Masons were involved, as is
usually the case when speculators don't let facts get in the way of
their theories. They all, however, identify Sir William Gull as the
infamous Ripper. Gull appears as Jack the Ripper in books, movies
and countless Internet posts including the 1988 TV adaptation Jack
the Ripper: The Final Solution
by Stephen Knight and the 2000 graphic novel (roughly a novel in
comic book form) From
Hell
written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Eddie Campbell.
Subsequently the Hollywood Movie From
Hell
starring Johnny Depp was loosely based on the novel.
William
Withey Gull was a respected physician credited with many significant
contributions to medicine including advancements in the diagnosis and
treatment of Bright's disease, myxoedema and paraplegia. He also
named the devastating eating disorder anorexia nervosa.
He
became personal physician (Physician-Ordinary) to Queen Victoria and
the Royal Family. The conspiracy theory and premise of the movie
(which parallels most of the Ripper Masonic theories) begins with the
historical inaccuracy of Prince Edward Albert contracting syphilis.
This allegedly tarnishes Gull's reputation as the Prince's physician
because Gull was unable to treat him. Gull, portrayed as a Freemason
in the film, takes it upon himself to eradicate the prostitutes that
caused the Prince's affliction. He does this by murdering the
prostitutes with the implication they are ritual killings associated
with the Freemasons.
Not
to leave any stone unturned, the movie also depicts the Prince as
taking on the identity of Walter Sickert. Sickert, rather than being
an alias of the Prince, was in fact a 19th
century painter. Some believe he once lived in Jack the Ripper's
apartment, a speculation likely due to the fact one of his paintings
was titled, "Jack the Ripper's Bedroom."
To
be sure, historically Prince Edward Albert and Sickert were separate
individuals, but in the movie, the Prince becomes Sickert and marries
Ann Crook, taking her away from her life as a prostitute. Together,
the Prince and Ann have a daughter, Alice. By English law therefore,
Alice becomes an heir to the throne and the film surmises Queen
Victoria ordered that this problem be eliminated. Gull, as the
Ripper, takes it upon himself to do so in a far more grisly way than
Queen Victoria had intended.
In
the denouement, Depp portrays Frederick Abberline, the actual Ripper
case investigator, confronting Gull, and taking some off-the-wall
liberties with the Masonic ritual, not to mention the actual facts of
the case:
Abberline:
"The arrangement of the coins at Dark Annie's feet and also the
locations of the bodies form a pentacle star. The pentacle star is a
symbol of the Freemasons is it not, sir?"
Gull:
"Yes"
Abberline:
"And the way all these women were killed... throats cut left to
right, organs removed... they're reenactments, aren't they, sir?"
Gull:
"Reenactments of what?"
Abberline:
"The Jews. The traitors who killed Hiram Abiff, founder of the
Masons, that's how they were executed."
Gull:
"Ah, yes... so the great book tells us."
Abberline:
"So, Jack the Ripper isn't just merely killing whores. He's
executing traitors. He's a Mason, fulfilling a duty."
Gull:
"Yes, I'm afraid, Inspector, that you won't be permitted to
arrest him."
Abberline:
"I don't want to arrest him. The Ripper has one more traitor
yet to kill; and I will stop him. Did they come to you, sir, as a
loyal Mason? Did they ask you to help and cover up the Prince's
secret marriage?"
Gull:
"That's how it started, yes."
Abberline:
"And then you discovered the Prince had syphilis."
Gull:
"He's going to die of it, Inspector. Would you like a tour of
the syphilis wards?"
Abberline:
"You're a physician, an Ordinary to the Queen, entrusted with
the well-being of the heir to the throne. Only you had reason to
believe that these unfortunates, these whores, these traitors
destroyed your life's work."
Gull:
"Below the skin of history are London's veins. These symbols...
the miter... the pentacle star... even someone as ignorant and
degenerate as you can sense that they course with energy and meaning.
I am that meaning. I am that energy. [Scream and killing scene].
One day men will look back and say I gave birth to the Twentieth
Century."
Although
paragraphs could be written about it, the pentacle star, an Eastern
Star symbol, is not generally accepted as a Masonic symbol: "[The
five-pointed star] was a Pythagorean symbol, but is not mentioned in
the Masonic ritual and seems never to have been a Masonic emblem.
There was and is a Blazing Star in the center of the Mosaic Pavement,
which is a different symbol."
(Coil’s
Masonic Encyclopedia (1961),
s.v. “Five-Pointed Star; Pentalpha”). Added to this is the fact
that the locations of the Whitechapel murders were not in the form of
a five-pointed star.
Jurisdictional
details may differ, but in most the method of execution of the
traitors in the Masonic ritual is not completely specified, except
that in most depictions it is assumed they were beheaded. As all
Freemasons know, symbolic
references to throats being cut and disembowelments appear elsewhere
in the ritual.
The
movie's reference to the Jews derives from a chalk graffiti found at
the scene of one of the murders saying (with variations), "The
Juwes [sic] are the men that will not be blamed for nothing."
The movie and other conspiracy theories claim the misspelling in the
message to be an illusion to the three ruffians who killed Hiram
Abiff, Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum. Masons do not refer to the
ruffians as such and originally, until 1760, they were unnamed. The
names of the ruffians were not used in English rituals at the time of
the murders and there is no reason to believe Masons at the time knew
them. It is more likely the note is nothing more than a misspelling
and the connection was made later, after the names were known. (The
Three Ruffians,
Grand Lodge of British Columbia http://Freemasonry.bcy.ca).
Finally,
there is the issue of Dr. Gull himself. In the movie, Gull
is portrayed by Ian Holm, who was, at the time of filming, 68 years
old and in good health. His character is spry enough to carry out
the brutal and physical murders. The five murders attributed to the
Ripper happened between August and November, 1888, when Gull was 72.
The previous year, Dr. Gull's health began to decline. He suffered a
series of strokes and a heart attack that, by the time of the
murders, had rendered him unable to commit the crimes. The
London Times
reported Gull's first stroke paralyzed him and he was never able to
resume his practice.
Even
the movie's fictional Gull makes an issue of the physical nature of
the murders when Abberdine suggests the Prince could be the murderer,
"The
disease [syphilis] is far enough along that the Prince's hands
tremble uncontrollably. He's very weak; and the killings of Jack the
Ripper require sure hands and considerable vigor."
The stricken Gull, at the time, did not have "considerable
vigor."
At
the end of the movie, the exposed Gull disavows the Freemasons, a
fact that may be lost on viewers and conspiracy theorists alike, "I
have no peers present here... No man among you is fit to judge the
mighty art that I have wrought. Your rituals are empty oaths you
neither understand nor live by. The Great Architect speaks to me.
He is the balance where my deeds are weighed and judged... not you."
Dr.
Gull died of a final stroke January 29, 1890. The final Whitechapel
murder occurred after his death, although authorities did not
conclusively attribute it to Jack the Ripper. Whether or not that
final killing was his or not, the facts are certain that Gull was not
Jack the Ripper, nor were the murders some sort of Masonic ritual.
One
final thing: there is not a shred of evidence that Dr. William Gull
was a Freemason.
For
the Whence Came You podcast, this is Steve Harrison with the Masonic
Minute.
