#John Halfpenny

[tallochar]

Holy fuck this concept is amazing and the casting on this is incredible, I do not have the money to go every night but I so fucking wish I did.

[pers-books]

about White Rabbit Red Rabbit

Experimental drama at its best. See what happens with no rehearsal, no director, a different actor each night and a script waiting in a sealed envelope on the stage.

Each night a completely new adventure awaits – depending on how the author’s words compel each actor to perform. Internationally acclaimed White Rabbit Red Rabbit, by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour, is a theatrical adventure embracing comedy and tragedy. An edge of your seat experience with some of the UK’s most extraordinary talent, you don’t want to miss this theatrical event of the year.

“I was born on Azar 19th, 1360 in Tehran. That’s Tehran, December 10th, 1981 in Christian years…”

Forbidden to leave his country, playwright Nassim Soleimanpour distilled the experience of an entire generation in a wild, utterly original play. White Rabbit Red Rabbit is as much about contemporary Iran as it is about power dynamics in the rest of the world.

Since its joint premiere in 2011 in Edinburgh and SummerWorks festival, White Rabbit Red Rabbit has been translated into more than 30 different languages and been performed over 3,000 times by some of the biggest names in theatre and film.

Please note: age guidance of 14+ is recommended. This is not for the faint of heart. There are many themes in this show that are designed to make the viewer feel uncomfortable and think for many days to come.

The performance schedule is as follows:

Tuesday 1 October (8.00pm) – Nick Mohammed Wednesday 2 October (8.00pm) – Mathew Baynton Thursday 3 October (8.00pm) – Jill Halfpenny Friday 4 October (8.00pm) – Michael Sheen Saturday 5 October (3.00pm) – Daisy Edgar Jones Saturday 5 October (8.00pm) – Pearl Mackie Sunday 6 October (2.00pm) – Ben Bailey Smith Sunday 6 October (8.00pm) – Jason Isaacs

Tuesday 8 October (8.00pm) – Olly Alexander Wednesday 9 October (8.00pm) – Kate Fleetwood Thursday 10 October (8.00pm) – Alfred Enoch Friday 11 October (8.00pm) – John Bishop Saturday 12 October (3.00pm) – Tonia Sotiropoulou Saturday 12 October (8.00pm) – Jonathan Pryce Sunday 13 October (2.00pm) – Keith Allen Sunday 13 October (6.00pm) – Richard Gadd Monday 14 October (8.00pm) – Omari Douglas Tuesday 15 October (8.00pm) – Alan Davies Wednesday 16 October (8.00pm) – Sally Phillips Thursday 17 October (8.00pm) – Catherine Tate Friday 18 October (8.00pm) – Freema Agyeman Saturday 19 October (2.00pm) – Julie Hesmondhalgh Saturday 19 October (5.00pm) – Joe Dempsie Saturday 19 October (8.00pm) – Callum Scott Howells

show details

1st - 19th October 2024

@sohoplace has contactless ticketing for every performance. Tickets will be issued electronically 48 hours prior to the performance.

Fair access: 50% off across all bands

Running Time: Approximately 65 minutes, no interval

Age Recommendation: 14+

Please note: There are many themes in this show that are designed to make the viewer feel uncomfortable and think for many days to come.

Access Information

To book accessible seating for all of our performances; including wheelchair park seats please click here.

Access Enquiries Call us on 0330 333 5962 or email us at access@sohoplace.org. For further access information, please view our Accessibility page.

Access performances will be announced shortly.

[lionofchaeronea]

One last Malta-related post to bore you all before I finally move on to other topics:

A favorite pastime of mine when I have the chance to travel is to search out small museums, ones that are "off the beaten path" and not thronged by tourists at every hour of the day. This has had some wonderful benefits--I'll never forget, for example, perusing the wax anatomical models at the Museo "La Specola" in Florence, or the Arabic decorative tiles at the Leighton House in London. In that tradition, I wanted to let you know that if you ever have the chance to visit Malta, do not miss the Malta Postal Museum.

I freely admit that I was unsure whether it would be worth the time: "A museum about the history of postage and the postal service? In a country with a population of half a million? Why bother?" I'm so glad I overcame my hesitations. The museum's stamp collection traces the entire modern history of the Maltese archipelago, from the very first halfpenny stamps issued early in Queen Victoria's reign to celebrations of the papal visits in the 2000s, and is fascinating in itself; but what really makes the museum worthwhile is its illustrated tour of how "the mail has gone through" under different occupiers (the Knights of St. John, the French, the British) and under the most trying of circumstances (naval blockade, plague outbreak, wartime censorship). Short, well-produced films help illuminate the many letters in the collection and don't shy away from some of the more unpalatable aspects of Maltese history, such as the British haste in June 1940 to intern anyone suspected of pro-Italian sympathies, a policy that (as so often in wartime) ran roughshod over civil liberties. More than just a history of the post, it's a unique window on the broader history of Malta, reminding us that even something as humdrum as delivering the mail on time can be an essential part of social infrastructure.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. But seriously, if you ever find yourself in Valletta, the Malta Postal Museum should definitely be on your itinerary.

[blogparanormalexpresso2stuff]

Welcome to the Ghosts of The River Thames (Please note some images are for illustration only)

This video focuses on some the hauntings along the River Thames, from close to its source at Lechlade through to the village of Clifton Hampden in Oxfordshire.

Who haunts the Halfpenny Bridge at Lechlade? Who is the ghostly captain of St John’s Lock, and why are there so many ghostly stories connected with this world famous waterway? We’ll look at William Morris’s country retreat as well as a haunted Abbey, a pub and a former school building.

In today’s Post Script, we’ll talk about a haunted property in Oxfordshire that’s owned by a famous person and have a look at some very different vintage postcards. I think this might become a series of videos as I originally wanted this video to finish in Windsor, but there were so many stories, it was impossible to put them all into one video. The next leg of the journey might be Abingdon to Richmond.

I hope you enjoy the video and my apologies that it took so long to load up!

Some of the stories focus on historic events and I hope you feel that my video covers the sad side of history in a respectful and honest way, without the need for sensationalising the past.

As always, I hope you enjoy these tales from the River Thames. Feel free to leave a comment. Thank you so much for your kind words and comments. They mean so much to me.

Please feel free to Like and Subscribe to the channel.

Your support is always appreciated. Feel free to buy me a cup of tea using the Ko-fi link below. Your generosity helps to keep the channel producing new content and encourages the channel to expand.

https://ko-fi.com/ghostcasebook

Thank you all

Nicola

[love-for-carnation]

Alloy Trade token Issued by Anne Atkins in Kent 1667 Alloy Trade token Issued by John Waller in York 1669

To deal with a lack of small denominations in the regal coinage civic institutions and individual business people issued copper-alloy trade tokens between 1648 and 1672 (1679 in Ireland); the end date resulting from the reintroduction of farthings in copper alloy by Charles II. The main series comprised over 14,000 types and were denominated as farthings (from 1648), halfpennies (thought to be from 1656) and pennies (from 1663).

[jamesgraybooksellerworld]

The gentleman’s jockey, and approved farrier 1681.

559J.  John Halfpenny. (fl 1670)  The gentleman’s jockey, and approved farrier, instructing in the natures, causes, and cures of all diseases incident to horses, with an exact and easie method of breeding, buying, dieting, and otherwise ordering all sorts of horses, as well for common and ordinary use, as the heats and course. With divers other curiosities collected by the long practice,…

[olko71]

New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on http://yaroreviews.info/2023/02/a-million-households-can-apply-for-400-energy-rebate

A million households can apply for £400 energy rebate

By Colletta Smith & Nicola Hudson

BBC News

Almost a million households can now start applying for government help towards their energy bills, which was promised to help them through the winter.

Most households have been getting £400 in energy support, paid in monthly instalments since October.

But those in park homes, care homes and living off-grid have not yet seen a penny. Some say they feel “forgotten”.

The government says it knows this is a difficult time for families.

It says it is working to serve these additional households.

But it could still take weeks for these households to receive the payment.

Tricky £400 energy rebate causes anxiety

Sue Marshall has lived in her park home near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire for nine years. She is one of 85,000 park home owners in the UK.

She lives in her home all year round and pays council tax in the usual way, but when it comes to her energy bills she pays via the park home owner and does not have a direct relationship with the supplier. This means she has to apply for the rebate and has not received it automatically.

“I feel as if we have been forgotten,” says Sue. “Nothing at all has come to fruition.”

John Halfpenny and Linda King are also residents on the site. They say they were initially told they would be able to apply in December, but are only now putting their applications in for their rebates – five months after the first automatic payments began.

The government’s online portal is now open for people like Sue, John and Linda to apply for the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding.

Some 900,000 households can apply, including those who live in houseboats or have a communal electricity supply.

It will be open until the end of May and the payment will arrive in one lump sum, although it could take up to six weeks,

The BBC understands that once an application has been made, the information will be passed to the local council for verification, which could include a home visit.

“Everyone else has got theirs, it just makes you feel like you’re second class,” says Linda.

The money was promised to help households through the winter, but as John points out, “we’ve already paid for our winter.”

Sue adds that if the site’s residents had received the rebate sooner, they would not have been so worried about using the oven, or gas.

“People on their own and with ill health need the heating on, but they daren’t do it because they’re scared of the big bills,” she says.

And there are others who are still owed money.

Patrick Raven lives in the middle of Chesterfield, but his home does not have mains gas. Instead, he uses bottled gas and the price of it is not capped.

“The price a year ago was £105 for two [bottles of liquid petroleum gas], now it’s £168,” says Patrick. “In the winter it lasts about four weeks.”

Because residents like Patrick are paying more for their energy, households which use alternative fuels such as heating oil, LPG or biomass are due an additional £200 payment.

It should arrive as credit on their electricity bill, but if not, households will have to apply on the government website.

Patrick’s payment has not arrived yet. “[I feel] a bit peeved. I think it’s crazy. Most likely we will get it eventually but it may be summer when we least need it, because we need it now. We’ve needed it during the winter, for the cold spells.”

The Alternative Fuels Payment application on the government website is due to open by the end of February.

A government spokesperson said: “We know this is a difficult time for families which is why the government has been paying for half of the typical household’s energy bill this winter.

“These are complex schemes to administer and needs a separate approach from the Energy Bills Support Scheme.”

Related Topics

Home care

Cost of living

Energy service companies

More on this story

Tricky £400 energy rebate cases cause anxiety

2 September 2022

Falling energy bills may prompt more customer deals

4 days ago

[corkcitylibraries]

Echoes of our Past | January 27th 1923

Librarian Richard Forrest takes a look at news highlights published in The Echo 100 years ago this week.

Postmaster Found Dead

Yesterday morning the postman from Clonakilty entered the sub-post office at Darrara, about four miles from the town, and found the postmaster, Jerome O’Reilly dead. His body bore several bullet marks. The police were speedily informed, and the military authorities were quickly on the scene. Deceased was a young man much respected in the district. His mother, an aged woman, was the only other occupant of the house.

Massive Bridge Explosion

An attempt was made at about 3 o’clock this morning to blow up Willison’s Bridge between Blarney and Tower. Beyond some damage to the walls on either side, the bridge is intact and still usable by vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The explosion was so enormous that it was plainly heard in the city.

Firing at Stations

Before midnight last night the military guards stationed at Upton and Innishannon on the Cork and Bandon railway line were attacked. Heavy firing continued for more than an hour, but no significant damage was caused and there were no casualties.

New Police Headquarters

Cork’s two policing bodies, the Civic Guard and the Cork Civic Patrol, are busy moving from the School of Music on Union Quay to their new quarters across the river on Morrison’s Island. All departments have been transferred to Moore’s Hotel. The School of Music had been commandeered and is now being returned to the school’s representatives.

Youghal Mystery Ship

The mystery ship Duchess anchored at Youghal last night with an armed guard on board. To-day additional troops boarded and after weighing anchor she steamed up the Blackwater with a cargo destined for Cappoquin.

Flour Millers Strike

The strike by flour milling operatives continues. There is, so far, no prospect of negotiations being opened up. In relation to the dockers strike, the employers met this morning at their rooms on the South Mall. The dockers weren’t represented. Both sides report that no progress has been made towards a settlement. 

Corporation Last Night

At the Cork Corporation meeting last night D. Barry said the country was going through terrible times and starvation was facing some people. Referring to the dockers strike, he said the merchants were trying to hound down the working class and the longer the strike went on the wider the breach between them was growing. He moved that the Corporation appoint a deputation to help foster a settlement. Simon Daly seconded this. J. Kelleher said Sir John Scott had shown a good example by calling his men in. If the other merchants followed, there would be contentment in Cork. The reduction in wages which the employers were trying to force would not benefit the consumer but the merchants themselves. The only way was to ask the merchants to follow Sir John’s lead (applause from the gallery). Sir John said notice should always be given so that sides have the opportunity to discuss and prevent strike and the suffering it causes. Mr. Egan said Sir John had made a hero of himself in connection with the matter. Sir John, “spare my blushes”. Robert Day said the reduction in labour costs on a 500-ton cargo of coal would be £1 1s 8d, about a halfpenny in the ton. That benefit would not go to the people. The dockers were out on a matter of principle and were going to fight it. The following deputation was appointed: Deputy Lord Mayor, Sean Nolan, M. Egan, D. Barry and M.J. O’Riordan.

Infant’s Body Found

Coroner Horgan held an inquest at Douglas this morning on the body of an infant found in the churchyard the day before yesterday. Daniel Kiely, cemetery caretaker, said he noticed a spot of freshly dug earth from which part of a box protruded. He took it up and found it contained the body of a baby wrapped in flannel. Dr. James Lynch deposed that the child was stillborn and had not reached maturity. He said there was no sign of violence of any kind. The jury reached a verdict in accordance with the medical testimony.

John McCormack in Dublin

It is in excess of a dozen years since John McCormack sang in Dublin or Cork! No wonder Dublin’s Theatre Royal was so crowded over the past week. It turned out a swell affair. Though one not easily within the pockets of those outside the moneyed and leisurely classes. Long lanes of Daimler and Rolls-Royce lined the approaches to the theatre. McCormack once again captivated all with the magic of his voice. Experts profess to hearing improved phrasing and marvellous breath control. The Maestro’s surpassing art to-day springs from the same tap roots as when he won his first Feis Ceoil Medal – a singularly pellucid voice, perfect articulation and superb talent in interpreting the spirit of a song. Those expecting increased voice volume and long sustained thrilling top notes á la Caruso went away disappointed. McCormack sang “The Snowy Breasted Pearl” (Pearla an brollagh bhan) with all his old brilliancy. Of all his songs, this, his first masterpiece, goes most directly and deeply into the souls of his audience.

A School for Mediums

In the London Chancery Division, Justice Russell decided that a bequest of £3,000 left by Gustav Adolf Hummeltenburg to the London Spiritualistic Alliance to form an establishment for training mediums was invalid. His Lordship found prima facie the gift bad as creating a perpetuity. It was necessary to see whether the gift was for the public benefit and whether the Court could, if necessary, undertake its control. The Alliance had wholly failed to satisfy him, he said, on these points. It was necessary therefore to decide whether the training of mediums involved illegality.

[scenesandscreens]

Rock & Rule (1983)

Director - Clive A. Smith, Cinematography - Lenora Hume

"Evil spelled backward is "live," and we all want to live, don't we?"

[ayliffe]

Talking about Harold Acton and the club, Emlyn Williams in his autobiography George (1961) said: "He's the Oxford aesthete, [...] he belongs to the Hypocrites' Club with Brian Howard and Robert Byron and Evelyn Waugh."

Robert Byron, who was the resident entertainer singing Victorian music hall, joined because it provided him a haven for like-minded "aesthetes."

Alfred Duggan joined the club to continue to drink after the pubs and bars had closed. Duggan was in his second year at Balliol College and was the son of an alcoholic, on the way to becoming one himself.

Evelyn Waugh introduced Tom Driberg to the club. Driberg remembered "dancing with John F., while Evelyn and another rolled on a sofa with (as one of them said later) their 'tongues licking each other's tonsils'."

Alastair Hugh Graham followed Richard Pares as Waugh's friend of heart. Waugh called him Hamish Lennox in his writings, and said that "[he] had no repugnance to the bottle and we drank deep together. At times he was as gay as any Hypocrite, but there were always hints of the spirit that in later years has made him a recluse." Graham sent Waugh a naked photo of himself, leaning against a rock face, with arms outstretched, buttocks in full view, and with the text explaining the best way to drink wine: "You must tab a peach and peel it, and put it in a finger bowl, and pour the Burgundy over. The flavour is exquisite. With love from Alastair and his poor dead heart."

Handsome, nice mannered, mild in demeanour, Hilliard, at first meeting, conveyed not the smallest suggestion of his capacity for falling into trouble. The variety of ways in which he got on the wrong side of the authorities during his period of residence (prematurely cut short) was both contrarious and phenomenal. He was one of the nicest of men, in certain moods content to live a quiet even humdrum existence; at other times behaving with a minimum of discretion, altogether disregarding the traditional recommendation that, if you can't be good, be careful. [...] A vignette that remains in my mind of this early Balliol period is of being woken up one night to find Hilliard and Ponsonby standing by my bedside. Without a word, one of them held out a brimming glass of sparkling burgundy. I drained it, equally in silence.

Christopher Hollis wrote in his memoirs, Along the Road to Frome, that "the two centres of my social life that remain most vividly in my mind are the Hypocrites' Club and Offal luncheons. The Hypocrites' Club was founded by a number of those who liked the less conventional ways, in refuge from the regular dining clubs such as the Gridiron or Vincent's, which were both too expensive and, in our opinion, too starchy. It consisted of a number of bare, uncarpeted rooms in a couple of houses beyond Christ Church and just short of Folly Bridge."

Hugh Lygon, the third love-interest of Waugh at Oxford, was as hard-drinking and self-destructive as Waugh and Graham. Lygon moved round Oxford like a lost boy. Terence Lucy Greenidge remembered him carrying a teddy bear. Greenidge, while admiring Hugh's classical good looks, charm and elegance, said he was "rather empty." Lygon, along with Robert Byron, Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross and Brian Howard, was one of the most sexually active of the Hypocrites. After Waugh published A Little Learning, Harold Acton wrote to him complaining he had revealed his homosexuality, while omitting Byron's, Balfour's, Howard's and Lygon's promiscuities.

Anthony Powell wrote: "Coming from different colleges, we used to lunch or dine several times a week at this inexpensive and ill-furnished club over a bicycle shop near Folly Bridge. The premises, reputed to be Tudor, were certainly very rickety. The membership, equally irregular, was in process of changing from shove-halfpenny playing Bohemians to fancy-dress wearing aesthetes. One of the rowdiest members was Evelyn Waugh, one of the most sophisticated Harold Acton."

E. E. Evans-Pritchard lived an aesthetic and bohemian life, a reaction to the horrors of World War I. As an undergraduate he was a member of the Hypocrites Club. There is a photograph of Evans-Pritchard at a fancy-dress party in which he is in Arab dress looking like T. E. Lawrence.

Anthony Powell's first encounter with Evelyn Waugh was a sighting of him at the Hypocrites sitting on the knee of another member, Christopher Hollis. Waugh later teased Christopher Sykes for not having had a homosexual phase. Though Waugh was friends with Terence Lucy Greenidge and Harold Acton, eccentrics and crazy, romantically he was attracted to fragile, beautiful boys like Alastair Hugh Graham and Richard Pares. After Waugh left Oxford he kept going back, and on 12 November 1924 he accepted a lunch date with John Sutro, that was indeed a surprise party at which Sutro invited all of Waugh's "old friends": Harold Acton, Mark Ogilvie-Grant, Hugh Lygon, Robert Byron, Arden Hilliard and Richard Pares. That night Waugh got into Balliol and was let out of a window for having mocked Hilliard and Powell. It was to this visit that Waugh later attributed his "decline" into alcohol.

H. D. Ziman became the literary editor of the Daily Telegraph and was in his fourth year when he met Anthony Powell, a freshman.

SCREAM

[mirrorfalls]

Me: Okay, we're going to get this narration as hardboiled as humanly possible, but also set it from the POV of a teenage girl instead of a grizzled forty-something. Make the word choice poetic, but not pretentious; economic, but not lazy; tough, but not blustering.

My Draft:

[colleenmurphy]

Snippets: Mary Did You Know?

A/N: Everyone has that one family member they just ‘click’ with. Mine was my aunt. This will be the first Christmas in 29 years that she’s not here to celebrate with and I miss her, oh God do I miss her. Anyway, long story short? Once upon a time when I was young I virtually lived with her and my uncle and would often sprint form the car and up to her front door with “Aunt Maaaaaarrry! Guess what?!” and then proceed to inform her of whatever factoid or thought that popped up as I gave her a huge hug. So this little piece is dedicated to her as well as @writervega who taught me that yes, angels really do walk the earth. 

P.S. Lisa-Marie, I’m not sure if I ever told you this but my aunt adored angels. I know she would have loved you.

P.P.S. Little me was not a blue streak curser. Adult me? I’ve been known to use adult sentence enhancers a time or two. 

“Mawwy! Mawwy! I wan’ aunt MAWWY!”

Screeches and screams heard directly from the tiny saloon car parked outside the tidy little house just outside Chiltern Close were surely enough to raise the dead. The neighbors as well as most of the inhabitants of the home had grown used to the delighted yelps for the preferred aunt. All except the aunt in question. Said aunt has busied herself trying to untangle last year’s garland to decorate the tree.

“John?”

“Yea, love?”

“Remind me to kill you after the holidays are well and truly over.”

A chortle was heard behind the other side of the massive tree that took up the sitting room of the two bedroom flat. A pop was heard as the multicolored string lights were tested.

“What? Why? Is the green flickerin’ or is it me?”

“Yes and now the red’s started. Change the bulb. You were the one that taught your niece my name. I was perfectly content being called aunt Colly and you went and spoilt it”

“I did no such thing!”

The wry twinkling glint in his said otherwise as John continued to test and tighten a bulb here or there.

“Did too! Take a peek at your wee niece out there.”

“Little angel ain’t she? I see Bess has her in the outfit ye bought her. Matchin’ coat too! Jaysus, Col no wonder she loves comin’ here spoil her rotten ye’ do!”

“Well, I had to do something to curb the language she picked up from you on the build sites. Don’t you go givin’ me that guilt trip when I know you spoil her too.”

John couldn’t disagree with that, his wife knew him well and she had witnessed the shopping trips first hand. Not to mention the fact that she’d been the one to overhear his retellings of Good Night Moon each and every stay that Lucille was staying with them. 

Dark blonde curls held up into impossibly cute pigtails went with the matching pink play suit she’d been bundled into. From the coordinated coat and lovely little hat and mittens the entire ensemble had Colleen’s doing all over it. Their Lucille, as they took to calling her as they hadn’t yet become parents themselves, truly looked like a tiny cherub but by god she could out swear any sailor thus proving looks truly were deceiving. The uncle in question peeked out at the ice rink that was the front lane. He damned himself for not taking the time to grit their parcel earlier in the morning. Just from how her tiny stride quickened he knew that this was certainly not going to end well.

Step. ‘Aun’ Maaaawwy!’ Step.Step.Step.Slide. Two more steps and their two year old niece met the ground bottom first very hard before her harried mother or lightning fast aunt could catch her. Hysterics and hellcat howls sounded from the tiny blue eyed tot as her faced turned an ungodly shade of puce. Bessie had mentioned something over the phone about potty training and evidently Lucille hadn’t taken to the sudden range of movement that came with being a big kid now let alone the built in shock absorption that her former diapers proved.

“Jaysus cwist ah’ pished mah pants!”

John let out a howl from behind the curtain. Colly whirled around and shot him a death glare as she scooped up Lucille and her raggedy stuffed teddy and tried to step carefully back towards the safety of home. The closer they got the clearer he could hear the conversation between aunt and niece. Or rather, niece to aunt as it was quite one sided.

“Aun’ Mawwy do you know the sky is blue? Aun’ Mawwy do you know why cows eat hay? Aun’ Mawwy awe you gonna make cwhistmas cookies? Aun’ Mawwy did you know...*yawn* I wanna nap?”

“I can tell but how about we let your Ma get you cleaned up and changed? Then I’ll tuck you in up in our room?”

The megawat grin spread across her tiny cherubic face and melted John’s heart all over again. Ceelie drool be damned, the fact that she had her own room be damned right across the hall from theirs be damned, that smile could have him buying her a pony if she’d asked him to.

[oldcurrencyexchange]

Irish Coin Daily: King John’s Silver Halfpenny (Limerick Mint) Moneyer: Wace

Irish Coin Daily: King John’s Silver Halfpenny (Limerick Mint) Moneyer: Wace

Date: 1205-1211

John (as King, 1199-1216), REX Coinage, Silver Halfpenny, Limerick mint signature, Moneyer: Wace

Description:

John (as King of Ireland), Silver Halfpenny, Limerick Mint signature (LI). Moneyer: Wace

Weight: 0.70g

Grade:

Good Fine (gF)

Rare

References:

S. 6232

D&F 51

Obverse:

Crowned facing bust, holding cruciform scepter; rosette to right; all within triangle

 Legend:

IOJ HN NE

[conradscrime]

The Canonical Five: Annie Chapman

August 21, 2022

Annie Chapman was born Eliza Ann Smith in Paddington on September 25, 1840 and was the first born of five children to George Smith and Ruth Chapman. 

Annie’s parents were actually not married at the time of her birth, but they married on February 22, 1842 when she was one. Annie’s brother, Fountain, later said that Annie had taken her first drink when she was very young, and at one point her siblings even got her to sign a pledge to refrain from drinking alcohol, as she drank rum quite a bit and was known to get rowdy when drunk.

Records indicated that all of Annie’s family had relocated to a parish called Clewer in 1861, except for Annie, who remained in London working as a domestic servant. Her father, George, had worked as a valet, but on June 13, 1863, he had committed suicide by cutting is throat.  Annie was described as a very social and intelligent woman, however when drinking she would be in rough shape. She was only 5 feet tall, with blue eyes and wavy dark brown hair, which earned her the nickname, “Dark Annie.” 

On May 1, 1869, Annie married a man named John James Chapman. They often moved around a lot, but in the early 1870′s John had gotten a job as a nobleman in Bond Street. 

Together, Annie and John had three children, Emily Ruth (born June 25, 1870), Annie Georgina (born June 5, 1873) and John Alfred (born November 21, 1880). Their son John was born with physical disabilities and the Chapman’s would get help from the London hospital before actually placing their son in an institution for the physically disabled close to Windsor.  

It was believed that Annie had struggled with alcohol most of her adult life, but she had given It up for the most part by 1880. However, due to her son’s disability, it is believed that she reverted back to drinking. 

In 1881, the Chapman’s moved from West London to Windsor, where John got a job as a coachman. On November 21, 1882, Emily Ruth, the eldest daughter, died form meningitis at the age of 12, and this was said to have increased Ruth and John’s drinking. 

Annie is known to have been arrested several times over the next few years for public intoxication. 

Annie and John separated in 1884, with John getting custody of their daughter, Annie Georgina, while Annie Chapman moved back to London. It is unclear why the couple split up, though some sources claim it was due to Annie’s drinking. Again, like in Mary Ann Nichols’ case, John Chapman was required to pay his estranged wife a weekly allowance. 

After the separation, Annie had moved to Whitechapel and was mostly living off of the allowance she received from John. 

In 1886, John Chapman resigned from his job because his health was declining, and died from liver cirrhosis and edema on December 25, 1886. Annie had learned of her husband’s death from her brother in law after she stopped getting her weekly allowance and wanted to know why, and it is said that their daughter Annie, was either placed in a French institution or joined people who travelled with a circus in France. According to census records from 1891, both Annie and John’s surviving children had lived with their grandmother in Knightsbridge. 

By May or June 1888, Annie was living at Crossingham’s Lodging House on Dorset Street, paying for a double bed every night. She made money by crocheting, selling flowers and some sex work. According to the lodging-house deputy, Timothy Donovan, a 47 year old man named Edward “the Pensioner” Stanley would sometimes stay with Annie at the lodging house and pay for her bed. 

Eight days before Annie Chapman died, she had fought with a fellow resident named Eliza Cooper. Many believe they were fighting over a local man named Harry, though Eliza later said they fought because Annie had borrowed a bar of soap from her and when Eliza asked for her to return it she threw a halfpenny on the kitchen table and said, “Go get a halfpenny’s worth of soap.” 

Eliza had stuck Annie in the face and chest, resulting in Annie receiving a black eye and bruised breast. 

On September 7, 1888, a woman named Amelia Palmer had seen Annie on Dorset Street, and later told police she appeared very pale, having been discharged from the Whitechapel Infirmary that day. After Annie died and an autopsy was completed, it was determined that she was in an advanced state of disease in her lungs and brain and this would have killed her within months. 

Shortly after midnight on September 8, 1888, Annie did not have the money she needed to get a bed at the lodging house. She drank a pint of beer in the kitchen with another lodger, before leaving. Around 1:35 am, Annie came back with a baked potato which she ate before leaving again with the intention of earning money from sex work to pay for her bed. 

The last time the watchman, John Evans saw Annie she was walking in the direction of Spitalfields Market. 

A woman named Elizabeth Long later testified that she saw Annie talking to a man at 5:30 am, around the backyard of 29 Hanbury Street in Spitalfields. The man was described as being over 40 years old, slightly taller than Annie, with dark hair, and a “foreign” appearance. He was wearing a brown low-crowned felt hat and possibly a dark coat. Long said she heard the man ask Annie, “will you?” to which Annie replied, “yes.” 

Around 5:15 am, a tenant named Albert Cadosch entered the yard of the property 27 Hanbury Street to use the bathroom. He claimed to have heard a woman say, “No, no!” before hearing the sound of someone falling against the fence dividing the backyards of 27 and 29 Hanbury Street. Albert did not investigate further. 

Annie Chapman’s mutilated body was discovered before 6 am by an elderly resident named John Davis. Her body was laying on the ground near the doorway to the backyard with her head 6 inches from the steps to the property of 29 Hanbury Street. Davis alerted three men who went to get a police officer. 

Dr. Phillips arrived around 6:30 am and determined a link between Mary Ann Nichols murder and Annie Chapman. There were 6 areas of blood spattering on the wall of the house between the steps dividing the two properties. Some of the spatterings were 18 inches above the ground. 

Two pills, that were prescribed to Annie for a lung condition, a section of a torn envelope, a small piece of frayed coarse muslin and a comb were found close to Annie’s body. A leather apron in a dish of water was also found close to her body. 

The official inquest began on September 10, 1888. One witness testified that he had lived at Hanbury Street for two weeks and had never seen the door to the yard locked, meaning anyone who knew where the latch was could open it and have access to the backyard where Annie was found. 

Amelia Palmer also testified, claiming she knew Annie for years and that she was a very respectable woman despite her liking alcohol. Amelia also said that Annie did not engage in sex work too often, and had only began after Annie’s husband John had died in December 1886. 

The lodging-house deputy testified that other than the fight with Eliza Cooper, Annie Chapman got on quite well with the other lodgers and though she did drink excessively on Saturday nights, she remained sober the rest of the week. 

It was determined that Annie Chapman had been murdered as late as 5:30 am in the yard of Hanbury Street, though no tenants had heard or seen anything suspicious at the time of the murder. 

Annie’s body was found with her left arm placed across her left breast, her legs drawn up, her feet resting on the ground and her knees turned outwards. Her face was swollen and turned on the right side, her tongue was protruding between her front teeth but not past her lips. Her tongue was very swollen. Her body was badly mutilated and her throat was cut deeply, the incision was jagged and reached around to the neck. 

The instrument used to cut Annie’s throat was the same as what was used to cut her abdomen. It must of been a sharp knife with a thin narrow blade and at least 6-8 inches in length, most likely longer. It was determined this kind of knife would not be used by doctors in ordinary surgical cases, but may have been used by slaughtermen but not those in the leather trade as the blade wasn’t long enough. A handkerchief was found around Annie’s throat, but was not tied on after her throat was cut.

It was quite clear that whoever had murdered Annie Chapman had anatomical knowledge. There was no evidence of a struggle having taken place, and that Annie could have been dead for at least two hours before discovery, which does not make sense if Elizabeth Long had seen Annie alive talking to a man at 5:30 am. Dr. Phillips believed she was murdered around 4:30 am, but it was also possible that her body could have cooled quicker than normal making it seem like she was dead longer than she was. 

Annie’s throat had been cut from left to right so deeply, the bones of her vertebral column bore striations. She had been disembowelled, with a piece of her flesh from her stomach placed over her left shoulder and her small intestines had been removed and placed over her right shoulder along with another section of flesh. Part of her uterus and bladder were missing and because of her swollen face and tongue, Dr. Phillips believed she had been asphyxiated with the handkerchief before her throat was cut, and her murderer had held her chin while doing this. 

It was concluded that Annie most likely was murdered where she was found, she had long advanced lung disease, was sober at the time of her death and had not consumed any alcohol for a few hours before she died. 

After a short deliberation, the jury at the inquest determined that Annie had been murdered, a verdict of wilful murder against a person or persons unknown, the same verdict as was in Mary Ann Nichols case. 

The leather apron that was found in dish water near Annie’s body was John Richardson’s. It was placed there by his mother who had washed it on September 6. Richardson was investigated but eliminated as a suspect. However, due to this leather apron, the same theory as with Mary Ann Nichols was that a Jew known as “Leather Apron” was responsible for the murders. 

The Jewish man known as “Leather Apron” named Pizer was arrested but released on September 11 after police verified his alibi’s for both nights the murders of Mary Ann Nichols and Annie Chapman occurred. 

Annie was known to have worn two brass rings, and they were not recovered at the time of her death. Some believed her killer had taken them to pawn them off for money, leading investigators to search all pawnbrokers in Spitalfields and Whitechapel, but they had no luck. 

The section of torn envelope found near Annie’s body was believed to have been traced to Edward Stanley, the man who sometimes lodged with her and paid for her bed. Some believe he could have killed Annie, but he was soon eliminated as a suspect when his alibis for both nights were confirmed. 

On September 9, a 53 year old ship’s cook named William Henry Piggott was detained after arriving at a pub with a hand injury and shouting misogynistic things. He had left a blood-stained shirt at a local fish shop, but he claimed he had been bitten by a woman and the blood on the shirt was his own. He was investigated but released. 

A man named Jacob Isenschmid, a Swiss butcher, was witnessed as a blood-stained man who was acting suspicious on the morning of Annie’s murder. He had a distinctive appearance, with a large ginger moustache and had a history of mental illness. He was arrested on suspicion on September 13. 

On September 18, a 40 year old German hairdresser named Charles Ludwig was arrested after he had attempted to stab a young man, Alexander Finlay at a coffee stall while drunk. He was arrested in the company of a visibly distressed sex worker who told police he had scared her by pulling out a big knife. Ludwig was also supposedly wanted for attempting to slash a woman’s throat with a razor. 

Both Isenschmid and Ludwig were cleared of suspicion of Annie Chapman’s murder after two more murders were committed on the same day while both were still in police custody. Isenschmid later went to a mental asylum. 

The first time the murderer came forward and actually claimed the name “Jack the Ripper” was on September 27, 1888 when he sent the infamous “Dear Boss” letter to the Central News Agency. The letter talked about the “Leather Apron” theories and how that made Jack laugh. These letters will be discussed in greater detail later. 

Annie Chapman was buried on September 14, but her funeral was not publicized upon her family’s request. Relatives were the only ones in attendance. Her coffin read, “Annie Chapman, died Sept. 8, 1888, aged 48 years.” 

The actual location of Annie Chapman’s grave within Manor Park Cemetery is unknown. A plaque in the cemetery reads, “Her remains are buried within this area.” 

[barks-goes-meow]

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Bonnie and Clyde 2017 London cast featuring Evelyn Hoskins.

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Various Waitress 2022 tour audios, several covers including Aimee Fisher/Olivia Mitchell as Jenna and Aimee Fisher as Dawn.

Waitress tour video boot (amazing quality) from 05/07/22 (?) with Chelsea Halfpenny as Jenna and David Hunter as Dr Pomatter

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Gypsy audio with Rebecca Thornhill and Evelyn Hoskins

The Bodyguard audio with Melody Thornton as Rachel

The Bodyguard audio with Emily Mae Walker as Rachel (1st cover)

42 Balloons audio from Vaudeville concerts