Frederick Bailey Deeming
| Frederick Bailey Deeming | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
30 July 1853 Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England |
| Died | 23 May 1892 (aged 38) Melbourne, Colony of Victoria |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Criminal status | Executed by hanging |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 6 (4 of them children) Possibly others in the Whitechapel murders |
Frederick Bailey Deeming (30 July 1853 – 23 May 1892) was an English-born Australian gasfitter and murderer. He was convicted and executed for the murder of a woman in Melbourne, Australia. He is remembered today because he was suspected by some of being the notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper.
Deeming was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England, son of Thomas Deeming, brazier, and his wife Ann, née Bailey. He was a "difficult child" according to writers Maurice Gurvich and Christopher Wray. At 16 years of age he ran away to sea, and thereafter he began a long career of crime, largely thieving and obtaining money under false pretenses. He was also responsible for the murder of his first wife Marie, and his four children, at Rainhill, England, on or about 26 July 1891, and a second wife, Emily Mather, at Windsor, Melbourne, on 24 December 1891.
Less than three months elapsed between the discovery of Mather's body in Windsor, Melbourne, in March 1892, and Deeming's execution for her murder in May 1892; a remarkably short time by comparison to modern western legal standards. This was not only due to efficient police work, but also a result of the considerable international media interest the murder attracted. For example, it was an English journalist working for the Melbourne Argus who first approached Mather's mother in Rainhill, delivering the news of her daughter's murder. Another factor was Deeming's behaviour in public; for while often using different names, he usually drew attention to himself with behaviour variously described as aggressive, ostentatious, ingratiating and overly attentive to women.
Police investigations after his arrest in 1892 revealed that Deeming had moved to Australia in 1882, chiefly working in Sydney, but also working for John Danks, a Melbourne importer of plumbing and gas fitting supplies. His Melbourne employers regarded him as an excellent worker and extended him 200 pounds credit, supposedly to open a business in Rockhampton, Queensland. The money was never repaid. Deeming is known to have worked for a Sydney gasfitter, where he was charged with theft of brass fittings from his employer. Deeming indignantly denied the theft, but the items were found at his home and he was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment. Deeming pretended to faint when the sentence was pronounced. After his release he continued to work in Sydney as a gasfitter until, in December 1887, he was again committed for trial, now on a charge of fraudulent insolvency. He disappeared from New South Wales while on bail.
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