Robert James Lees

Robert James Lees (born 12 August 1849 in Hinckley, Leicestershire – died 11 January 1931 in Leicester) was a British spiritualist, medium, preacher, writer and healer of the late Victorian era and early twentieth century known today for claims that he knew the identity of Jack the Ripper, responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888.

The son of William Lingham Lees (1818–1880) and Elizabeth (née Patch) (1819–1883), Robert Lees was born in Hinckley and spent his early years in Birmingham. It is claimed that, following the death of Prince Albert in 1861 the 13-year-old Lees went into a trance and communicated messages from Albert to Queen Victoria. It is further claimed that Lees lived for a period in Buckingham Palace so that Victoria could regularly talk to her beloved Albert through him. None of these claims have been substantiated. The only Royal connection that has been uncovered between Lees and the Royal Family is a letter dated 23 January 1899 sent to Lees from the Privy Office thanking him for sending the Queen a copy of his book Through The Mists.

In December 1871 Lees married Sarah Ann Bishop (1850–1912), whom he had first met as a boy while attending a Sunday School class in the Aston district of Birmingham. They had sixteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. In 1876 he moved to Manchester where he worked as a journalist for the Manchester Guardian. In 1878 Lees and his family moved to London, where he worked as a journalist in Fleet Street and where he befriended W.T. Stead. He worked on several London-based publications including George Newnes' Tit-Bits magazine.

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