Historical Liverpool Dwellings - Battlecrease House

Battlecrease House is at 7 Riversdale Road, opposite the Liverpool Cricket Ground. Riversdale Road runs southwest off Aigburth Road toward the River Mersey with the house facing the Mersey at its finest point, from the slope of the second highest of Liverpool's seven hills. It was in early 1888 that the Maybrick family moved into the property, having left Grassendale, to take on a five year lease on this far more imposing house than their previous home. James Maybrick was born in Liverpool on the 24th of October 1838, the son of William Maybrick, an engraver, and his wife, Susanna. A cotton trader, he had met his wife Florence in 1880 when sailing from New York City to Liverpool on the White Star liner, Baltic, who was with her mother and brother. Florence (Florie) Elizabeth Chandler was 18 year old daughter of a banker from Mobile, Alabama and James was 42 at the time. They married on the 27th of July 1881 and had two children: a son, James Chandler ('Bobo'), born in 1882, and a daughter, Gladys Evelyn, born in 1886. Also living with them was Nurse Yapp, gardener James Grant, maid Mary Cadwallader and later a cook, Elizabeth Humphreys. Florence wasted no time in furnishing their home in style, with every room having velvet carpets and curtains in dark red plush, lined with pale blue satin. The gold-painted furniture was upholstered in dark red with blue. It was a palatial home with flush toilets and typical of an English estate, peacocks roamed the grounds of five to six acres which contained large trees, luxuriant shrubbery and flower beds and little rock nooks or summer houses, with seats, covered with old ivy and other running vines. There was also a conservatory near the house which also had a small natural stream of water that ran into a small lake which was stocked with fish and had swans and ducks swimming there. James was fond of racing and hunting and had six horses and a few dogs.

Exterior view of the late 19th century Battlecrease House

Suffering from ill health for quite some time, James Maybrick's health deteriorated suddenly on the 27th of April 1889, and he died fifteen days later at his home. In controversial circumstances, with his death deemed suspicious by his brothers, an inquest, held in a local hotel, came to the verdict that arsenic poisoning was the most likely cause, administered by persons unknown. Suspicion immediately fell on Florence, and she was arrested some days later and stood trial at St George's Hall where she was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In 1992, a document presented as James Maybrick's diary surfaced, which claimed that he was the infamous Jack the Ripper. 

Florence and James Maybrick

The diary, written, or made to look like it was written, by James Maybrick, was found but maybe, the person who wrote it was, or was pretending to be, Jack the Ripper. Nobody knows for sure if the diary is genuine; however, it is one of the most analysed documents in the world, and the fact it has not been declared a forgery gives it some credence. 

It is my opinion that Michael Maybrick, James' brother, was Jack the Ripper, and that, in addition to the Ripper killings, Michael had killed James and framed Florence and he was the author of the diary. A good read on the subject is 'Funny Little Games' by Phillip Davies, a Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/02/historical-liverpool-dwellings-button.html