I realised, after yesterday’s update, that it’s been a year to the day since I last updated this blog. WordPress has decided that in the intervening time its update facility doesn’t like Safari, which is less than ideal.
Anyway – news thingies! We were in the ECHO yesterday. That kind of makes it real now. Good good, not panicking…
So I said yesterday’s update was the only time I’d treat Spring-Heeled Jack as fact. You may well be wondering what on earth I’ve got left to do for the rest of the month. I’m not gonna lie, there were times when I felt that way myself.
Because there aren’t many facts to go on about Spring-Heeled Jack, my research has been largely focusing on the people connected to the legend – people like police constables John Cunningham and Tom Tinniswood, who saw Spring-Heeled Jack leaping off High Park Street Reservoir in 1888. I’ve also dug into the wider area and uncovered some characters. For example, Father John McHale of St Francis Xavier’s Church and School, a brutal disciplinarian whose death inspired cheering amongst his pupils; or John Houlding, owner of Anfield football ground, Lord Mayor of Liverpool, brewer, Orangeman and Conservative Councillor for Everton Ward, a divisive and controversial figure even before we get into otherworldly Victorian scoundrels.
For this kind of work, sites such as findmypast.co.uk, ancestry.com and the British Newspaper Archive have proven invaluable resources. Even though everyone involved in the story is long dead, it’s surprisingly easy to find enough information to build up a pretty clear picture of their lives using census records.
More interesting, though are the figures who aren’t traceable through the census. It adds a sense of mystery, a mystique to their seemingly sudden appearance in this tapestry that’s being woven. And sometimes, when these figures include Father McHale and Mayor Houlding…
…Why, the story almost writes itself. Makes my job easier, anyway.
Huyton Couture 