the extraordinary tale of Frederick Deeming

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List of documents featuring in this online exhibition

List of PROV records and other documents used in this online exhibition, arranged by date the document was created or in some cases the date relating to events or places described in the document.

Pre-1892

Birth certificates found in Deeming's possession, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Studio portrait of Emily Williams (née Mather), c. 1890, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming
Case

Kaiser Willhelm II passenger list, PROV, VPRS 947/P0 Inward Overseas Passenger List, unit 45, [date of voyage and ship name]

MMBW plan of Windsor neighbourhood including Deeming's house in Andrew Street Windsor, PROV, VPRS 8601/P1 Detailed Base Plans [DP] 40'=1" Numeric, unit 20, detail plan no. 963

MMBW survey plan showing Deeming's house in Andrew Street, PROV, VPRS 8600/P1 Survey Field Books, unit 18, book no. 323, page 149

Louisa Atkinson testimony, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

January 1892

Passenger list of SS Albany, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

March 1892

Statement of John Stamford, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

Autopsy of Emily Williams, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

Coroner's report on the death of Emily Williams, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

The Argus, 4 March 1892, p. 5

Police Report, 6 March 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Victoria Police Gazette, 9 March 1892, p. 69

Letter from Signor D'atorz, 10 March 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Selection of telegrams received and sent by Western Australian Police, regarding arrest and transportation of Deeming, WA Police Department, file 413/1892, Cons 430, State Records Office of Western Australia

Letter from Lancashire police, 12 March 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

The Argus, 12 March 1892, p. 7

Letter from Henry Boardman, 16 March 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Newspaper clipping comparing Deeming's and Jack the Ripper's handwriting, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Telegram from Secretary of State in England to Governor of Victoria, 17 March 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Letter from Harry Jones, 19 March 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Statement of Sydney Oakes, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

Statement of Max Hirschfeldt, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

Statement of Elisa Hirschfeldt, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

Statement of John Featherston, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

Statement of Kate Rounsefell, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

Copy of Baron Swanston's letter to Thomas Rounsefell, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Telegram received from Western Australian Police confirming Deeming's capture, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

Letter recommending Mr Lamonde receive reward for information essential in leading to Deeming's arrest, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

The Australasian, 26 March 1892, p. 596

The Argus, 28 March 1892, p. 6

T. A. Walker to the Commissioner of Police regarding method for landing Deeming in Melbourne, PROV, VPRS 937, unit 511, Deeming Case

Letter from J. H. Lundager, 31 March 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

April 1892

Statement of Henry Webster late Governor of H.M. Prison Hull, England, 1 April 1892, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, Unit 886, case number 261/1892

The Argus, 2 April 1892, p. 8

Letter from Dr James Struthers, 3 April 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

The Argus, 6 April 1892, p. 7

Precis of career of Frederick Bayley Deeming alias A. O. Williams the Windsor murderer, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, Unit 511, Deeming Case

Marshall Lyle letter, 15 April 1892, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892

Trial transcript, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming] [PDF 11 MB]

List of exhibits produced at Deeming's trial, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

List of property found in Deeming's possession when arrested, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case

The Argus, 30 April 1892, p. 5

May 1892

The Argus, 2 May 1892, p. 7

No. 25376 Albert Williams alias Frederick Bayley Williams alias Deeming, PROV, VPRS 515/P0 Central Register of Male Prisoners, unit 46, folio 66

Letter from Kate Jensen, 4 May 1892, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming]

Sergeants Considine and Cawsey's summary of Deeming's life in crime, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming]

Report of Constable G. L. Webster, 6 May 1892, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case [thumbnail]

Baron Swanston's petition to the Governor, 6 May 1892, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming]

Executive Council's decision to carry out Deeming's death sentence, PROV, VPRS 1080/P0 Minutes of the Executive Council, unit 29, folio 553

Letter from Marshall Lyle to the Governor and the members of the Executive Council, 10 May 1892, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming]

Letter from Victorian Branch of the British Medical Association, 12 May 1892, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming]

List of people recommended for share of £100 reward offered for capture and conviction of Windsor murderer, PROV, VPRS 506/P0 Inspector General's Office Outward Letter Books, unit 3, folio 100

Letter from Marshall Lyle to the Governor of Victoria, 17 May 1892, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming]

Memorandum for the Governor of Victoria, 18 May 1892, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming]

Coroner's Inquest into Deeming's execution, 23 May 1892, PROV, VPRS 24/P0 Inquest Deposition Files, unit 597, item 1892/645

The Argus, 24 May 1892, p. 5

The Last Will and Testament of Frederick Bailey Deeming, PROV, VPRS 7591/P2 Wills, unit 205, 51/087

Post-May 1892

Lombroso research into criminal types, PROV, VPRS 8369/P1 Correspondence, Photographs and History Sheets of Certain Male Prisoners, unit 1

Memorandum by Victoria Police regarding letter from South African Police, 21 April 1906, PROV, VPRS 807/P0 Inward Correspondence Files, Unit 290

Case Book entry for patient at Beechworth Asylum, citing the Deeming case as the cause for dementia, PROV, VPRS 7396/P1 Case Books of Female Patients


Series used in this online exhibition arranged by Victorian government agency

Use the links below to explore further information about the records used in this online exhibition and the government agencies that created them.

VA 466 Governor's Office
VPRS 1100 Capital Sentence Files
VPRS 7572 Index to Registers of Despatches from the Secretary of State to the Governor
VPRS 1084 Despatches from the Governor to the Secretary of State
VPRS 1087 Despatches from the Secretary of State to the Governor

VA 606 Department of Trade and Customs
VPRS 947 Inward Overseas Passenger Lists

VA 667 Office of the Victorian Government Solicitor
VPRS 3524 Criminal Trial Brief Registers
VPRS 30 Criminal Trial Briefs

VA 724 Victoria Police (including Office of the Chief Commissioner of Police)
VPRS 937 Inward Registered Correspondence
VPRS 807 Inward Correspondence Files

VA 862 Office of the Registrar-General and the Office of Titles
VPRS 24 Inquest Deposition Files

VA 1007 Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works
VPRS 8600 Survey Field Books
VPRS 8601 Detailed Base Plans [DP] 40'=1" Numeric

VA 1464 Penal and Gaols Branch, Chief Secretary's Department
VPRS 506 Inspector General's Office Outward Letter Books
VPRS 515 Central Register of Male Prisoners
VPRS 8369 Correspondence, Photographs and History Sheets of Certain Male Prisoners

VA 2620 Registrar of Probates, Supreme Court
VPRS 7591 Wills

VA 2825 Attorney-General's Department (previously Law Department)
VPRS 264 Capital Case Files

VA 2842 Beechworth Asylum
VPRS 7396 Case Books of Female Patients

VA 2903 Executive Council
VPRS 1080 Minutes of the Executive Council


Materials sourced from other collections

Telegrams and photographs relating to Deeming's arrest in Western Australia.
Western Australia Police Department, file 413/1892, Cons 430, State Records Office of Western Australia

Illustrations from penny dreadful publications
OMG 182-187
Collection of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria)

Photographs of phrenology head and caste of Deeming death mask
© Photograph by Laki Sideris. Originally published in The Old Melbourne Gaol: A History on CD-ROM, Melbourne, RMIT Publishing, 2002.

Newspaper reports and illustrations relating to Deeming from The Australasian, Illustrated Australasian News, and The Argus from 1892, and cover illustrations of two penny dreadfuls about Deeming (see below for details), reproduced courtesy of the State Library of Victoria

Photograph of Deeming's place of residence at Southern Cross, courtesy of Lenore Frost, Essendon Historical Society

Photograph of York Railway Station (P1998.71), courtesy of Residency Museum York Western Australia.


References

A list of references including theses, books and articles. In the case of articles which appear on the web, a link has been included to the relevant website.

Mimi Colligan, 'Canvas and Wax: Images of Information in Australian Panoramas and Waxworks, with particular reference to Melbourne 1849-1920', PhD thesis, Department of History, Monash University, 1987.

Rachel Weaver, Criminal of the Century, Melbourne, Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2006.

Kathryn H. Ferguson, 'You Don't Know Jack', originally published in Helen Addison-Smith, An Nguyen and Denise Tallis (eds), Backburning: Journal of Australian Studies, no. 84, Perth, API Network, 2005, pp. 53-62. See online version (accessed 14 April 2007) on the API-Network website.

Maurice Gurvich and Christopher Wray, The Scarlet Thread: Australia's Jack the Ripper, A True Crime Story, Sydney, Fairfax Books, 2007.

Barry O. Jones, 'Frederick Bailey Deeming (1853-1892)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, Melbourne University Press, 1981, pp. 268-269. See online version (accessed 14 April 2007) in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition.

Cesare Lombroso, Criminal Man, translated and with a new introduction by Mary Gibson and Nicole Hahn Rafter, with translation assistance from Mark Seymour, Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 2006.

Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man, Ringwood, Vic., Penguin, 1996, p. 153.

Beth Martin, Albany's Brush with a Mass Murderer: A Man of Many Faces - Frederick Bailey Deeming, Albany, WA, Albany Historical Society Inc., 1998.

Michael Lawrence, They Hanged in Melbourne, Swell Productions, 1970?

Alan Sharpe, 'Damnable Deeming Esquire', in Crimes that Shocked Australia, Milson's Point, NSW, Currawong Press, 1982, pp. 100-107.

J. S. O'Sullivan, A Most Unique Ruffian: The Trial of F. B. Deeming, Melbourne, 1892; Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire, 1968.

The Old Melbourne Gaol: A History on CD-ROM, Melbourne, RMIT Publishing, 2002.


Penny Dreadfuls about Deeming

Numerous images used in this online exhibition were sourced from penny dreadfuls either in the holdings of the Old Melbourne Gaol or in the State Library of Victoria. These are available for public access upon request using the State Library of Victoria catalogue, and can be viewed in the Special Collections Reading Room.

Anonymous, Biography of Frederick Bayley Deeming: A Romance of Crime, Printed for the proprietors and publishers, William E.G. Shackle and J.G. Sutton, by the Port Melbourne Tribune Printing and Publishing Compy., Limited, [1892].

Anonymous, The Complete History of the Windsor Tragedy, Melbourne, Mason, Firth & Mcutcheon, 1892.

Anonymous, The Criminal of the Century: A Complete History of the Career of Frederick Baily Deeming, alias Albert Williams, alias Baron Swanston ...: The Perpetrator of the Windsor and Rainhill Murders, Sydney, Australian Mining Standard Office, 1892.

Frank Clune, The Demon Killer: The Career of Deeming, Satanic Murderer, Sydney, Invincible Press, [1948].

Anonymous, The History of a Series of Great Crimes on Two Continents, Adelaide, Frearson & Brother, 1892.

Anonymous, The History of a Series of Great Crimes on Two Continents, second edition, Adelaide, Frearson's Printing House, 1892.

Anonymous, The History of a Series of Great Crimes on Two Continents, third edition, Adelaide, Frearson & Brother, 1892.

Anonymous, The Life of Deeming: The Murderer of Women and Children, Melbourne, Williams, 1892.

Anonymous, The Windsor and Rainhill Murders, Melbourne, Walker May & Co., 1892.