Newsletter
- 31st December 2015
New
Year Challenge - the real Arthur Daly
American
records free online for limited period
DNA
offer ENDS TODAY
Ancient
DNA sheds light on Irish origins
Genes
Reunited offer ENDS FRIDAY
Save 50% on the 1939 Register ENDS TUESDAY
Are
you still watching black and white TV?
The
history of the 'jelly baby'
In the Blood
reaches 100,000 sales
Last chance to enter the Christmas Competition ENDS TUESDAY
The LostCousins
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New Year Challenge -
the real Arthur Daly
For many Britons the name Arthur Dal(e)y conjures up images of George Cole, the character
actor who passed away in 2015 at the age of 90, who starred as Arthur Daley in
the long-running ITV series Minder.
Of course, he had many other roles - I first saw him as 'Flash Harry' in the St
Trinian's films of the 1950s, alongside
Alastair Sim (who had unofficially adopted George when he was 16).
It's the Arthur Daley character that
inspired my New Year Competition: variously described in Cole's obituaries as
"roguish", "shifty", "small-time wheeler-dealer",
and "crook" this second-hand car dealer surely has nothing in common
with a respectable doctor who just happens to bear the same name (though
without the 'e'). Yet Dr Arthur Daly was just as much of a rogue - and whilst
he was eventually acquitted of murder, I'm not yet convinced of his innocence.
Your challenge is to convince me of
Arthur Daly's innocence - or guilt - using any available evidence (for example,
from from newspaper reports). You don't
need to know anything about George Cole or the Arthur Daley he played, but you will need to have access to British newspapers
from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s - you can access them quickly and easily at Findmypast or the British
Newspaper Archive.
Dr Harold Shipman
remains the only British doctor to have been convicted of murdering his
patients: Dr John
Bodkin Adams, a near-contemporary of Arthur Daly, was convicted of
prescription fraud - but acquitted of murder in 1957 (though there are many who
are convinced he was guilty). Both Daly and Adams could have been sentenced to
death by hanging if found guilty, but only Adams warrants a Wikipedia page -
everyone seems to have forgotten about Dr Daly. This is your chance to
determine whether or not Daly cheated the hangman's noose.
Born in Walthamstow in February 1901, Arthur
J Daly was shown as 2 months old on the 1901 Census - you'll find him living
with his parents at 370 Forest Road, Walthamstow. His parents were born in
Ireland, and his father, a General Practitioner, qualified there in 1898
according to the Medical Register for 1911, which you'll find in the UK
Medical Registers, 1859-1959 collection at Ancestry. However Dr Arthur
James Daly isn't listed in the 1913 register,
which is at Findmypast, and I soon discovered that his death had been
registered in the 4th quarter of 1912.
Who knows what the impact was on his five
sons, the eldest of whom was only 11 when their father died? Were the family
forced into penury, or had adequate provision been made? There is no record of
a will in the Probate Calendars for England & Wales, but it's possible that
much of his estate was in Ireland. Either way, I don't suppose that young
Arthur James Daly had an easy upbringing - though it doesn't excuse what he did
later.
In 1925 he qualified as a doctor and in
1930 he married Lilian Ratcliff, in Burton-on-Trent - she was just 19 years old
(he was 29); by 1931 he was working at the Hanwell Mental Hospital in Southall,
Middlesex according to the Medical Register, but the births of his sons Michael
(1931) and Richard (1934) were both registered in Burton. Were they living apart,
or had he found a new job closer to Burton?
The 1939 Register shows him in General
Practice at Ilkeston, Derbyshire - not far from Nottingham:
© Crown Copyright Image
reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England and Findmypast
I don't know when he started using the
second middle name of Patrick - it certainly doesn't appear on his birth
certificate, on his marriage certificate, or in the medical registers I
checked. Perhaps he felt that the initials JP added an extra degree of respectability
(since JP is the abbreviation for 'Justice of the Peace', ie
a magistrate).
He can't have been very successful as a
doctor, nor can he have been practising in Ilkeston for more than a few years -
the Derby Daily Telegraph of 25th
November 1936 reported bankruptcy proceedings against him, giving his Ilkeston
address but describing him as "lately of Adelaide House, Adelaide Street, Accrington". The same newspaper reported on 19th
January 1937 that he had debts of £3,250 10s, but assets of only £83 2s 4d - a
deficiency of £3,167 (about £500,000 in today's money if the increase in wages
since 1937 is taken into account).
There was more bad news to come - on 3rd
September 1937 the London Gazette
announced that he had been convicted of offences under the Dangerous Drugs
Acts, as a result of which his right to possess and supply opiates had been
withdrawn.
Clearly he was struggling to make ends
meet even after his bankruptcy - on 30th March 1939 the Nottingham Evening Post reported that he had been fined 10s with
30s costs for using a motor car without a Road Fund Licence, and that he had 15
previous convictions. He continued to drive without buying the requisite
licence, and on 2nd September 1939 the Post
reported that he had been fined £5 with 32s 3d costs.
But this was soon to be the least of his
worries, for on 20th November 1939 the London Times revealed that he had been remanded in custody, charged with
the murder of a new-born infant between 8th-14th November.
The Court was told how the body had been found wrapped in brown paper, in a
box, in a caravan in a field.
There are extensive articles about the
case in the Nottingham Evening Post
of 28th February 1940 - it's the lead story on the front page, and on the back
page - I'll leave you to read the report yourself (in the British Newspaper Archive); suffice it to
say that the deceased infant was the child of his young mistress, who had also
been a patient of his. I thought the evidence was pretty damning, and I suspect
you will too - but on 1st March the Times
reported that he had been found not guilty of murder, and sentenced to a mere
three days' imprisonment for concealing the birth of a child. Ironically the
pathologist whose evidence saved Dr Daly was Sir Bernard Spilsbury,
whose evidence had helped to convict Dr Crippen in 1910.
The medical register for 1943 shows that
he was still a registered practioner despite all that
had happened, whilst the 5th February 1944 issue of The Chemist & Druggist
reported Daly's restoration to the list of authorised doctors under the
Dangerous Drugs Act.
You be the judge
Were the jury right to find him not
guilty? They probably wouldn't have known about his previous convictions or his
bankruptcy, but we do - although there's a big difference between motoring
offences and murder. Unfortunately I couldn't find any more detail on the drugs
offences which led to the withdrawal of his permit to supply opiates - the
circumstances might provide more insight into the mind of this man.
But I only spent a couple of hours
looking into this case, which I stumbled across by accident when trying to find
out whether there was any truth in the Scotland
Yard story entitled 'The Blazing Caravan'. Your challenge is to read
the key articles which argue the case for and against Dr Daly - we know he was
an adulterous bankrupt who broke the ethical code that he signed up to when he
became a doctor, but that doesn't make him a murderer.
Would it make any difference to your
decision if you were to know that the Times
of 1st December 1951 reported that a Dr Arthur James Daly of Carr Road, Nelson, Lancashire had
lost his appeal against being struck off the medical register after committing
adultery with another patient? He didn't give up - he became the first doctor
to take his appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council under the
Medical Act of 1950, but again his appeal was dismissed. The papers in the
latter appeal are online here; you'll
see that he was named as co-respondent in a divorce petition by the aggrieved
husband.
If you want to take part in the
challenge you'll need to email me your entry by midnight on Monday 25th
January; you can use any of the LostCousins email
addresses, including the one I wrote from when telling you about this
newsletter. Please use "Daly Challenge" as the subject of your email
so that it doesn't get lost amongst all the other emails I receive.
Tips:
I'll be looking for a well-argued case - don't simply express your opinion,
you'll need to back it up with evidence (even if some of the evidence is circumstantial
or hearsay). If you draw evidence from Internet articles other than the ones
I've mentioned in this newsletter please be sure to provide details of the
source so that I can find it.
As I mentioned earlier, you will
need access to the British Newspaper Archive in order to build a convincing
case, but I'd encourage to look for other sources (for example, I accessed the Times and the Daily Mirror through my local library).
Finally, whilst it is likely that there
are relatives of Dr Daly who are still living - as well as others who have been
affected by his actions - under no circumstances should you attempt to contact
them. This is an exercise to test your research skills, and powers of
reasoning, not a witch-hunt.
Note:
I think my quest to find the source of 'The Blazing Caravan' TV story was a
hopeless one - I suspect it was loosely-based on the Blazing Car Murder, which
took place in 1930 (the pathologist whose evidence helped to convict the murder
in that case was once again Sir Bernard Spilsbury!).
Just before Christmas the National
Archives made available online diaries of 247 First World War hospital camps,
hospital ships, convalescent hospitals and veterinary hospitals. You can read
all about them here.
American records free
online for limited period
The New England Historic Genealogical
Society is making three of its most popular datasets free for the month of
January - you need only register as a Guest User. The three datasets are:
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910
Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to
2008
New Hampshire Births to 1901, Deaths and
Marriages to 1937
To take advantage of this offer click here.
DNA offer ENDS TODAY
Earlier this month I wrote Family Tree
DNA's seasonal sale - and it's your last chance to order a test at the sale
prices, because the sale ends at midnight today.
Fortunately, because Family Tree DNA are
based in Texas, they're 6 hours behind London and about 16 hours behind Australia
- so you may have more time to take up this offer than you think.
If you follow this link
you'll be supporting LostCousins!
Ancient DNA sheds light
on Irish origins
If you have Irish ancestry - or simply
have an interest in how DNA can tell us about our origins - you'll find this
BBC article
interesting.
Genes Reunited offer ENDS FRIDAY
Until midnight (London time) on
New Year's Day can get a 1 month Platinum subscription at Genes Reunited by
following this link and entering the discount code: GRSYFT15
Warning: don't take advantage of this
offer if you have currently have a Standard subscription - you'll lose
your existing subscription (and any preferential rate). By default
subscriptions renew automatically at the full rate - if you don't want to renew
at the end of the month simply change the setting on the 'Subscription
Details'.
Save 50% on the
1939 Register ENDS TUESDAY
Until midnight on 5th January you can save
50% when you buy 60 credits (sufficient to view a single household) using one
of the links below:
By using one of those links you'll also be
supporting LostCousins - whether you buy 60, 300, or
900 credits.
If, like me, you want to track down your
wider family then the cheapest option is to buy 900 credits (sufficient for 15
households).
Are you still
watching black and white TV?
We might be the YouTube
generation, but according to a recent BBC News article there are still
nearly 10,000 holders of black and white television licences on the UK. And
there's good news if you're still watching in black and white - you could own a
valuable antique, because older televisions are much sought after by museums
and collectors.
The history of the
'jelly baby'
It's more than 150 years since the first
jelly babies were produced, although they haven't always been known by that
name, as this BBC article
makes clear - at one time they were called 'unclaimed babies', which was
possibly a reference to foundlings.
In the Blood reaches 100,000 sales
Steve Robinson is one of my favourite
authors of genealogical mysteries - so I was delighted to learn that he has
been awarded a specially-mounted
copy of In the Blood for
achieving sales of 100,000. I'm willing to bet that a few thousand of those
sold to LostCousins members!
If you haven't read In the Blood yet follow this link
and choose between the Kindle version and the paperback. Warning: Steve
Robinson's books are highly addictive!
Last chance
to enter the Christmas Competition ENDS TUESDAY
You've still got a few days to enter the
LostCousins Christmas Competition - and even if you
don't win one of the valuable prizes you've got an excellent chance of finding
some new cousins (which is something that money can't buy).
Simply add more entries to your My Ancestors page, remembering that
you're most likely to connect with a new cousin when you enter relatives from
the 1881 Census. Here's a reminder of the prizes on offer:
THREE 12 month World subscriptions to
Findmypast, each one supplemented with 300 credits to enable you to access the
new 1939 Register (generously donated by Findmypast,
Britain's leading family history company)
With a World subscription you can access any of Findmypast's historic records and newspaper articles, as
well as their modern (2012-14) UK Electoral Register - and you can do this at
any of the Findmypast's four sites around the globe.
ONE Printed Family Tree to the value of
£45, showing up to 500 of your relatives (kindly donated by Genealogy
Printers, Britain's leading tree printing company)
If the winner has wall space for an even larger family tree
it will be possible to upgrade by paying the difference. Genealogy Printers can
accept files from just about any family tree program - if your program isn't on
the list just
ask.
ONE copy of Family Historian v6 (kindly
donated by Simon Orde, the designer and lead
programmer of Family Historian)
If the winner lives outside the UK the prize will be a
downloaded copy; winners in the UK can choose between a downloaded copy and a
boxed copy (they function identically). Check out Family Historian now with a
free 30-day trial - just follow this link.
TEN 12 month subscriptions to LostCousins
If you already have a subscription I'll extend it by 12
months
No matter how experienced we are as
family historians, there's always more to learn - and for me that's one of the
great things about genealogy. Indeed, at my age (and I know that half of the members
reading this are at least as old as I am), I often find that I need to be
reminded of some of the things that I learned a long time ago!
When I was at school the concept of life-long
learning hadn't been invented (or it had, they didn't tell me) but now it's
accepted that we must continue learning throughout our lives if we don't want
to fossilize.
So my advice for 2016 is to read a book
or do a course that will expand your knowledge of genealogy or - if you're like
me - remind you of some of the things you used to know, but have since
forgotten.
This is where any last minute updates
and corrections will be highlighted - if you think you've spotted an error
(sadly I'm not infallible), reload the newsletter (press Ctrl-F5) then check here before writing to me, in case
someone else has beaten you to it......
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins