Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire on 30 July 1853, Deeming seems to have always lived his life on the fringes of sanity. The youngest of seven children, he was known in youth as 'Mad Fred' due to his abnormal behaviour. This stemmed, perhaps, from the savage beatings meted out by his tinsmith father who died insane in a workhouse, having attempted suicide on four occasions by slashing his throat.  By all accounts Deeming had had a stifling relationship with his Sunday school teacher mother, who instilled her puritanical interpretation of the scriptures in him. Deeming carried a Bible with him on all his travels and was obsessed with concepts of sin and punishment. Her death in 1875 came as a crashing blow and he suffered a mental breakdown, later claiming her spirit compelled him to kill. Deeming was described in 1890 as a hard faced, ruggedly handsome man with fair hair, ginger moustache and blue eyes who possessed an engaging way with words. He could, on occasions, pass himself off as a gentleman of aristocratic birth, and women quickly succumbed to his charms. When arrested in Perth, only weeks after murdering Emily Mather, he had already met his next victim, 22 year old Kate Rounsefell, and was making plans to marry and kill her. In the weeks before his execution, while appeals and petitions were made and dismissed all the way to the Privy Council, Deeming reluctantly resigned himself to the inevitability of his fate. He spent the last three weeks of his life writing his autobiography, going through reams of paper as he detailed his criminal career and alleged associations with people of high rank, including royalty. When publishers in England received word, they offered him one thousand pounds for the rights. However, following his execution, the government ordered the manuscript destroyed with all his personal papers, describing his writings as a ribald folly. On the eve of his execution it was hoped he would make a full confession. He was duly asked by a doctor and clergyman whether he was Jack the Ripper. The otherwise verbose murderer refused to answer one way or the other, undoubtedly enjoying the fame the accusation accorded him. He walked to the gallows calmly smoking a cigar, while around twelve thousand people gathered  enthusiastically outside the prison to commemorate the execution of a monster. Before the noose was placed around his neck, the Sheriff asked him whether he had any last words. A few moments after he had said "Lord receive my spirit", the executioner pulled the lever and the drop opened with a bang. Deeming fell seven feet and four inches and death was instantaneous. His body swung limply in front of a large, breathless crowd of ticket holding officials and members of the press. After his body was taken down a death mask was made and sent to Scotland Yard, for reference in the Rainhill investigations and in case Deeming's claims of being the Ripper were later proven true. Displayed in the Black Museum, it was described to visitors as being that of Jack the Ripper. After his corpse was prodded and probed by doctors and interested parties, it was consigned to an unmarked prison grave, until renovations earlier last century resulted in human remains (many minus their skulls) being relocated to Pentridge Prison. Deeming's head was removed and studied for signs of criminality by doctors interested in phrenology. His cranial capacity was around 1400cc, 100cc below the average for an adult male. Anatomist Sir William Colin Mackenzie later described it as resembling that of a male gorilla, thus reinforcing the belief that Deeming was a monster in human form. Today Melbourne Gaol is a museum operated by the National Trust and Deeming's skull is part of an exhibition of former inmates' death masks and skulls - forensic trophies of executed murderers. Displayed sliced in two, Deeming's skull resembles a hideous ashtray, perhaps the ultimate punishment.   |