Frederick Deeming

Frederick Bailey Deeming (30 July 1853 – 23 May 1892) was an English-born Australian gasfitter and murderer. He was convicted and executed for the murder of a woman in Melbourne, Australia. He is remembered today because he was suspected by some of being the notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

While I am sure people were pissed off enough to have given him a proper Stake-N-Bake, officials at the Melbourne Gaol made sure no one would ever find his grave. They buried him anonymously in the prison cemetery, and then years later, dug up the entire section of graves, randomized the positions of the graves and then reburied the section combined with the bodies from a second prison's cemetery. Like... I don't know. A "corpse clown car drill" or something.

## Frederick Deeming

FROM THE COLLECTION OF Victoria Police Museum Mezzanine Level World Trade Centre Siddeley Street Docklands Victoria

### Region (current)

Melbourne, Colony of Victoria
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

### Main Card or Side

H
Main

## Description

### Death Date

July 30 1853, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England
May 23 1892 Melbourne, Australia

## More Info

### Date Exhumed

Executed by hanging
N/A

### Known Aftermath

None

Deeming was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England, son of Thomas Deeming, brazier, and his wife Ann, née Bailey. He was a "difficult child" according to writers Maurice Gurvich and Christopher Wray. At 16 years of age he ran away to sea, and thereafter he began a long career of crime, largely thieving and obtaining money under false pretenses. He was also responsible for the murder of his first wife Marie and his four children at Rainhill, England, on or about 26 July 1891, and a second wife, Emily Mather, at Windsor, Melbourne, on 24 December 1891.

Less than three months elapsed between the discovery of Mather's body in Windsor, Melbourne, in March 1892, and Deeming's execution for her murder in May 1892; a remarkably short time by comparison to modern western legal standards. This was not only due to efficient police work, but also a result of the considerable international media interest the murder attracted. For example, it was an English journalist working for the Melbourne Argus who first approached Mather's mother in Rainhill and delivered the news of her daughter's murder. Another factor was Deeming's behaviour in public, for while he often used different names, he usually drew attention to himself with behaviour variously described as aggressive, ostentatious, ingratiating and overly attentive to women.

## Crimes

He was a globe-trotting Bluebeard.

A.K.A.: "The Windsor Murderer"

Classification: Mass murderer

Characteristics: Parricide - Long career of crime, largely thieving and obtaining money under false pretenses

Number of victims: 6

Date of murders: 1891 - 1892

Date of arrest: March 11, 1892

Date of birth: July 30, 1853

Victims profile: His wife Marie and their four children / His second wife, Emily Mather

Method of murder: Beating with an axe

Location: United Kingdom/Australia

Status: Executed by hanging in the Melbourne Gaol on May 23, 1892

## Vampire?

Probably not. There's a single letter that was submitted to an editor that the press had a field day with where the unnamed author supposes he might have been a human vampire given how little blood was founds about the crime scenes. Mostly, though, people and press of the era (and even some to this day) believe that he might have been Jack the Ripper.

### 1892 Apr 22 tEJ

* The Evening Journal
* Friday 22 April 1892
* page 3
* Vol. XXIV No. 6728 Second Edition

In: SECOND EDITION

IS WILLIAMS A VAMPIRE?

The following letter was published in the Evening Standard of April 20 :—

"All who have read the accounts of the Rainhill and Windsor murders must have been struck with the absence of blood-stained clothing or of blood marks. This can only be accounted for by the supposition that Williams, or Deeming, is a vampire, and drank the blood. Novelists and French historians frequently allude to human vampires, who murder solely to quench their thirst for blood. In all Deeming's murders there seems to be an absence of motive. Grant that he is a vampire, and a motive is at once apparent, and presents an aspect of his case which is well worthy of investigation?

(end)

#### Citations

**Article identifier** http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204476960

**Page identifier** http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page22420235

**APA citation** IS WILLIAMS A VAMPIRE? (1892, April 22). Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912), p. 3 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved March 3, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204476960

**MLA citation** "IS WILLIAMS A VAMPIRE?" Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912) 22 April 1892: 3 (SECOND EDITION). Web. 3 Mar 2019 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204476960>.

**Harvard/Australian citation** 1892 'IS WILLIAMS A VAMPIRE?', Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912), 22 April, p. 3. (SECOND EDITION), viewed 03 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204476960

### 1892 Apr 30 MMaCBA

* The Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser
* Sat 30 Apr 1892
* No. 2493
* Page 10
* Is Deeming a Vampire?
* This is reprinted from the Melbourne Standard

Is Deeming a Vampire?

The "Melbourne Standard" has the following on Williams: Many the stories have been advanced to account for the absence of blood-stained clothing among the possessions of the Windsor murderer, but the following is the most startling yet put forth by those who have given their minds to the subject. It is from a correspondent, and we cannot do better than give it to our readers as it has been forwarded to us:-- "All who have read the accounts of the Rainhill and Windsor murders must have been struck with the absence of blood-stained clothing or of blood marks. This can only be counted for by the supposition that Williams, or Deeming is a vampire, and drank the blood. Novelists and French historian frequently allude to human vampires, who murdered solely to quench their thirst for blood. In all Deeming's murders there seems to be an absences of motive. Grant that he is a vampire, and a motive is at once apparent, and presents as aspect of his case which is well worthy of investigation."

(end)

#### Citations

**Article identifier** http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119415421

**Page identifier** http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page13584508

**APA citation** Is Deeming a Vampire? (1892, April 30). The Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser (NSW : 1862 - 1931), p. 10. Retrieved March 3, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119415421

**MLA citation** "Is Deeming a Vampire?" The Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser (NSW : 1862 - 1931) 30 April 1892: 10. Web. 3 Mar 2019 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119415421>.

**Harvard/Australian citation** 1892 'Is Deeming a Vampire?', The Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser (NSW : 1862 - 1931), 30 April, p. 10. , viewed 03 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119415421

## Sources

* http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/deeming-frederick-bailey-5940
* https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110088528/frederick-bailey-deeming
* http://www.executedtoday.com/tag/frederick-deeming/
* https://www.casebook.org/suspects/deeming.html
* http://murderpedia.org/male.D/d/deeming-frederick.htm
* https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5344c8b12162ef0b94c809fd
* Gurvich, Maurice; and Christopher Wray (2007). The Scarlet Thread: Australia's Jack the Ripper, A True Crime Story. p.15,115. Sydney: Fairfax Books. ISBN 978-1-921190-42-1.
* Proactive, Number 40, Winter 2007: Journal of the Public Records Office. "The Crime of Century Revisited". page 4.
* See: The Australasian. 26 March 1892. Archived 15 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. – Public Record Office Victoria. – Government of Victoria.
* Kreitmayers Waxworks pamphlet, see page 11. items 152 and 153 Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. – Government of Victoria. (Adobe Acrobat \*.PDF document).
* Jones, Barry O. (1981). "Deeming, Frederick Bailey (1853–1892)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8. MUP. pp. 268–269. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
* 1892 'Is Deeming a Vampire?', The Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser (NSW : 1862 - 1931), 30 April, p. 10. , viewed 03 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119415421
* 1892 'IS WILLIAMS A VAMPIRE?', Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912), 22 April, p. 3. (SECOND EDITION), viewed 03 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204476960