Robert James Lees
Encyclopedia
Robert James Lees was a British
spiritualist
, medium
, preacher, writer and healer of the late Victorian era
and early twentieth century known today for claims that he knew the identity of Jack the Ripper
, responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888.
Patch) (1819–), Robert Lees was born in Hinckley
and spent his early years in Rugby and Birmingham
. It is claimed that, following the death of Prince Albert in 1861 the 13 year-old Lees went into a trance and communicated messages from Albert to Queen Victoria
. It is further claimed that Lees lived for a period in Buckingham Palace
so that Victoria could regularly talk to her beloved Albert through him. None of these claims have been substantiated. The only Royal connection that has been uncovered between Lees and the Royal Family
is a letter dated 23 January 1899 sent to Lees from the Privy Office thanking him for sending the Queen
a copy of his book Through The Mists.
In December 1871 Lees married Sarah Ann Bishop (1850–1912), whom he had first met as a boy while attending a Sunday School
class in the Aston
district of Birmingham
. They had sixteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. In 1876 he moved to Manchester
where he worked as a journalist
for the Manchester Guardian
. In 1878 Lees and his family moved to London, where he worked as a journalist in Fleet Street
and where he befriended W.T. Stead
. He worked on several London-based publications including George Newnes
' Tit-Bits
magazine.
Despite having had little formal education, Lees wrote a series of spiritualist
books which continued to sell many years after his death. He claimed that these books had been dictated to him by friends from the spirit realm, and referred to himself as the Recorder. The best known is the three-volume series 'The Mists Trilogy' (Through the Mists, The Life Elysian, The Gate of Heaven), written between 1898 - 1931. The Heretic was written as his only autobiographical
novel
which was a record of his many years in London. An Astral Bridegroom was a study into reincarnation
.
murders in 1888, Lees was living in the London area. His diary entries for 1888 reveal that on October 2, during a month when no Ripper murders took place, Lees went to both the City of London Police
and Scotland Yard
offering his assistance in catching Jack the Ripper. However, he was turned away as a madman on both occasions, though Scotland Yard offered to write to him.
One story, frequently quoted in books and films on the subject, is that Lees, using his psychic
power, lead the Police to Jack the Ripper. This story first appeared in print on April 28, 1895, in The Chicago Herald. Another version of the same story was also published in The People
on May 19, 1895.
The Chicago Herald article claimed that over a number of years Lees had been troubled by psychic visions of Jack the Ripper killing his victims. Each of these visions came true. Lees became disturbed by the visions and sought medical advice, going abroad as a result, where he no longer had the visions. Back in London, he and his wife Sarah were travelling on an omnibus when a man got on at Notting Hill
. Lees turned and told his wife that the man was 'Jack the Ripper'. Even though his wife laughed at him, when the man got off the bus at Marble Arch
Lees followed him. Finding a Police Constable on the way Lees told him of his suspicions, but the Constable also laughed at him. After more murders Lees was able to convince the Police of the truth of his visions and lead them to a fashionable house in London which was home to a noted physician who had treated members of the Royal Family
On being found in incriminating circumstances, the doctor was put in a lunatic asylum
under the name of Thomas Mason 124, and a mock funeral held. According to the Chicago Herald, the tale had been related by a Dr. Howard of London, who, when drunk, had told the story to a man who then told the newspaper.
Some Ripperologists disregard the story but in 1970, Dr. Thomas Stowell
, a surgeon who worked with Theodore Dyke Acland
, wrote in The Criminologist magazine that Acland's wife, daughter of Sir William Gull, told him of a visit to her parents' home in Mayfair
of a police inspector and a man calling himself a medium. It corresponded with Lees' own account of his visit to the home of the famous physician and Dyke Acland went against medical tradition by signing Gull's death certificate - perhaps giving some support to Lees' claim that a mock burial was held for the famous physician. Obvious errors in the Chicago Herald story there are 17 murders which take place over a number of years; while the actual number of Ripper victims is just five, with the actual murders occurring in just a few months in the Autumn of 1888. Melvin Harris in his book Jack the Ripper, The Bloody Truth provides convincing evidence that the story was a hoax. He believes that the hoaxers were the 'Whitechapel Club, Chicago', the offices of the Club at that time being behind those of the Chicago Herald. Harris did not, however, mention the account by Thomas Stowell and tried to discredit Lees by saying that he was a "well-known fantasist". This, of course, was what Harris' readers expected to read of a Victorian medium but Lees was never actually accused of fraud.
In 1976 the Lees/Ripper story came into prominence again with the publication of Stephen Knight's book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. Ian Sharp had rediscovered the Chicago Herald article while researching Jack the Ripper
for a BBC
documentary which had been screened before the publication of Knight's book. The publication of The Final Solution saw the first time that the Chicago Herald article had officially been quoted in a major publication since The People
had quoted it in 1895.
in Devon
with his family from Plymouth
and remained there until about 1928, when he returned to Leicester
. Lees died at his home, 'Hazelhurst', Fosse Road South, Leicester, in 1931 at the age of 81 years. His body was cremated at Gilroes Cemetery and his ashes were interred in the grave of his wife in the cemetery at Ilfracombe.
A blue plaque
to commemorate Lees was commissioned by the Hinckley
Civic Society and was unveiled by a descendant of Lees on Saturday 2 May 2009.
In the 1979 film Murder by Decree
starring Christopher Plummer
as Sherlock Holmes
, Lees was played by Donald Sutherland
.
In the 1988 ITV
mini-series Jack the Ripper
starring Michael Caine
, Lees was played by actor Ken Bones
.
He is a character in the comic book From Hell
, written by Alan Moore
. In this graphic novel
, Lees is portrayed as a charlatan, though he is ultimately - and unwittingly - instrumental in helping Chief inspector Abberline
in identifying the Ripper. Interestingly, though this version of Lees admits privately that his visions were false, he also says that they all turned out to be true.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
spiritualist
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
, medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
, preacher, writer and healer of the late Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
and early twentieth century known today for claims that he knew the identity of Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
, responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888.
Early life
The son of William Lingham Lees (1818–1880) and Elizabeth (néeMarried and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Patch) (1819–), Robert Lees was born in Hinckley
Hinckley
Hinckley is a town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 43,246 . It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council...
and spent his early years in Rugby and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. It is claimed that, following the death of Prince Albert in 1861 the 13 year-old Lees went into a trance and communicated messages from Albert to Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. It is further claimed that Lees lived for a period in Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
so that Victoria could regularly talk to her beloved Albert through him. None of these claims have been substantiated. The only Royal connection that has been uncovered between Lees and the Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
is a letter dated 23 January 1899 sent to Lees from the Privy Office thanking him for sending the Queen
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
a copy of his book Through The Mists.
In December 1871 Lees married Sarah Ann Bishop (1850–1912), whom he had first met as a boy while attending a Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
class in the Aston
Aston
Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...
district of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. They had sixteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. In 1876 he moved to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
where he worked as a journalist
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
for the Manchester Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. In 1878 Lees and his family moved to London, where he worked as a journalist in Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
and where he befriended W.T. Stead
William Thomas Stead
William Thomas Stead was an English journalist and editor who, as one of the early pioneers of investigative journalism, became one of the most controversial figures of the Victorian era. His 'New Journalism' paved the way for today's tabloid press...
. He worked on several London-based publications including George Newnes
George Newnes
Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet was a publisher and editor in England.-Background and education:...
' Tit-Bits
Tit-Bits
Tit-Bits was a British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes on 22 October 1881 until 18 July 1984, when it was taken over by Associated Newspapers' Weekend, which itself closed in 1989. The last editors were David Hill and Brian Lee...
magazine.
Spiritualist
Lees claimed to have had his first psychic experience aged three. He later wrote:"I am personally aware that as a child I cried at being left in the darkness unless I saw a mysterious and to others invisible kilted Highlander who remained beside me talking or singing till I fell asleep. And even now, after a lapse of half a century the vivid memory of his strong but kindly face is as freshly recalled as if he had sat beside me whilst this New Year was born."
Despite having had little formal education, Lees wrote a series of spiritualist
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
books which continued to sell many years after his death. He claimed that these books had been dictated to him by friends from the spirit realm, and referred to himself as the Recorder. The best known is the three-volume series 'The Mists Trilogy' (Through the Mists, The Life Elysian, The Gate of Heaven), written between 1898 - 1931. The Heretic was written as his only autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
which was a record of his many years in London. An Astral Bridegroom was a study into reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
.
Jack the Ripper
At the time of the Jack the RipperJack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
murders in 1888, Lees was living in the London area. His diary entries for 1888 reveal that on October 2, during a month when no Ripper murders took place, Lees went to both the City of London Police
City of London Police
The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle and Inner Temple. The service responsible for law enforcement within the rest of Greater London is the Metropolitan Police Service, a separate...
and Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
offering his assistance in catching Jack the Ripper. However, he was turned away as a madman on both occasions, though Scotland Yard offered to write to him.
One story, frequently quoted in books and films on the subject, is that Lees, using his psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
power, lead the Police to Jack the Ripper. This story first appeared in print on April 28, 1895, in The Chicago Herald. Another version of the same story was also published in The People
The People
The People, previously known as the Sunday People, is a British tabloid Sunday-only newspaper. The paper was founded on 16 October 1881.It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group.In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 806,544....
on May 19, 1895.
The Chicago Herald article claimed that over a number of years Lees had been troubled by psychic visions of Jack the Ripper killing his victims. Each of these visions came true. Lees became disturbed by the visions and sought medical advice, going abroad as a result, where he no longer had the visions. Back in London, he and his wife Sarah were travelling on an omnibus when a man got on at Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
. Lees turned and told his wife that the man was 'Jack the Ripper'. Even though his wife laughed at him, when the man got off the bus at Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
Lees followed him. Finding a Police Constable on the way Lees told him of his suspicions, but the Constable also laughed at him. After more murders Lees was able to convince the Police of the truth of his visions and lead them to a fashionable house in London which was home to a noted physician who had treated members of the Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
On being found in incriminating circumstances, the doctor was put in a lunatic asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
under the name of Thomas Mason 124, and a mock funeral held. According to the Chicago Herald, the tale had been related by a Dr. Howard of London, who, when drunk, had told the story to a man who then told the newspaper.
Some Ripperologists disregard the story but in 1970, Dr. Thomas Stowell
Thomas E. A. Stowell
Thomas Edmund Alexander Stowell CBE, FRCS was a British physician.Stowell was educated at St Paul's School, followed by St Thomas' Hospital. From 1910, he took clinical training at St Thomas's Hospital, Grimsby and District Hospital, and the Royal Southern Hospital, Liverpool. He qualified as a...
, a surgeon who worked with Theodore Dyke Acland
Theodore Dyke Acland
Theodore Dyke Acland MD, FRCP, FRCS was a British physician, surgeon and author and was the son-in-law of Sir William Gull, a leading London medical practitioner and one of the Physicians-in-Ordinary to HM Queen Victoria...
, wrote in The Criminologist magazine that Acland's wife, daughter of Sir William Gull, told him of a visit to her parents' home in Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
of a police inspector and a man calling himself a medium. It corresponded with Lees' own account of his visit to the home of the famous physician and Dyke Acland went against medical tradition by signing Gull's death certificate - perhaps giving some support to Lees' claim that a mock burial was held for the famous physician. Obvious errors in the Chicago Herald story there are 17 murders which take place over a number of years; while the actual number of Ripper victims is just five, with the actual murders occurring in just a few months in the Autumn of 1888. Melvin Harris in his book Jack the Ripper, The Bloody Truth provides convincing evidence that the story was a hoax. He believes that the hoaxers were the 'Whitechapel Club, Chicago', the offices of the Club at that time being behind those of the Chicago Herald. Harris did not, however, mention the account by Thomas Stowell and tried to discredit Lees by saying that he was a "well-known fantasist". This, of course, was what Harris' readers expected to read of a Victorian medium but Lees was never actually accused of fraud.
In 1976 the Lees/Ripper story came into prominence again with the publication of Stephen Knight's book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. Ian Sharp had rediscovered the Chicago Herald article while researching Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
for a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary which had been screened before the publication of Knight's book. The publication of The Final Solution saw the first time that the Chicago Herald article had officially been quoted in a major publication since The People
The People
The People, previously known as the Sunday People, is a British tabloid Sunday-only newspaper. The paper was founded on 16 October 1881.It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group.In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 806,544....
had quoted it in 1895.
Later years
In 1902 Lees moved to IlfracombeIlfracombe
Ilfracombe is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England with a small harbour, surrounded by cliffs.The parish stretches along the coast from 'The Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and 4 miles along The Torrs to Lee Bay toward the west...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
with his family from Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
and remained there until about 1928, when he returned to Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
. Lees died at his home, 'Hazelhurst', Fosse Road South, Leicester, in 1931 at the age of 81 years. His body was cremated at Gilroes Cemetery and his ashes were interred in the grave of his wife in the cemetery at Ilfracombe.
A blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
to commemorate Lees was commissioned by the Hinckley
Hinckley
Hinckley is a town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 43,246 . It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council...
Civic Society and was unveiled by a descendant of Lees on Saturday 2 May 2009.
In fiction
Robert James Lees has been depicted in several works on fiction related to the Jack the Ripper case.In the 1979 film Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper...
starring Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
as Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
, Lees was played by Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
.
In the 1988 ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
mini-series Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper (1988 TV series)
Jack the Ripper is a 1988 four-part television movie/mini-series portraying a fictionalized account of the hunt for Jack the Ripper, the unidentified serial killer responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888...
starring Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Lees was played by actor Ken Bones
Ken Bones
Ken Bones is a British actor best known for his television, film and stage appearances. He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.-Theatre appearances:...
.
He is a character in the comic book From Hell
From Hell
From Hell is a comic book series by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell, originally published from 1991 to 1996, speculating upon the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper. The title is taken from the first words of the "From Hell" letter, which some authorities believe was an authentic...
, written by Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
. In this graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, Lees is portrayed as a charlatan, though he is ultimately - and unwittingly - instrumental in helping Chief inspector Abberline
Frederick Abberline
Frederick George Abberline was a Chief Inspector for the London Metropolitan Police and was a prominent police figure in the investigation into the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888.-Early life:...
in identifying the Ripper. Interestingly, though this version of Lees admits privately that his visions were false, he also says that they all turned out to be true.
Publications
Books written by Robert James Lees include:- Lees, Robert J. 'The Car of Phoebus: An Astral Bridegroom' N.p., 1909.
- Lees, Robert J. 'The Gate of Heaven' N.p., n.d.
- Lees, Robert J. 'The Heretic' N.p., 1901.
- Lees, Robert J. 'The Life Elysian' N.p., 1905.
- Lees, Robert J. 'My Books: How They Were Written' Occult Review (December 1931).
- Lees, Robert J. 'Through the Mists' London: W. Rider & Sons Ltd., 1910.
External links
- Biography on the R J Lees website
- http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/ripperoo-lees.htmlLees on the Casebook: Jack the RipperCasebook: Jack the RipperCasebook: Jack the Ripper is a website devoted to the historical mystery of the Jack the Ripper murders of Whitechapel and the surrounding areas of London in 1888 and possibly other years. The site was started in January 1996 and features suspect, victim and witness overviews as well as more than...
website] - Lees in the Leicester Chronicler
- Lees and 'Jack the Ripper' Hayward Review California 17 May 1895
- Lees and 'Jack the Ripper' Brooklyn Daily Eagle New York 28 December 1897
- 'Robert James Lees and The Psychic Hunt For Jack The Ripper' The Whitechapel Society 1888