Frederick Abberline

Frederick George Abberline (January 8, 1843 – December 10, 1929) was an inspector for the London Metropolitan Police, and was a prominent police figure in the Jack the Ripper murders. Some have assumed or stated, incorrectly, that Abberline was in overall charge of the investigation.

Abberline began his police career in Whitechapel, and was in 1873, transferred to Stepney for a long period, then to Westminster and finally to Scotland Yard in 1887.

Following the murder of Mary Ann Nichols, Abberline was transferred to Whitechapel due to his extensive experience in the area. There he was placed in charge of the various detectives investigating the Ripper crimes.

Abberline at one time suspected Severin Antoniovich Klosowski, alias George Chapman, as being the Ripper. See list of proposed Jack the Ripper suspects.

Upon his death, Abberline was buried in the same cemetery as Montague Druitt, a teacher who had been named as a suspect in the Ripper murders. As of 2005, there is a movement by some Ripperologists to raise money to erect a headstone for his (and his wife's) grave.

A fictionalized Abberline was a central figure in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell. That character was portrayed in the film adaption of that work by Johnny Depp. Abberline was played by Michael Caine in a 1988 television film. Both portrayals quite substantially changed details of his life and the Ripper case for dramatic purposes.

External links

• Brief Profile from Casebook.org
• Casebook.org message board thread discussing the Abberline grave project