Defending My Murdered Aunt's Memory

There must be a time frame for allowing the general public access to police records and other matters on public record.

I have no idea what it is in the U.K. Here it is 60 years, so the time has elapsed if it is the same in Great Britain.

I doubt there is any way you can force this man to change the information he is handing out on something that is after all not serious research.

Obviously, you can as already suggested publish the true facts on Wikipedia, but please, do be careful what you say and how you say it. You don't want to risk being taken to court for saying that this man is lying.

If you or anyone else in the family have the skills to do so, or can interest a ghost-writer you could publish a book about your aunt and the other victims of the man who murdered her.

I just chanced upon this and I just wanted to say how sorry I am firstly that this traumatic event happened to your family and second that some idiot is misrepresenting your aunt in the pursuit of his podcast. I find all this “ true crime” and murder porn (excuse the expression) deeply distasteful not least because it deals in the pain of real people with no regard to the feelings of those left behind. I am not sure what you can do legally but you are absolutely right to challenge this person.

It must be very, very hurtful for them, I agree.

Callistemon

This thread has made me think how Princes William and Harry must feel.

Absolutely! There have been so many depictions of Diana in movies and TV series, with invented storylines and conversations. Apparently they just have to sit back and take it. I think it's appalling to invent stories about someone who died so recently and has living children. And there are so many daft people who will watch a TV drama and believe it's accurate.

I can understand, as our family historian, how distressing this is for you and how desperate you are to redress the balance.

I don't know whether you have read Hallie Rubenstein's lauded book 'The Five'?
She takes the victims of Jack the Ripper, dealing only with their lives and NOT their deaths.
Her source materials are impressive, including Metropolitan Police and Home Office records accessed by her from the Public Records Office at Kew.

I wonder whether she might be able to help you access relevant records and give her perspective on how/if she had anticipated contact from the victims' living relations and, if so, how she dealt with them?

Just a thought.
Please let us know here if you get this sad issue resolved.

I can't understand why anyone would want to go on one of these tours when what happened is so relatively recent.

Thank you again, everyone. These podcast/tours are run by "Murder Mile" and there are hundreds of them. I've checked out the one on the serial killer in this case and it has an unfeasible amount of "detail" about his life - if you compare this to any other accounts online you will find there is very much less, so it pays to be careful what you believe. I intend to use "Tripadvisor" to good effect but I'm afraid this charlatan got one of their awards for excellence in 2016. Please feel free to add your ratings if you feel so inclined.

This thread has made me think how Princes William and Harry must feel.

You mention a newspaper report - is this something you have had in the family, or have you accessed the online newspaper libraries yourself? You can do that through Find My Past, don't know if others do it. I assume that this would have been reported in both Co. Durham and London papers - the local papers would have had more to say about her life and family probably.

I believe that the National Archives hold police records. Was the assailant put on trial ? There may be trial records. I would approach this as if I was doing a family history project, it's amazing where information turns up. You could also contact the relevant police force and see if they can help.

Unfortunately all of this costs money so it depends on how much you are able/willing to spend to get the information.

BlueBelle

Well of course it matters geekesse what if it was your mum or a relative you loved I d be hopping mad if someone had described a close family member in an untruthful way
How can you ever believe anything if so much artistic license is used it’s important to report facts not fiction unless you make it quite clear that it’s the writers interpretation
Good luck with this one I m angry for you

Agree totally, thank you for posting BlueBelle

Wolf Hall is based on incidents so far in the past and the documentation at the time may well have been biased so a poetic licence may be allowed.

LankyDolly's Aunt's story is far more recent and has, she alleges, been totally changed which could, and has, caused living relatives distress. Telling deliberate lies about someone who has died within living memory for profit is distasteful and unethical but not unlawful, unfortunately.

All you can do is find out as much as you can, add to the Wiki entry and write your own account, LankyDolly.

Esspee, “Wolf Hall” is a novel based around the life of Thomas Cromwell by the Booker Prize winning author Hilary Mantel.

geekesse

*Esspee*, would you say the same with reference to, say, Hilary Mantel re “Wolf Hall”?

Sorry geekesse I know nothing about Wolf Hall so have no idea of your point.

Thank you so much, everyone, for such supportive and helpful comments. I love the idea of donating to something like a women's refuge in my Aunt's name, Geekesse. Good idea about the London Guides, Trisher.

Wikipedia states that there is no editor as such and the main entry is fine, it's the links/citations that contain the offending item. Regarding police records, the man who does the tours/podcasts apparently went in person to Somerset House and I planned to go myself, but then we went into lockdown last year, which has been very frustrating. I believe he did get some facts there, he was just very selective and changed what he felt like.

I would very much like to be able to write an article about my Aunt, but can find almost nothing about her - there are no family photos or letters and little in the public records. It was a humble mining family; my poor grandmother suffered 3 infant deaths as well as her daughter’s later murder. I just remember what my mother told me about her eldest sister – she was kind and caring and an inspiration, as I suppose she had to be to progress so far from her back ground.

Had it been a different story - a murdered woman who was portrayed as a prostitute but was in reality a virgin who just happened to be walking along a darkened street when a serial killer was looking for another victim - her reputation would have been restored by vigorous representation and the old cliches removed from the account.

But because it didn't fit his story, this liar has made her out to be what she wasn't.

Ah, negating someone's feelings of upset and concern for a MURDERED woman's reputation by citing historical fiction and hinting a the 'living memory' chestnut. Bit insensitive given the context of the OP. But well done, feel free to parade some insensitivity regarding a moot point - it adds so much value...

Esspee, would you say the same with reference to, say, Hilary Mantel re “Wolf Hall”?

I understand your distress and hope you can find a way to stop this person. I would be constantly be reviewing his podcast by stating facts. He is making up stories and when given correct facts refuses to change the fiction.

I hope that you can correct this, factual information should be correct and unbiased. I think police records are available to the public after a period of time. Could you obtain the records to see where he found the information he has listed. I would certainly do everything you can to put this record straight, even if it is for your own peace of mind.

I hope you can correct this awful misrepresentation.
The other issue is this man is making a living out of this and who else is he doing this to?
I'd say he needs to to be stopped.

What difference does that make geekesse

That's really sad. Even though you didn't know your poor Aunt, I can understand how much this has upset and angered you.

I can't offer any useful advice but I do sympathise very much with you.

I really don't understand why anyone would want to go on these "Murder Tours".

Some very good advice for you here LankyDolly and I hope you get this matter resolved to your satisfaction. I have the greatest sympathy as I am a family historian and would be very upset if this happened to someone in my family. I think know exactly how you feel and I would feel the same.

*BlueBelle”, the OP says that her aunt died before she was born. She didn’t even know her.

The dead cannot be defamed in UK law, unfortunately. You cannot bring an action on behalf of anyone else.

You could amend the Wiki entry or add a paragraph correcting the statements which are wrong.
I doubt that he got his information from police files, possibly he read newspaper reports and has embellished them himself.