Frederick Abberline
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Frederick George Abberline (January 8, 1843 Blandford Forum, Dorset – December 10, 1929) was an inspector for the London Metropolitan Police and was a prominent police figure in the investigation into the Jack the Ripper murders.
Abberline began his police career in Whitechapel, transferred to Stepney for a long period, then to Westminster and finally to Scotland Yard by1887. Following the murder of Mary Ann Nichols, Abberline was assigned to Whitechapel due to his extensive experience in the area. He was placed in charge of the various detectives investigating the Ripper crimes.
Among the many suspects in the case, Abberline's primary one was Severin Antoniovich Klosowski, AKA George Chapman.
He was subsequently involved in the investigation of the Cleveland Street scandal in 1889, and was promoted Chief Inspector in 1890.
Upon his death in 1929, Abberline was buried in Bournemouth at Wimborne Road Cemetery. As of 2005, there is a movement by some Ripperologists to raise money to erect a headstone for the grave of him and his wife.
[edit] Abberline in popular culture
- A fictionalized Abberline was featured as a central figure in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel From Hell, and subsequently portrayed by Johnny Depp in the film adaptation of that work. Depp's version of Abberline was portrayed as a clairvoyant addicted to opium and absinthe.
- Abberline was played by Michael Caine in a 1988 television film called Jack the Ripper. Here, the character was an aging alcoholic whose quest to solve the murder gives him the strength to give up drinking.
- Abberline has also served as the inspiration for several groups of musicians such as the French electronic artist, Abberline, and the psychedelic outfit, The Abberlines.
