The Tumblety-Lyons Connection

Born into a destitute Irish family as the youngest of eleven children, Francis Tumblety somehow developed into a successful conman. However, scholars have noticed glaring discrepancies between his self-promoting advertisements and more impartial sources. Public records and newspaper accounts of his escapades tell a very different story. Contradictions abounded in Tumblety's life. He was an outgoing loner, "doctor" who never attended medical school, charlatan who donated thousands of dollars to charities, outed gay man in a homophobic society, uneducated autodidact who published books, misogynist who loved his female relatives, and Jack the Ripper suspect even though he shunned both prostitutes and bloodshed. J. H. Tyson's book evaluates the evidence, and argues against Tumblety being guilty of the Whitechapel murders.

Born into a destitute Irish family as the youngest of eleven children, Francis Tumblety somehow developed into a successful conman. However, scholars have noticed glaring discrepancies between his self-promoting advertisements and more impartial sources. Public records and newspaper accounts of his escapades tell a very different story. Contradictions abounded in Tumblety's life. He was an outgoing loner, "doctor" who never attended medical school, charlatan who donated thousands of dollars to charities, outed gay man in a homophobic society, uneducated autodidact who published books, misogynist who loved his female relatives, and Jack the Ripper suspect even though he shunned both prostitutes and bloodshed. J. H. Tyson's book evaluates the evidence, and argues against Tumblety being guilty of the Whitechapel murders.

Author's Profile: Joseph Howard Tyson III graduated from LaSalle University with a B.A. in Philosophy, took graduate courses in English at Pennsylvania State University and then served in the U. S. Marine Corps. He lives in a Philadelphia suburb and works in the insurance industry. Historical non-fiction articles have appeared in Schuylkill Valley Journal, New England Historic Genealogical Society publications, Southern Cross Review, Academia Letters (uva.academia.edu,) and other publications. Tyson has written eight books: Penn's Luminous City (2005), Madame Blavatsky Revisited (2006), Hitler's Mentor: Dietrich Eckart (2008), The Surreal Reich (2010), World War II Leaders (2011), Fifty-Seven Years of Russian Madness (2015), Notable Reprobates (2019), and Astrology: Its Worldview and Implications (2021). Upcoming will be The Thin Partition featuring essays about people straddling the fine line between genius and madness, a satiric dictionary, and Space Age Mythomania, a critical analysis of modern conspiracy theories.