The Jack the Ripper Location Photographs: Dutfield's Yard and the Whitby Collection by Philip Hutchinson Page B
Authors: Philip Hutchinson
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piano lessons, yet curiously the couple never taught their sons how to play an instrument. John’s uncle was G. Stafford Whitby. He owned a rubber plantation and wrote several books on the processing of the material in the second quarter of the twentieth century. He was also responsible for publishing the collected papers of Wallace Hume Carothers, the inventor of nylon.
The family eventually moved into a comparatively modest council house at 123 Boothferry Road in West Hull. The building still stands. The area dated from the late Victorian period when Hull was inundated with tradesmen and needed to expand. It was initially a toll road leading from the more famous Anlaby Road, which stretches towards Ferriby and the villages of the Humber Estuary. A golf course had previously stood on the site but was cleared for the building scheme in 1927. Some Victorian houses from the time of the toll road remain, but most are from the later construction work. The road was built to provide a link between Hull and Goole, itself become a thriving port. Work was completed by 1929. The name of the road was chosen to commemorate the opening of the Boothferry road bridge over the River Ouse. The bridge replaced a previous ferry service, based at Booth near Howden. West Hull managed to escape the attention of Hitler’s Luftwaffe due to its location. The property was sold for £125,000 in 2006, about a quarter higher than the average house price. Boothferry Road flooded badly during the exceptionally wet summer of 2007. The road still retains its original lines of trees and wide traffic lanes, specifically constructed to bear the burden of heavy goods vehicles.
Walter and Gertrude Whitby at a social event. The woman in the fur is the mother of aviator Amy Johnson, who was also from Hull (Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
123 Boothferry Road, Hull (Courtesy Mike Covell)
At the outbreak of the Second World War, John became a navigator in the RAF and during the conflict he found himself based in Egypt and Greece. The only two current known photographs of him date from that time, 20 years before he took the series of photographs in London. Whilst stationed in Egypt, John became engaged to a member of the Egyptian Royal Family. Following his decommission, he returned to Hull and his fiancée began to send him gold ingots through the mail. Not only did Walter disapprove of the potential marriage, but he was also aware that this act of altruism and affection was actually nothing short of smuggling and insisted that the bullion was returned to source. He never married.
John Gordon Whitby in his flying gear, April 1941
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
John Gordon Whitby on active service during World War Two
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
Passing the Parthenon in Greece during World War Two. John Gordon Whitby sits in the navigator’s seat in the plane in the foreground (Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
Pyramids on the banks of the Nile, taken by John Gordon Whitby in the Second World War (Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
The crossing in Boothferry Road where Walter Whitby was killed (Courtesy Mike Covell)
Settling back into civilian life, John became a dental mechanic and continued to live at the Boothferry Road address. He specialised in making false teeth and a great deal of moulds and paraphernalia were kept in the house. John was a very quietly spoken man and had a passion for jazz music. Paradoxically, he also had an interest in bullfighting and had a collection of photographs relating to the subject.
His mother, Gertrude, succumbed to cancer in the late 1950s. In 1962, his father (now elderly) was crossing the road in front of the family home. He was hit by a heavy goods vehicle and killed and the driver responsible for his death was fined just £20. It soon came to light he had killed another pedestrian in a similar manner in 1960.
From this point, John lived at 123 Boothferry Road alone. He and his brother Guy shared an interest in
The family eventually moved into a comparatively modest council house at 123 Boothferry Road in West Hull. The building still stands. The area dated from the late Victorian period when Hull was inundated with tradesmen and needed to expand. It was initially a toll road leading from the more famous Anlaby Road, which stretches towards Ferriby and the villages of the Humber Estuary. A golf course had previously stood on the site but was cleared for the building scheme in 1927. Some Victorian houses from the time of the toll road remain, but most are from the later construction work. The road was built to provide a link between Hull and Goole, itself become a thriving port. Work was completed by 1929. The name of the road was chosen to commemorate the opening of the Boothferry road bridge over the River Ouse. The bridge replaced a previous ferry service, based at Booth near Howden. West Hull managed to escape the attention of Hitler’s Luftwaffe due to its location. The property was sold for £125,000 in 2006, about a quarter higher than the average house price. Boothferry Road flooded badly during the exceptionally wet summer of 2007. The road still retains its original lines of trees and wide traffic lanes, specifically constructed to bear the burden of heavy goods vehicles.
Walter and Gertrude Whitby at a social event. The woman in the fur is the mother of aviator Amy Johnson, who was also from Hull (Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
123 Boothferry Road, Hull (Courtesy Mike Covell)
At the outbreak of the Second World War, John became a navigator in the RAF and during the conflict he found himself based in Egypt and Greece. The only two current known photographs of him date from that time, 20 years before he took the series of photographs in London. Whilst stationed in Egypt, John became engaged to a member of the Egyptian Royal Family. Following his decommission, he returned to Hull and his fiancée began to send him gold ingots through the mail. Not only did Walter disapprove of the potential marriage, but he was also aware that this act of altruism and affection was actually nothing short of smuggling and insisted that the bullion was returned to source. He never married.
John Gordon Whitby in his flying gear, April 1941
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
John Gordon Whitby on active service during World War Two
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
Passing the Parthenon in Greece during World War Two. John Gordon Whitby sits in the navigator’s seat in the plane in the foreground (Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
Pyramids on the banks of the Nile, taken by John Gordon Whitby in the Second World War (Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
The crossing in Boothferry Road where Walter Whitby was killed (Courtesy Mike Covell)
Settling back into civilian life, John became a dental mechanic and continued to live at the Boothferry Road address. He specialised in making false teeth and a great deal of moulds and paraphernalia were kept in the house. John was a very quietly spoken man and had a passion for jazz music. Paradoxically, he also had an interest in bullfighting and had a collection of photographs relating to the subject.
His mother, Gertrude, succumbed to cancer in the late 1950s. In 1962, his father (now elderly) was crossing the road in front of the family home. He was hit by a heavy goods vehicle and killed and the driver responsible for his death was fined just £20. It soon came to light he had killed another pedestrian in a similar manner in 1960.
From this point, John lived at 123 Boothferry Road alone. He and his brother Guy shared an interest in
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