Dr Crippen's and Ethel Le Neve's dentures

Before restorative dental care was available, the only treatment for dental pain was extraction. Unfortunately there were no suitable materials or techniques available for the fabrication of satisfactory dentures. The problem was the lack of a durable and affordable denture base material (porcelain denture teeth were already developed). Swaged gold, and carved ivory were used but were expensive and only affordable to the rich.

In 1843, the American Charles Goodyear discovered how to make flexible rubber, named vulcanite, which he made from India rubber (caoutchouc). In 1851, his brother, Nelson, patented an improved manufacturing process to produce hard rubber. Vulcanite found instant use in the fabrication of denture bases world-wide and quickly replaced previously-used materials as it was cheaper. Ivory dentures cost 25 guineas (a year's wages for a housemaid). By comparison, a set of vulcanite dentures cost six guineas. By luck, vulcanite dentures also became available just after the introduction of anaesthesia. People who had preferred toothache to the pain of extraction were prepared to have their rotten teeth removed, creating a demand for the new vulcanite dentures. For the first time in history false teeth were no longer a luxury only the rich could afford and were available to the middle classes.
Vulcanite starts out as a soft, rubber-sulphur compound. It fits precisely to a model of a patient’s gums and palate. Porcelain teeth were added, and the three components, model, uncured vulcanite and teeth, were embedded in plaster and cured in a vulcanizing apparatus. The finished hard rubber denture was hard, durable, light and had an excellent fit. Vulcanite uppers were self retaining, with suction cups, making springs obsolete. Patients could smile, speak and eat without fear of slippage. The main disadvantage was that the material was dark-red colour. To obtain the pink colour, to resemble gum, weakened the vulcanite. To give it sufficient strength, a facing of pink was incorporated into a denture made of stronger rubber. A better aesthetic solution was achieved by using teeth with an attached section of pink porcelain gum.
In 1864 in the USA, the Goodyear Dental Vulcanite Company was founded and every dentist had to obtain an expensive licence to use the material and was charged a royalty for each denture made. Although many dentists bought licenses, the dental profession as a whole opposed the patent and licensure and protested. The Goodyear Company prosecuted non-compliant dentists in the USA. The struggle reached a climax when Goodyear's financial director, Josiah Bacon, was shot dead by Samual Chalfant, a dentist, in 1879.
The Goodyear patents ran for 25 years finally expiring in 1881 when dental vulcanite came into general use world-wide. In the UK in 1881, vulcanite dentures dropped in price to £5. Vulcanite dentures were the first functional, durable and affordable dentures, marking a great advance in dental treatment for the masses.
British Dental Association

Ethel Le Neve. Photographs taken between 2.00 pm and 4.00 pm on Saturday, 9th July, 1910.

Photographs of Ethel Le Neve, taken in 39, Hilldrop Crescent between 2.00 pm and 4.00 pm on Saturday, 9th July, 1910. I've often seen these portraits and the captions read 'aboard Montrose'. Looking more closely, it became obvious that these portraits were taken inside a room. There is an image, though faint, of a skirting board to Ethel Le Neve's left. Dr Crippen was fond of photography and owned a Kodak camera. I have no doubt these images were taken in Hilldrop Crescent. A souvenir of the beginning of their escapade. William Long entered the semi-detached house in the evening after he received a letter from Dr Crippen posted at 4.15 p.m.

William Long, Dr Crippen's employee:
Between 9.15 and 9.30 a.m. on July 9 of this year when I arrived he was there. I asked him if there was any trouble, and he said,  "Only a little scandal." He gave me a list of things to buy, and I bought the articles produced—a boy's brown tweed suit, a brown felt hat, two shirts, two collars, a tie, and a pair of boots—all for a boy. I took them to the back room on the third floor of the Yale Tooth Specialists, and prisoner told me to take them to another room of the company on the fourth floor, and I did so. I saw Miss Le Neve about 11 o'clock that morning. She was wearing a hat, but I could not describe it. I saw her for the last time that day at 11.30 a.m. and prisoner at 1 p.m.  I did not know that he was going to leave. On the evening of July 9 I got this letter from him; the time of posting is 4.15 p.m.:

'Dear Mr. Long, Will you do me the great favour of Winding up as best you can my household affairs. There is £12 10s. due to my landlord and the past quarter's rent, and there will be also this quarter's rent.  The total due to him is £25, in lieu of which he can seize the contents of the house. I cannot manage about the girl. She will have to get back to Paris. She should have sufficient saved from her wages to do this. After the girl leaves kindly send the keys with a note explaining to the landlord. Thanking you in anticipation of fulfilling my wishes, I am, with best wishes for your future success and happiness, your faithfully, H. H. Crippen.'
The letter enclosed a key, and with it I went the same evening to Hilldrop Crescent and took possession of the goods there.

Enhanced images showing a fireplace, skirting board and wallpaper.

Belle Elmore, blackleg.

In 1907 there was a strike of performers, musicians and stage-hands.

Some encouragement was given to popular artistes to break the strike with Marie Dainton, actress and mimic, being offered the carrot of a future engagement at the Holborn Empire and a motor-cab to make her journey easier. She replied ‘I can only be led by the Variety Artistes Federation.’ This performer is often credited with being a leading figure in the strike but in a letter to the London Daily News she writes ‘ I do not wish to be exploited as taking a prominent part in the strike—as statements have been made in one or two papers that make it appear as though I was taking special steps in the matter.‘ A week later the Daily News received another letter from Marie Dainton saying that although she would not accept engagements at the affected halls she was resigning from the Federation. She concludes ‘I have the greatest respect for the artistes of the music hall profession, but I refuse to be identified with the scene-shifters or stage employees.’

Some of the higher earning stars did not support the strike but Marie Lloyd was a enthusiastic spokesperson stating that ‘We can dictate our own terms. We are not fighting for ourselves, but for the poorer members of the profession, earning thirty shillings to three pounds a week. For this they have to do double turns, and now matinées have been added as well. These poor things have been compelled to submit to unfair terms of employment, and I mean to back up the Federation in whatever steps are taken.’ She was a regular on the picket line and when the unfortunate Belle Elmore crossed the line to perform Marie urged her companions not to stop her, saying she was such a bad performer she would empty the hall anyway.


Some performers took advantage of the situation by appearing in the affected halls but it didn’t always turn out well for them. Evelyn Taylor was reported as appearing at eight of the picketed halls each night but found she was unable to find a cab to take her between halls. The drivers refused the job. The London Tram, Bus and Motor Workers Union resolved to support the strike in any way possible. The official artistes association in America, the White Rats, cabled that they were with the strikers ‘heart and soul’ and would do everything possible to help the cause. Financial support came from individuals and provincial branches of the Alliance and from a levy on the salaries of working members of the Alliance. There was a surge of performers calling to be enrolled as members of the Federation with two hundred names being taken before two o’clock on one day. Most of these had refused engagements in the affected halls. The Federation increased it’s membership to around five thousand.

Many London music halls were affected with picket lines, including well-known stars, dissuading the public from entering. Managers reduced prices and put on new and untried acts which played to small audiences who often left part way through. The Daily News reports that the new programme at the Canterbury Music Hall, Lambeth, was abandoned as the trainers couldn’t get a troupe of performing elephants to leave the stage. At other halls such as the Oxford the manager appeared on the stage to explain the situation and for the most part the audience were given their admission money back.
 into the limelight

Anaesthetics

Chloroform and Ether.

Dr Crippen's Canadian court case.

On the 7th July, Mr. Thomas Wasson, your Prosecutor, caused an information to be laid before the Police Magistrate of the city of Toronto, against one Dr. Crippen, for breach of the Medical Act. Upon the case coming on, the witnesses were unable to identify Dr. Crippen as being the man who had diagnosed their ailments and prescribed for them the Munyon Homoeopathic Home Remedies. Not being able to obtain sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction in that way, I, having the conduct of the prosecution, called Crippen to the witness stand, and obtained from him the information thiat he had then in his employ, as representing the Munyon Company, Dr. Clark.

Thomas Wasson, the detective of the College, proved the service of a copy of the charges on Dr. Clark. Mr. Wasson also stated that one Crippen, an American doctor who had been in charge of the Munyon establishment in or about July, 1896, had been prosecuted by him in the Police Court for the illegal practising of medicine, Crippen not being a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario ; that the charge was dismissed by the Magistrate because the defendant swore that he himself did not prescribe, but he had duly qualified medical men in the establishment, one of whom was the said Dr. Clark. That he paid a visit to the Munyon establishment and saw patients there.
D. H. Reid was the next witness. He said : I am an engineer ; I have been to the Munyon place of business ; I used some of Munyon's pills for la grippe and they seemed to do me a little good.

Their agent afterwards called on me and asked me to give him a testimonial, promising me if I would do so, that any time I wanted medicine, all I had to do was to cut the testimonial out of tlie paper and take it down to the office and I would get my medicine free. I afterwards cut the advertisement out and took it to the Munyon office, where I was told by the old gentleman in charge that they did not do business that way, and he would not give me any medicine without the money. In cross-examination the witness said that it was quite a while after the giving of the itestimonials that he went to get the medicine, probably two or three months, and that the man in the office was not the party who had promised him the free medicine.

In cross-examination the witness said that it was quite a while after the giving of the testimonials that he went to get the medicine, probably two or three months, and that the man in the office was not the party who had promised him the free medicine.

Ulrich Renaud, foreman in the Gendron Bicycle works, said : I went to No. 11, Albert Street, in June or July of 1896 in consequence of an advertisement I saw in the paper about Catarrh, with which I am troubled. The first time I went there was only one doctor, Dr. Crippen. The advertisement I saw said Munyon's was a sure cure for Catarrh. I made an arrangement with Dr. Crippen that I was to give $7 a month and he guaranteed a cure inside of two months. I paid the money in advance and continued the treatment regularly for two months. Dr. Clark treated me most of the time. I told Dr. Clark the last time I went that I was not cured, and that Dr. Crippen had guaranteed to cure me in two months.

He and the other doctor there had a talk together—I didn't hear what they said—and then Dr. Clark told me they wouldn't continue the treatment unless I paid one month more in advance. I told him I was getting worse instead of better, and I wouldn't pay any more money. I had already paid more than $18, The treatment I got from Dr. Clark was, there was a liquid injected through my nostrils down into my throat ; the treatment made my nose bleed every time, and it would sometimes continue bleeding for half an hour. They also sent a fume to my throat through my mouth ; it was not a liquid. The doctor said the cause of my nose bleeding was that the treatment was too strong and he would get something milder. My nose continued bleeding right along. That was about a month before I quit.

1 don't think the treatment became milder. I never signed a testimonial, but I saw one in the newspaper ; it was in the Telegram. I saw Dr. Crippen and told him about it, and that I never authorized him to use my name. Dr. Clark knew I had not been improved. The testimonials in the newspaper appeared under the ordinary Munyon heading. When I spoke to Dr. Crippen about the testimonials, he said, " When I asked you about how the medicine acted, you told me, all right.''
I had told him that the pains came and went ; that I might feel better to-day, but to-morrow they would be on again.
He said, " You may attribute this to the medicine."
I said, " I can't say, because I only took two or three pills out of the bottle.'
This was in the early part of the treatment. It was before I had made any statement as to being improved, that I saw this testimonial. The testimonial said that I had suffered very greatly with what the doctors called Sciatic Rheumatism, and that I tried several remedies but they did no good ; that I procured a sample bottle of Munyon's Rheumatism Cure, and to my great surprise the pain in my hip and limbs completely disappeared in three days, and that before 1 had used one-half,of the wonderful little pellets. That testimonial is a forgery. It is true 1 took the pellets, but it is not true about the effect of them. They did not do me any good. This testimonial was not true and I did not authorize it.
Under cross-examination by Mr. Lount, he said : I went there for treatment for Catarrh only. The only doctor I saw there was Dr, Crippen ; I made my arrangements with him. I didn't see Dr. Clark then at all.

Dr. Crippen told me the treatment would be eleven dollars a month, and guaranteed a cure inside of two months, I am sure he used the word  guarantee. That was not in writing. It was the first clay I went he said this. He did not make any examination of me. I told him the way I felt and how long I had it, that I had been troubled five or six years. I paid my money and took the treatment. I got an inhaler and some other instruments for the treatment. Dr. Crippen gave me only one treatment, the first treatment. I think Dr. Clark took me after.

There were other doctors there. I may have had one or two treatments from the other doctors but I know I had the biggest part of it from Dr. Clark ; that was towards the end. The money was paid to Dr. Crippen. I had no money dealings with Dr. Clark at all. Dr. Clark treated me as a gentleman. I can't say that I had Sciatic Rheumatism ; I had pain in my hips often. I described that to Crippen. I took the pills for the Sciatica. I told him about the pain in my hip and that the soreness was very great and made me quite lame. I did not say I had tried several remedies but they did me no good; I had never tried any remedies of any kind before for the Rheumatism except a hot bath. I wasn't any better after taking the pills. Dr. Clark used me like an ordinary doctor would. He examined me to find out what was the matter. He tried to learn my disease and ascertain a cure for it. He made a full examination by questioning me and to know my symptoms. I didn't find myself improved at the end of the two months. Dr. Clark did not give me a prescription to get medicine from some outside druggist; every time he gave me an order it was to get something from the girl outside.

Mr. Curran Morrison, Clerk of the Police Court, produced the record of the prosecution of Dr. Crippen.

Mr. Lount put Dr. Evans through a severe cross-examination and read several letters sent by Dr. Evans to Professor Munyon prior to the service of the notice of the investigation on Dr. Clark, which letters, Mr. Lount contended, showed a willingness on the part of the witness to aid the defence on certain conditions, which conditions, however, were not complied with, and Mr. Lount argued that this was the reason why he gave such strong testimony against the Munyon institution. Dr. Richard Hearn, a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and a homoeopathic practitioner, characterized the conduct of the defendant as being infamous and disgraceful in a professional respect He looked upon the prescribing of homoeopathic remedies by a regular practitioner who was ignorant of homoeopathy and of the component parts of the particular medicines prescribed as unprofessional, and said that he regarded the publication of the alleged cures by homoeopathic treatment when they had been procured a homoeopathic treatment as misrepresentation.

This shows how fairly the committee has dealt with the defendant. Dr. Clark. This advertisement (Exhibit 9) appeared immediately after the Police Court prosecution of Dr. Crippen (News, July 8th, 1896) :

Family ties. On the trail of Cora Crippen

 Schmidt is a common German occupational surname derived from the German word 'Schmied' meaning 'blacksmith' and/or 'metalworker'. This surname is the German equivalent of 'Smith' in the English-speaking world.
Wolfe. A famous Anglo-Irish surname of Norman-French origins. variant forms Wolfes, Woolf, Woolfe, Woulf, Wulff, Woof, Wooff etc.
 TERESA HUNN , Newport, Rhode Island, America. I am known as Tessie, and am the younger sister of Belle Elmore, whose maiden name was Kunigunde Mackomatzki. She was known at home as Cora. Belle Elmore was my full sister. Our father, who married twice, was a Pole. Old Bailey statement.
Theresa doesn't say their mother was German. Apparently, Dr Crippen only discovered his wife's birth name after their marriage. "She told me her mother was German."
It isn't certain Cora's mother was German. We only know that Dr Crippen said, "Cora told me her mother was German."

1875 Census. 11 year old, Teresa Smith, sister-in-law, lives with Joseph and Mary and their 18 month-old daughter, Concordia. It is definitely written Smith and not Schmidt. Joe,age 24, is listed as a nail Smith and Mary, age 21, a dressmaker. Their surname is spelled, Mackinack. he is listed as an alien, from Prussia.
1882 Births. Mary is listed is listed, Mary Wolf.
1885 Census. Mary is listed, Mary Schmidt Marsenger.
1885 Births. Mary is listed, Schmidt Marsenger.
1893 Births. Mary is listed, Mary Smith Mesenger.

Presumably, Mary included her maiden name (Smith) after her marriage to Frederic Marsenger. The 1875 record also states Cora was 18 months old. Placing her birth at December 1873 or January 1874. It also informs us that Mary, born 1854-1855, had a younger sister, Theresa. Names tend to run in families.
I take a default position with Dr Crippen; he's a liar until proved otherwise. I don't believe Cora's mother was German, or of German parentage - Mary was born in New York. It's a hunch, but I think Mary was of Irish decent. (Scrub this. Seems Mary's parents were German. I've just found them in the 1870 census.) So much for my intuition. Mary was born in New York and their surname is Smith, but probably Anglicised -this would explain why used both spelling variants.

We do not have a definitive answer for what happened to Joseph 'Mackamotski,' although previous writings on the subject state that Joseph died 'when Cora was two'. This would make a date of death for Joseph of about 1875. Beth Erskine Wills 2007, genealogist to John Trestrail.

I found this entry before I read Beth's statement :

Joseph ...Arnecki
New York, New York City Municipal Deaths
Name     Joseph ...Arnecki
Event Type     Death
Event Date     19 Feb 1876
Event Place     Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Residence Place     New York City, New York
Gender     Male
Age     26
Marital Status     Married
Race     Not Listed
Occupation     shoemaker
Birth Year (Estimated)     1850
Birthplace     Russ Poland
Burial Date     20 Feb 1876
Burial Place     Calvary, New York City, New York
Father's Birthplace     Russ Poland
Whether it is Cora's father, I don't know, but age and date of death fit. I found it interesting enough to file it in my research folder -especially as someone had a difficult job transcribing the surname. 

N.B Mary and Joe Mackinack lived at N Second Street, Brooklyn, Kings, N.Y., 1st June 1875.

Showbiz, Dr Crippen.

'He finally cracked'

Mr Trestrail brought in Professor David Foran, director of forensic science at Michigan State University, who led DNA analysis on the scarred skin of the corpse used in the trial. It was demanding work over two years, retrieving tissue preserved in formaldehyde from the glass slide it was attached to with pine resin.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Crippen's house in north London has since been demolished

Mr Foran followed two lines of research and considers the results conclusive. First he isolated mitochondrial DNA, which remains unchanged throughout the generations down the female line. A genealogist found grandnieces of Cora Crippen who would have the same mitochondrial DNA as her, and repeated tests found they were not related to the body in the basement.

Then Mr Foran's team used new techniques to examine the nuclear DNA, and discovered a Y chromosome. Not only was the body not from Cora Crippen's family, it wasn't even a woman.

As Mr Trestrail sums it up, "This is the slide which Spilsbury [the expert witness at the trial] used to identify the body as Cora Crippen's. And this was the evidence on which Crippen was convicted. But the substance in the slide is not Cora Crippen. No question. I don't say Hawley Crippen is innocent, but he is no longer proven guilty."

Not everyone is convinced, however. John Boyne, whose book Crippen: A Novel of Murder, is to be reissued next year, says: "I think Crippen probably did kill his wife. His actions suggest guilt - his decision to flee the country and to dress Ethel LeNeve as his son rather than allow her to reveal her true identity on the ship as his lover. Cora made his life so miserable that I think he finally cracked."

    I have no interest in clearing Crippen's name. What I care about is being right
    Professor David Foran, Forensic scientist

Jonathan Menges, a writer and genealogist from San Diego, has written disputing Mr Foran's findings. Mr Menges claims the genealogy linking the living relatives to Cora Crippen is flawed - no birth certificate for her exists, for example, as they were rare in the US at the time - making the mitochondrial DNA tests irrelevant.

He criticises the proceedings for having too much of an eye for showbiz - the nuclear DNA findings were first revealed on a TV documentary - and points out that they have not yet been published or peer-reviewed. He says that Crippen's behaviour demonstrates his guilt, and that a group in Salt Lake City are investigating the mysterious disappearance there of Crippen's first wife. "There is no doubt that Crippen is guilty," he says.

Mr Foran responds that his work is to be published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, that he is fully satisfied by the genealogy, and that the remains are indisputably male.

"I don't really care one way or the other whether the body was Cora Crippen's, I have no interest in clearing Crippen's name. What I care about is being right. We tested and tested and tested, and if I had any doubts whatsoever I would never have come out with it. The body is not Cora Crippen's."

Nevertheless, JP Crippen has failed to get the case reopened. The Criminal Cases Review Commission declined to refer it to the Court of Appeal, because he is too distant a relative to have sufficient interest.

But Mr Trestrail agrees with him that the campaign to clear his name should continue.

"It matters," he says. "Justice doesn't have a time limit."
BBC link.

Trial of Dr Crippen

Daily Mirror.

Dr Crippen

Capture and conviction newspaper cutting.

Crippen Horror

Still from video.