Another Maybrick mystery?
Did Michael Maybrick kill his nephew, as one British author has claimed? Nearly impossible, it would seem.
Our friend in Ryde, Julie Croydon, a co-chair of the International Florence Maybrick Association, and I discussed this question at length. She sent this piece recently published by The Beacon. Photography credits go to her.
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History: The Mystery Of The Maybricks
By Dominic Kureen, Mar 17, 2025
As part of the Walking Festival, Aspire Ryde volunteer Julie Croydon leads the “Lost Crypt” history walk around Ryde while dressed as Florence Chandler Maybrick.
It includes a stop at the tomb of five-times Mayor of Ryde Michael Maybrick. Maybrick was a famous composer who published and performed his music in both the UK and the US. Using the name “Stephen Adams,” he far outsold his contemporaries, Gilbert and Sullivan.
In 1889, Michael accused Florence of poisoning his brother, her husband, James. Even though the postmortem did not find enough arsenic in his body to kill James, Florence was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. This was commuted to life imprisonment, and Florence eventually returned to her native America. The injustice of this case led to the formation of the Criminal Court of Appeal.
In 1991, a diary was discovered, purportedly written by Florence’s husband, in which he claimed to be Jack the Ripper. This resulted in the grave of James Maybrick in Liverpool being vandalized. Internationally renowned film director Bruce Robinson is convinced that the diary was written by Michael to deflect suspicion from himself. At the time of the Ripper killings, nobody suspected either of the Maybrick brothers, and forensic examination of the ink casts doubt on the date of the diary.
American author Ron Suresha, whom Julie met in Connecticut in October 2023, and who lives not far from Florence’s gravesite, has written a forthcoming historical biography of Florence, Death of the Cat Lady.
Ron quotes an offhand remark made by Robinson during an interview in 2016 that Michael also killed Florence’s son, James Fuller. Concerned that unfounded speculation might lead to Michael’s grave also being vandalized, Julie began searching for evidence of Michael’s whereabouts during the crucial period.
Florence’s son, James, took the surname Fuller to avoid the notoriety of his father’s death. He died on April 10th, 1911, in Vancouver, where he was working as an engineer in a gold mine. James phoned his boss and gasped the man’s name. “Oh, Peters!” Peters hurried to James’ office, where he found James clutching a sandwich on the floor. On the desk was a beaker of potassium cyanide. It was assumed that James had mistaken it for a beaker of water whilst eating his lunch. For Michael to have murdered James, he would, therefore, have had to have been in Vancouver on April 10th.
The April 8th, 1911 edition of the Isle of Wight County Press includes two articles that mention the name of Michael Maybrick, who was the Mayor of Ryde at that time. One records Michael as having been at a meeting of the Conservative Association seven days earlier. For Michael to have killed James, he would have had to take a ferry from the Island to the mainland, embarked on a ship to New York then travelled overland to the West Coast. Arriving in British Columbia, he would then have had to enter a gold mine – which would presumably have had good security – find his way to James’ office – fortunately finding him alone, and somehow poisoned him. If Michael really was a serial killer, he would surely not leave the scene without being certain that his victim was unable to identify him or call for help. There were no signs of violence or indication of anyone else having been in the office. This would have meant waiting to make sure that James was dead before Michael made the telephone call, impersonating James’ voice. Michael would then have had to escape, again evading security guards, before Andrews reached the office. All of this had to be accomplished in 10 days. Michael, who was a famous celebrity in both the UK and the US would then have to make the return journey incognito.
The second newspaper article describes the return of The Mayor and his wife from a holiday on the continent in March. In sickeningly fawning language, it congratulates him on how well he is now looking after a recent illness. This suggests that Michael’s movements were closely monitored by the local press. That being so, he could not have been missing from the Island for three weeks without anyone noticing his absence.
Julie was relieved to be able to point out the impossibility of Michael murdering James Fuller, saying “There are lots of conspiracy theories these days. That Robinson could make such a statement without checking the facts, must cast doubt on his reliability as a historian.”
Florence and James had no grandchildren. Relatives of both Florence and James have now made submissions to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, appealing for Florence’s conviction to be quashed. In the expectation that this will succeed, Julie and her husband, Bill, intend to visit the US and lay a tribute on Florence’s grave in early October 2025. Bill will be dressed as Edward VII, during whose reign Florence was released from prison, and Julie as Queen Alexandra.
