A MERSEYSIDER may hold the key to identifying the remains of one of the world’s most notorious outlaws.
Forensic scientists in Melbourne, Australia, have what could be the skull of Ned Kelly – but it could also be the skull of Frederick Deeming, a Briton who murdered his wife and four children in Merseyside before fleeing Down Under.
There, he murdered his second wife on Christmas Eve. Deeming’s crimes were so horrendous he was even suspected of being London serial killer Jack the Ripper.
It is hoped descendants of Deeming, who had 11 siblings, may still live on Merseyside and can provide a DNA sample to see if it matches that of the skull, and solve the mystery once and for all.
Kelly, executed in 1880, and Deeming, hanged in 1892, were buried alongside each other in Old Melbourne Gaol.
Deeming, who was 38 when he was executed, was born in Leicestershire and was a habitual criminal. In the 1880s he moved to Australia, but came back to his wife, Marie, in 1888. It is believed the couple and their family lived for a time in Birkenhead.
After a spell in prison for a swindle in a jewellery shop, Deeming rejoined his family, now in Rainhill, in July, 1891, and rented a house under the name of Albert Williams.
While there, he wooed another woman, an Emily Mather, and the pair emigrated to Australia, in November, 1891.
