30 June 2013
JEFF DUDGEON CASEMENT BOOK - CORRECTIONS AND
ADDITIONS
exclusive of new improved versions of the 1903 (pp 106-159) and 1910 (pp 207-251)
diaries and of ledger and diary entries for September 1911 (pp. 309-315 and 330339), and bibliographic additions. These have been inserted en bloc in updated
version of book.
-- Means change made electronically
Roger Casement: The Black Diaries - With a Study of his Background,
Sexuality, and Irish Political Life
-- p. viii ( & caption on p. 434) Change “aged at most 32” to “in Berlin aged 25” [Adler]
-- p. ix Change “Kew and the LSE Library.” to “Kew, the LSE Library and the New York
Public Library.” [NYPL omitted]
-- p. xi Add to abbreviations “NYPL – New York Public Library”
-- p. xiii Change “Jean” Marchal to “Jules” Marchal
-- p. xiii Add “the late” before “Michael O’Sullivan”
-- p. xiii Add at page end “This book is dedicated to JMY who would have prevented the
Irish revolution had Casement met him first.”
-- p. xix Delete “and” in “Europe and” [typo]
-- p. 1 Change “Ramsey ” to “Sulby” [Hugh Casement advice]
-- p. 1 Replace “Churchfield, Ballycastle).” with “Churchfield, Ballycastle, memorial in
Ballinderry middle churchyard, also to their 4th son Thomas and his son Charles and 5th
son Higginson.)”
-- p. 1 Change “1st son George” to “2nd son George”
-- p. 1 Change “m. Elizabeth MONTGOMERY” to “m. 1st Elizabeth MONTGOMERY”
-- p. 1 After “Governor General of India.” add “He m. 2nd ca 1783 Martha or Matilda
MONTGOMERY, two sons Major Hugh and Lt. George Casement.”
-- p. 1 Rearrange order to make Roger the 3rd rather than 2nd son
-- p. 1 Replace “b. 1789 d. 1848, wife unknown, possibly a Roman Catholic.” with “b.
1789 d. 12 March 1848, memorial stone in Culfeightrin but left nothing in father’s will,
m. Mary Anne KENNEDY Ballymena 1834 or 1839; dau. also Mary Anne bapt.
Kirkinriola 2 May 1824 m. Belfast 1858.” [William]
-- p. 1 Replace “m. ? son William b. 1819 d. ?” with “m. Abigail McILWAINE d. 1868:
son William b. 1819 d. 1904 Portstewart m. 1869 Mary HAYES d. 1899.” [George (1)]
-- p. 2 Add at end of Thomas’s entry “and Edith (Edie). Thomas and his second wife
Dora adopted – or at least took under their wing – Tommy Jebb.” [Thomas; Hugh
Casement advised]
1
-- p. 2 Change “ca. 1844 m. David” to “1843 m. 1826 David” [Elinor]
-- p. 2 Add “, d. 1851” after “slave trade” [Elinor]
-- p. 2 Insert “and Edith (Edie)”after “Kitsie b. 1871”
-- p. 3 Add “Irish history” after “The Ot,”
-- p. 3 Change “and Moat-house, Holywood (Co. Down), Drumbo, London” to “Drumbo,
and The Moat House, Sydenham, Holywood (until 1843), London” [from Hugh]
-- p. 3 After “maternal grandfather” insert “d. 1840” [from Roz McCutcheon internet]
-- p. 3 Change “one daughter and three sons” to “two daughters and four sons” [Captain
Casement]
-- p. 3 After “and ANNE” add “(or JANE)”
-- p. 3 Change “in Ulster, m. London ca. 1895” to “in Dublin, m. London 26 October
1887”
-- p. 3 After “Atlantic City” add “2 April”
-- p. 3 After “2 April 1927” add
“2. A son b. at Rathmines 5 July 1858, d. in infancy.
3. Annie Catherine b. 14 September 1859 at Kingstown, d. 20 April 1864 d. of
hydrocephaly at Long's Cottage, Islington Avenue, Sandycove, buried
Carrickbrennan graveyard Monkstown.”
Rearrange order for Charlie, Tom and Roger from “2 3 4” to “4 5 6” Hugh
Casement advice]
-- p. 3 Change “AYERS (five daughters);” to “AYERS (five daughters), one Nina; dau.
Lesley McNaughton;”
-- p. 3 after “John STUART, d.s.p. 1963.” add “Charlie was baptised in St Anne's
Church, Belfast on 9 April 1862, his parents' address being given as 174 York Street.”
-- p. 3 Add “, his Jephson name was perhaps added later” after “brother Tom”
-- p. 4 Add “m. 1853” after “d.s.p. 2 July 1905” [Elizabeth]
-- p. 4 Change “Catherine (1822-39)” to “Catherine b. 26 August 1822 d. 1839”
-- p. 4 Change “Henrietta (1823-37)” to “Henrietta b. 6 November 1823 d. 1837”
-- p. 4 Add “b. ca. 1820” after “Agnes” and rearrange to make her the second born
-- p. 4 Change “Eleanor m. 1857 Rev. Somerville LANPHIER (d.s.p. 1877) who had a
niece Eva with whom RDC “fell in love” at age 17, m. ?Handley Symons; children Irene
and Eric.” to “Eleanor b. ca. 1828 m. 1857 Rev. Somerville LANPHIER (d.s.p. 1877)
who had a niece Eva (father Joseph) with whom RDC “fell in love” at age 17 (b. 1869 or
1870, so she was only about 12) d. 29 June 1937 m. 1887 Rev Charles Symons b. 1864
ministering in China from that year, Dean of Shanghai 1920 until d. 19 January 1928
(Times obituary 27 January); children: Irene, 2nd Lt. Charles Handley Lanphier Symons,
Royal Fusiliers, d. 20 November 1917 aged 29 (Cambrai memorial Louverval) and 2nd
Lt Eric Clarence Symons, Machine Gun Corps, d. of wounds 1 September 1916 age 22 at
Amiens.” [An Eva Lamphier was born 1869-70 in Nottingham and was at school in
Hampstead according to the 1881 census, says Hugh Casement, which makes her 12
when RDC’s ‘romance’ with her was under way.]
-- p. 5 Change “b. 19 August 1852” to “b. 30 November 1850” [Hugh Casement
correction]
-- p. 5 Change “Brabazon (Australia) twin of Roger b. 1852” to “Brabazon (Australia)
b. 1852”
2
-- p. 6 After “Casement’s mother)” add “b. 14 July 1841 Dublin, baptised 3 October
1841 St George’s Church of Ireland Hardwicke Place, dau. of James (Gent) and Jane
Jephson of 15 Portland Street Dublin,” [from internet]
-- p. 6 Insert “30 October 1865, St. Anne’s Church of Ireland Belfast” before “Edward
BANNISTER”
--p. 6 Add “Casement's mother Anne and her Jephson background remain unclear but she
was undoubtedly a Protestant. No Jephsons are mentioned in the Dublin street directories
as at the above Portland Street address, or elsewhere for that matter. Grace Jephson was
born 14 July 1841 and her baptism was on 3 October 1841 at St George’s Church of
Ireland, Hardwicke Place, Dublin (off Temple Street). She was the daughter of James
(gent) and Jane Jephson of 15 Portland Street Interestingly her sister Grace married the
Liverpool shipping agent Edward Bannister in the same church (St Anne's Belfast) as she
had married Captain Casement ten years earlier. A cousin may be Jane Jephson who was
married on 6 December 1854 in St Peter’s Church, Aungier Street Dublin to James
Martin (clerk in holy orders) of 2 Richmond Hill (both were at that address); the
respective fathers were Richard Martin (clergyman) and John Jephson esq; witnesses
were Charles. H. Jephson and Isabell J Gurnell.”
-- p. 6 After “Edith” add “b. 1868”
-- p. 6 After “Elspeth Bird” add “d. 17 February 2010”
-- p. 6 After “b. 1876” add “(cousin)” and remove comma [Edward]
-- p. 7 After “of Germany” add “formerly”
-- p. 7 After “now NLI MS 36207/8” add “Folder 30”
-- p. 67 After “Careless Chicken.” add “[In 2006, the NLI bought in America the
original “Illustrated fable by Roger Casement for his godson signed “To Reginald
Dorsey Mohun from an admiring Godfather R.C. September 24th 1896”, now MS
41654. Mohun was U.S. Commercial Agent at Boma in the Congo Free State from
1891 and was probably the former US Consul in Zanzibar Casement quoted
approvingly on Arab slavers.]”
-- p. 83 Change “Jean” Marchal to “Jules” Marchal
-- p. 89 ADD Perhaps the most famous description by Conrad about Casement comes
from a letter to Robert Cunninghame Graham dated 26 December 1903: “I send you two
letters I had from a man called Casement, premising that I knew him first in the Congo
just 12 years ago. Perhaps you’ve heard or seen in print his name. He’s a protestant Irish
man, pious too. But so was Pizzaro. For the rest I can assure you that he is a limpid
personality. There is a touch of the conquistador in him too; for I have seen him start off
into an unspeakable wilderness swinging a crookhandled stick for all weapon, with two
bulldogs, Paddy (white) and Biddy (Brindle) at his heels and a Loanda boy carrying a
bundle for all company. A few months afterwards it so happened that I saw him come out
again, a little leaner, a little browner, with his sticks, dogs, and Loanda boy, and quietly
serene as though he had been for a stroll in a park…I have always thought some particle
of La Casas’ soul had found refuge in his indefatigable body…He could tell you things!
Things I have tried to forget, things I never did know. he has had as many years of Africa
as I had months – almost.”
-- p. 92 After “Casement becoming unusually polite.i” add “[At the party to celebrate
Casement’s departure, the question was apparently asked, “What’s come over the ruddy
vice consul that he’s blanket-blank polite to us all tonight.” Was it Casement or his
3
successor Digan? Both were acting vice-consuls and present, but it was more likely
Casement.]”
-- p. 93 Change “funeral rites” to “general rites”
-- p. 106 Add page typesetter missed:
“Casement’s movements during 1903 Black Diary
14 February 1903 in London
22 February left Liverpool by ship
28 February arrived Funchal in Madeira
20 March arrived Las Palmas on Grand Canary
26 March left for Africa
6 April arrived Banana in Congo thence to Portuguese Loanda and Cabinda
1 May arrived Boma
22 May left Boma for Matadi and other towns, making preparations for expedition
20 July commenced investigatory voyage
27 September returned to Boma via Brazzaville, thence to Banana and Cabinda
3 October arrived Loanda
6 November set off for Europe, calling at São Thomé
24 - 26 November at Lisbon
30 November arrived in England
22 December left for Ireland
24 December arrived Ballycastle via Dublin and Belfast
1 January 1904 arrived London, thence to Liverpool
6 - 8 January 1904 back in London.”
-- pp. 106-159 Add at start (p. 106) “New version based on Séamas Ó Síocháin and
the late Michael O’Sullivan’s book, The Eyes of Another Race: Roger Casement’s
Congo Report and 1903 Diary, and after a review of a number of copies of 1903 diary
pages from the National Archives at Kew.”
4
[Changes and corrections include:]
-- p. 135 Change “Epondo’s story was the occasion for a disagreement with Joseph
Conrad who cautioned Casement on 17 December 1903, “During my sojourn in the
interior and keeping my eyes and ears well open too I’ve never heard of the alleged
custom of cutting off hands amongst the natives. I am convinced no such custom ever
existed along the whole course of the Ludin river to which my experience is limited.
Neither in the casual talk of white men nor in the course of definite inquiries as to the
tribal customs was ever such a practice hinted at.”
Casement obviously retorted at speed, for he promptly received an assurance from the
novelist dated 21 December and saying”
to “Epondo’s story prompted a discussion with Joseph Conrad on whether this was an
indigenous custom. He advised Casement on 17 December 1903, “During my sojourn in
the interior and keeping my eyes and ears well open too I’ve never heard of the alleged
custom of cutting off hands amongst the natives. I am convinced no such custom ever
existed along the whole course of the Ludin river to which my experience is limited.
Neither in the casual talk of white men nor in the course of definite inquiries as to the
tribal customs was ever such a practice hinted at.”
Casement after responding received an assurance from the novelist dated 21 December
saying”
-- p. 162 Change “and fear I must return home to get cured I hope (D.V.) My own visit to
Lisbon has been disastrous to my health.” to “– and fear I must return home to get cured.
I hope (D.V.) to sail for Liverpool on 30th to put myself in my own doctor’s hands. My
visit to Lisbon has been disastrous to my health.”
[14 words erroneously omitted by the typesetter: “to sail for Liverpool on 30th to put
myself in my own doctor’s hands.” Three other errors were in the original: – was
omitted, there was no stop after “cured”, and “own” was wrongly put in front of
“visit”. The meaning is therefore wrong as “to sail for Liverpool on 30th to put
myself in my own doctor’s hands.” was not needed in but has now to be inserted.]
-- p. 163 After “across now.”” add “[Channel 4’s 2003 series ‘The First World War’
shows unique moving pictures of Casement in episode 8. He is pictured writing a
letter while seated at a desk finding and trying to fill an envelope which irritates
him. The scene is the same as in a photograph on the RTE website signed and dated
17 April. It lasts some 35 seconds and is on YouTube. John E Allen Inc of New
Jersey has the original with 48 seconds worth of footage.]”
-- p. 182 Change to “mother Mary’s” to “mother Mary Jane neé Ardery’s”
-- p. 186 Change “His Christian name remains unknown, his only extant letter being
signed “Mac”” to “This only extant letter was signed “Mac” although his full name was
Henry McNally.”
-- p. 188 Change “Presumably Mac succumbed to the White Plague soon afterwards.” to
“Despite his earlier serious illness, Henry died in 1946.”
-- pp. 207-251 [Add at start] “New version of 1910 diary with changes, corrections
and additions, many sourced from Roger Sawyer’s diaries book and Angus
Mitchell’s website version.”
5
[Changes and corrections include:]
-- p. 212 Change “front notes” to “flyleaf” [26 May 1910]
-- p. 218 Change “Hugh Duffy called on way to Glenshesk [both names are in Gaelic
script.]” to “Aodh Ua Dubbthaigh [Hugh Duffy] called on way to Feis na nGleann”
-- p. 219 Change “Eddie Pottinger” to “Edie Pottinger”
-- p. 221 Change “tiepin is recorded in the diary’s endnotes” to “tie pin is recorded in the
diary’s flyleaf” [20 June 1910]
--pp. 222 & 223 Change “Sheelagh” five times to “Shelagh” [Leave spelling as
Sheelagh in the diary and index]
--p. 237 Change “this civilising gentlemen” to “these civilising gentlemen”
-- p. 239 Change “almanac. The whole visage was obscured by 8,” to “almanac. The
whole visage was obscured by 8,” [i.e. add full stop and comma]
--p. 256-7 Change to “godson “Roger” Hicks.” Baby Roger had been christened on 15
February 1910, in Casement’s absence. The baby’s father Lt. Col. F.R. Hicks was an
officer at Fermoy, Co. Cork and Dick Morten’s brother-in-law. It is this sort of private,
human detail, as Roger Sawyer notes, that precludes the likelihood of forgery.ii
On the first two pages or flyleaf there are a few notes, mostly addresses of foreign
males picked up in London during 1911:
1/6 [this ledger’s price]
Amron Kali. Ahmed Khaled. 7 March [Casement overwrote a figure 8 with a 7 and
the episode is duly diaried on 7 March below.] 12.35 a.m. New Oxford St. [An arrow
this note then points to]
Mr Gatty.
9 Jensen Street Jansen John’s (? Johnson Street) Jones St.
Farringdon Road. E.C. [The precise address of this individual annoyingly eludes
Casement.]
25 July 12.15 p.m. T Court Road corner
Jean of Algiers. Clerkenwell Rd.
Enormous. twice as big as Amron’s.
Master E.K. Biddy.
Bishop’s Court Hill.
Bridgetown.
Barbados.
[Before and after this ledger’s dated entries there are four pages of notes to do with
expenditure in 1909 and 1910 (some which tally precisely with entries in the 1910
Diary) indicating that the book had been around for a year and was previously, if
briefly, in use. Those at the front are labyrinthine in complexity and in tiny writing.
A few that are more comprehensible or relevant now follow:]
Expenditure at Rio.
February 1910.
6
Previous to Janry 1st 1910
1909 in Rio from 22 Mch 1909…Decr…9 Months 9 Days = R 9:825.400… to Tuesday
18 Jan- … 20 To Petropolis Ticket 9.600…24 Lunch O’S.B [O’Sullivan Beare] …Pedro
60.000 [Pedro, although otherwise unrecorded, is certainly a sexual partner and one
who was considerably rewarded] …Icarahy 221.000…Less Petropolis journeys 4. 4. 4.
£80. 1.0
18th won at Bridge 16.000 Bridge 37.500…Pedro 5000…Tue 22 [22 February 1910]
*Lunch 50.000 [at top] *Nordenflychts lunch…Thurs 24…Pedro 10.000 X…Val 20.000
[Thursday 24 February 1910 diary – “Valdemiro – Rua 20$”] …Sat 26 Pedro*
10.000…Monday 28 …Mario Rua Hospicio [See graphic 1910 diary entry for Mario,
$40] … 743 000 less won at Bridge 10 800 R. 732 200 Add – Total 732 200 Icarahy
100$000 Petropolis Pension Central 578$000 Pedro 60$000 Do. Boots &c 40$000
[Mario] 40$000 English hotel 24-28 103$000 [Grand total] R. 1:613 200
Sat. 19. Saw “Beauty” at Raiz da Serra in down train. Smiled & looked: but turned away
– alas!
“Beauty” on Barca – Would not like – cut me dead – alas! – followed in Avenida to
General Camara – last saw going along it in black.”
-- p. 265 Change
“… X Clarence Gate 3/6 Soldier X
3.6
Lavatory 1d…Down to Old Lodge Ashdown Forest to Lord & Lady Norbury. [The 4th
Earl of Norbury, a big Irish landowner] Scots at Victoria 6.30 and Irish after dark.
7.14.0
3.6 [“Soldier”
7.17.6 10th sex costs accumulation] 9. [9th new associate: These rising numbers
come in different forms. Usually in pencil, some are ringed, and some are in
brackets. They are not as prominent as might be the case if inserted by a Home
Office enumerator.]
Tuesday 14 Febry. …Welsh Rarebit 10/-. Lost at Gate X
Victoria Station 11 p.m. 2/6 X
7.17.6
10.0 [“Welsh Rarebit” again
2.6 Victoria Station person
8.10. 0 11th sex costs accumulation]
10.0
2.6
10. [10th partner, Welsh already counted]
1. 1.6
12.6
1. 14.0 [February’s sex costs total]”
to “Train to Victoria… X Clarence Gate 3/6 Soldier X
Tuesday 14 Febry. Telegram “Cui” 1/-…Welsh Rarebit 10/-. Lost at Gate X
7
3.6
10.0
Victoria Station 11 p.m. 2/6 X
Walked Paddington to Park. Wales lost at gate.
2.6
1. 1.6
12.6
1. 14.0 [February’s sex costs total]
7.17.6
10.0 [“Welsh Rarebit” again
2.6 Victoria Station person
8.10. 0 11th sex costs accumulation] 10. [10th partner, Welsh already counted”
-- p. 271 After “Dick Morten’s circle” add “- “Mr. M. Sidney Parry J.P.” chaired the
South Perak Rubber Syndicate Ltd’s general meeting in London on 4 November
1935 while he was noted in a 1919 newspaper report as chairman of the Beaufort
Borneo Rubber Company Ltd.]”
-- p. 276 “Muirboly” should be “Muirbolg” and “Cushleath Culravy [?]” should be
“Cushleake Culrany”
-- p. 277 Change “Macdonald and Sir J. Solomon to lunch [Macdonald is probably the
future Labour prime minister.” to “Macdonald and Sir J. Solomon to lunch.
[Macdonald may be the future Labour prime minister but Sir Anthony McDonnell
is a likelier candidate according to Séamas O Síocháin.]”
-- p. 282 Change “Sheelagh” to “Shelagh”
-- p. 292 Change “Boisfayon” twice to “Boisragon”
-- p. 301 After “ship 400” add “, The Olympic, sister ship to the Titanic which was 401,”
-- p. 307 After “Biddy” add “Teddy”
-- p. 309 Change “Special” to “special”
-- pp. 309-315 [Add at start:] “New version of September 1911 Cash Ledger (1
September to part of 3 October) based on a review of copy pages from the National
Archives at Kew with many minor changes and some additions.”
-- p. 318 Add comma after Tapia and Alvarez: “Ramón H. Tapia, 1860 Alvarez, 1860”
-- p. 328 Change “for the furniture.” to “of the furniture.”
-- p. 323 “gifted 10/ -” needs closed up i.e. the space removed: “gifted 10/-”
-- p. 328 Change “they face” to “thy face”
-- pp. 330-339 [Add at start] “New version of September 1911 Black Diary (1-30
September and part of 1 October) based on a review of copy pages from the
National Archives at Kew along with many minor changes and some additions.”
-- p. 341 insert “]” before “Pilot’s apprentice came”
-- p. 367 “born a year after him” becomes “born five years before him”
-- p. 375 change “Just” to “I just”, “31st” to “31” and “after dinner into Bridgetown” to
“after dinner in to Bridgetown”
-- After “I am the only passenger!” add “[Fact confirmed by Ellis Island passenger
manifest on website.]”
8
-- p. 383 “ct the Somme” should be “at the Somme”
-- p. 394 “[The newly turned-up fact from the PRONI website that Millar Gordon
signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912, as did his mother, finally undoes the theory.]”
-- p. 410 “were was” should be “were”
-- p. 450 Change “anglophile” to “Anglophile”
-- p. 434 Replace in photograph caption “aged at most 32 when published in Dr Curry’s
1922 book” with “in Berlin aged 25”
-- p. 430 remove end quotation mark after “obtained”
-- p. 430 Change “January 1917” to “July 1916” [That was the Kingsland NJ explosion
not Black Tom]
-- p. 435 Change “This studio photograph, taken when Adler could be no more than
thirty-two years of age shows a beefy, almost florid, well-dressed man with a lined
forehead; not boyish at all nor a classic Casement sex partner. That same print in the NLI
is inscribed on the back, by an unknown hand, “Sir R.C.’s Norwegian servant.” Adler
may however have aged considerably in the half dozen years since 1916 if the picture is
of 1922 vintage. He led a rough life” to “This studio photograph was taken in Berlin on
24 June 1915, according to an inscription in what looks like Adler’s own handwriting on
the face of the NYPL print. He was then twenty-five years of age. It shows a beefy,
almost florid, well-dressed man with a lined forehead; not boyish at all, nor a classic
Casement sex partner. The print in the NLI” is inscribed on the back, by an unknown
hand, “Sir R.C.’s Norwegian servant.” He led a rough life”
-- p. 437 Change “psychopath” to “sociopath” – 3 times
-- p. 450 Change “hibernophile” to “Hibernophile”
-- p 452 Change “declaring his belief in the authenticity of the Black Diaries.” to “was
not slow to rubbish Casement, saying of his homosexuality, “Well it’s all true. I know it
myself.” (Words spoken to two Gifford sisters and quoted by Nina to Gertrude Parry in a
letter of 1 November 1924? (NLI 13075/4.))” [The Gifford sisters were probably Nellie
and Sydney, See also Mairead Wilson’s pamphlet p. 31.]
-- p. 460 Change “romanschaft” to “romanhaft”
-- p. 460 Change “materiél” to “matériel”
-- p. 462 After “ebbing out of Casement.” add “[Previously unnoticed correspondence
in NLI MS 17033 consisting of 16 postcards and letters to a Bavarian schoolboy
called Max Zehndler living in Augsburg, or more precisely Landsberg a/Lech, tells
of one new friend. Casement seems to have met him through his uncle and aunts (no
names given) when staying in Riederau on the Ammersee in 1915. There are 8
personal letters and 8 cards dating from 28 July 1915 to 4 April 1916. Many of the
postcards are written in tolerable German.
In an introduction to his series of articles in The Nation on 30 November 1921, Dr
Curry (d. 1935) explained how Casement came to the area, “We soon became such
intimate friends that, when I moved out with my family to the Ammersee for the
summer vacation at the end of May, Sir Roger requested me to engage quarters for
him there. I succeeded in securing two comfortable rooms for my friend in the
country inn at Riederau; whereupon Sir Roger left Munich and joined us on the
rural shores of the great lake. He was so happy and contented in his new
environments – away from the noise and bustle of the city, that he remained in
Riederau till late into the autumn.”
9
The incoming correspondence from Max is not to be found. Was it destroyed by
F.J. Bigger or Gertrude Parry for fear of it revealing Casement’s tendency to
grooming? Who kept these outgoing items, and how did they end up in the NLI?
The numbering, MS 17,033, indicates they are part of the Curry collection. MSS
17,000-17,033 were acquired by the NLI c. 1970 via the US. The folder is marked
“Dr Charles Curry Papers”. MS 17,000 is an “Account by Dr. Manfred Curry of
how his father acquired these papers and sketch of Casement's career (In German,
with English translation) Nov. 1939.”
Casement wrote this last letter to Max from Berlin on 4 April 1916. The envelope
(stamp now removed) was addressed to “Max Zehndler,
Zögling des Stad. Realschul =
Pensionates,
Landsberg a/Lech.”
This translates as ‘Max Zehndler, Pupil Boarder of the Town Secondary Modern
School, at Landsberg on the Lech.’
Casement pretty well tells his schoolboy friend in this letter, written a week before
he leaves Germany, that something big is afoot i.e. his departure for Ireland and the
Easter Rising:
“My dear Max,
I hope you are better now and enjoying this good weather at Landsberg. I am not
going back to Ammersee for some time I fear and shall not see you for a long time I
think as I have to go away now on a journey that will take up much time.
If I can I will come back to the dear old Ammersee – but if not you will know I am
detained.
Meantime I hope for your welfare and success at school and that you may grow
good, brave and strong and be very happy.
I hope your Easter holiday this year will be very pleasant and happy –
Please remember me very kindly to your Uncle and Aunt – and with all kind
thoughts and wishes,
Your sincere friend,
Roger Casement.
– P.S. I send you some old stamps.
Also a small present. Don’t answer this letter as I shall not get your reply.
Be a good boy and work hard and make your friends happy by obedience and
cheerfulness. R.C.”]”
-- p. vi (& caption on p. 88) Change “Alfred” to “William” [Parminter]
-- p. vi (& caption on p. 139) Change “Casement under tree with companion in Loanda c.
1903 (NLI)” to “Casement under tree with Fritz Pincus in Lourenco Marques 1895-1900
(NLI)”
[I wrote in the caption on p. 139 that the photograph’s location was St Paul de
Loanda but this photograph, now in NLI 36208/4, has a studio name verso which
reads “S.A.P. Co. Lourenco Marques” and is catalogued as “Studio portrait of R.C.
and unidentified person seated in garden. In mount by S. A. P. Co., Lourenço
Marques. 15.3 x 21 cm”. It is just possible it was block mounted and framed in that
town, but not taken there.
10
In another photograph of the same scene used in three Mackey books/pamphlets,
the newspaper that the central European looking man with Casement is reading has
“St Paul” (I presumed St Paul de Loanda in Angola – however could it not be Sao
Paolo?) on the masthead. There are also African servants in Arab-style clothes in
this photograph. If it is not Dorbritz, as I wrote, then it must be Fritz Pincus,
Casement’s great friend in Mozambique. He was there twice between 1895 and
1900.Caption texts are not present in this computer version.]
-- p. 464 After “wholly impossible today” add “…I do not think anyone was ever put in a
more atrocious position” [13 words omitted by typesetter]
-- p. 483 Delete “who may have been this individual.” and replace with “[David
Ramsay’s 2008 book ‘Blinker Hall’ – Spymaster explains Richard 2nd Lord Herschell
and Claud Serocold were Hall’s personal assistants in Room 40. Herschell had been
Lord Aberdeen’s private secretary from 1905 to 1907 when Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland.]”
-- p. 485 After “male shorthand writer” add “P.C. Gill,”
-- p. 486 Replace “But which Hall? The assumption was that the person who spoke of a
festering sore was Captain Blinker Hall. Yet it seems it may not have been him, rather
Major Frank Hall who used the phrase. According to Alice Green, Casement told her it
was the higher in rank of the two, who alluded several times to the festering sore. iii A
Major is a higher army rank than Captain but junior to a naval Captain, so confusion still
lingers.”
with “But which Hall? The assumption has been that the person who spoke of a festering
sore was Captain Blinker Hall. Yet it is possible it was Major Frank Hall who used the
phrase. According to Alice Green, Casement told her it was the higher in rank of the two
who alluded several times to the festering sore.iv A Major is a higher army rank than
Captain but junior to a naval Captain, so confusion has lingered.” However the rank of
‘Captain’ is given by Casement in his 64-page typed brief to counselv so it was Blinker
not Frank, although they were two of a kind.”
-- p. 495 After “English and Protestant” add “[The earliest non-official reference to
Casement probably being gay occurs in Edward Carpenter’s diary when Sidney
Parry weekended with him. Carpenter noted on Saturday 6 November 1915,
“Sidney Parry at 6 p.m. Music in evg. Sunday. Morning walk with P. Talk about
Casement (? homogenic), E.D. Morel, Northcliffe & the Govt. Robert Kay in to tea.
Mon Parry off…” (Sheffield Archives Carp Mss 259 (film 27)). He also noted on 15
July 1916, “Talk of Casement” with Nevinson.” and on 16 July 1916, “Wrote to
Asquith. Plea for Casement.” (Sheffield Archives Carp Mss 260 (film 27)). For
Parry to have even stayed with the notorious homosexual and socialist writer,
Edward Carpenter, indicates someone at least very tolerant, if not most likely gay
himself.]”
-- p. 495 After “Casement’s friend Dick Morten.” add “[Baptist Morten, if a son, can at
most have been a teenager. Mrs May Morten, was born in 1869 and married c.
March 1889.]”
-- p. 501 After ‘It was her son Winthrop, later a famous alpinist, who had bathed with
Casement in the 1890s. Years later and less entranced than his mother (and other young
people) he recalled how “Casement was a word spinner, a charmer. With his lovely soft
beguiling voice he would spin you castles in the air – celestial rose-tinted shimmering
11
castles. And while he was speaking, you felt that little else mattered. But he was
humourless – had absolutely no sense of fun.”’vi add “[Lady Young was the daughter of
a famous doctor, Evory Kennedy of Belgard, Co Dublin born in Carndonagh, Co
Donegal in 1806 and an unsuccessful home rule candidate for Donegal in 1874. She
was a member of the Anglo-Irish committee organising the acquisition of arms for
the Irish Volunteers in 1914 along with her cousin Alice Stopford Green, Lord
Ashbourne, Molly Childers, Mary Spring-Rice and her cousins Hugh and Conor
O’Brien. Her son, the mountaineer Geoffrey Winthrop Young (1876-1958), was gay.
Another was the 1st Lord Kennet.]”
-- p. 509 Change “obligingly sent from America a copy” to “obligingly provided by
Richard Meyer with a copy”
-- p. 516 Change “an vindictive” to “a vindictive” [typo - Adcock references]
-- p. 527 line 6 After “been” add “had” and change “possibility” to “probability”.
-- p. 528 Change “Indeed to this day the PRO at Kew has” to “Indeed until recently
corrected the National Archives at Kew had”
-- p. 536 Change “Yeat’s” to “Yeats’s”
-- p. 541 Change “Clare” to “Claire” twice and after “romantic interest.” add “[The
Hobson marriage did not last. There were two children.]”
-- p. 542 Change “words ‘diaries’” to “word ‘diaries’”
-- p. 554 Change “It is indicated by B.L. Reid that Bigger buried the Ardrigh trunk or
boxvii only later exhuming it, and then reading the papers he found inside. Disturbed by
what he read - and had possessed - Bigger was then said to have burnt every scrap of
paper therein. Reid’s reference for the burying story cannot be traced although even
Herbert Mackey, in his 1962 book, accepts that Bigger set about destruction, stating
however that it was “secret political papers” that were burnt.” to “It is indicated by B.L.
Reid that Bigger buried the Ardrigh trunk or boxviii only later exhuming it, and then
reading the papers he found inside. Disturbed by what he read - and had possessed Bigger was then said to have burnt every scrap of paper therein. (Reid gave an incorrect
reference of NLI MS 17026) for the burying story. Herbert Mackey, in his 1962 book,
accepts that Bigger set about destruction, stating however that it was “secret political
papers” that were burnt.
Casement wrote on 26 March 1916 (in NLI MS 17021) “These and many more letters
& papers dealing with my past are in the custody of Francis Joseph Bigger, Ardrigh,
Antrim Road, Belfast, a Solicitor. He was a close friend of mine & a nationalist – but
now doubtless has been swept off his feet.
However I am sure he would not give up my papers to the Govt. – & he buried them –
or hid them I know, for I wrote to him from N. York before I sailed for Germany asking
him to do this & got a reply that it had been done. So little had I “worked” against
England or meditated treason that I have left all my other things at the mercy of the Govt.
I had boxes of valuable papers &c. &c. in store with Agents in London.
Allison & Son
Farringdon Road
E.C.
Also others at Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, Ireland.
12
The former are surely long since in the possession of the Br. Govt. – the latter less
important – chiefly books I had collected for years & are probably safe as they were in
the hands of a staunch nationalist – Stephen Clarke.”
-- p. 557 Change “America, “Yes that beauty Bigger turned right over.” She explained
the alienation facing her in Co. Antrim after the war started, “I may as well tell you it was
not one house in a thousand I could get into.”ix In an ominous hint of what Casement’s
new Ireland might have been like, he replied on 17 April 1915 “Do not judge the Bigger
boy too harshly. He may have thought she was one of those servants of the king that has
made themselves such a plague to you for the last few months. In any case let us wait for
an explanation and addresses of your tormentors for future reference at least.” x” to
“America to her brother, “Yes that beauty Bigger turned right over.” She explained the
alienation facing her in Co. Antrim after the war started, “I may as well tell you it was not
one house in a thousand I could get into.”xi
In an ominous hint of what Casement’s new Ireland might have been like, McGarrity
earlier wrote on 17 April 1915, “Do not judge the Bigger boy too harshly. He may have
thought she was one of those servants of the King that has made themselves such a
plague to you for the last few months. In any case let us wait for an explanation. Bear up
and think of the future when old scores will be settled and we will all be happy. He added
in another letter, “Patrick did not drive all the snakes out of Ireland after all. Is it possible
for you to get the names and addresses of your tormentors for future reference at least.
When the day dawns as I think it will these Vipers should get their chastisement.”xii”
-- p. 581 After “aunt, Grace Bannister.” add “[Interestingly the 1881 census records a
servant, Jane Grace b. c. 1863 in “Colon (S W), Africa”, as living with them.]”
-- p. 582 Change “NLI Ms. unclassified.” twice to “MLI [sic] ms unclassified.” and add
after first mention “[BL Reid’s reference for the Smith’s Scribbling Diary on p. 482
of his book was printed as “NLI Ms. unclassified” but it actually read “MLI ms
unclassified.” Whether this ‘M’ is a misprint or has another meaning remains
unclear.]”
-- p. 583 Change “NLI Ms. unclassified” to “MLI [sic] ms unclassified” [B.L Reid’s
misleading reference]
-- p. 583 Replace “operating operated” with “operated” [typo]
-- p. 585 Italicise “Brian” [of Banba]
-- p. 605 After “in London” add “(actually in 1887)”
-- p. 618 Change “Herbert O. MACKEY Roger Casement - The Secret History of the
Forged Diaries, (within also entitled Roger Casement - A Guide to the Forged Diaries)
Apollo Press, Dublin 1962: although published after The Black Diaries, this book (with
its strong photographs) ignores the diaries content and concentrates almost entirely on
discrepancies and the deceits of the British establishment. It is written from the viewpoint
of a dedicated Catholic nationalist zealot. Mackey’s views continue to live on in O
Máille, Ui Callanan and Payne’s 1994 pamphlet, The Vindication of Roger Casement Computer Analysis and Comparisons, and into a new generation of forgery conspiracy
buffs. Mackey also published a noisy, assertive 1959 pamphlet I Accuse! - A Monstrous
Fraud that Deceived Two Continents (written after inspection of the diaries at Kew).” to
“Herbert O. MACKEY Roger Casement: The Truth about the Forged Diaries, C.J.
Fallon Ltd, Dublin 1966: although published after The Black Diaries, this booklet (with
its strong photographs) ignores the diaries’ content and concentrates almost entirely on
13
discrepancies and the deceits of the British establishment. It is written from the viewpoint
of a dedicated Catholic nationalist zealot. Mackey’s views continue to live on in O
Máille, Ui Callanan and Payne’s 1994 pamphlet, The Vindication of Roger Casement Computer Analysis and Comparisons, and into a new generation of forgery conspiracy
buffs. Mackey also published a noisy, assertive 1959 pamphlet I Accuse! - A Monstrous
Fraud that Deceived Two Continents (written after inspection of the diaries at Kew) and
Roger Casement - The Secret History of the Forged Diaries, (within also entitled Roger
Casement - A Guide to the Forged Diaries) Apollo Press, Dublin 1962.”
-- p. 624 After “Accession 4902” add “Since publication, this accession with its 31
folders has been fully catalogued. Its contents are now in MSS. 36199-36212 and detailed
in a further Casement special catalogue entitled “Collection List No. 103: Roger
Casement Additional Papers. References mentioning Acc 4902 have added at end “(now
in MSS. 36199-36212).”” [Acc 4902 catalogued]
-- p. 636 ref 153 Change “It may be Ingham who was to write anonymously in 1916, to
those gathering signatures for the reprieve, saying “Can you get a message through to the
one of whom we are all thinking? I saw a dead man in a fight/And I think that man was I
– Masala at Viri in 1886. NLI 13088” to “Another old comrade, A. Werner, wrote, in
1916, to those gathering signatures for the reprieve, saying “Can you get a message
through to the one of whom we are all thinking? It is only this. I saw a dead man in a
fight/And I think that man was I – Masala at Vivi in 1886. Perhaps you have not
forgotten. There is no name or date on this 4-sided note (NLI MS 13088/9) but it has to
be the enclosure mentioned in Werner’s letter of 30 July 1916 to H.W. Nevinson (NLI
MS 13078/3) where Deane, Glave, Antone Swinburne, and Skagerstrom are described as
Old Congo comrades who “are all gone” who would otherwise “have come forward”,
even Coquilhat would, adding “You? did not know “Masala”. He went before the others,
except Deane.”
Years earlier, Casement wrote to Herbert Ward (NLI MS 13078/1) saying he had been
told by Tanqueray that “poor old Ingham is dead too! Killed by an elephant [in
November 1893] – his rifle having jammed…Alas, another of our dear friends gone”
adding that Tanqueray himself was also killed by an elephant! The other recently
deceased were Reginald Heyn who died on 2 June 1892 in St Paul de Loanda, and Major
William Parminter who died in Nice of liver disease on 24 January 1894 not long after
his 8 June 1892 marriage to Miss Heyn.”
[32 (and one ibid) NYPL references were incorrect e.g. “NYPL Maloney Papers,
Box 2/42” should be “NYPL Maloney Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box 3
Fol. 3.” The new catalogue has also since been renumbered. Folder (i.e. the second)
numbers were up to 119 where none now is above 21. They are sometimes guessed.
http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/maloneyihp.pdf]
-- p. 635 ref 40 Change “Papers, Box 2” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box 3
Fol. 3”
-- p. 635 ref 69 Add “. A further Casement notebook was purchased in 2003 by the NLI.
Now MS 39120 and dating from 1895 to 1900, it was probably sold by Elspeth Parry’s
son John. It includes many African and Irish poems and some military details relating to
Lourenco Marques.”
-- p. 636 ref 124 Change “Papers, Box 41” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
2 Fol. 19”
14
-- p. 636 ref 222 Add at end “See also See T Butler Blunt (McIntosh county) in Georgia
State Gazetteer, Business and Planter’s Directory, Vol. II, 1881-82.”
-- p. 637 ref 285 Change “Papers, Box 22” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
1 Fol. 15-20”
-- p. 637 ref 299 Change “Papers, Box 2/42” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers,
Box 3 Fol. 3”
-- p. 638 ref 412 Change “Papers, Box 56” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
3 Fol. 3”
-- p. 638 ref 420 Change “Papers, Box 1/1” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
7 Fol. 16-17”
-- p. 638 ref 421 Change “Sheelagh” to “Shelagh”
-- p. 638 ref 423 Change “Papers, Box 3” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box 3
Fol. 1 to Mrs Gavan Duffy”
-- p. 638 ref 445 Change “Meyer” to “Meyers”
-- p. 639 ref 456 Change “Copy of page supplied to author by Roger Sawyer.” to “Copy
of page supplied to author by Roger Sawyer where Ward wrote of Morten that he was “an
old friend of my father, and his family had lived for centuries at the Savoy Farm (always
known as ‘The Savvy’) an ancient house containing some delightful Elizabethan
frescoes…Dick had recently sold ‘The Savvy’ to the Mosleys.”
-- p. 639 refs 558 & 580 Change “NLI 13,080/2/ii” to “NLI 13,080/2/i” [‘Geo. B.
Michell to Roger Casement 2 letters; 1911-12’]
-- p. 640 ref 606 Change “Papers, Box 1/27” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers,
Box 1 Fol. 14”
-- p. 640 ref 617 Change “Papers, Box 1” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box 1
Fol. 6-10”
-- p. 640 ref 670 Change “Papers, Box 29” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
2 Fol. 4”
-- p. 640 ref 675 Change “Papers, Box 27” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
3 Fol. 1” [This refers to a letter Casement wrote under the pseudonym of ‘a lawyer’
to a New York newspaper in August 1914 – the NYPL box ref no. is assumed]
-- p. 640 ref 680 Change “Papers, Box 2” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box 2
Fol. 3”
-- p. 641 ref 715 Change “Papers, Box 20” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
1 Fol. 15-20”
-- p. 641 ref 736 Change “Papers, Box 21” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
1 Fol. 15-20”
-- p. 641 ref 761 Change “Papers, Box 21” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
1 Fol. 15-20”
- p. 641 ref 778 Change “Papers, Box 40 to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box 2
Fol. 14-15””
-- p. 641 ref 780 Change “Papers, Box 21” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
1 Fol. 4”
-- p. 641 ref 784 After “De Courcy Ireland p. 18.” add “Hugh Casement says “Spindler
wrote ‘romanhaft’ not ‘romanschaft’ which de Courcy Ireland translated as romantically.
That would be romantisch, which I maintain was not the intention. A better translation
would perhaps be "in the manner of a romance" – a tale of derring-do.””
15
-- p. 641 ref 791 Change “Papers,” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box 7 Fol. 1”
-- p. 641 ref 796 Change “Papers, Box 40” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
2 Fol. 14-15”
-- p. 641 ref 798 Change “Papers, Box 40” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
2 Fol. 14-15”
-- p. 641 ref 798 Add at end “; also see NLI 5244 (original).”
-- p. 642 ref 862 Add “& PRO HO 144/1636/311643/3A”
-- p. 642 ref 904 Change “T/3306/F4” to “D3905/A/4”
-- p. 642 ref 919 Change “T/3306/F/4” to “T3306/F4”
-- p. 642 ref 941 Change “Papers, Box 23” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
7 Fol. 5”
-- p. 643 ref 943 Change “Papers, Box 40” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
2 Fol. 14-15”
-- p. 643 ref 973 Change “Papers, Box 3” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box 1
Fol. 3”
-- p. 643 ref 989 Change “Papers, Box 18” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
1 Fol. 15-20”
-- p. 643 ref 990 After “PRO CSC 11/47” add “. TCD has made a similar mistake
regarding schoolbooks.”
-- p. 643 ref 1017 Change “Papers, Box 2/42” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers,
Box 3 Fol. 3”
-- p. 643 ref 1024 Change “Papers, Box 7/119” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers,
Box 5 Fol. 12”
-- p. 643 ref 1025 Change “NLI 15138” to “NLI 13158/7 (both letters)”
-- p. 644 ref 1056 Change “NLI 17026” to “NLI 17021”
-- p. 644 ref 1049 Change “Papers, Box 6” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
6 Fol. 9”
-- p. 644 ref 1054 Change “Papers, Box 7/119” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers,
Box 5 Fol. 11”
-- p. 644 ref 1065 After “NLI 17599/2” add “. McGarrity wrote to Nina under the
pseudonym Catherine Bigley on 17 April 1915 and a second time in 1915 without a
date.”
-- p. 644 ref 1072 Change “Papers, Box 6” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
6 Fol. 10-16”
-- p. 644 ref 1083 Change “D/3084/T/16” to “D3084/T/1/16”
p. 644 ref 1095 Change “Papers, Box 2/33” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
2 Fol. 19”
-- p. 644 ref 1098 Change “Papers, Box 2” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
2 Fol. 19”
-- p. 644 ref 1111 Change “T/3306/D/1” to “T3306/D1”
-- p. 644 ref 1117 Change “D/3306/D/3A” to “T3306/D3A”
-- p. 645 ref 1148 Change “Papers, Box 6” to “Collection of Irish Historical Papers, Box
6 Fol. 10-16”
-- p. 646 Add at index beginning “Those entries in bold are major characters or
significant issues.”
-- p. 646 Change “Sheelagh” to “Shelagh”
16
-- p. 646 Add “Alsace-Lorraine, 180”
-- p. 646 Change “Augusto, variously Gomez dos Santos, Pavanes, and of Tavares” to
“Augusto, variously Gomes and Gomez dos Santos, and of Tavares, his book store
workplace”
-- p. 647 in index entry for Bernstorff add “von” before “(German” and remove space.
-- p. 647 Change Bertie entry “332-3.” to “332-3”
-- p. 647 Change “Boisfayon” to “Boisragon”
-- p. 647 Change “Blunt (Blunte) Sheriff J.” to “Blunt (Blunte) Sheriff T.” [See T Butler
Blunt (McIntosh county) in Georgia State Gazetteer, Business and Planter’s
Directory, Vol. II, 1881-82]
-- p. 649 in index under Italy delete “569”, and replace “576” with “577”;
-- p. 649 in index under Poetry change “568, 572” to “568-72”
-- p. 650 Add “Craig, Dr Maurice, 10”
-- p. 650 Change “Dorbritz” to “Dorbritz, Paul, from Alsace”
-- p. 651 After “José Gonzalez (Iquitos boy),” add “variously Gonzalaz and Gonzales,”
-- p. 652 in index entry for Montgomery Hyde change “572” to “570”
-- p. 653 in index entry for Ernest Lift delete “Paris” and add “323, 325”
-- p. 654 Change “H. McNally” to “Henry McNally”
-- p. 654 Add “Mander, Dr Percy, 10”
-- p. 654 Change “Jean” Marchal to “Jules” Marchal
-- p. 656 Switch “88” from Parminter, Alfred to “Parminter, Major W.G.” and change to
“Parminter, Major William Georges”
-- p. 657 Add “Sierra Leone, 82, 90, 91, 104, 119, 213, 258 (a person)”
-- p. 658 Add “Smith, Dr R. Percy, 10”
17
i
NLI 17590/4
Sawyer 1997 pp. 21 & 59
iii
NLI Acc 4902 Folder 19 (now in MSS. 36199-36212)
iv
NLI Acc 4902, Folder 19
v
NLI 17420
vi
MacColl p. 301-2
vii
B.L. Reid p. 472 & NLI 17026
viii
B.L. Reid p. 472 & NLI 17021
ix
NLI 13076/2/ii
x
NLI 17599
xi
NLI 13076/2/ii
xii
NLI 17599/2. McGarrity wrote to Nina under the pseudonym Catherine Bigley on 17 April 1915 and a
second time without a date possibly also in 1915.
ii
18