In May 1881, a rather curious case came before the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey) in London. Merchant captain George “Drevor” was accused of sending threatening letters to the Commissioner of Wreck (the British official responsible for investigating shipwrecks of British merchant vessels), Mr Henry Cadogan Rothery. Drevor had been captain and part owner of the Norfolk, which had stranded on Hartwell Reef in the CapeVerde Islands in July 1878. It appears there was a series of unfortunate events in which a mistake in navigation was made, currents were overlooked, the ship’s cargo of groundnuts somehow blocked the pumps, and in order to man them the lookout was taken from his primary duty, leading to the boat colliding with the reef. In October 1879, the Commissioner of Wreck clearly stated “Drevar”, along with the second officer, who appeared to have had an alcohol problem, was responsible for the shipwreck. Drevor/Drevar’s captain’s license was suspended for six months.
Drevar (for that was his real name) seems to have strongly resented the outcome of the enquiry, which he regarded as unfair, but this was not his sole bone of contention with the Commissioner. “Some evidence was given showing that the prisoner believed in the existence of the sea serpent, and the prisoner himself stated that his conduct had been partly caused by the insults he had received from Mr Rothery, because Drevar, in his own words “was doing the Almighty’s work in making his wonders known”. Drevar’s belief in the great sea-serpent is not alluded to in the Commissioner’s report, so it is unclear in what context Rothery brought up the matter of the sea serpent.
Drevar was clearly under great strain in this period, possibly acerbated by the fact the was uninsured. He proceeded to unwisely harass the Commissioner by sending letters that apparently threatened Rothery with murder as well as calling him “an unfeeling brute” and a “modern Jesuit”. Naturally, such activities came to the attention of the police, and in April 1881 Drevar was remanded in custody by none other than Inspector Donald Swanson of Scotland Yard who would, but a few years later, lead the investigation into Jack the
