Detective Chief Inspector John George Littlechild (21 December 1848 – 2 January 1923) was the first commander of the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Metropolitan Police Special Irish Branch, renamed

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

in 1888. Littlechild was born in Royston,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. By 1871, he was a Detective

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. He was promoted to Detective

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

in 1878. The Special Irish Branch was formed in 1883. It was technically under the command of Detective Chief Inspector

Adolphus Williamson Adolphus Frederick "Dolly" Williamson (1830 – 9 December 1889) was the first head of the Detective Branch of the Metropolitan Police and the first head of the Detective Branch's successor organisation, the Criminal Investigation Department ...

, but since he was also responsible for the whole

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...

(CID), Littlechild, as his deputy, was always in effective control. Although he is not thought to have had any direct involvement in the

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...

investigation, in September 1913 he wrote a letter to journalist G. R. Sims, in which he identified a "Doctor T" (whom he described as "an American quack named Tumblety") as a likely suspect. Littlechild was promoted to Detective Chief Inspector in 1891. He resigned from the Met in 1893 and worked as a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

. He worked for the prosecution in the

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

case. In November 1902 he served divorce papers on Arthur Reginald Baker, who days later was murdered by his lover

Kitty Byron Emma "Kitty" Byron (1878 – after 1908) was a British murderess found guilty in 1902 of stabbing to death her lover Arthur Reginald Baker, for which crime she was sentenced to death. This was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. Bac ...

References

Notes

*Various contemporary articles in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 1848 births 1923 deaths Police detectives Metropolitan Police officers People from Royston, Hertfordshire Private investigators {{UK-law-bio-stub