Stephen Knight (26 September 1951 – 25 July 1985) was a British journalist and author. He is best remembered for the books '' Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution'' (1976) and ''The Brotherhood'' (1984).

Life and works

Born in Hainault in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

as Stephen Victor Knight, he attended West Hatch Technical High School, at nearby

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the Londo ...

. He was not successful academically,Obituary for Knight
on Casebook: Jack the Ripper by

Richard Whittington-Egan Richard Whittington-Egan (22 October 1924 – 14 September 2016) was a British writer and criminologist, the author of ''Liverpool Colonnade'' and ''Liverpool Roundabout'', two colourful chronicles of Liverpool's historical characters, crimes and ...

and after leaving school at 16 Knight went to work as a salesman for the

London Electricity Board The London Electricity Board was the public sector utility company responsible for the supply and distribution of electricity to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in London prior to 1990. It also sold and made available for hire and ...

in Chigwell.Adam Curti
"Suspicious Minds"
BBC Adam Curtis blog, 2 April 2014 At 18 he got a job as a reporter on the ''Ilford Pictorial'' before moving to the ''Hornchurch Echo''. His book ''Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution'' (1976) suggested that the Ripper murders were part of a

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

between

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and the British Royal Family, a claim which is not accepted by historians. Nevertheless, the book became a bestseller, and was the inspiration for several works of fiction, among them the film ''

Murder by Decree ''Murder by Decree'' is a 1979 mystery thriller film directed by Bob Clark. It features the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who are embroiled in the investigation surrounding the real-life ...

'' (1979) by

Bob Clark Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his work in the Canadian film industry throughout the 1970s and 1980s, where he was responsible ...

and the

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

From Hell ''From Hell'' is a graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell, originally published in serial form from 1989 to 1998. The full collection was published in 1999 by Top Shelf Productions. Set during the Whitechapel murders ...

'' by

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', '' V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell ...

and

Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell (born 10 August 1955) is a British comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Chicago. Probably best known as the illustrator and publisher of ''From Hell'' (written by Alan Moore), Campbell is also the creator of the semi-au ...

. In 1980, he featured in a documentary film based on his book, produced by R.W.B. Production Australia. ''The Brotherhood'' (1984) was published at a time when

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

was coming under increasing scrutiny in the United Kingdom. Knight's last book before his death was ''The Killing of Justice Godfrey'', exploring the death of

Edmund Berry Godfrey Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey (23 December 1621 – 12 October 1678) was an English magistrate whose mysterious death caused anti-Catholic uproar in England. Contemporary documents also spell the name Edmundbury Godfrey. Early life Edmund Berry Godf ...

in 1678, which had caused widespread anti-Catholic sentiment in England. In 1983 he became a religious follower of

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 11 December 193119 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and later as Osho (), was an Indian godman, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement. He was viewed as a controv ...

and, as a part of this interest, took the name Swami Puja Debal. He began to experience

epileptic seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or neural oscillation, synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much o ...

s in 1977, and in 1980 was discovered to have a brain tumour while taking part in a documentary for the ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether ...

'' television series. The tumour was removed, but returned in 1984. Knight died in July 1985 at the age of 33 while staying with friends at

Carradale Carradale ( gd, Càradal, ) is a village on the east side of Kintyre, overlooking the Kilbrannan Sound and the west coast of the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, approximately from Campbeltown. To the north of Carradale is the coastal peak ...

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

. He was buried there.

Private life

In 1976 he married Margot Kenrick, who had two daughters, Natasha and Nicole, from a previous relationship. In the same year the couple had a daughter together, Nanouska Maria Knight.Nanouska Maria Knight in the England & Wales, Birth Index, 1916-2005
-

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

The couple later separated, and in November 1980 Knight announced that, when his divorce came through, he would marry Lesley Newson, a 28-year-old researcher on ''

''. However, instead the couple later also separated. His partner during his last years was Barbara Mary Land.

Works

Non-fiction

*''Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution'' (1976) *''The Brotherhood'' (1984) *''The Killing of Justice Godfrey: an investigation into England's most remarkable unsolved murder'' (1984)

Fiction

*''Requiem at Rogano'' (1979)

Film

* ''Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution (1980)''

References

External links

Stephen Knight obituary
*
Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution (1980) on IMDb
' *'' Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution (1980) on the Internet Archive'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Stephen 1951 births 1985 deaths Anti-Masonry Deaths from brain tumor English non-fiction crime writers English non-fiction writers People from Hainault English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers Rajneesh movement Burials in Scotland