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

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Metropolitan Police Special Irish Branch, renamed Special Branch in 1888. Littlechild was born in Royston, Hertfordshire. By 1871, he was a Detective Sergeant. He was promoted to Detective Inspector in 1878. The Special Irish Branch was formed in 1883. It was technically under the command of Detective

Chief Inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is us ...

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 detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

(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 active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

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 and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

. He worked for the prosecution in the Oscar Wilde case. In November 1902 he served divorce papers on Arthur Reginald Baker, who days later was murdered by his lover Kitty Byron.

References

Notes

*Various contemporary articles in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

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