Jack the Ripper in KZN
VIDEO: Jack the Ripper – ripping it up at the Dargle
Evidence has been found that suggests that the character known as Jack the Ripper once resided in the Dargle in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He is known to have frequented Singletons bar, which is now located in the hotel called Tanglewood Country House. The Ripper also never paid for his drinks. Check out this very professionally made mini-docy from Witnessonline.
Jack the Ripper at the Dargle
DID Jack the Ripper once stand drinks at the bar of the Tanglewood Country House in the Dargle? Well, if he did, he didn’t pay for them.
The hotel that is now called Tanglewood Country House was originally a house built by Alfred Singleton in 1864. It was then rebuilt in 1885 by his son, Gilbert Singleton.
Some accounts have the Fannin family involved with the hotel. Certainly it was Thomas Fannin who settled in the area in 1847, and coming across a stream that reminded him of the Dargle stream in his native Ireland, named his farm after it. In time this became the name for the entire valley.
In 1888, a familiar face at the bar of Singleton’s Hotel was a Mr Demming who had leased nearby Portmore House. He gained a reputation for ordering rounds of drinks and then forgetting to pay. Being a likeable chap this foible was overlooked and a bar tab opened on his behalf.
One day Demming (a.k.a. Jack) invited everyone to a lavish tennis party at Portmore with catering provided by the hotel. When the bill was sent the following day it was discovered Demming had skipped along with all his belongings. Bill and bar tab remained unpaid. And so the tale of the thrifty English rogue entered local folklore.
- Was it really the notorious Jack the Ripper in Kwa-Zulu Natal?
Read the rest of the Jack the Ripper in the Dargle story here
