Medal awarded to Scots cop who hunted Jack the Ripper could fetch thousands when it goes under the hammer

DAILYMAIL.COM • 10h ago

By JAMES PODESTA 18:00 09 Oct 2026, updated 18:00 09 Oct 2026

The medal awarded to the Scottish police inspector who led the Jack the Ripper investigation has emerged for sale for £2,000.

Inspector Donald Swanson, the son of a brewer, was born in Geise, near Thurso, in Caithness, in 1848.

The Highlander moved to England as a young man and worked as a clerk in London before joining the Metropolitan Police as a 20-year-old.

He was two decades into his policing career when the notorious serial killer terrorised the streets of Whitechapel in 1888.

Swanson was placed in charge of the high-profile manhunt following the brutal murder of Annie Chapman, Ripper’s second victim.

Her mutilated body had been found in the backyard of 29 Hanbury Street on September 8, that year.

Despite Swanson’s best efforts, Ripper committed three more murders and to this day his identity remains a mystery.

His Metropolitan Jubilee medal, inscribed ‘Inspr D Swanson A Divn’, is going under the hammer at auctioneers Charterhouse, of Sherborne, Dorset.

They said it was worth 40 times more than a regular Jubilee medal because of its association with the Ripper murders.

Auctioneer Richard Bromell said: ‘The medal was given to the owner several years ago by his father, a serial collector of the weird and wonderful from taxidermy to telescopes, although it is not known how he came to own it.

‘Usually Metropolitan Jubilee Medals fetch about £50 but with the Jack the Ripper connection this one could sell for thousands of pounds.’

Swanson prevented Fenian terrorist attacks in the 1880s and also recovered the stolen jewels of the Earl of Bective’s wife.

He was promoted to Superintendent in 1896 and retired from the force after 35 years service in 1903.

Jack the Ripper murdered Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly.

Ms Nichols’ body was discovered on August 31 in Buck’s Row with her throat slashed and other horrific injuries.

Ms Stride and Ms Eddowes were both killed in the early hours of September 30.

Ms Stride’s body was found in Dutfield’s Yard with her neck slashed but her relative lack of injuries compared to Ripper’s other victims raised suspicions that he had been interrupted in the act.

Ms Eddowes’s mutilated body was found in a corner of Mitre Square in the City of London.

Ms Kelly’s body, with her face ‘hacked beyond all recognition’, was discovered lying on the bed in the single room where she lived at 13 Miller’s Court on November 9.

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