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16, Great James' Street,
Londenderry, Feby. 15th 1916 WM Patterson wishes
to bring before the
notice of the Home Office
a few particulars of
the alleged death of
and reports in circulation
concerning the a man
called Patrick Campbell
House agent Londonderry This man formed
several Building Societies
and with the funds of one
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called the New Century
he misused in some
way, and from reports
his position had become
most critical even under
threat of Writs it is
alleged ( I understand there
is some thousands of pounds
involved) Now what is causing
much private comment
is the fact that this
Mr Campbell very
suddenly takes ill, is
nursed, medically attended,
dies, and is buried
I believe in something
like a week some reports to have it
that owing to the corpse
having turned black no
one was allowed to see his
face Though the man was
prominent in some ways
yet it is beyond a doubt
he has been a rogue
of the first water
and nothing should be
left to doubt that
there was something more
than a coffin buried
Such men must be
treated as worst class
of criminals because
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a criminal (in the sense)
only generally injures one person
or two, but Criminals of
this sort injure hundreds
and generally escape free. This is the second building
society Fraud in Derry
recently the other man did not
manage to die, he cleared
out of the country and the
law has never tryed to
bring him to justice I am interested in the
New Century society to the
extent of £200 and would
be easy in mind to know
that a second fraud has not been managed. Certificates
will not satisfy the people . Why are such men not classed
as criminals and followed to the ends
of the earth WP
This letter was written by William Patterson (b.1877), a dentist from Londonderry.
The letter is concerned with the alleged death and criminal activities of Patrick
Campbell (c.1873-1915), a housing agent from Londonderry.
The letter alleges that Patrick Campbell was involved in criminal activities in connection
with fraud and Derry building societies. Patterson mentions that due to circumstances
following Campbell's death only one person saw his body and he therefore wants proof
that Campbell is actually dead.