Talk:John Francis Peggotty

This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Biography

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography

More information:
/
	This article has been automatically rated by a bot or other tool because one or more other projects use this class. Please ensure the assessment is correct before removing the `\|auto=` parameter.
	An appropriate infobox may need to be added to this article. Please refer to the list of biography infoboxes for further information.
	An editor has requested that an image or photograph be added to this article.

Australia: Crime

John Francis Peggotty is within the scope of WikiProject Australia, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Australia and Australia-related topics. If you would like to participate, visit the project page.AustraliaWikipedia:WikiProject AustraliaTemplate:WikiProject AustraliaAustralia

???

This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

This article is supported by WikiProject Australian crime (assessed as Low-importance).

More information:
/
	This article has been marked as needing an infobox.
	Need help improving this article? Ask a Librarian^{What's this?} at the National Library of Australia.
	The Wikimedia Australia chapter can be contacted via email to helpwikimedia.org.au for non-editorial assistance.
	An editor has requested that an image or photograph be added to this article.

Ireland Low‑importance

	Ireland portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ireland, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Ireland on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.IrelandWikipedia:WikiProject IrelandTemplate:WikiProject IrelandIreland
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article has been marked as needing an infobox.
	An image is requested for this article as its inclusion will substantially increase the significance of the article. Please remove the `image-needed` parameter once the image is added.

Peggotty

The question arises: who was the "Birdman of the Coorong"? Peggotty is clearly a nom de crime, borrowing a name invented by Charles Dickens for his epic novel David Copperfield, which also supplied the nom d'étage for a 20th-century magician. The name may have been the result of mishearing or misreporting, with any number of possible Irish surnames as candidates - Haggerty, Doherty and O'Flaherty for starters, but the big question remains: how can a murderer and blackest of blackguards, particularly one with such an extraordinary modus operandi, escape the press and consequent Trove searches ? Did he take advantage of his dwarfism to trigger a D Notice? Or pretend to be under the age of criminal responsibility? Was the government afraid of exposure and hold the trial in camera? Did the bling burglar have friends in high places? One immediately thinks of John Howard Clark, influential editor of the South Australian Register, who not only had the wit of Charles Dickens, but emulated his appearance. Alas, Clark died before the ostentatious Peggotty reached these shores, and his literary successor, C. R. Wilton, who had a multitude of noms de plume, suffered from an embarras de ostriches. Doug butler (talk) 05:00, 30 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]