Richard Whittington-Egan was an author who published many
works on two particular themes, the city of Liverpool and meticulously
researched ‘true crime’ studies. For anyone interested in Liverpool’s past his
two works Liverpool Colonnade (his first published work written in 1955)
and Liverpool Roundabout are essential reading, being delightful
collections of essays across a wide range of topics and people.
He was born in Liverpool on 22nd October 1924,
the son of Irish-born Cyril Whittington Egan and his wife Helen Margaret
Zeugheer Hermann (née Barrington). She was the grand-daughter of Jakob Herrman
Zeugheer, the first Principal Conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. His
birth certificate must have been a sizeable document as he was christened
Richard Alphonse Bernard Barrington Carrington Whittington-Egan. His father
died in 1941 aged just 46. The family spent part of the year in their house in
Kensington, London, their Liverpool home being at 34 Princes Park Mansions L8
and then 148 Queens Drive L18.
He attended Stonyhurst College, the famous Jesuit school
near Clitheroe and then went on to study medicine. The war curtailed his course
and he served in the army in Europe, becoming ill in Italy and having to
abandon his medical studies. He turned his attention to writing and worked as a
freelance journalist for many publications. His crime works have covered many
famous murders of the 20th century and he established himself as an
expert on Jack the Ripper with his Casebook of Jack the Ripper [1975].
After the war he lived at 55 Queens Drive L18 later moving
to Malvern. He died on 14th September 2016 in Worcester.
