Whitechapel

• 'Pea Soup Fog' this was caused by Air Pollution that contains Soot Particles & the Poisonous Gas Sulphur Dioxide.

• Caused by Factories & People Burning vast amounts of coal

• By 1870s Fogs Lasted Weeks & you couldn't see other side of the road or your hand
(easy for murderer to get away & murder without the victim seeing or witnesses)

• A lots of Pubs

• Drinking was a way to Cope Living in Whitechapel
(drank their sorrows away)

• Alcohol addiction was the cause of many crimes

(all of Jack's victims were alcoholics)

• Polllution-steam trains/chimneys

• Narrow alleyways

• Terraced houses (linked)

• Overcrowded

• Outside Toilets (privies)

• Heavily populated

• Few Street Lamps

• Smog- "Pea soup fog"

1) Workhouses

2) Rookeries

3) Common Lodging Houses (dosshouses)

• Very Cramped, Run-down Houses which often had One Family or Two in a Room

• Built Cheaply with Little Consideration of Safety

• No running Water so Shared Water Pump

• Shared Block of Toilets

• People Allowed to stay for 8 hours

• You Paid for your Bed Every Night/day

• Vary in Size

• Slept in coffin like boxes

• Operated On a Relay System Day & Night

• Seperated by Gender and sometimes Married Couples

• Smelly & Unhygienic

• Provided Cheap Place To Sleep & Used Temporary Accommodation

• Run by Government because they Didn't Like Lazy People

• People were Scared of them

• Conditions Deliberately Poor Separated by Gender & Wore Uniforms

• Very Christian

• Had to do Useless Work such as "Coakum Picking" (unravelling rope)
to Stay in the Workhouse for Food and a Place to stay

• Orphans went there

• Eat in Silence

• Older people couldn't get work so Sent to Workhouses but it was Embarrassing for them because they Worked all their lives

• Little Work Available for Women Other Than Work Houses

• Many Women were Forced Into Prostitution and 90 thousand were
part-time prostitutes

• Therefore many became Alcoholics & Violent & Aggressive Behaviour occurred because of it

• Whitechapel was a dock area and it was changing as many ships docked. Transient Population.

• Sailors would live there for several weeks

• Irish Immigrants

• Fenians

• Jewish Immigrants

• Anarchists

• Socialists

• Capatalists

• They came in 1840s to the East End of London because of the Potato Famine

• The Young Irish Immigrants had plans to go to London then head to America but they ran out of money before they could find a ship.

• They did jobs such as: Labouring Jobs on Canals, Roads and railway or as Dockers On River Thames

• They weren't liked because they were Often Violent, Especially When Drunk

• They were seen as a Extremist, Religious, Terrorist Movement

• When they Organised a Bomb Attack on Clerkenwell Prison & Dynamite Sunday led to Anti-Irish & Anti-Catholic Views

Clerkenwell Prison:
Pan to Free a Finian and in the Process used Gunpowder and Ended up killing 12 people and injuring 120.

Dynamite Sunday:
Finians Launched Attack Simultaneously on a Number of London Landmarks.

• 902 Lodgers Stayed in 32 Dosshouses

• Terrible Reputation as Many Thieves, Drunks and Prostitutes because of the Worst Dosshouses

• Outside Toilet or Bucket

• Terrible Conditions some Buildings Dated back to 1600s and Ceilings & Walls Dilapidated

• Some Family's Stayed for a Few Days or a Week because they Couldn't Afford It or Move to Find Other Work

• Rents were Too High, for Many People who Lived in Area

• Tenants who got Behind Rent would Immediately be Thrown Out

• Caused Overcrowding Elsewhere

• Jews fled countries like Russia, Poland and Germany because of Violence and Abuse Against them.

• Russian Jews were victims of Progroms

• Many came to London. The Jewish population of Whitechapel had grown by 95% of the Total Population by 1888.

• Foreign Jewish Workers found work more easily and their Success was Hated.

• Jewish Immigrants with Desperate for Work And Would Accept Lower Wages meaning they were Employed Quicker Than Locals.

• Jewish Immigrants used Sweatshops to Produce Cheap Goods & other businesses could not compete with their Lower Prices.

• The Jewish Holy Day was Saturday this meant they could work on Sunday. Demands for Sunday trading was seen as Attempt to Drive Locals Out Businesses

1829: Sir Robert Peel established the Metropolitan Police

1842: The Introduction of Detectives Raised Concerns about Potential Surveillance on the Public. So, Officers were Required to Hide their Identity in Public

1870: Implemented Reforms to Enhance Recruitment Standards and Literacy among Police Officers.

1877: Corruption within the Detective Branch was exposed during 'Trial of the Detectives' revealing an International Gambling Fraud Conspiracy.

1878: Responding to corruption, Sir Charles Vincent established the Criminal Investigation Bureau

1886: Henderson resigned as Commissioner amid a Trafalgar Square Protest. He was replaced by Sir Charles Warren.

1888-89: The Whitechapel Murders, Heightened Public Concern. Jack the Ripper was never caught.

1894: New System for Identifying Suspects based on Physical Measurements & Photographs


1895: New recruitment criteria, applicants to be aged 21-27, Possess Strong Reading & Writing Skills

It was part of one of the 4 Districts of
MET Police that was Split Up Into 22 Divisions.
(one of the 22 division)

It was one of the most Feared Divisions as it was in Whitechapel.

• Walk a set Beat around Whitechapel

• At Night, Stop & Question People Out Late

• Attempt to Control Prostitution

• Host Soup Kitchens

• Look after Stray Children When Possible

•Death or Assault

• Alcoholics & Protection Racket

Following up Direct Leads from Public

Using Evidence from Postmortems:
Suggested that Jack had Knowledge of Anatomy & Dissection. Some enquiries were made at Slaughterhouses & Hospitals.\

Thought he Could have Been a Butcher, Hunter, Slaughterman, Student in Surgery or Qualified Surgeon.

Indirect Leads from Articles by Investigating Journalists:
Could be a Local Man Nicknamed 'Leather Apron' Quickly Disapproved because the Identified Suspect had Solid Alibis.

Following up on Clues in the Victims Possessions:
Visited Several-Pawnbrokers.

Visiting Asylum:
Murders were so Savage.

Interviewing Key Witness:
Elizabeth Claims a Man talking to Annie Chapman. Police ignored his evidence because Conflicted with Doctors Report About Time of Death

Setting up soup kitchens:
Not allowed to Offer Money as Reward might attract Time-Wasters

Local Police encouraged Poor people to Come Forward as a Witness by promoting a Hot Meal.

• Mary Ann Nichols, found in Buck & Rowan 31 August

• Annie Chapman found in the backyard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields on 8 September

• Elizabeth Stride sound Bernes Street on 30 September

• Catherine Eddowes found in Mitre Square, Aldgate also on 30 September

• Mary Jane Kelly found inside 13 Miller's Court, Dorset Street, Spitalfields on 9 November

Sensational Stories

• Large Competition between Newspapers led to Stories that Sensationized Details of Murders
(22 papers so wanted to sell more)

• Police Released Not Very Much Information, so Journalists Relied on Unreliable Witnesses with Information therefore ment they had Many Stories that Weren't True or were Exaggerated.
Wasted Polices Time.


For Example Annie Chapman's Rings had been ripped off and Never Found, but in some stories Journalists Claimed they had been arranged at her feet.


Press & Reputation of Police

• Newspapers Full of Witness Information & Murder Descriptions made Public Amazed that Police Hadn't Caught Jack the Ripper.
It made the Police Look Incompetent. (useless)

• The Press used this to Criticise further people like Sir Charles Warren.
(Police Commissioner)


The Ripper Letters

• They Increased Levels of Panic Amongst General Public & Led to a High Number of Information, Many turned out to Waste Police Time.

Whitechapel Vigilance Committee

• Set up by George Lusk as he Felt Not Enough, had been done to Find Killer

• Hired Two Private Detectives to Investigate Killings & Published Posters, Offering Small Reward which Led To False Information and took up More Police Time

• At night in the streets they took Burning Planks of Wood, Whistles and Hob Nail Boots to make noise to catch the Ripper

• Contributed to Attitudes to that Police Were Incompetent.
Many Supporters of Committee wanted to Embarrass Police ,Sending Them False Leads, Disrupting Work.

Lack of Forensic Techniques

This could not be used to criticise Police at the time as These Methods Didn't Exist but it Helps Explain Lack Of Success, as Police had to almost Rely on Catching Criminal In The Act
(No finger printing, mug shots, DNA, scientists couldn't detect between animal & human blood grapes let alone blood types)