The Jack the Ripper Location Photographs: Dutfield's Yard and the Whitby Collection
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ENVELOPE 2: ‘2 Views Chambers ST. 2 Views Swallow Grds. As you can see there’s not much to see here. Swallow Gardens is nothing but an unused Archway now, Closed at one end.’
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) This view was taken from Royal Mint Street, looking north. Today, the Docklands Light Railway emerges for the first time into the open air in the foreground at this exact spot. This photograph, and those that follow, are intriguing. The murder of Frances Coles at this location on 13 February 1891 is seldom classed as a Ripper killing, although it is generally acknowledged to be the final Whitechapel Murder. Until very recently, the site of Swallow Gardens was incorrectly identified. The sole remaining thoroughfare between Chamber Street and Royal Mint Street is Abel’s Buildings, much closer to the junction with Leman Street. There had been an assumption for many years that this must have previously been known as Swallow Gardens. However, recent research showed beyond doubt that it actually lay close to the Mansell Street end, further west. Subsequent closure of the arch and later arrangements of overhead railway lines had made the spot appear inconspicuous. What is striking here is that Whitby was able to identify the correct location over four decades before the rest of the Ripper historians caught up with him. The tower here visible matches with a view from the Illustrated Police News from 1891 (the tower itself having been removed some years ago now, perhaps adding to the confusion). Thus only two conclusions can be reached; either Whitby had access to papers and documents not many people had seen at that time (perhaps possessing original copies of the highly valuable Illustrated Police News himself), or he had spoken to locals whose parents – or even themselves – may have recalled the events and could still correctly identify the location. The discovery of this image was a vindication of the research undertaken in modern times.
A drawing from the Illustrated Police News, February 1891, showing the same view with the tower in place (Courtesy Robert Clack)
Inside Swallow Gardens in 2009, a spot seldom seen
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Chamber Street looking west towards Mansell Street. Taken into the direction of the sun, this shows the photograph was taken in the afternoon. In comparing the Whitby image and the modern shot, it is obvious that the terrace of old cottages on the southern side have been replaced. Curiously, however, the floor lights in the pavement on the right still exist.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Chamber Street looking east towards Leman Street. Running off to the left is Yeoman’s Yard. A pram is visible further down the street. This view has clearly changed a great deal but the double-gabled building halfway down the street is still in use.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) The entrance to Swallow Gardens from Chamber Street. At the time of Whitby’s visits, the site was even more disguised than today. The archway masonry was completely hidden behind fencing. Today, the supporting iron pillar to the right makes it plain that it is the same spot.
ENVELOPE 3: ‘Jack The Ripper’ (The exterior of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields)
The reverse of the colour photograph of 29 Hanbury Street
(Kodacolor) Backstamped ‘Kodacolor Print made by Kodak Limited London, September 1961’. Whitby has also written ’29, Hanbury St, London. 1961. One of ‘Jack the Ripper’s ports of call.’ in black ballpoint pen. Furthermore, the number ‘21’ is printed on the reverse of the image, showing this is just one image from a roll. This image is currently the only known colour photograph of 29 Hanbury Street, the murder location of Annie Chapman on 8 September 1888, in existence. As time has passed, the original photograph has faded a little and taken on a yellowish tint. Unusually, the original front door is wide open and this would suggest that Whitby had already gained permission to enter the building before the image was taken. The modern photograph is taken on the same spot which would be totally unidentifiable were it not for the fact that the buildings on the southern side of the street still stand and from the use of old maps it is possible to establish the exact location. The northern side of the street from Wilkes Street to Brick Lane was pulled down early in 1970.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Ilford) Three images of the backyard at 29 Hanbury Street. All have Whitby’s handwriting on the reverse, stating ‘1961. 29, Hanbury St, London, (Jack the Ripper)’. However, there is every reason to believe that the last of the three images was taken at a totally different time to the first two. Not only is the handwriting in blue and black inks on the first two images and only in black on the last, but the wooden boards blocking the tops of the archways into the basement have clearly been rearranged in the last photograph. What appears to be drawing on the board at the bottom left is almost certainly trails left by snails and slugs. Lastly, the actual murder spot (between the steps and fence) in the first two images is damp, yet dry in the third. In the first two images it is possible to look into the window right through the building to the street. It is also possible to see that, when Whitby entered the backyard, the front door was closed.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
ENVELOPE 4: ‘The Passage at Hanbury St. 4 Views.’
(Kodak Velox) A series of four fascinating images walking from the front door of 29 Hanbury Street towards the backyard. There is a pipe running along the ceiling and an electric light fitting, without a bulb. There is a photographic flaw on the wooden panelling in the first image, which was corrected for publication in The London of Jack the Ripper Then and Now but is here retained. The flaw was on the original negative and not the photographic print. In the second image, a loose and cut electrical cable hangs by the original door into the shop occupied by Harriet Hardiman in 1888. The third image was taken from the side of the staircase looking into the backyard. Another pipe, leading into the back room, is visible on the top right. This image makes it clear that the building had fallen into near dereliction by the 1960s, yet for most of the rest of the decade it was still in residential use. Newer cracks in the paving of the backyard, and an accumulation of junk, suggest that this series of images was taken at a different time to those taken in the backyard itself. This means Whitby visited the building, and gained access, on at least three occasions and thus infers that he had a rapport with the residents. The final image was taken looking back down the corridor to the front of the building, with the front door closed. Here, Whitby used a flash which has bleached out the right hand side of the image. It is possible to note the paving on the floor and the door leading into the back room on the left. It also shows it was impossible to walk from the front to the back of the building without turning past the staircase.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
ENVELOPE 5: ‘Mitre Square 4 Views. 2 from where the body was found. The Old houses where the body was found were demolished some time ago.’
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) The first of these images was taken on a different day to the others. The differences in the displays in the flower boxes and the car in the corner confirm this. The rest of the group were, however, taken at the same time as is evidenced by the flowers and dustbins. This photograph shows the entrance to Mitre Square from Mitre Street, the irregularities in the uniformity of the pavements all too apparent. These have all changed today.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Totally blank, but probably Kodak Velox) Looking towards St James’s Passage from the colloquially named ‘Ripper’s Corner’. Ghosts of the lettering on the old Kearley & Tonge building, dating from before the murders, are still visible on the wall. Kearley & Tonge later became International Stores who, in turn, are now better known as Somerfield. It appears here that the alleyway wa
s further into the corner of the Square than today, but this is simply because the buildings on the eastern side extended further in than the modern wall. Priory House, dating from 1980 and visible in the 2009 image, has – at the time of writing – been empty for some years. It will most likely be demolished.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Looking up Church Passage from ‘Ripper’s Corner’. On the pilaster buttress right of the white doorway, you can see the blue plaque informing the reader that Mitre Square stands on the site of the Priory of the Holy Trinity. It is still on show to this day. Modern constructions, presumably in Middlesex Street, are just visible in the distance on the 1961 shot. The overpass in the top right corner was added to the Kearley & Tonge buildings in the middle of the twentieth century.
(Kodak Velox) Looking towards ‘Ripper’s Corner’ from St James’s Passage. None of these buildings, including those in Mitre Street beyond, survive. The spot where Catherine Eddowes died on 30th September 1888 is just where the low brick wall with the white band terminates. The buildings in this corner were demolished in the 1940s and the remaining walls were shortened. Prior to this demolition, the pavement here curved to the left to sweep around to the pavement with the dustbins but, by 1961, we see it has been changed. Likewise, a high wooden fence and gateway at the spot was removed. The lamp affixed to the building in the centre of the picture was added after the murder. By 2009, the corner had changed again, with nothing original remaining. Even the setts in the Square have been re-laid and may include only a small fraction of the original ones. The buildings to the left have been replaced with the playground of the Sir John Cass Foundation School. It was present at the time of the murders, although the current main building is Edwardian.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
ENVELOPE 6: ‘Part of SPital Square. 3 views. I am afraid there’s not much left of the place, less than a dozen houses. as you can see, the rest is taken up by a school and the market buildings.’
(Kodak Velox) The houses along the eastern side of Spital Square. This set of three were clearly taken at the same time because of the position of the single car in all the photographs. It is unknown why Whitby considered Spital Square to be important enough to warrant three photographs. Its sole connection to the Ripper case lies in the fact that the police surgeon, George Bagster Phillips, lived at 2 Spital Square, but this was demolished in 1929. Although the porch of the second building down has been recycled, the frontages there today are not the same ones visible in the 1961 photographs.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Looking north towards Folgate Street. As the buildings in the middle distance have remained unchanged, this location is easy to identify although the buildings down the main body of Spital Square have all gone.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Looking south from Folgate Street towards Spitalfields Market, in the same position as the first image. The building on the right is recognisable for it is around here that the closing sequence of the ignored evangelist in the famed travelogue The London Nobody Knows was filmed in 1967.
ENVELOPE 7: ‘Heneage ST. 2 Views’
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Again, a street with only the most tenuous of connections to the Whitechapel Murders and an unusual choice for Whitby’s attention. The near part of the street has remained unaltered, though greater redevelopment has occurred further to the east. The difference in the pictures is marked by the greater human presence and the ubiquitous road works. Even today, you will see very little traffic moving on this part of Heneage Street. Note the child’s tricycle by the street lamp on the right.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) From the other end of Heneage Street, looking west. This photograph was almost definitely taken on a different day to the preceding one. The Kodak backstamp on the paper is far fainter, the image is 3mm shorter in width and the toning of the paper is different. Besides this, everything in the street has changed. Cars have moved and there is very little rubbish on the road. This second image was taken in the later afternoon. Most of the buildings in the foreground have gone but the spot is still determinable because of the vehicle entrance into the building on the left.
ENVELOPE 8: ‘Bucks Row was Durward ST. 2 Views from where the body was found.’
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Incorrect juxtaposition of the past and present street name aside, this is a most unusual pair of photographs because Whitby does not appear to have taken an image of the actual murder spot but has instead opted to take photographs looking west and east whilst standing on it. It would not have been difficult for him to find the spot of the murder of Mary Ann Nichols on 31 August 1888 as both Leonard Matters and William Stewart had clearly marked them in photographic reproductions in their books from 1928 and 1938. It is possible that Whitby did, in fact, photograph the relevant gateway but the image has been lost. This picture shows the tall wall over the railway line on the left, still extant, and part of the old Board School beyond. The warehouses seen here on the northern side have long gone, making Durward Street a more open place. Small flaws on the negative indicate this may be a slightly later reprint.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Totally blank, but probably Kodak Velox) Looking east from the murder spot. The warehouses of Brown & Eagle Ltd occupy most of the northern side. This image has slightly different toning to the preceding one, so it may have been taken at a different time or the first image is, as stated, a reprint. Most interesting here is the fencing on the right. This dates the image to the interim between the destruction of New Cottage in World War Two and the construction of a garage on this spot. In the 1950s, a motor repair business lay behind. This may well be the only image known to exist from that period.
ENVELOPE 9: ‘Old Montagu ST’
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) A fascinating image, looking east from the junction with Brick Lane and Osborn Street. Yet again, it is unknown why Whitby chose to photograph this spot when, if he had turned around, he could have taken a picture of the site of the fatal attack upon Emma Smith on 3 April 1888. Whitby erroneously missed the ‘e’ off the end of ‘Montague’. The Whitechapel Mortuary had lain a short distance off the far point of this image. Research on old maps suggested the correct location of this picture, which was confirmed by the presence of the squat brick building on the right – the only thing visible here that survives today. In the 1990s, the street was entirely ripped down and widened considerably. The location of the buildings on the left is now in the middle of the road.
ENVELOPE 10: ‘Dorset Street 2 Veiws.’
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Both these images were almost certainly taken on the same day as the corridor in Hanbury Street and those of Spital Square; all the locations are close together and all these are the only 3.5” square photographs in the collection. It is not surprising that Whitby titled these envelopes as ‘Dorset Street’ (the site of the infamous murder of Mary Jane Kelly on 9 November 1888), although it was renamed Duval Street in 1904. The buildings on the right, belonging to the London Fruit Exchange, were constructed in 1929 following the demolition of the original buildings. The buildings on the left came down two years after this photograph was taken. The second building down the street had been the location of a fatal gangland shooting the previous year. The cars on the left are close to the spot where the alley of Miller’s Court once ran.
(Courtesy Margaret Whitby-Green)
(Kodak Velox) Again, small flaws on the negative suggest this may be a later reprint but it was clearly taken at the same time as the image shot from the other direction.
The Dutfield’s Yard Photograph
The internet auction site eBay is a curious place. A seller may give a detailed description of an it
em and, because the very nature of transactions on eBay are usually long-distance, when the item arrives it is usually as expected but can also be considerably better or considerably worse. It is the nature of the beast. I have been buying and selling copious amounts of goods on eBay (at the time of writing about 10,000 transactions) since early 2004 and have, through hours of painstaking scanning of daily listings, managed to acquire some very unusual items related to criminology over the years; the handcuffs in which the first railway murderer Franz Müller was arrested, the original family photographs of John George Haigh (the acid bath murderer), an invoice signed by Dr Crippen and typed by Ethel Le Neve just before they fled the country and the final written statement from 1679 of Lawrence Hill, the day before he was executed at Tyburn for the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey. I’ve also managed to acquire many rare books on Jack the Ripper by this method, as well as documents and postcards related to the East End of that time. However, in November 2007 I noted an eBay auction that was to become heralded by some as possibly the most important photographic discovery in the case for quarter of a century.