The Complete and Essential Jack the Ripper
Page 26
This is Mitre Square, Duval Street (formerly Dorset Street) and Durward Street (Buck’s Row) at the time of writing. By some strange coincidence, these three significant Ripper locations are about to be given drastic overhauls that will change their appearance for ever. The buildings of Mitre Square, deemed unsatisfactory, are to be demolished imminently, to be replaced by tall glass edifices, a clean piazza and a water feature. If the planners’ desires are successful, the former Dorset Street will soon no longer exist, covered as it will be by a large office and retail block, sanctioned by the Mayor of London, but rejected by practically everyone else. Durward Street features heavily in the new Crossrail developments and, if the developers’ plans are anything to go by, will soon be invaded by parts of an extended Whitechapel station.
What is happening in the East End is no different from what happened in the grand sweep of redevelopment in the early 1970s, when it was felt that the London of Jack the Ripper was about to disappear for ever. Ultimately it did not, and the persistent walking tours continued regardless, as they will still do once this current wave of rebuilding has come to fruition. As long as the walls of buildings have those famous street names upon them, people will still go and see them in an attempt to capture some fleeting collective memory of the ‘autumn of terror’. It will take more than a wrecking ball to extinguish that curiosity.
Meanwhile, bookshelves across the world heave with the continually growing writings of authors and researchers and new overviews, new suspects, reassessments and biographies place themselves into the canon of Ripper literature with predictable regularity. But will any of these contributions finally lead us to the elusive answer to that perennial question: ‘Who was Jack the Ripper?’
Arguably not. One has to concede that even if, from the mists of obscurity, some definitive-looking official document appears naming the Whitechapel murderer, endorsed by relevant official signatures, there will be those who will question its provenance and authenticity, and thus the mystery will remain unsolved to everybody’s satisfaction. And so the mystery will continue.
Had that mystery been solved before the end of the nineteenth century, it would have been an entirely different matter. In some ‘Ripperological’ alternative time-line, we would probably see no more than a half-dozen obscure books on the subject, and it is possible that the guided walks industry would never have got any further than Frederick Gordon Brown’s 1905 stroll. Madame Tussauds’s Chamber of Horrors would no doubt feature ‘Jack the Ripper’, but under his real name, and we would, of course, know for certain whether the ‘Dear Boss’ letter that brought that name to the world was fake or not. There may be at least one movie version of the crimes, the odd documentary perhaps, as is the case for many true-crime cases, but probably no pop songs or video games, comics or plastic figurines. And there would, of course, have been no opportunity for Jack to metamorphose into the iconic ‘super-villain’ in his top hat and cape.
But it never happened that way and we are left with a powerful legacy that does not seem to fade with the passing of time. Jack the Ripper has become a concept, for some even a marketing strategy, and the fact that the very real murderer of vulnerable East End prostitutes has appeared on T-shirts, complete with ‘Whitechapel Tour’ dates, is testament to the reality that, in terms of celebrity, Jack is in the big league.
Only time will reveal how this legendary creature of the night will be perceived by future generations as interest continues in the young and old alike. It is notable that many who actively study and write about the Ripper were first attracted to the subject via the myth; the sense of dread, the well-defined melodrama, the ‘romance’ of dark deeds in high places courtesy of the royal conspiracy or high-profile re-enactments by stars like Michael Caine and Johnny Depp. And then, if the interest remains, reality begins to assert itself, and ‘Ripperology’ receives a fresh injection of new life.
Will it continue for ever? It probably will, for that is what myths and legends are: undying, eternal stories that resonate within generation after generation. Jack the Ripper, like Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, Sweeney Todd, King Arthur, Sherlock Holmes, Count Dracula and Batman, is malleable and responsive as a character, and whether or not any of these legendary figures existed or not, they give our creative consciousness an enormous amount of raw material to play with and inspire the imagination accordingly.
The dark side of human nature has always been with us and always will. The Ripper is a symbol of that nature writ large, rising up regularly to remind us that there is no Utopia, that danger lurks round every dark corner and in the shadows, and that we all have something to fear, whether we choose to admit it or not. Jack the Ripper has become an embodiment of fear, and, in the words of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, ‘the only thing we have to fear is fear itself’.
Illustrations
1. Mortuary photograph of Martha Tabram, considered by many as an early, or even the first, victim of the Whitechapel murderer.
2. Sketch of Gunthorpe Street (formerly George Yard) made in the 1940s. The two figures are standing in front of George Yard Buildings, where the body of Martha Tabram was discovered.
3. Mortuary photograph of Mary Ann Nichols. Pictures such as these were taken to record the face in case the body was not identified before burial.
4. Buck’s Row, Whitechapel, in the late 1920s. By this time it had been renamed Durward Street.
5. Mortuary photograph of Annie Chapman.
6. 29 Hanbury Street in the 1960s, a few years before demolition. Annie Chapman would have accompanied her killer through the left-hand door to the back yard (the other door was a later addition).
7. Mortuary photograph of Elizabeth Stride. The throat wound, just visible in this picture, was the only one inflicted on the victim.
8. Berner Street in April 1909. The narrow entrance to Dutfield’s Yard is marked by the cartwheel jutting out from the wall. The International Working Men’s Educational Club is the taller property behind.
9. Catherine Eddowes in the mortuary ‘shell’, prior to the post-mortem.
10. Catherine Eddowes after the post-mortem stitching, showing the injuries to the face.
11. Contemporary sketch of Catherine Eddowes’s body as found in Mitre Square. It was drawn by city surveyor Frederick Foster and would have been used at the inquest.
12. Entrance to 108–119 Wentworth Dwellings, Goulston Street, where the missing portion of Catherine Eddowes’s apron was found, as well as the controversial writing on the wall.
13. The body of Mary Kelly as found in her room in Miller’s Court, Dorset Street.
14. Exterior of Mary Kelly’s room at 13 Miller’s Court. The passageway leading from Dorset Street is visible to the right.
15. Mortuary photograph of Alice McKenzie, whom Dr Thomas Bond believed was murdered by Jack the Ripper.
16. Mortuary photograph of Frances Coles, the last Whitechapel murder victim. James Sadler, her ‘companion’ on the night of her death, was initially suspected but soon released without charge.
17. Crowds gathered at the entrance to Swallow Gardens after the death of Frances Coles; a contemporary press illustration showing how fear of the Ripper still prevailed years after the autumn of 1888.
18. Police poster featuring the ‘Dear Boss’ letter and ‘Saucy Jacky’ postcard, circulated in October 1888: one of many such handbills that were circulated at the time to encourage assistance from the public.
19. Sir Charles Warren, chief commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, 1886–8.
20. Dr Robert Anderson, newly appointed assistant commissioner at the time of the Whitechapel murders.
21. Inspector Frederick Abberline: a sketch from Toby magazine. No confirmed photograph of this important officer has yet been located.
22. Chief Inspector Donald Swanson in later years. His important role in 1888 was to oversee the reports and investigations into the murders.
23. Sergeant William Thick, taken from an H-division group shot. Known
as ‘Johnny Upright’, he was described as ‘a holy terror to the local lawbreakers’.
24. Sir Melville Macnaghten, who became assistant chief constable of the Metropolitan Police CID in 1889.
25. Police photograph of early suspect Jacob Isenschmid, known by some as ‘the mad pork butcher’.
26. Roslyn D’Onston Stephenson, an early theorist and latter-day suspect.
27. ‘Dr’ Francis Tumblety. This interesting character was suspected of the crimes at the time and was a prominent figure in the American press, but his prominence as a police suspect did not come until the early 1990s.
28. Montague John Druitt. His body was found in the Thames on the last day of 1888 and was seemingly favoured by Melville Macnaghten as the Ripper.
29. Sir William Gull, physician-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria and a linchpin of the ‘royal conspiracy’ theory.
30. Prince Albert Victor, first suggested as a potential suspect in 1970.
31. Artist Walter Sickert. Although implicated in the ‘royal conspiracy’, Sickert has also been put forward as the Ripper in several other theories.
32. Sketch of Mary Kelly leading her murderer into her room at 13 Miller’s Court, from the Penny Illustrated Paper, 17 November 1888. The earliest depiction of the iconic Ripper.
33. A still from Hitchcock’s 1927 classic film The Lodger: an image laden with Ripper iconography – tall hat, cloak, black bag and fog.
Notes
Chapter 1: ‘Wilful murder against some person unknown’
1 Police report dated 25 October 1888, MEPO 3/141 ff. 158–63 (National Archives).
2 Morning Advertiser, 9 April 1888.
3 Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, 8 April 1888.
4 The report by Inspector Edmund Reid was transcribed by Ian Sharp during research for the BBC series Jack the Ripper in 1973. The material on this case went missing from the files prior to 1983.
5 Some newspapers claimed she was a widow, but in the London Hospital admission register she is described as ‘married’ and a ‘charwoman’.
6 Register of Common Lodging Houses (London Metropolitan Archives).
7 Legislation under the Artizan’s and Labourer’s Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 (also known as the ‘Cross Act’).
8 Walthamstow and Leyton Guardian, 14 April 1888.
9 Inspector Reid’s report has it that the incident happened on the footpath opposite 10 Brick Lane.
10 People, 15 April 1888.
11 Register of Common Lodging Houses (London Metropolitan Archives).
12 Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (London: Robinson, 2002; first published in 1994).
13 Report by Inspector Edmund Reid, 24 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 49–51 (National Archives).
14 The Times, 24 August 1888.
15 Ibid.
16 East London Observer, 25 August 1888.
17 Census return 1881, Whitechapel St Mary.
18 The Times, 24 August 1888.
19 East London Observer, 25 August 1888.
20 Star, 24 August 1888.
21 Star, 7 August 1888.
22 East London Advertiser, 24 August 1888.
23 The Times, 24 August 1888.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
26 Renamed Gunthorpe Street in 1912.
27 Again, as a result of the 1875 Cross Act.
28 East London Observer, 11 August 1888.
29 Eastern Post, 18 August 1888.
30 Report by Chief Inspector Donald Swanson, September 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 36–42 (National Archives).
31 The Times, 10 August 1888.
32 Ibid.
33 East London Observer, 11 August 1888.
34 The Times, 9 August 1888.
35 East London Advertiser, 11 August 1888.
36 East London Observer, 11 August 1888.
37 Report by Inspector Edmund Reid, 16 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 44–8 (National Archives).
38 Report by Superintendent Charles Cutbush, 16 August 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 44–8 (National Archives).
39 Daily News, 24 August 1888 (and others).
40 Founded in 1865, the Pall Mall Gazette began as a paper for the ‘higher circles of society’, written ‘by gentlemen for gentlemen’. By the time of William Thomas Stead’s editorship (1883–9), the paper had metamorphosed into a radical, free-thinking journal. Stead’s exposé of child prostitution saw him imprisoned but also resulted in the age of consent for children being raised from twelve to sixteen in 1885.
41 Pall Mall Gazette, 24 August 1888.
42 The Times, 20 March 1886.
43 From a letter currently in a private collection.
Chapter 2: ‘I forgive you for what you are, as you have been to me’
1 The Times, 18 September 1888.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Often referred to as ‘Britten’ or ‘Brittain’ in newspaper reports.
5 Star, 3 September 1888.
6 Echo, 6 September 1888.
7 Evening News, 1 September 1888.
8 Cross was actually born Charles Allen Lechmere. The surname ‘Cross’ comes from his stepfather after his mother remarried, but curiously the only time he used this name is during his association with the Nichols murder. All other records show him as ‘Lechmere’. However, as he is recorded throughout the case files and press reports as ‘Cross’, that name is used here.
9 The Times, 18 September 1888.
10 Daily Telegraph, 4 September 1888.
11 Buck’s Row, despite being in Whitechapel, fell under the jurisdiction of the newly formed J-division (Bethnal Green).
12 The Times, 4 September 1888.
13 Report by Inspector Spratling, 31 August 1888; MEPO 3/140, ff. 239–41 (National Archives).
14 Daily Telegraph, 3 September 1888.
15 Daily News, 3 September 1888.
16 She is referred to as ‘Ellen’ in the police reports; press reports say ‘Emily’, ‘Nelly’ and ‘Jane Oram’.
17 Evening Standard, 3 September 1888 (and others).
18 Daily Telegraph, 4 September 1888.
19 East London Observer, 8 September 1888.
20 Report by Inspector Joseph Helson, 7 September 1888; MEPO 3/140 ff. 235–8 (National Archives).
21 Daily News, 1 September 1888.
22 Morning Advertiser, 24 September 1888.
23 Report by Inspector Joseph Helson, 7 September 1888; MEPO 3/140 ff. 235–8 (National Archives).
24 The Times, 1 September 1888.
25 Morning Advertiser, 24 September 1888.
26 American newspapers such as the Atchison Daily Globe (Kansas), Austin Statesman and Galveston Daily News (both Texas).
27 Daily News, 3 September 1888.
28 Letter formerly in the possession of the late Jim Swanson.
Chapter 3: ‘A noiseless midnight terror’
1 HO 144/220/A49301B, f. 178 (National Archives).
2 HO 144/220/A49301B, f. 177 (National Archives).
3 Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, 1 September 1888.
4 Star, 5 September 1888.
5 Pall Mall Gazette, 8 September 1888.
6 Austin Statesman, 5 September 1888.
7 Star, 6 September 1888.
8 Star, 5 September 1888 (and others).
9 Evening News, 5 September 1888.
10 MEPO 3/140, ff. 235–8 (National Archives).
11 Leytonstone Express and Independent, 8 September 1888.
12 Daily Telegraph, 10 September 1888.
13 Daily Telegraph, 13 September 1888.
14 The Times, 14 September 1888.
15 Daily Telegraph, 14 September 1888.
16 Ibid.
17 Exact date found in Chapman family birthday book; information courtesy of Neal Shelden.
18 The Times, 11 September 1888.
19 Echo, 10 September 1888.
20 Woodford Times, 14 September 1888.
21 Echo, 14 September 1888.
&
nbsp; 22 The Times, 20 September 1888.
23 Daily News, 10 September 1888.
24 East London Advertiser, 22 September 1888.
25 The Times, 20 September 1888.
26 Daily Telegraph, 11 September 1888.
27 Star, 8 September 1888.
28 The Times, 11 September 1888.
29 Ibid.
30 Daily Telegraph and Star, 17 September 1888; Echo, 8 September 1888.
31 Daily Telegraph, 20 September 1888.
32 The Times, 14 September 1888.
33 Lancet, 29 September 1888.
34 Daily Telegraph, 20 September 1888.
35 Daily Telegraph, 13 September 1888.
36 Morning Advertiser, 13 September 1888.
37 Daily Telegraph, 20 September 1888.