Whitechapel

• What is Whitechapel?

  Poorest area of London in 1888
• Population of London at the end of 19th century?

  4 million
• What are Rookeries?

  Slum housing with serious overcrowding
• What are Lodging houses?

  Temporary accommodation but terrible conditions

  No backyard, outside toilet- houses mostly not fit to live in
• 1875 Artisans and Dwellings act

  • Aimed to clean up rookeries problem
  • house owners responsible to keep properties in good order
  • local authorities can buy and demolish slums if not taken care off
• Peabody estate

  • Financed by George Peabody

  11 new block of flats

  Weekly rent of 3 shillings

  More than 150 families can now live in a clean place
• What work was common in Whitechapel?

  Cotton, metal works and leather tanneries

  Offered low pay, dangerous and unsanitary workplace
• What was the sweated trades?

  Worst workplaces with bad conditions
• Example of sweated trades

  • Bryant and May’s Match factory - workers paid 4 shillings a week
  • Fines given if a match was dropped - 2 shilling offence
  • Workers got bone cancer due to inhaling chemicals- known as ‘Phossy Jaw’
  • Conditions exposed by Annie Besant - forced Bryant and may to improve conditions
• what was workhouses ?

  • Offered food and shelter for old, disabled and homeless
  • Families split up
  • Forced to wear uniforms, have bland food, do task liking picking oakum
  • Designed to be worse to deter vagrancy
  • Workhouse was very clean, but disease spread due to overcrowding
• Casual Wards

  • Temporary accommodation for one night
  • Inmates paid for bed by picking oakum, shipbuilding or clean neighbouring workhouses
  • E.g St Thomas housed 400 people
• 1880 Barnardos Homes

  Cared for young orphans, conditions better than workhouses
• Navvies

  • Irish immigrants labouring on canal, roads and railways.
  • Temporary stay to save money to go to America
  • Famous for drinking and getting into fights
• Fenians

  Irish terrorist who wanted Irish independence from Britain .

  Launched series of terrorist attacks in Dublin and London.

  Dynamite Sunday - fenians attacked House of Commons and other landmarks
• Bloody Sunday

  • Irish national league and Social Democratic Federation campaigned against growing unemployment and abuse of Ireland
  • 10,000 protesters fought 2000 police and 400 soldiers
  • 400 protesters arrested
• What was socialism popular on the east end?

  • Working class wanted more equality
  • SDF set up to fight rights of labourers and women
  • Annie Bessant and 1800 women went on strike to improve conditions
  • Rise in socialism made government worried
• Anarchist

  Opposed organised governments, anti rules/laws
• Social unrest

  Outbreaks of violence

  Tension in community amongst different groups
• Social unrest in Whitechapel

  • Irish and fenian terrorism
  • Jewish immigrants
  • New political ideas ( socialism and anarchism)
  • Rising unemployment
  • Jack the Ripper murders
• Why was there tension between Jews and locals?

  • 95% of Jewish people lived in whitechapel, creating a large community that led to segregation
  • Cultural differences -they spoke Yiddish and stand out
  • Accused of stealing jobs- they worked on Sundays
  • Blamed for murders of the Jack the Ripper
• Who were the main suspects of Jack the Ripper?

  Aaron kosminski and John Pizer, both Jewish and immigrants
• What training did recruits have?

  2 weeks of training, then assigned to am experienced Constable in a new division
• What did the recruits of the police have to be ?

  Aged 21-32

  6ft tall

  Can read and write

  Must not have more than 2 children
• Why did many get sacked or leave?

  • Not well paid
  • Many got drunk
  • Beat shift wore officers down
• Who is responsible for policing Whitechapel?

  • H-division
  • 19 inspector, 44 sergeants, 441 Constable = 500 officers
• Beat patrol

  • Officers wore blue uniform and hard top
  • Carry truncheon, handcuffs and bullseye lamp
  • Constable assigned a ’beat’ and have to reach it a specific time after setting out form Leman street where he would meet up with his sergeant
  • Had to stop and question suspicious characters and report to beat sergeant
  • If a Bart was missed or a crime took place without Constable present, he could be fined or sacked
• What crimes was mostly committed and why was it difficult for the police?

  Crimes out of desperation
• How did gangs pose a threat to the police?

  • Racketeers demanded protection money form shop express or else they would smash their shops, locals afraid to report them
  • Many gangs know Whitechapel better than police and memorised beat patrol
  • Some even bold enough to attack police directly
  • Ewer street was so dangerous - police avoided it
  • Example of gangs : the Odessians and the Bessarabian Tigers
• Role of detectives

  Investigate habitual or career criminals - identify pattern in crime locations
• Jack the Ripper Murders 1888


  31 August - Marry Anne Nichols- Bucks Row

  8 September - Annie Chapman - Hanbury Street

  30 September - Elizabeth Stride - Dutfields Yard

  30 September- Catherine Eddowes- Mitre Square

  9 November - Mary Kelly - Millers Court
• Tactics used by the police to solve the crime

  • Using footprints
  • Wiping away graffiti implicating Jews
  • Photographing eyes (believed retina stored final images)
  • used Bloodhounds to track killer ( ran away)
• Why did the police fail to catch Jack the Ripper?

  • Lack of evidence - Dear boss letter wasn’t handed to the police for 4 days
  • Lack of policing techniques- no CCTV, no fingerprints technology
  • Policing mistakes - not taking enough or destroyed evidence, refused to work with the media
• Who were mainly questioned for the murder of Jack the Ripper?

  Butchers and surgeons - people capable of removing body parts
• What changes were made as a result of these murders?

  • 1894 Bertillon system- measurements, mugshots and records stored to identify patterns and arrest repeat criminals
  • 1891 introduction of telephone lines for improved communications
  • 1890 House of Working Class Act - brought in to clear slums in Whitechapel
• What is the double event ?

  Two murders of Jack the Ripper in one night