Whitechapel GCSE

• <S>Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who committed murders of women in the largely impoverished areas of the Whitechapel part of London in 1888.
• In 1875, the Metropolitan Police Act created the Metropolitan Police Force (MPF) to police London
• In 1870, there were over 250,000 people living in Whitechapel with only 36 public toilets available to them
• Whitechapel was an area of London known as the 'East End' which had high levels of poverty, crime and disease
• Whitechapel was an area of London known as the 'East End' which had high levels of poverty, crime and disease
• The slayings were widely reported in the influential mass-circulation newspapers of the time with a large presence of early true crime stories.
• The Whitechapel Murders were a series of murders that took place between August 1888 and February 1891
• The Whitechapel Murders were a series of murders that took place between August 1888 and February 1891
• The true identity of Jack the Ripper remains unknown and his legend has endured in popular culture as a notorious example of an unidentified serial killer.
• The MPF had no jurisdiction outside of London so they could not investigate crimes that occurred in other parts of England
• Whitechapel was home to many immigrants from Ireland, Eastern Europe, Russia and China
• The East End was home to many immigrants from Ireland, Eastern Europe and Russia
• The Metropolitan Police Force (MPF) was established by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 to combat rising crime rates in London
• Sir Charles Warren was appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in 1886
• Many people living in the East End worked long hours in factories or docks
• Women who did work often took on low-paid jobs such as cleaning or sewing
• <O>The area has been inhabited since Roman times and became known as 'Little Jerusalem' due to its large Jewish population during the late nineteenth century
• Each district had its own station which acted as both a headquarters and a place where people could report crimes or ask for assistance
• Whitechapel was home to many immigrants from Ireland, Eastern Europe, Russia and China
• Many of these immigrants lived in slums which lacked basic amenities such as running water or sewage systems
• Peabody Estate-The majority of housing in Whitechapel was in overcrowded slum areas known as rookeries which were dirty, riddled with disease and notorious crime spots. One example of a rookery was Flower and Dean Street. 
• In 1865, Thomas Henry Peabody set up an organisation called The Peabody Trust which aimed to build better quality homes for working class families.
• The houses at the Peabody Estate were designed to be affordable yet comfortable. They included features like hot water pipes, gas lighting and proper drainage.
• Between 1870 and 1924, the trust built around 3000 houses across London including 1000 in Whitechapel. These new buildings provided good quality accommodation at affordable prices.
• The first estate built by the trust was located in Islington but it wasn’t until 1870 that they began building houses in Whitechapel. By 1924, the trust had provided more than 30,000 homes across London.
• The estate also provided communal facilities including schools, shops and parks.
• The Peabody Estate is still standing today and is one of the oldest surviving examples of social housing in Britain.
• Whitechapel workhouse- Under the terms of the Poor Law passed in the 19th century, workhouses were set up to provide food and shelter to those too poor to survive in the general community such as the old, sick, disabled orphans and unmarried mothers.
• Workhouses were run on strict principles of discipline and hard labour with the aim of making life inside them so unpleasant that people would only enter if there was no other option
• By the end of the 19th century, many workhouses had been replaced by public assistance schemes which offered financial support without forcing recipients into institutions.
• Inside the workhouse, men and women lived separately and worked long hours doing tasks such as sewing, laundry, cooking and cleaning. Children were separated from their parents and sent to live in dormitories where they slept on straw mattresses.
• Doctor Thomas Barnardo trained in the local hospital at Whitechapel and set up a school for orphans whose parents had died in an outbreak of infectious disease.
• One of Barnado’s children, a boy called Jim Jarvis, wanted him to see what life was really like for street children.
• Jarvis took Barnado to a secret rooftop where hundreds of children gathered to avoid going to a workhouse.
• Barnado was shocked by what he saw and was inspired to open an orphanage for young boys in 1870.
• Barnado later opened up a girls’ home.
• By the time Barnado died in 1905, there were nearly 100 Barnado’s homes nationally which cared for an average of 85 children each.
• The Irish population in the East End of London, including Whitechapel, grew rapidly from the 1840s.
• Many Irish immigrants were young men who came to London with plans to travel to America, but they ran out of money before they could find a ship to take them there.
• These young men lived in lodging houses near the River Thames instead and worked as navvies.