Case Study: Whitechapel 1870-1900

• What date range do we study Whitechapel?

  1870s-1900
• Whitechapel, in the East End of London, experienced high amounts of crime and difficulties in policing at the end of the 19th century
• The murders of several women in Whitechapel were thought to be carried out by one individual known as Jack the Ripper
• Whitechapel was known for poverty, discontent, alcoholism, sex work, and crime at the end of the 19th century
• Rookeries in Whitechapel were areas filled with lodging houses where very poor people stayed in overcrowded conditions
• In Whitechapel in the late 19th century, there were 233 common lodging houses, also known as ‘doss’ houses, containing as many as 8,000 people
• Flower and Dean Street in Whitechapel gained a reputation for housing thieves, drunkards, and sex workers, and being an area of London that was feared even by the police
• The Whitechapel workhouse was a place of constant hunger, poor sanitation, frequent illness, poor sleep, and violence
• The Peabody Estate in Whitechapel provided better living conditions, including improved ventilation, brick walls to prevent lice, shared courtyards, laundry rooms, bathrooms with a bath, and kitchens
• Victorian Londoners were worried about crime in Whitechapel due to unemployment and overcrowded living conditions leading to regular criminal activities
• Whitechapel, in the East End of London, experienced high amounts of crime and difficulties in policing at the end of the 19th century
• The murders of several women in Whitechapel were attributed to Jack the Ripper, who was never caught
• Irish, Jewish, and Eastern European migrants settled in Whitechapel, leading to changes in the population and tensions within the community
• Irish migrants were employed at the docks as 'navvies' and were characterized as being drunk and violent
• Russian Jewish migrants arrived in London in large numbers between 1881 and 1891, facing challenges in integration due to language and cultural differences
• Jewish migrants tended to live in self-segregated communities or ghettos in East London
• Jewish migrants in Whitechapel worked in sweatshops making clothes and shoes for Jewish employers, facing poor working conditions and low wages
• The segregation of Jewish migrants caused them to be targets of prejudice and anti-Semitism
• Some people in Whitechapel were concerned about political ideas like socialism and anarchism being brought over by migrants, especially from Eastern Europe
• British politicians and the media viewed anarchism and Jewish immigration as threats
• The first socialist party was the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), representing agricultural workers and rights for women
• Irish migrants were targets of prejudice due to rising Irish nationalism and republicanism in Britain
• Fears of Irish terrorism led to the formation of Special Branch by the Metropolitan Police
• Efforts to improve conditions in Whitechapel, including housing projects, led to further overcrowding and were not successful
• What is a lodging house?

  A lodging house is a place where people can rent a room for a short period of time, typically used by travelers or temporary residents.
• What is the Peabody estate in Whitechapel?

  The Whitechapel estate in East London was the first of 10 estates which Peabody built as part of London's earliest slum clearance programme. In 1875 the Metropolitan Board of Works, the forerunner of the LCC and the GLC, was given compulsory purchase powers by Parliament.
• What is socialism?

  Economic system where the means of production are owned and controlled by the community as a whole.
• What is anarchism?

  Seeks to abolish the government and capitalism
• What group brought ideas of anarchism into the country?

  Russians
• Give the strengths of housing and employing records:

  Give details of where individuals stayed and worked in Whitechapel.

  Employers, such as sweatshop owners, kept records of their workers.

  Lodging houses kept records of who rented a room for a night.
• Give the weaknesses of housing and employing records:

  Homeless people in Whitechapel would not be able to be traced.

  Relies on individuals using the correct name and employers keeping records up to date.
• Give the strengths of council records:

  Provide information about council meetings, public demonstrations, building inspections, and housing stock, sewers, toilets and street lighting.

  Give historians information about the details of events in Whitechapel.
• Give the weaknesses of council records:

  Unlikely to provide information about the views and experiences of individuals, especially those of poorer residents in Whitechapel, including migrants.
• what was Charles Booth's poverty map?

  From this research, Booth produced a series of maps to show how poor each area of London was. The maps show where the poor lodging houses were in Whitechapel and where Jewish migrants settled in ghettos.

  
• Strengths of Booth's Poverty Map:

  The maps show where the poor lodging houses were in Whitechapel and where Jewish migrants settled in ghettos.

  The key to each map shows how the residents of each area were viewed. For example, the poorest areas of Whitechapel were described as “vicious, semi criminal”.
• Weaknesses of Booth's poverty map:

  Do not give any detail about housing or living conditions.

  Do not record the experiences of individuals who lived in the different areas of London. Do not give the reasons or causes of wealth or poverty.
• Whitechapel, in the East End of London, experienced high amounts of crime and difficulties in policing at the end of the 19th century
• The murders of several women in Whitechapel were attributed to one individual known as Jack the Ripper
• National sources for investigating Whitechapel in the late 19th century include national newspapers, records of crimes and police investigations, Old Bailey records of trials, and Punch cartoons
• Strengths of national newspapers as sources: provide information about the most notorious crimes in Whitechapel and London, weaknesses include being prejudiced against the poor and immigrants and using sensationalised reporting