Case Study Whitechapel

• Who were the women killed by Jack the Ripper?

  • Mary Ann Nichols
  • Annie Chapman
  • Elizabeth Stride
  • Catherine Eddowes
  • Mary Jane Kelly
• When was Mary Ann Nichols killed?

  31st of August 1888 at 4am
• When was Annie Chapman killed?

  8th of September 1888 at 6am
• When were Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes killed?

  30th of September 1888
• When was Mary Jane Kelly killed?

  9th November 1888 at 11am
• What was the way in which all Jack the Ripper's victims were killed?

  Throat slashed
• What did the women killed by Jack the Ripper have in common?

  They almost all resorted to prostitution at some point and were in poverty
• What did Jack the Ripper do to most of his victims?

  • Mutilate them
  • Take body parts
  • Lift their skirts
• When was the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee set up?

  10th September 1888
• Who was voted leader of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee?

  George Lusk a local tradesman
• What was the aim of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee?

  Patrol the streets at night
• Why was the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee set up?

  Because the local community didn't trust the police
• Were the members of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee paid?

  Yes
• What did George Lusk receive in the mail?

  A note with half a kidney
• What did the police receive lots of during the Whitechapel Murders?

  Fake letters
• What method of investigation did the police use during the Whitechapel Murders?

  Door to door searches
• How many people were searched by the police in Whitechapel?

  2000
• How many pamphlets were handed out in Whitechapel by the police?

  80000
• What was an alternative name for pamphlets?

  Handfills
• When did the police receive a seemingly significant letter relating to the Whitechapel Murders?

  1st of October 1888
• What did the letter to the police say claiming it was Jack the Ripper?

  He would cut the ears off of his next victim
• Which victims body was swarmed by the public at the time of her murder?

  Annie Chapman
• What was the attitude towards police in Whitechapel?

  Bad
• Which victim's funeral did the public show up to?

  Mary Jane Kelly
• What is a rookery?

  A slum where there is a lot of overcrowding
• In 1877, one rookery had 123 rooms and 757 people, six people per room
• What were conditions in rookeries?

  • Poorly ventilated
  • No sewers
  • Disease spread quickly
• How many lodging houses were in Whitechapel?

  200
• How many hours were patrons allowed access to a bed for?

  8
• What was a workhouse?

  A place which offered food and shelter in exchange for hard labour in strict conditions
• What were conditions in workhouses?

  • Eat gruel (watered down porridge), bread and cheese
  • Families separated
  • Repetitive and hard work
• What was the Whitechapel workhouse like?

  • South Grove workhouse
  • Built in 1872
  • Housed 800 people
• When was the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act?

  1875
• What was the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act?

  An act which allowed the Government to buy areas of slums and tear them down to build better accomodation
• Who funded the Peabody Estates?

  An American, George Peabody
• When did the Peabody Estates open?

  1881
• What were problems with the Peabody Estates?

  • Rent too high for Whitechapel residents
  • 286 flats not enough to re-house everyone in Whitechapel
  • People who lived in the old slums had to find somewhere else, increasing the population in other areas
• Why did Irish immigrants come to London?

  Famines in Ireland
• Why did Jewish Eastern Europeans come to London?

  Persecution
• How did immigration affect Whitechapel?

  • Increased work competition, some ready to work in sweatshops
  • Worsened over-crowding
  • Created segregated communities
  • Jewish people had their own language and culture, making Londoners wary
  • Fenians made Londoners distrustful of Irish people