Whitechapel

• Rookery


  An area with large numbers of lodging houses where poor people dossed (slept) for one or two nights
• Those who couldn't afford a bed for the night in a doss house


  • Could go to the workhouse
  • Were too young, old or unwell to work
• Peabody Estate


  Blocks of flats built by the Peabody Trust, a charity set up by a rich American banker, to offer affordable rents
• The people of Whitechapel were so poor the Peabody flats were still too expensive
• Irish immigrants


  • Hated because of their Catholic religion
  • Hated because Ireland was ruled by Britain and many Irish people wanted to rule themselves
  • Caused bomb attacks in Britain leading to people hating and fearing them
• Jewish immigrants


  • Hated because of their different religion and language
• H Division


  The police in Whitechapel
• H Division


  • Had to deal with 1200 prostitutes and a large number of pubs serving alcohol
  • Only had 500 officers
• H Division tried to catch Jack the Ripper

  1. Used the Police Code which said not to disturb the crime scene

  2. Interviewed more than 200 people

  3. Relied on sketches as photography was just being developed
• It was very difficult to catch the Ripper
• Exaggerated or false stories in the newspapers caused fear and chaos, with many people lying, such as in the story of the missing grapes Hoax
• Letters were often sent to the police