Whitechapel

• There were many different police forces at this time, and the home secretary, based in Westminster, had little control over local police forces outside London
• The exception was the Metropolitan Police Force in London, which reported directly to the home secretary
• Police work was hampered by insufficient manpower. By 1885, the Met was made up of just over £13,000 men among a population of just over five million; but only 1,300 of those were available for duty at any one time
• For police constables within the Met, pay was not especially good, and the work could be dangerous, which meant that not all the recruits were of a good quality
• Each beat constable had his own 'beat' (area to patrol). If he was found to be away from his beat, he could be fined or dismissed
• Although the main task of the police was to prevent crime, a detective department was added to the Metropolitan Police in 1842. It was tiny and ineffective
• After a serious police corruption scandal in 1877, a barrister called Howard Vincent was appointed to set up the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in 1878, with 216 officers. However, the Ripper scandal showed that standards of investigation did not improve
• The Home Secretary was the member of the Cabinet with responsibility for maintaining civil law and order
• He was oversaw the Metropolitan Police and appointed the Metropolitan Police Commissioner
• Following a series of strikes and demonstrations against the government, the home secretary appointed a former general, Sir Charles Warren, as Metropolitan Police Commissioner in 1886
• This was not a popular decision and contributed to the view in London that the police were simply the 'government in uniform'
• On 13 November 1887, Commissioner Warren called in the army to control protestors in Trafalgar Square. It was a peaceful protest that involved many women and children. There were a large number of casualties. It became known as Bloody Sunday
• His actions on Bloody Sunday added to a growing feeling that the police favoured the upper and middle classes against the poor
• Warren was also widely regarded as a bully. He was later forced out of his job because of the police's failure to catch Jack the Ripper
• By the mid 19th century, the reputation of the Metropolitan Police had improved and policemen were seen as reliable and helpful 'Bobbies'. But in deprived areas like Whitechapel, they remained unpopular and could be attacked by gangs
• When discontent became protest, the police were seen as upholders of unpopular government decisions, and gained a reputation for heavy handedness
• Out of a Whitechapel population of 30,000, perhaps 1000 were homeless
• The majority of housing was in overcrowded slum areas known as rookeries. Houses were divided into several apartments, and there could be up to 30 people in one apartment
• The 1881 census shows the total population of the Whitechapel District as over 30,500 – and there were only just over 4000 occupied houses. This contrasted sharply with the large, comfortable houses in wealthier parts of London
• Accommodation was also offered by lodging houses which offered little more than a bed in squalid conditions. Some lodging houses had three eight-hour sleeping shifts a day, so beds could be shared between three people. This was a key cause of disease, especially in the summer
• It is estimated that there were over 200 lodging houses in Whitechapel, where more than 8000 people (a quarter of the Whitechapel population) lived
• Sanitation in Whitechapel was also very poor; there was little healthy drinking water and sewers ran in the streets
• In 1875 parliament passed the Artisans' Dwellings Act which was part of a slum clearance programme. In Whitechapel, one area of cramped housing was replaced with 11 new blocks of flats, known as the Peabody Estate (after George Peabody, the wealthy American who paid for them)
• The Peabody Estate opened in 1881 and provided 286 flats. Weekly rent started at a reasonable three shillings for a one-room flat
• The most famous factory in Whitechapel was Bell Foundry, where Big Ben was cast
• However, many residents worked in 'sweated' trades like tailoring, shoe-making and making matches. The work premises were known as sweat shops and were small and dark. Hours were long (some sweatshop workers worked up to 20 hours a day), and wages were low
• Others worked in railway construction or as labourers on the docks, but this work varied day by day and employment was not guaranteed
• As the economy became severely depressed in the 1870s, unemployment spread
• Workhouses had been set up earlier in the 19th century and were run by Poor Law administrators
• They offered food and shelter to those too poor to survive independently. Inmates would often be old, sick, disabled, orphaned, or unmarried mothers
• Conditions were deliberately made worse to put people off from entering. Inmates were expected to do tough manual labour and wear uniforms. Families were split up
• The campaigner and philanthropist Dr Thomas Barnardo set up an orphanage for boys in 1870 to try to improve conditions for orphaned children. He later opened up a girls' home. By the time he died in 1905 there were nearly 100 Barnado's homes nationally
• Overcrowded accommodation led to theft and domestic abuse
• Unemployment and unreliable work led to stealing, and orphans could depend on petty crime and begging
• Other problems like alcoholism and prostitution led to disorder on the streets and assaults on women
• Often discontent boiled over as violent demonstrations
• The Irish population expanded rapidly in the East End from the 1840s
• In the first instance they were mostly young men who came to London with plans to move to America but then ran out of money to get there
• They settled near the river and made their living as 'navigators' or 'navvies', doing jobs on canals, roads and railways, or as dockers on the River Thames. Violence was common and they were not well liked
• By the late 19th century, some Irish nationalists were demanding freedom from rule by the UK. The fight was led by the Catholic Fenians, who were seen as terrorists. When they organised a bomb attack on Clerkenwell Prison in December 1867, there was a huge surge in anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment