Jack the Ripper History Coursework
Jack the Ripper History Coursework
By Chris Rowland
) Study Source A
What can you learn from source A about the murders of Polly Nicholls and Martha Tabram?
Looking at the source A, I can see that the murders of Polly Nicholls and Martha Tabram were linked. The source tells us that the two women were 'of the poorest of the poor'. Both women were prostitutes. The source suggests that the murders were committed by a 'demented being'; this was because of the 'extraordinary violence'. This would led me to think that these murders were committed by the same person which they were thought to be at that time, but know other sources and specialists believe that that these two murders may have been committed by two different people. You cannot rely on this source too much because it is a newspaper article that means the information has probably been sensationalised, because it is only interested in the news value. This newspaper leaves out many bits of information on the murders, like where they took place (George Yard and Bucks Row) and when they happened.
2) Study Sources A, B and C.
Does the evidence of source c support the evidence of source A and B about the Ripper Murders?
Source C is a report by Doctor on the body of Elizabeth Stride. Source B is a coroners report on the death of Polly Nicholls. Source A is an article from the newspaper describing the murders of Martha Tabram and Polly Nicholls.
Source C supports the evidence in source B, they both describe the how the ripper had 'anatomical skill and knowledge' and how much preparation had been put into the murders. Source C talks about the incision which cut the windpipe 'completely in two' which shows that this was a planned and not frenzied like the one described in source A, because if this would have been the case the windpipe would not have been cut completely in two because it would have been done much quicker. Source B says there are 'no Meaningless cuts' and 'no mere slaughter of animals could have carried out these operations' which suggests that the murderer was a doctor. Source B and C are official reports written by professionals whose job it was to investigate murders. This means that the two sources would be very similar.
Source A is in a different tone to the other sources eg. Describing the murderer as 'demented', this was said because the source was only interested in the news value and it wanted to sell. Source B and C are both written in professional manner describing every detail accurately. While source A is written to shock and leaves out many details. So source A also has a different content.
Thus source C supports source B and they both disagree with source A.
3) Study Sources D and E
How useful are sources D and E in helping you to understand why the Ripper was able to avoid capture?
Source D is a description of the Ripper by Elizabeth Long, it states that the Ripper had a 'dark complexion'; it says that he was wearing a 'deerstalker hat', 'a dark coat' and was a 'foreigner'. Source E is newspaper article after the murders of Polly Nicholls and Annie Chapman. It says that the police were told they needed more police officers on the streets even before the first murder but still didn't do anything after the first murders.
The problem with source D and most of the description of the Ripper is very vague, she often ...
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Source D is a description of the Ripper by Elizabeth Long, it states that the Ripper had a 'dark complexion'; it says that he was wearing a 'deerstalker hat', 'a dark coat' and was a 'foreigner'. Source E is newspaper article after the murders of Polly Nicholls and Annie Chapman. It says that the police were told they needed more police officers on the streets even before the first murder but still didn't do anything after the first murders.
The problem with source D and most of the description of the Ripper is very vague, she often says ' I think' and 'I cannot be sure' which shows that Elizabeth Long is not sure about the description (she was making assumptions). This would confuse the police if she were wrong, as they spent a long time looking for a foreigner. She also leaves out key information about facial features, which are very important in catching any criminal. This does explain some reasons why the Ripper wasn't caught.
Source E says the police did not do much to prevent these murders even after the murders before the Ripper murders; this was because the police didn't have much experience with facing this type of situation. This source also states that there was a 'network of narrow, dark and crooked lanes', which means that even if there were more police on the beat there would be many places for the Ripper to kill again with no one seeing, this is what happened in future.
Both sources are useful to understand why the Ripper was not caught. One other factor that these sources did not mention was that the police were newly formed and did not know how to handle a murder case. They also didn't know how to use the information they were given usefully.
4) Study Sources F and G
Use Sources F and G, and your own Knowledge, to explain how the police tried to catch Jack the Ripper?
The police used lots of methods to try and catch Jack the Ripper. Source F is a leaflet published after the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Kate Eddowes. This would have been given to people who leaved around Whitechaple. It tells the person that there was two murders Friday, 31st August, Saturday 8th, and Sunday 30th of September. They are then asked to report any 'person to whom suspicion is attached' this statement would have created lots of information because Whitechaple had lots of prostitutes in it. People who used this prostitutes probably wanted no one to know they were using them as most of them had wives, so there would have been a lot of people acting suspicious. This leaflet isn't the best, but would make people think back. To make it better there should have been a description, which would have made even more people remember. One good thing they did do, to make up for this was, they interviewed over 2,000 lodgers in Whitechaple and as people lived very tightly pact this would have created some if not many people remember the ripper if they saw him.
Source G is part of a letter from the Home Secretary to the Mile End Vigilance Committee. It says that there will be no reward for any information leading to the capture of Jack the Ripper, because it produces 'more harm than good'. This was probably the wrong thing to do because a reward was the only way to get any information because the public didn't trust the police, because of there bully tactics used in the past.
The police increased patrol numbers and officers undercover, police even dressed up as prostitutes to try and catch the Ripper, which as they had never done anything like this before was a very good step. The police tried to contain the panic as much as possible; they did this by rubbing off the message on the wall near the murder of Catherine Eddowes, which said the Jews would not be blamed for nothing. As the Jews were already disliked in the area they would be blamed, this was also a bad thing because the writing may have been the Rippers handwriting, which would have helped the CID in catching the ripper.
Fredrick Abberline was put in charge of this investigation; he had been in the police force for 25 years and lived in Whitechaple. This meant he had knowledge of all the streets and knew some of the prostitutes and their pimps. He acted quickly and was the best man for the job. There were limitations on the CID because they where only just formed and was not experienced in solving murder cases like this before, which was probably the main factor of why Jack the Ripper was not caught.
5) Study all of the Sources
'The police were to blame for not capturing Jack the Ripper'
Use the sources and your own Knowledge to explain whether you agree with this view.
The police did many things to try and catch Jack the Ripper, but they never did. Many people have different views on whether the police were to blame for this. Some people say the police were to blame simply because they didn't catch him, but you have to look at all the evidence before you can make a judgement.
Source E shows that the police were to blame for not capturing Jack the Ripper, it says that the police did not have many police officers on the streets when they were advised they should. They still didn't listen to this advise after the first murder, but as I know they did put a lot more people on the street after the second. Source G shows that the police did not offer a reward for any information leading to the capture of Jack the Ripper, which was probably a bad thing as many people did not like or trust the current police force, and they had no other way to get information. Source I is a map of the Whitechaple showing where the murders took place. It shows that the murder sites were close together which should have helped the police to catch Jack the Ripper, as they would have known the areas to patrol and search, but the place where he killed where random. There was no pattern to help the police. Source J is a photograph of the site where Annie Chapman died. It shows that there are houses all near this site, so some people must have seen or head something, when only 3 people came forward with sightings. A reward would have helped in this situation making the public more willing to offer information to the police. This photo does show that the Ripper could work in open spaces without being captured, which shows how clever he was in not getting caught.
Using my own Knowledge there are lots of reasons for the police to be blamed. There was a lack of information for the police to use but the information they did have they wasn't used properly, like the descriptions after the death of Annie Chapman, which was disregarded just because their times didn't correspond with the time of the coroners time of death. When they questioned suspects they let them go far too soon and didn't look carefully at them, just like they did with 'leather Apron' that was taking money from prostitutes, even if he wasn't the Ripper they should have kept him to show the Public that they were doing something. Some evidence was destroyed like the message about the Jews on the wall near the murder of Catherine Eddowes. This should have been photographed because this might have been the handwriting of Jack the Ripper, Jews was also spelt wrong, this meant that the Ripper may not have had a good education, this might have been a useful lead for them. The police didn't widen their search; they concentrated their search in Whitechaple when the murderer could have been living outside the east end. If I would have been a serial murderer of this time I would thing it would be stupid to commit these crimes in your hometown, as you were more likely to be caught. They concentrated their search on Jack the Ripper on being a foreigner, which was probably not the case. They kept most of the description quiet to prevent panic, but by releasing the important bits of the information they might have jogged a few peoples memories and got more leads.
Source A doesn't say much about the police investigation, but I know that the information about the murderer is probably false like most of the information in newspapers, so information like this would have confused the police, and put them off the trail. Sources B and C are about how the Ripper had 'Anatomical skill' and how he planned each murder, this would have narrowed the search to people like doctors but if the Ripper planned each murder there would have been harder for the police to catch him because he knew exactly what he was doing. Source D is a description of Jack the Ripper, the description is very vague and not very clear, there are lots of words like 'I think' in there. This would give the police a problem of whether this description should be used or not, there were also lots of other descriptions like this. Source F shows that the police did send out many leaflets to try and get some information, the leaflet needs more information on it like a description but this was probably the first time they have done this. The leaflets could have been better worded because they were asked to report any 'person to whom suspicion is attached' this statement would have created lots of information because Whitechaple had lots of prostitutes in it. People who used this prostitutes probably wanted no one to know they were using them as most of them had wives, so there would have been a lot of people acting suspicious. Source H is the best source for proving that the police were not to blame. It states that the murders were 'cunningly' planned and that 'not a trace was left of the murderer'. It says there are no clues and if the police catch the Ripper it would be a complete fluke, as they have no proper evidence. This is probably over exaggerated a little because it is a newspaper, but it still a very true, the police didn't have much true information to go on. These were the first murders like this, so with no information, how could the police catch him?
I know that the police did interview over 2,000 lodgers, which they tried to get as much information as they could. They also had lots of officers on the streets and lots of men went undercover, dressed as prostitutes to try and catch the ripper, but if the Ripper had known this then he would be more careful making it even harder for the police to catch him. Many people pretended to be Jack the Ripper so they could get food and somewhere to sleep overnight, which meant the police had no idea who was lying and who was telling the truth. The public did not trust them and they did not offer much help and information. There were no accurate descriptions, which would confuse the police. The most important factor I think is that the police had just been established and this kind of thing had never happened before. They also had no technology to use, which would have made it hard.
I think that the police were not to blame for not capturing Jack the Ripper. They could have done some things much better, but you have to remember this was there first time. Capturing criminals nowadays is hard but doing it in 1888 with no real clues and no technology must have been near impossible.
By Chris Rowland
Chris Rowland