Law and order in 19th century London - Case Study: The search for "Jack the Ripper".

History Coursework 1 - Law and order in 19th century London - Case Study: The search for "Jack the Ripper"

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In the 19th century, poverty stricken areas such as the East-end of London were rife with murder, rape, burglary etc. The public needed a force other than the army redcoats who were disliked due to exceedingly poor riot skills which had led to many deaths (we can see this in incidents such as the Peterloo massacre). In 1829 the public outcry for a new force had become so great the home office could no longer sidestep the issue. Robert Peel the home secretary founded the Metropolitan police force. Unlike the Bow street runners and Thames river police force (vigilante groups that patrolled London in the 1800's) the Met would be official and more importantly government funded. The Met's policemen were to patrol the streets in order to keep the peace but ultimately as a deterrent. The Metropolitan police force was thrown in at the deep end as far as policing goes, their ranks were made up of ex-soldiers and people who enjoyed an air of authority, yet they had little knowledge of crime hotspots and how to deal with the public. The soldiers quickly reverted to their military training when dealing with riot crowds - using such brutal methods as the "baton charge" when dispersing crowds. In the public eye though the Met officers still looked admirable when compared with the army who regularly killed protesters. Also they were founded in a time when civil unrest was everywhere, although this fact was the reason of their existence it was also their biggest problem. Having said this the praises of the Met were being sung all over London - popular papers such as "The Times" and "Punch" magazine were applauding the "bobby on the beat" as a success. While some papers were heralding the arrival of the Met as a failure - claiming corruption and drunkenness as major contributors to a laughable attempt by Peel to halt the ever present crime problem on the streets. Indeed many officers were discharged due to drunkenness in public, one man even being let go the very same day he had been put on duty! Of course the Met always were going to have their work cut out for them, murder was part of everyday life.

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On 31st August 1888 the first of five terrifying and horrific murders took place, the last on 9th November 1888. The five victims, all prostitutes were Polly Nicholls, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Kelly.

These five murders were the first ever publicized serial killings and in the period before 1888 there had never been any such killing on this level. These five victims of the commonly known ‘Jack the Ripper’ received a lot of media attention. Some of the possible reasons for such attention could have been that each victim was reported to have been in the company of a man described a foreign looking before they were killed. The nature of the murders was something that had never been seen before; the way that the bodies were mutilated was a shock to all. The bodies’ disembowelments led to the thought that the killer had some medical experience, a man that was experienced and knew what he was doing. All the victims were women and where they were killed was a great worry to the residents of Whitechapel, the thought that ordinary people, as prostitutes were in Whitechapel were being targeted on the streets where they lived was a frightening thought.

The media became interested in the murders from an early stage in the investigations, one of the things that attracted media attention was the way that the press were able to put a name to the killer, not the killers real name, as this is unknown, but the press used the name ‘Jack the Ripper’. This would have made the whole thing seem like a play to many, the name Jack was and still is an ordinary everyday name and the thought of the killer being an ordinary person was an unbelievable thought for many. The thought that the killer could be anyone, someone that those reading the papers may know gave the killer a lot of attention. Not only did the killer and the murders have alot of media attention but the name, ‘Jack the Ripper’ was something left to the imagination of the media. The name gave the ordinary people of Whitechapel a reason to worry. The name made the murderer sound more horrific than if the name ‘Jack the Killer’ etc. had been used. The way that the media handled the publicity of the murders also affected the amount of attention the papers themselves received and thus the attention that the killings received. The way headlines and articles were written would have played a major role in the murders attention.

All five murders took place in a very small space, all in the vicinity of Whitechapel, and all closely linked within Whitechapel. Murder 1, Polly Nicholls was found dead in front of a stable yard in Bucks row.

Murder 2, Annie Chapman was found dead in Hanbury Street,

Murder 3, Elizabeth Stride was found dead in a yard behind number 40 Berner Street,

Murder 4, Catherine Eddowes was found dead in Mitre Square.

Murder 5, Mary Kelly was found dead in her bedroom at 13 Milles Court. All of these five murders were ...

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Murder 2, Annie Chapman was found dead in Hanbury Street,

Murder 3, Elizabeth Stride was found dead in a yard behind number 40 Berner Street,

Murder 4, Catherine Eddowes was found dead in Mitre Square.

Murder 5, Mary Kelly was found dead in her bedroom at 13 Milles Court. All of these five murders were within one square mile of each other. This was one of the things that captivated the Media attention, the fact that the murderer was able to go so close to where he had already killed once, let alone five times was a worrying factorthat the media had picked up on. Whitechapel itself had never had a good reputation, it had always been known for drunks and prostitutes but it had never been thought of as a place where you could be killed so horrifically. This brought in more attention from outsiders; they suddenly became interested as to what went on in Whitechapel.

The media are the best at reporting bad news, it sells papers and that’s why all reporters and publisher thrive on bad news. The papers would have wanted anything that they could get on the murders so that it would sell their papers. This could have been one of the factors as to why there was so much attention to the Whitechapel murders.

All of the murders, except one (which was Mary Kelly) took place on the streets. All of the bodies were found outside. Many would have been worried as to whether they were now safe on the very streets that they lived on. There was a lot of media attention since the first murder, but by the time the fifth murder, Mary Kelly’s murder had taken place the whole of Whitechapel was at full alert and give maximum attention to the murders. Mary Kelly’s murder would have attracted the most attention; this was because she was not killed on the street. The general public would have been worried that they were not safe on the streets after dark but it would have made them even more scared to think that they were now no longer safe in their own homes. Attention would have been drawn to the fact that Mary Kelly was killed in the comfort of her home and people’s attention would have been on the fact that this could happen to anyone of them, this sort of killing had never taken place before, and certainly never taken place in someone’s home. All of the victims except Annie Chapman the second woman killed had a home or lived with someone in a home.

Polly Nicholls was found dead at 4:00am, Annie Chapman was found at 6:00am, Elizabeth Stride was found dead at 1:00am, Catherine Eddowes at 1:44am and the time of discovery for Mary Kelly was in the early hours of the morning. All women found in the very early hours of the morning, this was no coincidence and the media wouldn’t have thought so either. They were all killed in the early hours of the morning and it is believed that all of the deaths were caused due to the cuts that each woman received on their throats. Polly Nicholls was killed at 3:30am, Annie Chapman at 4:30am, Elizabeth Stride between 12:36-12:56am, Catherine Eddowes between 1:15-1:44am when she was found and Mary Kelly died between 1:00-6:00am. All the times of death very similar, it looked as if the killer was forming some kind of pattern to his killings and this was what the press picked up on. The fact that the killer was killing at roughly the same times and very near to all of his previous killings the press found it hard to believe that the killer was not being seen, or had been caught.

Many, as well as the press were under the impression, due to all of the evidence that the killer had some kind of hatred for all prostitutes, and was picking them all out one by one. All of the women were prostitutes, none of them had been for the whole of their lives, Elizabeth Stride for example did sewing and cleaning, prostitution was a resort that she had turned to in a bid of earning extra money as sewing and cleaning were all very badly paid. Attention was brought to the murders as it was believed that every prostitute was at risk and that there was a mad man targeting prostitutes. The police drew attention to this to raise awareness among those prostitutes who were still on the job so that they could be extra cautious as to who they are picked up by.

From witness’ evidence it was believed that the killer was a foreigner and that he had a Jewish background. Many had said he was in his 40’s, he had a moustache, wore a dark jacket, dark trousers and a dark deerstalkers hat. He was described by all of the witnesses as having a dark complexion and being foreign looking. One witness named Israel Schwartz reported seeing a man push Elizabeth Stride to the floor and call a second man by the name of Lipski over. This was the only witness that reported seeing two men. This would have attracted attention because it would have given the thought to many that there was more than one man and this would increase the risk of being attacked. Most of the attention would not have been for the women themselves but because the general public would have been concerned for their own wellbeing.

All of the women were in their 40’s, all except the last woman killed, Mary Kelly. She was aged just 25, she was the only one out of the five that was foreign (she was from Ireland). The fact that all the victims were female prostitutes, in their 40’s and lived within one square mile of each other was another reason for all the attention that the killing received. The fact that there were so many links between all of the women would have been a great worry to many. And been a great incentive for the press to go out and print more stories.

One of the biggest reasons that the murders received so much attention was the fact that the killer was clever and very precise about the way in which he killed his victims. The police had no leads on the man. He had left no clues or leads at any of the scenes and he was very quick at what he did. One of the killings, Catherine Eddowes was believed to have been killed within two minutes, a police officer had walked within the place that she was found dead at 1:42am, and a separate officer was in the same place two minutes later and at 1:44am found the body. She was found laying in a pool of blood and had had her bowels removed, all within these two minutes. Although the times may not be exactly accurate (or reliable) - the fact that the killer was able to do so much to his victims in so little time brought a great deal of attention to who he was, and how he did it. The technique used and how precise he was lead to, all except one examining doctor to believe that the killer had medical experience. The only examining doctor that believes the killer had no medical experience was Dr Bond who examined Mary Kelly. Media attention would have been thriving on the fact that the doctors believed he had medical training, this would have explained why ‘Jack the Ripper’ was able to kill in the way that he did and in the time that he did and with as little disturbances as there was.

These killings were the first ever publicized killings before the period of 1888, the fact that there was a madman on the loose, killing people in such a horrific way; it was inevitable that it would make headline news. People had never seen anything like this at all in their lives and it would have come as a great shock to them, this was the biggest ever catastrophe to have happened to ordinary civilians on their own door steps. Newspapers from far and wide would have definitely picked up on it, and they did. As said before bad news is what sells newspapers.

The true nature of the killings alone attracted attention, the fact that women could be brutally murdered in such a way in their own streets and in their own homes, as in the case of Mary Kelly was a great blow to people who had never expected this. The murderer was very disturbed and believed to be mentally ill this was a worry to all of those that lived in Whitechapel. Knowing that they could be next and the fact that they are not safe on their own on the street let alone in their own homes, one lady named Sarah Lewish was with a friend one evening and they were approached by a man. This man wanted the two women, who were both prostitutes to follow him; he was very persuasive and was very adamant that they were going with him. This caused both of the women to panic and they ran. Sarah Lewish reported seeing the same man at 2:00am on the morning of Mary Kelly’s murder and she heard a lady shriek ‘murder’.

All five of the murders were horrific, Mary Kelly the worst out of the five victims. Each had deep lacerations to the body; all five of the victims were killed by the cuts that they received to their throats, all except Elizabeth Stride were found with their skirts up. Most of the victims were found lay on their sides, Catherine Eddowes was the only one found laying on her back. The wounds and the deformities that each of the women received was the most worrying thing of all, the fact that the killer at one moment could be killing so violently and frantically and on the next be so calm when laying out the internal organs was chilling. The killer must have had some bravery and been a very confident person.

The thought of a cannibal on the streets of Whitechapel would have brought attention to all of the murders; this though was brought to the attention of the police and the press when they received two letters, which are thought to have been from the murderer. For the last two murders of Catherine Eddowes and Mary Kelly the police received a couple of letter which contained information about the murders. The thought that the killer was playing a game, and that all of this to him was fun and games would have been of interest to the press. In one of the letters which was addressed to George Lusk who was the president of the Vigilance Committee, he received a letter on the 16th October.

The hundreds of hoax letters that the press and the police received often led the police in the wrong direction when they were carrying out their enquiries. The press often made up stories and leads to attract attention; this led to the police making wrong turns in the way that their enquiries were going. People would often believe everything that they read in the papers, letters produced by the press often sold the papers but made delays to proceedings and prevented the police from following up other leads, real leads that may have led to the catching of the killer.

Attached to the letter was a small cardboard box containing half a kidney which had been preserved in wine. This was of great interest to the press and the general public, knowing that the killer was now posting parts of his victim’s bodies to people, this was something that had never ever been seen before, and something like this had never even been in someone’s wildest dreams before. This press attention is something that I think the killer very much enjoyed.

Overall, there were many factors that caused the attraction of media and general public attention to the murders. These murders attracted so much attention because of the nature that the women were killed, where the women were killed. The time it took for the women to be killed and most of all the fact that the police had no leads to the killer, and to this very day, over a century later the well know ‘Jack the Ripper’ remains a mystery. This the most interesting part and the part that attracted, and still does attract so much attention to the Whitechapel murders.

The police were unable to catch Jack the Ripper not because of his unbelievable criminal genius, but due to the ineffective methods they implemented. The police used many techniques to try to catch Jack the Ripper that were mainly traditional and involved trial and error.

One of the methods used by the police was the questioning of eyewitness’. This was done to some success but the people questioned were often vague and did not give away much information. An example of this happening would be Elizabeth Long’s statement where she is clearly unsure about what the murderer looked like, “He looked to me like a foreigner, as well as I could make out.” These eyewitness accounts often were either useless or sent the police out looking for someone who was not Jack the Ripper and therefore wasted police time.

The main way of catching Jack the Ripper was thought to be using local appeals. This was because the police believed that he was living in the local area of Whitechapel. This is shown in a leaflet published by the police, “[the murder is] supposed [to be committed] by someone residing in the immediate neighbourhood.” Leaflets were posted around the Whitechapel area to report anybody who might be the murderer, “Should you know of any person to whom suspicion is attached, you are earnestly requested to communicate at once with the nearest Police Station…” However, “The practise of offering reward for the discovery of criminals was discontinued some years ago…offers of reward tended to produce more harm than good”. This method of local questioning rarely worked as people in the Whitechapel area did not want to be associated with the murders as they were scared of what might happen to them. There was no reward on offer.

The idea of localising the search also meant that only a few types of people were questioned. For example, only butchers, doctors and slaughterers (despite the coroner’s report which stated “No mere slaughterer of animals could have carried out these operations.”) The police also targeted people with ‘criminal’ facial characteristics (this was in accordance with the Darwinian Theory which was popular at the time).

The police generally tried to catch the Ripper in the act rather than to solve the crimes. This is illustrated by an article published by the Times Newspaper, “…some accidental circumstance will lead to a trace which may be followed to a successful conclusion.” This was done by increasing the number of police officers on the ‘beat’ and by the use of decoys (for example police officers dressing up as prostitutes to catch Jack). Although the increased amount of police officers on the ‘beat’ created a lull in crime in a generally dangerous area, this, or the decoys, could have stopped Jack from committing his murders.

The Metropolitan police force also tried to tie up with other police forces and vigilante groups in order to gain access to more information. This did not always work however as police forces wanted to compete with each other and vigilante groups were unwilling to cooperate. Bloodhounds were also used on some occasions to try to track down the criminal but this also failed (one time the Blood Hounds went straight back to Sir Charles Warren, the owner, and the on several occasions, due to lack of public awareness, the crime scene had been tampered with and evidence spoilt.)

In conclusion, the police force did use many techniques to try to find Jack the Ripper but many of these methods were too traditional to work, this in turn meant that they were unable to catch him. At the time there was a joke in punch that showed a policeman knocking on somebody’s door and saying, “Are you Jack the Ripper”. This sums up the general public opinion at the time about how badly the police were treating the Ripper case. Methods that the Metropolitan police force used included questioning eyewitnesses, publishing information to the public in the form of posters, narrowing down the search to a handful of people, trying to catch the ripper ‘red-handed’, trying to link with other police forces and vigilante groups and using blood hounds to try and track down Jack. These all detracted from the real detective work that was needed. After the ‘Ripper’ case police work began to evolve. Ultimately the detective department was in its infancy and it took a case such as the Whitechapel murders to make them grow up.

By Danny Turner 11 Yellow