An essay on Jack the Ripper's first victim - Polly Nicholls

An essay on Jack the Ripper’s first victim:

Polly Nicholls

Prostitution was a precarious business at the best of times, and in Whitechapel there were many risks. In the spring and summer of 1888, there were several attacks on prostitutes in Whitechapel. On 2 April 1888, at about 7.00 pm, Emma Smith, a forty-five year old prostitute was attacked and robbed. Her face and head were badly injured by several men. No one was brought to justice for the crime.

Almost exactly four months later, on 6 August 1888, another prostitute, Martha Tabram, was found dead in George Yard, only a hundred yards or so from the spot where Emma Smith was attacked. The post mortem report stated that she had been stabbed thirty-nine times on the ‘body, neck and private parts with a knife or dagger’. Most of the wounds had been inflicted with something like a penknife, but one had been caused by a long blade. The time of death was estimated at 2.30 am

Another prostitute Mary Ann Connelly claimed to have been with Martha Tabram and two soldiers just a few hours before she was killed. A police constable also stated that he had a soldier in the area of George Yard that night. Mary Ann Connelly was taken by the police to the Tower of London, where there was a garrison of soldiers. She identified two, but they were both cleared of the murder.

The attacks on Emma Smith and Martha Tabram created an air of suspicion in Whitechapel. It appeared that there was a killer on the loose preying on prostitutes. In fact it was obvious that the two crimes were not connected. Emma Smith had simply been robbed, Martha Tabram had been the victim of a much more serious and much more vicious crime. Whitechapel was on edge, therefore, throughout the month of August 1888.

On Friday 31 August 1888, at about 4.00 am, Charles Cross was walking through Buck’s Row in Whitechapel. He saw something lying on the ground ...

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On Friday 31 August 1888, at about 4.00 am, Charles Cross was walking through Buck’s Row in Whitechapel. He saw something lying on the ground in front of a stable yard. As he came closer, he saw that it was a woman. She was lying on her back with her skirts pulled up almost to her waist. In the darkness he could not make out any more details. He assumed that she was drunk and called over another man to try to get her to her feet. They could not wake her up, so they pulled down her skirts and went to fetch a policeman.

Before the two men could return. Police Constable John Neil came upon the body while he was on his beat. In the light of his lantern, he could see that the woman’s throat had been slashed from ear to ear. Her clothes were soaked in blood. Neil called another policeman and then sent him to find a doctor and an ambulance. The doctor, Rees Llewellyn, arrived almost immediately and pronounced the woman dead. She had been killed by the wound to her throat and had been dead for no more than thirty minutes. She had died where she was found. Neil carried out house to house inquiries in the area but no one had heard anything suspicious.

The body was taken to the mortuary in Old Montague Street. When the clothes were removed, more wounds were discovered to the abdomen. Dr Llewellyn made a second examination and found that there were several deep cuts to the abdomen, which would have been caused by a long bladed knife. These wounds had been carried out after death, while the woman was lying on her back.

The woman was approximately five feet two inches in height, with brown hair going grey and brown eyes and was missing several front teeth. A search of the clothes revealed a comb, a broken mirror and a handkerchief. On her petticoats was the Lambeth Workhouse mark.

At first it seemed that positive identification would difficult, but news soon spread about Whitechapel and the police learned that a woman called Polly was missing from her lodgings at 18, Thrawl Street. Later that day she was identified by a woman from Lambeth Workhouse as Mary Ann Nicholls. The following day her father and husband also confirmed her identity.

Mary Ann Nichols was aged forty-two when she was killed. She was married to William Nicholls and had five children, but her heavy drinking had led to the breakdown of the marriage. For the last few years she had lived off her earnings as a prostitute. She was sad, lonely and destitute, but liked by most people who knew her.

The East London Observer, like most people in Whitechapel, linked the two murders of Martha Tabram and Polly Nicholls.

The two murders which have so startled London within the last month are singular for the reason that the victims have been of the poorest of the poor, and no adequate motive in the shape of plunder can be traced. The excess of effort that has been apparent in each murder suggests the idea that both crimes are the work of a demented being, as the extraordinary violence used is the peculiar feature in each instance.

But when the Home Secretary was asked to provide a reward for to help catch the killer, he refused. He simply stated that responsibility for catching the murderer lay with the Metropolitan Police.