C+P- whitechapel 1870- 1900 Flashcards
1
Q
What time period does white chapel fall under
A
1870 - 1900
2
Q
Give 3 examples of police records used as sources for Whitechapel.
A
Whitechapel H division police station records
H Division Police Officer reports
Witness statements
Coroner’s reports
Post mortem reports
H Divison police officer memoirs
3
Q
Give 3 examples of government sources used as sources for Whitechapel.
A
1881 Census
Charles Booth poverty map
Freedom licences
‘Old Bailey’ Court records
Official government records
4
Q
Give 3 examples of media sources used as sources for Whitechapel.
A
Local newspaper reports
National newspapers
‘Penny Dreadful’ newspapers (attitude toward police)
The Police Review (paper)
5
Q
What four places of work were the people of Whitechapel employed?
A
- Bell foundry (Big Ben)
- Sweatshops
- Docks
- Railways
6
Q
Why was there high levels of unemployment?
A
Economic depression at the time
7
Q
What consequences did boredom have on people?
A
People would get drunk
Disruptive behaviour/ high levels of violence
8
Q
What did the lack of jobs for women mean?
A
Many turned toward prostitution
9
Q
Give 3 descriptions of Whitechapel’s environment and how this allowed crime to flourish.
A
- Noise and smog from pollution - easier to escape
- Overcrowded streets - easy to pickpocket
- Poor sanitation - evidence easily disappeared
10
Q
What were workhouses?
A
- homeless shelters
- harsh discipline and hard work
- made bad to put off people from staying there
11
Q
What was the Peabody estate?
A
- block of flats built by rich american
- reasonable rent
12
Q
What were three examples of housing in Whitechapel?
A
Rookeries
Lodging houses
Coffin beds and hangovers
13
Q
Describe rookeries.
A
- houses split into apartments
- sharing beds
- very overcrowded
14
Q
Describe lodging houses.
A
- for extremely poor people
- beds used in shifts
15
Q
What were coffin beds and hangovers?
A
Coffin beds: literal coffins
Hangovers: Rope strung between two walls
16
Q
Which three factors led to tensions between groups?
A
- Immigration
- Poverty
- Over-crowding
17
Q
Why were women especially vulnerable to violence?
A
- lots and lots of prostitutes
18
Q
Problems linked with overcrowded housing?
A
- theft
- domestic abuse
- fights
19
Q
Problems linked with unemployment?
A
- theft
- disruptive behaviour (drunk)
20
Q
Problems linked with prostitution?
A
- Sexual assault
- Gangs intimidating women
21
Q
Problems linked with alcoholism?
A
- Drunken disorder
22
Q
Problems linked with workhouses?
A
- Theft as people were desperate not to go to workhouse
23
Q
Problems linked with orphaned children?
A
-Petty crimes
- Begging, Pick pocketing
24
Q
Problems linked with immigration?
A
- Tension between older residents and new immigrants
- Competition for work
25
Which three groups of people immigrated to Whitechapel?
- Irish
- Eastern Europeans
- Jews
26
Why were Irish people discriminated against?
- drunken behaviour
- considered as terrorists due to Fenians
27
Who were the Fenians?
- Irish Catholic terrorist group
- bombed UK for freedom
28
Why were Jews considered 'suspicious'?
- different language and culture
- different attitude toward work
29
How did Jews become successful? What consequences did this have?
- Ran sweatshops
- People were jealous of them
30
Who were anarchists? Which immigrant group were they associated with?
- oppose having a govt.
- Eastern Europeans tried bringing down govt. in Paris but failed
31
Why were there a significant number of people in Whitechapel who hated the police?
- Socialists
- Police represented govt. control
32
What type of people lived in a workhouse?
- old or sick
- orphaned children
- unmarried mothers
- physical disbaility
33
What word was used to described the people in a workhouse?
Inmates
34
Why did Whitechapel have an above average need for workhouses?
Lots and lots of poverty
35
How many brothels were in Whitechapel?
62
36
Why was prostitution not illegal?
Seen as a social problem police were expected to deal with
37
If prostitutes could not work in a brothel, what did they do? What were they vulnerable to?
- walk the streets
- rape
38
What were the consequences of backstreet abortions?
- women died from shock or infection
39
Why were the police not taken seriously?
- varied role
- had to deal with social issues like litter
40
What were protection rackets and gangs?
- powerful Eastern European gangs
- threatened shops to protect them from crime
- officers open to bribes from them
41
What was walking the beat? Why could some constables be punished?
- walking a routine to deter and collect information
- some people avoided dangerous areas
42
What was the 'H' division?
- division of police force
- Whitechapel was district h
- understaffed
43
Why was alcoholism a problem?
Lots of people drank
It was their only escape from terrible lives
44
What were the Opium dens?
- set up by Chinese immigrants
- places where opium was sold and smoked
45
Why was the local press extremely unhelpful?
- mocked police
- influenced public attitudes
46
Why was it hard to see or catch a criminal in Whitechapel?
- smog/ poor visibility
- poorly lit streets
47
Who were the 5 main victims of Jack the Ripper?
- Mary Ann Nicholls
- Anne Chapman
- Elizabeth Stride
- Catherine Eddowes
- Mary Jane Kelly
48
What year did the Jack the Ripper murders take place in?
1888
49
Why was public information and eyewitnesses misleading?
- prejudices
- not many actually witnessed the crime
50
What two conclusions were made about JP after a post mortem? How did this help the investigation?
- left handed
- knew human anatomy
- police investigated doctors and butchers
51
Why were soup kitchens set up? Were they useful?
- not allowed to use money as a reward
- used to encourage people to give info
- failed as most came for food
52
Why did they visit lunatic asylums? Why did this not help?
- believed JP was insane
- no inmate capable of precise cuts
53
Why did officers disguise themselves? How did this backfire?
- Officers dressed as prostitutes to lure JP
- made fun of by press and public
54
How was the media used by the police to find JP?
- Dear Boss letter put into papers in hope the handwriting would be recognised
55
What else did the police do?
Search houses to find JP
56
What did all of Jack the Ripper's victims have in common?
- women
- prosititues
- alcoholics
57
Why was the murder of Mary Jane Kelly the most gory?
He had more time
58
What limitations of police methods were there for the JP case? Name 5 and give a reason why they failed.
Lack of forensic methods: only hope to catch killer in act
Fingerprinting: Not taken seriously
Blood sampling: No difference between animals and pigs blood
Database collection: No sharing of criminal records
Photography: Poor quality
Old attitudes: Old officers believed you should take a photo of the victim to see the assailant in the reflection of the eyes - refused to change
Lack of experience: pretty self explanatory
59
What police rivalry existed in Whitechapel?
Metropolitan Police (H) vs City of London
60
Why did police rivalry set back the investigation?
- Vital evidence was removed
- The Juwes are the men who will not be blamed for nothing
- Blood writing erased
61
What was the Whitechapel Vigilance Community?
- determined to embarrass police and put pressure on govt
- investigated crime themselves
- hampered police by sending false leads
62
Why did public involvement make the position of the police even worse?
- letters and postcards sent claiming to be killer in panic
- lots of false leads that needed to be followed up
- people blamed police
63
Why did the Penny Dreadfuls further worsen the situation?
- whipped up public emotions
- put pressure on public
64
What system was developed after the Jack the Ripper failures?
Bertillon system
65
What was the Bertillon system?
Mug shots
- head and shoulders
- centrally stored files
66
Which three things dramatically improved in Whitechapel?
lighting, housing, health
67
What was the Public health act?
The government gave more power and money to local councillors for toilets, paving and rubbish collection
68
What was the houses of the working classes act?
- removal of slum areas
- newer housing development at lower cost
- better living conditions
69
What important invention improved communication?
Telephone - call for support
70
Which two courts were used in this time period?
Thames Police Court and Old Bailey
71
What type of courts were Thames Police Court and Old Bailey?
Thames police - magistrate
Old Bailey - crown
72
What was the difference between the Crown Court and a Magistrate court?
- Crown Court - serious offenders, murderers etc judged by jury
- Magistrates Court - not serious crimes
73
Which court records got burned in 1881
Old Bailey
