Whitchapel Flashcards
What were rookeries?
Area filled with lodging houses where some of London’s poorest people lived in overcrowded conditions
What were ‘doss houses’?
Terrible condition houses from the late 1600s, yard built over for more rooms with narrow streets (16 feet widest), outside toilets but bucket and pot used inside
Who was Charles Booth?
Successful businessman interested in the poor - he hired 80 researchers to explore poverty, living conditions and religion across the capital leading to a series of maps which showed how poor each area was
What was Flower and Dean street?
A well known rookery - terrible reputation as a place full of thieves, drunkards and prostitutes
Deemed as vicious and a semi-criminal area by Booth
What were workhouses?
A houses which has strict rules - what people ate, how they worked and what time they went to sleep and woke up
Families were separated in here and could only see their children once a day
What was the Peabody Estate?
A famous rookery with a large number of lodging houses and a high death rate
Where was the Peabody Estate located?
South of Whitechapel road, just to the east of the Tower of London is Royal Mint street, it was just off Royal Mint Street
What were the difficulties of policing in Whitechapel?
Alcohol and Pubs
Gangs
Prostitution
Violent demonstrations and attacks on Jews
What difficulties to policing did “gangs” cause?
A gang called “Bessarabians” or “Stop-at-nothing gang” threatened the owners of Jewish businesses by using protection rackets.
They also preyed on immigrants as they were scared of authorities so they tended to pay up to avoid authorities
What were protection rackets?
A system of taking money from people while agreeing not to hurt them (gangs used this)
What difficulties to policing did “alcohol and pubs” cause?
Alcohol made small disputes worse and dangerous, and people more susceptible to crime.
Policemen had to make sure pubs kept to the terms of their license.
What difficulties to policing did “prostitution” cause?
It wasn’t a crime but keeping a brothel was illegal. It wasn’t a job but a necessity for women whose lives were in danger
What difficulties to policing did “violent demonstrations and attacks on Jews” cause?
Jews were defrauded of all their money and faced anti-semitism - they didn’t go to the police because they were treated badly by police in Russia and Poland
What did the police try to do to about “gangs”?
They performed investigations and ex-detective sergeant Leeson published some memoirs and stories which contained references to these gangs
What did the police try to do to about “alcohol and pubs”?
The police used as much violence as necessary
checked pubs closed on time
made sure no illegal boxing or gambling was happening
made it illegal to serve alcohol to a drunk person
What did the police try to do to about “prostitution”?
They made it illegal to keep a brothel after 1885 and dealt with the prostitutes
What did the police try to do to about “violent demonstrations and attacks on Jews”?
They tried to understand what was going on and they asked for funds to get lessons in Yiddish (a language spoken by Jewish immigrants)
What were the different reports taken of crime and punishment in Whitechapel?
Charles booth survey of poverty
Coroners’ reports
Reports from London newspapers
Old Bailey records of trials
Political cartoons
Census
National newspapers
Local police records
How would “Charles Booth survey” help as evidence?
It showed where different classes of people lived
How would “Coroner’s reports” help as evidence?
Helpful during murder cases to show how they died
How would “reports from London newspapers” help as evidence?
Good at showing what things happened locally
How would “Old Bailey records of trials” help as evidence?
You get both sides of the story
You get everything said and done during the trial
You get the verdict if the trial
How would “political cartoons” help as evidence?
Shows public opinion and where the criticism lies
How would “national newspapers” help as evidence?
They investigate things and tell you whether something is important or not
How would “local police records” help as evidence?
Shows where crimes were committed
Shows who may had committed the crimes
Shows the types of crimes and frequency of them
What were the limitations of “Charles Booth’s survey of poverty” as evidence?
It didn’t have any statistics
What were the limitations of “Coroners’ reports” as evidence?
It was only for murder cases and there were no suspects
What were the limitations of “reports from London newspapers” as evidence?
They did not have too much detail
What were the limitations of the “Old Bailey records of trials” as evidence?
It only included big cases and not your everyday crime
What were the limitations of the “political cartoons” as evidence?
They try to be funny
They are exaggerated a bit
What were the limitations of “national newspapers” as evidence?
They investigate things and tell you whether something is important
What are the limitations of “local police records” as evidence?
They were burnt
What was the name of the main police station for H division and Whitechapel?
Leman Street Police Station
How many policemen were there compared to people in Whitechapel?
1 policemen for every 300 people
What was the name of the main Whitechapel court house?
The Old Bailey
What sort of cases were tried at The Old Bailey?
Serious cases of murder, attempted murder or something that deserved harsh punishment
What was the most common crime in Whitechapel?
Drunk and disorderly
What was the ‘beat’?
A main tactic for crime prevention - a constable would be given a specific area and would walk around the area, specifically timed so that the Constable would meet his sergeant at certain places - you would change you area frequently to not friendly with people
What were the rules of the ‘beat’?
30 during the day
15 minutes during the night
Each shift was 9 hours with 8 hours walking
Policemen to do their beat alone
What were the disadvantages of the ‘beat’ system?
Criminals could time their crimes after watching a policemen’s beat
Policemen travelled their beats alone
At night, watchmen were meant to check door and windows which made their beat take longer
What happened in 1866 that caused difficulty to the Metropolitan police?
3200 policemen used to control a riot in Hyde Park - Commissioner Mayne injured and army was called to control the crowd
What happened in 1886 that caused difficulty to the Metropolitan police?
A protest in Trafalgar Square got out of hand and houses were damaged - Henderson resigned as commissioner and Sir Charles Warren replaced him
What happened in 1888-1889 that caused difficulty to the Metropolitan police?
Whitechapel murders, 5 thought to be done by Jack the Ripper who wasn’t caught
What change to policing in 1870 aimed to improve the quality of recruits?
New Commissioner Edmund Henderson to raise standards or reading and writing in the police as well as quality of the recruits
What change to policing in 1895 aimed to improve the quality of recruits?
Applicants has to be between 21 and 27
They had to read and write
Taller than 5’9”
What happened in 1894 to the met police that improved their investigation techniques?
Using physical measurement to identify suspects and photographs (called the mug shot)
What happened in 1901 to the met police that improved their investigation techniques?
Fingerprint identification was introduced
Why did Edmund Henderson resign as commissioner?
Accused of having relaxed police discipline - less drills
Critics ignored his helpful actions towards the police force
Scandal called “the trial of the detectives” - corruption in detective branch
1884 and 1885 bombing of parliament in Ireland and the Irish branch failed to stop it (they were set up to prevent this)
Trafalgar Square riot
Why did Charles Warren resign as commissioner?
New Home Secretary - Henry Matthews - didn’t like him
Disciplining police force more - people thought it would be an army to control them
Press acted badly in November 1887 when another Trafalgar Square protest was shut down with excessive force
Late 1888, Jack the Ripper made the police seem like fools
Warren wrote an article making it seem like he was criticising his Home Secretary rather than the government
What techniques did the police use to try and catch Jack the Ripper?
Careful observation
Autopsy
Photography and Sketches
Interviews and following up clues
Identifying suspect
How was “careful observation” used to catch Jack the Ripper?
Clear the area on onlookers before the inspector or detective arrived - collected evidence and clues
How were “autopsies” used to catch Jack the Ripper?
Tried to find evidence and clues as to who the killer was - found the killer was left handed and the time of death
How were “interviews and following up clues” used to catch Jack the Ripper?
To find evidence and who to question
How was “identifying suspects” used to catch Jack the Ripper?
They took notes based o a description by witnesses
Who was in charge of the investigation when trying to catch Jack the Ripper?
Inspector Abberline
