Whitechapel

Question 1

when did Charles Booth make his poverty map?

Answer 1

1888

Question 2

what was Whitechapel?

Answer 2

one of the East-End of London’s poorest districts

Question 3

how many people lived in Whitechapel? How many people lived in the bigger police Whitechapel H-Division area?

Answer 3

30,000 people lived in Whitechapel, and 176,000 lived in the bigger police Whitechapel H-Division area

Question 4

where did the richer inhabitants and businesses of Whitechapel live and trade

Answer 4

along the larger roads such as Whitechapel Road and Commercial Road

Question 5

what was pollution and sanitation like in Whitechapel?

Answer 5

• London suffered from terrible pollution from coal and gas fumes and industries (e.g. the London Smog was a soot-laden fog that severely restricted visibility and caused death from impeded respiration/breathing)
• there was poor sanitation: sewerage was poor and healthy drinking water unreliable, both causing diseases such as typhus and cholera

Question 6

what was the housing like in Whitechapel?

Answer 6

very overcrowded:

• much of Whitechapel contained slum housing (rookeries)
• houses were divided into several apartments, sometimes with 30 people in each house
• in 1881, Whitechapel’s 30,709 people lived in 4,069 houses - on average 7.5 in each
• Whitechapel’s population density was 189 per acre (compared to 45 in London as a whole)

Question 7

what places were there for homeless people to sleep? what were these places like?

Answer 7

there were ‘lodging houses’/’doss houses’ where homeless people could sleep in 8-hour shifts:

• terrible unhygienic conditions including heat, rats and shared beds (dirty, unhygienic bedding, etc.)
• 200 lodging houses catering for 8,000 people

Question 8

which street is a key example of bad housing in Whitechapel?

Answer 8

Flower and Dean Street

Question 9

what made the housing bad in Whitechapel?

Answer 9

1. overcrowded housing

2. homelessness

Question 10

which census recorded the number of people in Flower and Dean street? How many lodgers did it find in how many doss houses?

Answer 10

The 1871 census recorded 902 lodgers in 31 doss houses

Question 11

what year was the Board of Works Report? What did it find?

Answer 11

the 1871 Board of Works Report found 38 houses with 143 rooms and 298 people including evidence of overcrowding and buildings in dilapidated condition

Question 12

what was Flower and Dean Street like?

Answer 12

• narrow yards, dilapidated houses, very cramped rooms, poor sewerage
• terrible reputation for prostitution, thieves and violent crime
• (modern police profiling of the crimes suggest that, along with two of his victims, the Ripper probably lived on Flower and Dean Street

Question 13

what was the peabody housing estate?

Answer 13

a new housing development - a block of flats that was built in whitechapel after they demolished slums under the Artisans Dwelling Act, 1875

Question 14

who was George Peabody?

Answer 14

an american banker who invested money into the Peabody Estate

Question 15

what are 3 positives of the peabody estate?

Answer 15

1. the flats were cleaner and a lot more hygienic
2. they were less crowded - only one family in each room
3. they had running water and toilets

Question 16

3 negatives of the Peabody Housing Estate

Answer 16

1. caused more overcrowding
2. too expensive for poorest people
3. immediate eviction if you don’t pay rent

Question 17

how do you answer question 1 (describe two features of…)

Answer 17

you state the feature, and you describe the feature - add extra information

Question 18

when was the Peabody Estate funded and by who?

Answer 18

in 1881, George Peabody funded slum clearance and the creation of 286 flats in the Peabody Estate

Question 19

how many flats were there in the peabody estate?

Answer 19

286

Question 20

how much was rent for the Peabody Estate?

Answer 20

rent was from 3 to 6 shillings for 1 and 3-room flats respectively (average labourer income was 22 shillings)

Question 21

what improvements were made to the housing situation in Whitechapel? Give a reason why these changes were made

Answer 21

• The Houses of the Working Classes Act, 1890 sought to replace slums. The Public Health Amendment Act, 1890 aimed to improve sewerage and rubbish collection
• In-part the Acts were prompted by Jack the Ripper murders and the resulting attention on poverty and squalor in Whitechapel

Question 22

what were the two main types of work in Whitechapel?

Answer 22

1. casual labour

2. sweated labour

Question 23

what was casual labour?

Answer 23

casual labour - such as in the docks or in construction - meant that workers were employed a day at a time: no job or income security

Question 24

what was sweated labour?

Answer 24

sweated labour meant work in cramped, dusty and unhealthy “sweatshops” for low wages in “sweated trades”, e.g. tailoring, dress and shoe making

Question 25

When and why were workhouses set up?

Answer 25

they were set up in the early 19th Century to offer food and shelter to those who were too poor to survive in the general community

Question 26

who would become inmates of a workhouse?

Answer 26

inmates included the poor, old, sick, disabled, orphans, and unmarried mothers and their child(ren). There was a stigma about using the Workhouse: as a rule, people avoided going to the workhouse as long as possible but then found it hard to leave

Question 27

what was the inmate experience at a workhouse like?

Answer 27

• families - men, women and children - were separated and forbidden from communicating
• inmates wore a uniform; were expected to do tough manual labour; receive monotonous food; enjoyed little or no privacy including sleeping in soulless dormitories

Question 28

what happened to vagrants at the workhouse?

Answer 28

vagrants - who stayed only one or two nights - were considered lazy and a bad influence, and were kept separately

Question 29

when was the first orphanage set up, and who by?

Answer 29

In 1870 Dr Thomas Barnardo set up his first orphanage. By 1905, there were 100 Barnardo homes caring for 8,500 orphans

Question 30

what were the two main types of immigrants in Whitechapel?

Answer 30

1. Irish immigration

2. Eastern European Jewish immigration

Question 31

when was Irish immigration to Whitechapel growing?

Answer 31

Irish immigration expanded rapidly from the 1840s

Question 32

what type of job was the Irish community frequently engaged in?

Answer 32

low-skilled manual labour such as being “navvies” on roads and railways or as dockers

Question 33

why was there hostility towards the irish in whitechapel?

Answer 33

• the irish had a reputation for drunkenness and violence
• the Irish terrorist group, the Fenians, were involved in a series of incidents from the 1860s to the 1880s and gained for the Irish a further reputation as violent fanatics

Question 34

when was there massive Jewish immigration to Whitechapel, and where from?

Answer 34

massive Jewish immigration from Russia to Whitechapel occurred in the 1880s

Question 35

why was there hostility towards the Jewish immigrants?

Answer 35

• The Jewish immigrants had a reputation for being a separate, un-British, unintegrated community. This was based on physical looks, clothing, language, religion, culture, and the fact that they tended to live in their own separate communities
• Jewish immigrants were unpopular for their business success and business practices such as running sweatshops, paying low wages and, therefore, being able to undercut British businesses
• The Jews were also unpopular due to their supposed link to radical socialist and anarchist political groups

Question 36

What were two revolutionary political groups in the late 19th century?

Answer 36

1. anarchism

2. socialism

Question 37

what did anarchists want?

Answer 37

a revolution in which all laws and authority would be swept away. They committed a number of political assassinations in Europe and America in the late 19th century. There was concern that anarchist groups might commit crimes in Britain/

Question 38

What did socialists want? why was this dangerous?

Answer 38

socialists wanted to bring down the existing capital system. There was evidence of growing working-class support - led by parties such as the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) - which the authorities saw as dangerous. There were some links between socialist groups and the Jewish community.

Question 39

why did Whitechapel have a terrible reputation for high levels of crime?

Answer 39

much of it linked to levels of poverty and unemployment.

• crime was made easier, and policing more difficult, by the maze of badly lit alleyways and courtyards with multiple entrances and exits
• immigrant cultural and language barriers, plus prejudice against immigrants, added to policing problems
• some areas, such as Ewer street, were so dangerous that the police wouldn’t go there

Question 40

what was prostitution like in Whitechapel?

Answer 40

• in 1888 there were around 1,200 prostitutes in Whitechapel
• the poorest prostitutes tended to work on the streets making them vulnerable to assault and rape
• other prostitutes worked in brothels (there were 62 in whitechapel in 1888) where they were safer but more easily exploited by pimps
• attitudes to prostitutes were generally very unsympathetic

Question 41

How did alcohol contribute to crime in Whitechapel?

Answer 41

there were numerous pubs in Whitechapel and drink - often to escape terrible lives - was common: there were numerous alcoholics. There are strong links between alcohol and violence

Question 42

Gangs and gang crime were common in Whitechapel. Give two examples of gangs from this period.

Answer 42

1. The Bessarabian Tigers

2. The Odessians

Question 43

what were organised protection rackets?

Answer 43

where business were intimidated into paying gangs for protection or, if they wouldn’t pay, being smashed up.

Question 44

what were some links between crime and immigration in Whitechapel?

Answer 44

• there was significant prejudice against immigrant groups. This frequently, as in the Ripper murders, led to press (e.g. Illustrated Police News) and public pressure on the police to focus their attention on immigrants as suspected criminals (e.g. Leather Apron / John Pizer)
• irish immigrants had a reputation for drunkenness and violent crime including terrorism (Irish Fenians were an irish terrorist group)
• Jewish immigrants had a reputation for gangs, immoral practices, and radical political links (Anarchism and Socialism)

Question 45

what was policing like outside London during the Whitechapel time period?

Answer 45

• Britain did not have a single national police force: in 1900 Britain had 47,000 police officers in 243 separate forces. These forces were mostly controlled by local watch committees

Question 46

What was the Metropolitan Police? Who was it led by? How big was it? etc.

Answer 46

• The Metropolitan Police - which covered the London area - was the biggest and most important force
• led by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police who reported directly to the Home Secretary
• In 1885 there were 13,319 police officers in the Metropolitan police to deal with 5 million people in London
• The Metropolitan Police was split into 20 Divisions, each known by a letter of the alphabet

Question 47

what was the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)? When was it set up and why?

Answer 47

• The CID was the Metropolitan Police’s detective force
• it had 294 detectives in 1883
• The CID was set up in 1878 by Howard Vincent after the ‘Trial of the Detectives’ (1877) which exposed corruption in the previous detective force

Question 48

who was Charles Warren?

Answer 48

• Charles Warren, a former army general, was appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 1886
• He gained a bad reputation for using the army to boost police numbers and for using vigorous policing methods against working-class political demonstrations (such as “Bloody Sunday” against socialist protestors in Trafalgar Square in 1886)
• Warren had very bad relations with the Home Secretary, Henry Matthews, and, after the failure of the Ripper investigation in 1888, was forced to resign
• Warren wrote to the press to blame much of the failure of the Ripper investigation on weak political leadership

Question 49

who were the typical recruits to the police force during the whitechapel time period?

Answer 49

• typical recruits were young working-class men of good, honest character (more important that intelligence)
• they were often from the countryside (recruits were bigger and healthier)
• the job was decently paid, secure, had promotion opportunities and led to a pension after 30-years’ service

Question 50

what was the “beat”?

Answer 50

• regular on-foot patrol by each police officer around a set area of Whitechapel
• Police had a truncheon, handcuffs, a whistle, a lamp, and their note book
• constables kept records in their beat diaries and regularly met and discussed events with their sergeant
• focus on observation, stopping, questioning, chasing and apprehending suspected criminals

Question 51

what was the name of the police force in Whitechapel?

Answer 51

Whitechapel H-Division

Question 52

How big was Whitechapel H-Division?

Answer 52

• it was run by a Superintendent, a Chief Inspector, 27 Inspectors, 37 Sergeants and around 500 Constables
• There were 15 CID detectives attached to the Whitechapel H-Division
• This force was responsible for policing 176,000 people among the poorest areas of London
• there was a police to population ratio of 1:300 in Whitechapel compared to 1:390 for the whole of London (but there was far more crime in Whitechapel)

Question 53

what was crime in Whitechapel like, and what were the associated policing problems?

Answer 53

• Whitechapel had a terrible reputation for high levels of crime (much or it linked to levels of poverty and unemployment)
• crime was made easier, ang policing more difficult, by the maze of badly lit alleyways and courtyards with multiple entrances and exits
• immigrant cultural and language barriers, plus prejudice against immigrants, added to policing problems
• some areas, such as Ewer Street, were so dangerous that the police wouldn’t go there
• particular problems included prostitution, alcohol-linked violent crime, and gang crime and protection rackets

Question 54

who were the 5 victims of Jack the Ripper? when and where were they each murdered?

Answer 54

1. Mary Ann “Polly” Nicholas - Buck’s Row, Whitechapel - on 31st August 1888
2. Annie Chapman - 29 Hanbury Street, Whitechapel - 8th September 1888
3. Elizabeth Stride - Dutfield’s Yard, Berners Street, Whitechapel - 30th September 1888
4. Catherine Eddowes - Mitre Square, Aldgate, City of London - 30th September 1888 (same night as Elizabeth Stride)
5. Mary Kelly - 13 Miller’s Court, Dorset Street, Whitechapel - 9th November 1888

Question 55

who was involved in the police investigation of Jack the Ripper?

Answer 55

The H-Division police officers and detectives, who were assisted by CID inspector Frederick Abberline

Question 56

name 8 methods the police used to investigate the Jack the Ripper murders

Answer 56

1. post-mortum and coroners evidence
2. follow up leads from journalists
3. witnesses
4. posters and 80,000 handbills (leaflets)
5. house-to-house searches
6. questioning 2000 lodging house residents
7. police in disguise
8. bloodhounds - widely ridiculed and did not get anywhere

Question 57

how was post-mortum and coroners evidence significant for the investigation into the Ripper murders?

Answer 57

• post mortum: Dr Rees Llewellyn stated that the cuts made suggested that the murderer had some knowledge of anatomy and possibly of dissection
• coroner Dr Wynne Baxter agreed that the murderer had anatomical knowledge and that “no mere slaughterer of animals could have carried out these operations”
• the policed focussed on more medically qualified persons for a time
• subsequent post mortums contradicted the earlier judgement about the Ripper’s anatomical skills so the police questioned 76 butchers and slaughtermen

Question 58

how did leads from journalists contribute to the police investigation of the Ripper murders?

Answer 58

• press identified the murderer as “Leather Apron”, a local Jewish man called John Pizer. Police arrested him but he had alibis from the date/time of the murders
• press created or sent 300 letters to the police. Some of them appeared more convincing and the police created posters to try and follow up their evidence

Question 59

why were witnesses important for the investigation into the Ripper murders?

Answer 59

• eye-witnesses were critical for crime detection until more forensic techniques were developed at the end of the 19th century and during the 20th century
• the Police Code identified “careful observation” as the method for police carefully to collect evidence at the crime scene

Question 60

name 6 problems the police faced during the investigation of the Ripper murders

Answer 60

1. the police and the media
2. police rivalry
3. the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee
4. Reliance on witnesses
5. lack of forensic techniques
6. communications

Question 61

how were the police and the media a problem for the police during the investigation of the Ripper murders?

Answer 61

• 300 letters and postcards were sent to police or newspapers by men claiming to be the murderer. Most famously, “Dear Boss” (first using the name Jack the Ripper)
• hostility from the press including scorn of police leadership, officers and methods by the respectable ‘The Times’ and the popular ‘Illustrated Police News’ newspapers, for example.

Question 62

give an example of how police rivalry created a problem for H-Division during the investigation of the Ripper murders

Answer 62

• Catherine Eddowes was murdered in the City of London, in the City of London Police area, not that of the Metropolitan police
• The City Police found a clue in Goulston Street, Whitechapel: a piece of Eddows’ apron, smeared with blood and faeces underneath a message reading “The Juwes are not the men that will not be blamed for nothing”
• Commissioner Warren ordered the message to be washed off the wall because he feared the message would lead to anti-Jewish riots and attacks - destroyed critical evidence for H-Division
• However, there is evidence of cooperation between the Metropolitan Police and the Thames River Police regarding the questioning of dockers, and also evidence of cooperation between H-Division and other Met divisions regarding searches of opium dens

Question 63

what was the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee how did it cause problems for the police during the investigation of the Ripper murders?

Answer 63

• George Lusk, a local builder, believed that the police were not doing enough and set up a vigilance committee, which included two private detectives
• Lusk’s Committee sent the police unreliable evidence which then needed to be checked by the police; Lusk also received hoax letters (e.g. “From Hell” letter - including human kidney) which the police again, needed to investigate

Question 64

why were the police reliant on eye-witnesses, and how did this create problems for the police during the investigation of the Ripper murders?

Answer 64

• the lack of forensic techniques meant that the police were forced to rely on eye-witnesses
• eye-witness evidence was generally lacking and, where available, vague. For example, George Hutchinson’s statement regarding the man he thought he saw Kelly with just before her murder, and Matthew Parker’s vague identification of a man in the vicinity

Question 65

why was there a lack of forensic techniques during the police investigations of Jack the Ripper?

Answer 65

• fingerprinting was only used from 1901
• DNA evidence was only used from the late 20th century
• scientists could not tell the difference between human and animal blood, let along the different blood groups
• photography
  - > no central record of photographs of criminals. Bertillon System of systematic photography and measurements of criminals was only adopted in 1894
  - > Crime-scene photography was only just developing

Question 66

why was communications a problem for police during the police investigations of Jack the Ripper?

Answer 66

police could only summon help through a whistle, as H-Division only had a telephone line to the Metropolitan Police headquarters in 1901 and an exchange in their police station in 1907. H-Division also only introduced bicycles in 1909 (they were in Kent in 1896)

Question 67

what is the census and how can it help us investigate conditions in Whitechapel?

Answer 67

the census was taken every 10 years (1871, 1881, etc.) It is an official government document which is designed to record details about the whole of Britain’s population. Forms were sent to each address, help was provided where needed and there were punishments for inaccurate of incomplete information. The census records every address (including workhouses and lodging houses) and the names, ages, relationship (e.g. husband, wife, son daughter, etc.) and employment of every person. The records can give evidence of, for example, overcrowding

Question 68

name three official records that we can use for investigating Whitechapel

Answer 68

1. the census
2. the board of works reports
3. workhouse records, e.g. Whitechapel Workhouse, South Grove

Question 69

what were the Board of Works Reports?

Answer 69

The Board of Works was the government department which was responsible for the condition of the buildings. Its reports contain detailed factual/objective evidence. Sometimes the evidence was used to implement slum demolition.

Question 70

what information could you get out of the Workhouse records (e.g. Whitechapel Workhouse, South Grove)?

Answer 70

Workhouses would have kept records about inmates, staff and the buildings:

• inmates: name, age, place of birth, occupation, relationship to other inmates, start and duration of stay. From this we can find out the numbers and typical characteristics of inmates and how numbers fluctuated.
• staff: names, jobs, etc. From this we can see the kind of support given to inmates and the ratio of inmates to staff
• buildings: details of buildings, rooms - dormitories, refectory, infirmary, separate men/women/children accommodation. Also evidence of expenditure on repairs, etc.
• miscellaneous: there may be inventories of beds, cupboards, other furniture, and types of food etc. and evidence of expenditure.

Question 71

name four “other records” that could be used for an investigation into Whitechapel.

Answer 71

1. Charles Booth’s Poverty Map, 1889
2. the press
3. novels
4. drawings and photographs

Question 72

who was Charles Booth, and what were his maps?

Answer 72

Charles Booth was a social reformer who wanted to collect evidence about London’s population to help put pressure on the government to make improvements. Booth employed 80 investigators who followed police officers on their beat to collect detailed evidence. Booth’s maps are based on detailed records and evidence and he and his helpers had some expertise in identifying poverty, etc. His map, however, is not official, was designed to pressure for government action, and suggests an outsider’s prejudice with phrases such as “Lower class. Vicious, semi-criminal”

Question 73

How useful are press reports (newspaper articles) for whitechapel?

Answer 73

press reports - particularly from higher-class publications like The Times - may contain comprehensive, objective, accurate and typical evidence. On the other hand, particularly in more popular journals such as the Illustrated Police News and the East End Observer, there is a tendency to sensationalise and exaggerate to get attention and increase sales. The information may be good: you need to corroborate and test it against your own knowledge. Also consider what is the purpose of the article.

Question 74

How useful are novels as sources when looking at Whitechapel?

Answer 74

Novels may contain comprehensive, accurate and typical evidence BUT there is a tendency to sensationalise and exaggerate to get attention and increase sales. The information may be good: you need to corroborate it and test it against your own knowledge. Also consider the purpose of the book. Famous novels dealing with poverty in Whitechapel include Tales of Mean Streets by Arthur Morrison (1894) and The People of the Abyss by Jack London (1903)

Question 75

how useful are drawings and photographs as sources when studying Whitechapel?

Answer 75

Students tend to be suspicious of drawings and trustful of photographs BUT both may be accurate or misleading. Drawings may or may not be accurate but photographs also may be staged or give a misleading (partial or untypical) view. Both tend to reflect the purpose of the artist or photographer or the person who commissioned the image. The image may be good: you need to corroborate and test it against your own knowledge. Consider the purpose of the photograph or drawing.

Question 76

name 8 different sources of policing records in whitechapel

Answer 76

1. Home Office police records
2. Home Office Metropolitan Police records
3. Metropolitan Police records
4. Criminal investigation department (CID) records
5. Whitechapel H-Division records
6. Police officers’ beat diaries
7. the Police Code
8. Police officers’ unofficial memoirs

Question 77

what were the Home Office police records?

Answer 77

the Home Office was responsible for overall policing in Britain and received records from each force about the numbers of officers, crimes, arrests, charges, cautions, etc. in their area. There was some inconsistency in these records as different forces had different approaches to, for example, drunks and beggars.

Question 78

what were the Home Office Metropolitan Police records like?

Answer 78

as the Metropolitan Police was directly responsible to the Home Secretary and was Britain’s capital, the Home Office records were more detailed. They were broken down by division.

Question 79

what were the metropolitan police records?

Answer 79

the Metropolitan Police kept detailed records about crimes, criminals and investigations as well as about police manpower, etc.

Question 80

what did the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) keep records about?

Answer 80

the CID kept detailed records about their own investigations, crimes and criminals

Question 81

what did Whitechapel H-Division keep records about?

Answer 81

police officers, crimes, etc.

Question 82

what did the police officers’ beat diaries contain?

Answer 82

the records of what the officer saw and did on his beat

Question 83

what was the Police Code?

Answer 83

a manual, written by Howard Vincent, head of the CID, gave instructions and guidance to police officers on how to question suspects and collect evidence.

Question 84

give two examples of police officers’ unofficial memoirs. How useful are they?

Answer 84

some police officers, such as James Bent and Richard Jervis, wrote accounts of their careers which include details about their own experience. These may be typical and accurate but may also by unusual and/or exaggerated. They would need to be checked against other evidence

Question 85

name a source of court records from whitechapel

Answer 85

The Central Criminal Court, “The Old Bailey” court records

Question 86

what do records from the Central Criminal Court, “The Old Bailey”, contain?

Answer 86

transcripts of the trial including names of accused and victims, charges, witness/police evidence, verdicts and sentences. However, these records only refer to crimes where someone was arrested and charged.

Question 87

name an unofficial source from Whitechapel

Answer 87

the press