Whitechapel Flashcards
Background info
Area in east London - notorious for poverty, crime, alcoholism and prostitution.
Charles booth survey- 37.5% of residents living in worst kind of poverty.
Police- met police - 1829
Jack the Ripper- 1888
Carried out murders on prostitutes - failure to capture him gathered attention of the media.
Features of Whitechapel - work
25 shillings per week
Sweatshops- 20 hours of work a day
Docks- work on ships- wanted job
Features of Whitechapel - Housing
30,000 people with 4,000 houses
Rookeries: overcrowded slum areas split into several apartments with up to 30 people, sharing beds
Lodging houses- 200 for 8,000 people
Peabody estate- 11 new blocks, 286 new flats, 3 shilling per week
Features of Whitechapel - violence
Overcrowding, poverty and high immigrant numbers led to tension
Prostitutes vulnerable to violence
When Jack the Ripper mutters took place, easy to blame each others ethnic groups
Features of Whitechapel - Environment
Narrow, unlit, overcrowded roads
Noise, smell would help a criminal escape
Streets maze like
Pickpocketing was easy because of overcrowding
Immigration tensions - Irish
Not well liked
Known for drunken behaviour and violence
Used money early to move to America
Fenians- terrorist group wanted Irelands freedom from Uk
Organised bomb attacks on landmarks
Police set up special branch for terrorise
Immigration tensions - Jews
Moved to east end after pogroms in Russia
Didn’t mix with the locals
Locals jealous of Jews work
Stood out because of cultural differences
Beatings and attacks on Jews were common
Policing
Met police - set up 1829 by Robert peel
13,000 men to police 5 million people
1300 on a shift at a time
Charles warren - police commissioner
Bloody Sunday- riot dealt with by army
1878 - CID set up, detectives of 216 officers
Difficulties of policing - routine
Whitechapel covered by H-division
Officers would walk the beat and act as deterrents
Pay was poor so recruits were poor
Difficulties of policing - alcohol
Common amongst poor and unemployed, very cheap but very strong
45 pubs on the main road
Violent crimes caused by alcohol
Attitudes towards police were low and attacks common
Difficulties to policing - prostitution
Vulnerable women easy to attack at night
62 brothels with 1,200 prostitutes
Often drunk so couldn’t help with investigations
Difficulties of policing - protection rackets
Agreements made with gangs and local businesses to protect them. Smashed up if they disagreed
People afraid to report gang violence because fear of attacks
Monkey parade were a big gang
Difficulties for policing- environment
Couldn’t see at night because of unlit roads and smog
So hard to catch criminals
Difficulties for policing - local newspapers
Mocked police not being able to catch criminals, especially Jack the Ripper
Fewer people wanted to help police because of this.
Jack the Ripper - How police dealt with it - public involvement
Inspector Frederick Abberline was in charge of the case
Public involvement
300 men sent letters claiming to be the killer
Every letter had to be followed up, most were fake so waste of time and resources
Jack the Ripper - police force rivalry
One victim was killed on the border of met police and London city police
Charles warren wanted the met to investigate so removed vital evidence from a place inside London city police territory
Jack the Ripper - local media
Most newspapers made the most of the murder by adding dramatic images and wild speculation
Journalists quick to jump to conclusions
Accused killer of being foreign and Jewish leading to tensions in the area
Jack the Ripper - removal of evidence
Charles warren was worried that blaming the Jews would lead to tensions so removed the vital evidence
It read: ‘the Jews are the men that will not be blamed for nothing’
Obstacles to police success catching killer
Restriction of police:
No scientific methods
No finger printing (12 years until used)
No blood analysis
No data bases
Poor photography
Lack of experience
Whitechapel vigilance committee
Run by George lusk and other business men frustrated at lack of police progress.
Contradicted police methods
Techniques used to investigate the murders
Eye witnesses:
Leads could be misleading because of drunk eye witnesses
Soup kitchens:
Weren’t allowed to offer money as a reward so offered soup to the poor in return for information
Info from journalists:
Locals would talk to journalists so they collected a lot of info. However too quick to jump to conclusions. More interested in the story
Officers dressed up as prostitutes to catch killer, led to them being mocked by the press
Beat constables
Special uniform:
Woollen trousers and jackets (deep blue)
Uniform stood out in the crowd
Truncheon carried to defend constables
They wore top hats and carried handcuffs
