Whitechapel (2)

Question 1

What was the population of Whitechapel? How many were homeless?

Answer 1

Population = 30 000

Homeless = 1 000

Question 2

What were conditions like in Whitechapel?

Answer 2

High crime rate

Poor sanitation

No sewage system

Little clean drinking water

Heavily polluted

Question 3

What were ‘rookeries’? What was an example of a rookery?

Answer 3

Overcrowded slum areas where houses were divided into apartments, where 30 people would live in one apartment at a time

Flower and Dean Street was one such rookery

Question 4

What happened in 1875?

Answer 4

The government started a slum clearance programme

Question 5

When was the Peabody Estate opened? What was it considered to be? How many flats did it provide?

Answer 5

1881

Considered to be the model housing solution

It provided nearly 300 flats

Question 6

What were the Whitechapel workhouses?

Answer 6

A part of the poor relief system, they offered food and shelter for those too poor to live in the outside world

Question 7

What were conditions like in the Whitechapel workhouses? Why?

Answer 7

The conditions were harsh and appalling, in order to ensure that they were used only as a last resort - hence reducing costs.

These conditions were criticised by many, including famous authors such as Charles Dickens

Question 8

Who opened up an orphanage for boys? When and why? What was this shortly followed by?

Answer 8

Dr Barnardo

1870 - opened after seeing the number of orphaned street children

Shortly followed by an orphanage for girls

Question 9

What was employment like in Whitechapel?

Answer 9

Most worked in ‘sweated trades’ like tailoring and shoemaking.

Hours were long, and wages low

Called the ‘sweated trades’ due to the conditions - small, damp and dusty with little natural light

Others worked in railway construction or as labourers on docks. Work was often seasonal so incomes were uncertain

Question 10

When did the number of Irish immigrants rapidly expand?

Answer 10

1840s

Question 11

Where did the Irish immigrants settle and what did they do?

Answer 11

Settled into areas near the river and worked as ‘navvies’ or ‘navigators’ - men who did labouring work on canals, roads and railways

They also worked as dockers

Question 12

What were Irish people like?

Answer 12

They were often violent people who weren’t very well liked

Question 13

When were bomb attacks carried out in England? By who? What did this lead to, and why were they carried out?

Answer 13

Bomb attacks were carried out by IRISH FENIANS in 1867 and 1885. These were people who wanted freedom away from English rule - nationalists

This led to a wave of anti-Catholic and anti-Irish sentiment. The media often portrayed all Irish people as potential Fenians

Question 14

When and why did the Jews arrive from England?

Answer 14

1880s, after being persecuted by the Russian Tsar

Question 15

In some parts of Whitechapel, what proportion of the population had grown to be Jewish? When was this? What did this lead to?

Answer 15

In some areas, by 1888, the Jewish population grew to be 95% of the total.

This led to some areas becoming self-segregated Jewish communities

Question 16

What were attitudes towards Jews like? Why?

Answer 16

Resented and disliked by everyone. By 1888, anti-Semitic attacks were commonplace:

Jewish settlers were willing to accept lower wages, and so took jobs from the native inhabitants of Whitechapel. They also didn’t learn English, and stood out because of rules on clothing and food.

The Ripper was also suspected to be of Jewish origin - this was epitomised in the anti-Jewish articles and cartoons published at the time

Question 17

What type of businesses did Jews run? Why? What would this result in?

Answer 17

They often ran tailoring businesses on the sweatshop model, allowing them to charge lower prices.. This would reduce income for native businesses

Question 18

What was anarchism? When did anarchists become to come into London and from where?

Answer 18

Anarchism is the belief that a country’s issues could be solved by overthrowing the current government

Anarchists came to London form Europe in the 1870s

Question 19

Given the rise in anarchism, who was suspected as a potential terrorist? What did the Met do?

Answer 19

Anyone with an Eastern European accent

The Met began an undercover operation to monitor revolutionary activity

Question 20

What was the SDF? When was it founded?

Answer 20

The Socialist Democratic Federation was a group (of socialists) who wanted to bring down the existing political system

Founded 1881

Question 21

When did the Socialists find popularity? How?

Answer 21

In the 1888 elections, the Socialists found some popularity by highlighting the police’s incompetencies at catching the Ripper

Question 22

How many divisions was the Metropolitan Police split into? Which one patrolled Whitechapel?

Answer 22

20 divisions as a whole

H-division was the division in charge of Whitechapel

Question 23

What was the police force for Whitechapel composed of?

Answer 23

27 inspectors
37 sergeants
500 ordinary ‘beat constables’
15 detectives

Question 24

What was the ‘beat’? What was it like?

Answer 24

Where a constable would walk a set route around the area. Work was often boring and pay was low. This meant that the quality of recruits was low

Question 25

Why were the police seen in a negative light in Whitechapel?

Answer 25

They upheld unpopular laws, and had a reputation of heavy-handedness and violence

Question 26

What were the main difficulties of policing Whitechapel?

Answer 26

Prostitution

Alcohol

Geography of the area

Protection rackets

Violent protests and anti-Semitism

Question 27

Why did women become prostitutes? How did this make upholding the law difficult?

Answer 27

Women sold themselves into prostitution because it was the only way they could make enough money to survive

Though not illegal, it was seen as a big social issue which needed to be addressed. It was sensitive, and it was difficult to govern as the police couldn’t just stop someone from making money

Question 28

How many prostitutes were there in Whitechapel in 1888?

Answer 28

1200

Question 29

How did alcohol cause problems in policing Whitechapel?

Answer 29

Many escaped the harshness of poverty and life as a whole through drink. Very strong drink was available to most.

Drunkenness often turned into violence; alcoholics would often turn to violence to get the money they needed to buy drink

Question 30

How did the geography of Whitechapel make it difficult to police?

Answer 30

Narrow streets, as well as rookeries and small courts with poor lighting made it easy for criminals to hide and attack their victims

Question 31

How did protection rackets make policing difficult?

Answer 31

The gangs of Whitechapel attacked each other or demanded protection money form small business areas. Anyone who refused to pay would have their shop or stall smashed up. People would often be too scared to report these gangs, making it difficult to prosecute these gangs

Question 32

How did violent protests and anti-Semitism lead to difficulties in policing?

Answer 32

Overall, in the area, tensions rose due to communities such as the Jewish. This led to anti-Semitic attacks, which the police would need to intervene in and stop

The violent protests meant that the police would have to draft in reinforcements, in order to prevent rioting. This meant taking the police focus away from crime which may be taking place elsewhere, under the radar (relatively speaking)

Question 33

Which were the five ‘Ripper’ murders? When were they?

Answer 33

Aug 31: Mary Ann Nicholls

Sept 8: Annie Chapman

Sept 30: Elizabeth Stride + Catherine Eddowes (The Double Event)

Nov 9: Mary Jane Kelly

Question 34

How did the police use sketches and photographs in investigating murders?

Answer 34

During the Ripper murders, the Met took some photos of the scene - a recent development. They were used particularly used after Mary Kelly’s body was found. Photos were taken outside her room, then inside her room and of her body.

Sketches of the area were also used, or of the positioning of the victim’s body

Question 35

How did the police use sketches and interviews in investigating murders?

Answer 35

Very few people claimed to be eye witnesses, though one claimed to have seen a man talking to Annie Chapman minutes before her death. This was ignored, however, as it conflicted with the doctor’s report of the time of her death

Soup kitchens were also set up to encourage poor people to come forward if they knew anything about the murders. Money couldn’t be used, as it may encourage hoaxes or time wasters

Question 36

Which three forces needed to co-operate to try and solve the Ripper murders?

Answer 36

Metropolitan Police Force

City of London Police Force

Scotland Yard

Question 37

How did police force rivalry affect investigation of the Ripper murders?

Answer 37

Though the co-operation was often a good thing, there were still some times when the relationship faltered - e.g. on the night of the Double Event (Sept 30th), a piece of anti-Semitic graffiti was found above a piece of apron, believed to have belonged to the Ripper. This became known as the Goulston Street graffito, and was technically in the City of London police force’s area. Charles Warren, leader of the Met, rubbed the writing out to avoid further anti-Semitic attacks. This led to criticism from the press and the Met, that eventually led to his resignation

Question 38

How did the media make investigating the Ripper cases more difficult?

Answer 38

There were a total of 21 different newspapers in London. This resulted in competition. Since often the most interesting story would sell the best, newspapers would be sensationalised, causing further panic.

They also criticised the police, making it out to be incredible that the Ripper still hadn’t been found

Question 39

How did the police follow up leads in order to investigate the murders?

Answer 39

These included both direct leads from the public and indirect leads from the media. They also followed up a lead from the newspapers about a man named ‘Leather Apron’ but realised he had solid alibis for the two murders that had been already committed

Question 40

How did the police follow up coroner’s reports in order to investigate the Ripper murders?

Answer 40

Following the report on Annie Chapman’s body, police became interested in investigating hospitals and vets. After Catherine Eddowes was murdered, they became a bit more doubtful about the murderer’s skill, so they looked at butchers and slaughterhouse workers.

They also used coroner’s reports to deduce the fact that the Ripper must’ve been left-handed

Question 41

How did the Ripper letters make dealing with the murders more difficult?

Answer 41

The letters received by the press were what gave the Ripper his name. However, numerous letters were received, and many were fakes - making it difficult to discern what was real from what wasn’t.

One of the letters was the ‘From Hell’ letter, sent to George Lusk with half a “Kidne” (kidney)

Question 42

Who were the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee? Who was their leader and how was the Ripper case harder to investigate?

Answer 42

The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, led by George Lusk, was a group set up by a builder that felt not enough was being done for the Ripper case.

The group hired two private detectives to investigate the murders, and talked to witnesses, whose stories were reported to the media

They offered rewards for information, which the police thought was a waste of time as it’d encourage hoaxers.

Many members of the group were determined to humiliate the police by sending them false leads and disrupting their work. This may’ve been done by members of the socialist party within the committee, who wanted to gain seats in upcoming elections