Whitechapel Flashcards
What was Whitechapel housing like?
Most houses were in overcrowded slum areas known as “rookeries”
Houses were divided into apartments with up to 30 people inside
There were lodging houses with little more than a bed in squalid conditions
The Peabody estate opened in 1881 providing flats for 20 shillings
What was the Whitechapel population?
30,000 and 1,000 of which were homeless
What were workhouses like?
Work houses were set up in the 19th century as part of the poor relief
Conditions were very bad to put people off
People were expected to do hard manual labour and families were often split up. This was done out of desperation for basic food and shelter
How polluted was it?
London was a heavily polluted industrial city at this time
The prevailing wind from the west carried smoke and stinking gas fumes
There was also little healthy drinking water.
What were the problems with accommodation?
The accommodation was overcrowded causing theft of personal property and domestic abuse
What were the problems with work?
There was lots of unreliable work and unemployment causing stealing and disruptive behaviour
What were the issues with prostitution?
There were lots of prostitutes in Whitechapel due to the lack of work causing many assaults of women and gangs intimidating women
What did the workhouses cause?
They caused theft and other crimes from people desperate not to go to the workhouses
What were the issues with alcoholism?
There was lots of alcoholism in Whitechapel causing disorder on the streets especially around public houses
What did immigration cause?
The high levels of immigration in Whitechapel caused tension and violence between longer established residents and Irish and Jewish immigrants
What was the problem with the language barrier for the police?
It was difficult for the police to communicate with Eastern Europeans making them suspicious of them as they were unable to claim their innocence
What were the issues with violence?
Because of increased tensions between locals and immigrants, people became violent over housing and jobs
What caused the increase in racial hatred?
People were convinced that Jack the Ripper was an immigrant so people had bad attitudes to Jews and Irishmen. Beatings to Jews became common
What were the police methods for catching Jack the Ripper?
- Following up direct individuals
- Interviewing witnesses
- Investigating lunatic asylums
- Following up on journalist’s stories
- Following up clues found with victims
- Following up on coroner’s reports
- arranging post mortems
What role did forensics play?
The metropolitan police had almost no scientific methods, they relied on forensic techniques in their investigation, DNA began use in the later 20th century, scientists did not know the difference between human blood and animal blood, crime scene photography had only just started being used
What role did the press play?
They exposed more witnesses by getting them to come forward although stories were pushed on guesswork and unreliable interviews
What role did police rivalry play?
In each area of London there were different police forces, each having a bitter rivalry with the others and this meant that widows killed in other boundaries had different police forces which the Whitechapel police did not get on well with.
What role did the vigilance committee play?
Set up on 1st September 1888 by a group of business men/traders were people who wanted to embarrass the police before the election by going to the streets at night and making lots of noise to try and catch Jack the Ripper
What were the later improvements in communication?
The Jack the Ripper murders led to police being able to communicate via telephone allowing them to call for back up more easily than just a whistle
What were the later improvements in records?
Police after the murders, started to adopt the Bertrillion system. This meant that measurements of suspects were done and mug shots were taken and records were stored on a central file
What were the acts later introduced that improved the environment for police?
The first was the housing of the working class act which allowed the new London county council to begin housing development schemes to replace slums. The second was the public health amendment act which gave more power to local councils to improve toilets, paving, rubbish collection and other sanitary services
What needs to be remembered when answering source question 2a?
Comprehensive
Objective
Accurate
Typical
Nature
Origin
Purpose
What needs to be remembered when answering source question 2b?
Follow up a detail from the source
Then put a question you would ask
Put the type of source you would use to answer this question
Put why you would use this source (COAT)
Who were the five victims of the Jack the Ripper murders?
Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddoves and Mary Kelly
What were the patterns in the injuries to the victims of the Jack the Ripper murders?
They all had similar injuries e.g. Throats slashed and abdomen cut. The murders all happened early. They were all poor prostitutes. He always used a knife.
