Whitechapel Glossary Flashcards
Aaron Kosminski
A suspect who may have been Jack The Ripper - Polish Jewish barber (hairdresser) living in Whitechapel who was sent and died in the lunatic asulym
Alcohol
Beer, spirits and wine sold in public houses. Large quanties of drinking alcohol could led to drunkeness and petty crimes.
Alibi
Proof that an accused person was in some other place at the time a crime was committed.
Alleyways
Whitechapel had a maze of dark, narrow, twisting alleyways between streets and buildings.
Anarchism
The political belief in abolition of all Government and its laws.
Brothel
A house where two or more prostitutes worked.
Buck’s row
Murder site of Jack the Ripper first murder victim in Whitechapel, Mary Nichols, August 1888.
Bull lamp
A Met Police portal oil lamp that was used like a torch by the police patrolling on a beat.
Carl Feigenbaum
A suspect who may have been Jack The Ripper - German merchant sailor, later a convicted murderer in USA who was sent to the electric chair (executed)
Census
Every ten years a legal Government survey of every household recorded the names, ages, relationships and employment of all occupants at every address.
Central news agency
A news distrubution service founded in 1863 which was very cheap but distributed imaginative stories for journalists or newspapers to use.
Charity
Victorians supported charity, often with a religious foundation, as a way to help the poor help themselves
Charles Booth
Rich industrialist who wanted the Government to introduce social reforms for the working classes.
Charles Booth’s survey
A map which surveyed London streets from 1886. The map, commissioned by Sir Charles Booth, showed the extent of wealth and poverty across London.
CID
Criminal Investagtion Department; the detective division of the police set up by Howard Vincent 1878
Cockshafer
the prison treadmill a pointless activity to keep the prisoners busy.
Con-artist
a criminal deliberating trying to deceive someone to successfully commit a crime.
Coroner
The coroner was employed to hold an inquest on deaths considered to be violent or accidental conducting an autopsy
Coroner’s report
The Coroner would write a report, based on their autopsy, detailing the wounds and most likely cause of a murder victim’s death
Council records
There would be records of Births, Deaths and Marriages. These records would also have minutes of meetings showing decisions about new housing, the Peabody Estate or the installation of gas-street lighting.
Crime wave
Crime was increasing at a rapid rate and that gangs of criminals were beyond the law.
Dear Boss Letter
Infamous letter sent to the Central News Agency in Sept 1888, written in red ink and signed off ‘Jack the Ripper’, a hoax written by a journalist
Discontent
Opposistion to the Government over social and economic problems that were not being resolved
Dutfield’s Yard
Murder site of Jack the Ripper third murder victim in Whitechapel, Elizabeth Stride, September 1888.
East End of London
Area of London, around the docks, which had a reputation for being a slum area infested with vice and violent criminal gangs.
East London Observer
A local Whitechapel newspaper
Employment records
Official written records of by employers of their employees names, gender, wages, job description and benefits recieved.
Fake
False witness or a letter sent to journalist claiming to be Jack the Ripper.
Fenian
A Irish nationalist who wanted independence for Ireland from the UK. Against the Royal family.
Footpads
names for those who violently mugged an individual in a dark street, often the victims were drunk, for their possessions.
Forensic
Using scientific methods and techniques to investigate crimes.
Framing a question
Making a questions that help answer an historical enquiry.
Francis Craig
A suspect who may have been Jack The Ripper - Mary Jane Kelly’s husband, a Ripper newspaper reporter and possibly schizophrenic
Gangs
Groups of unemployed workers formed gangs, often to protect jobs or co-ordinating crimes like pickpocketing.
Garrotting
a crime of mugging a person of their belongings often involving violence
Gas lamp
Street lighting in London, the gas had to be lit and put out every evening and mornning. The lamp were dim and provided insufficient light.
George Chapman
A suspect who may have been Jack the Ripper - convicted for poisoning his wife in 1903.
George Hutchinson
Witness, interviewed by the H-division, who saw Mary Kelly in the company of a man the night she was murdered.
Gin
An alcoholic drink, a legal strong popular spirit which was easily available and was cheap to buy.
Gin-palace
A pub that sold gin, a cheap alcoholic spirit, extravagant richly decorated gas-lit shop to look posh but was often full of criminals, prostitutes and drunks
H-Division
Metropolitan Police Force was divided into 20 division across London. The H-division policed Whitechapel. The division was run by a superintendent and a chief inspector, with the support of 27 inspectors and 37 sergeants. The sergeants supervised 500 ordinary officers (or constables). There were also 15 detectives assigned to H-division from CID
Hanbury Street
Murder site of Jack the Ripper second murder victim in Spitafield’s, Annie Chapman, September 1888.
Henry Matthew
A journalist who wrote ‘London Labour and the London Poor’ (1840), which conjured up a menacing criminal vision of
Whitechapel as ‘a suspicious, unhealthy locality’.
Hoax
A witness or a piece of evidence, which turned out to be false
Home Secretary
Government minister, Sir Henry Matthews, his responisbilities included law and order, prisons and policing.
Housing records
There would be written records showing the use of housing either as owner-occupied, rented or for business, the date of construction, or any extensions to the property.
Immigration
Whitechapel ever-changing population were immigrant from Ireland, Poland and Russia. There was a large Jewish immigrant population living in Whitechapel.
Inspector Frederick Abberline
An experienced Met police detective from Scotland Yard who was the lead investigator in Whitechapel murders 1888 - 1889.
Interviews
Suspect arrested by the police were interviewed and the written records were kept.
Jack the Ripper
Nickname for a notorious serial killer. Newspapers first used this nickname after a series of connected murders in Whitechapel, 1888.
John McCathy
Landlord of 13 Miller’s Court the room that Mary Kelly was murdered.
Landlords
Landlords owned the houses in Whitechapel and rented rookeries out to families or prostitutes.
Leather apron
The first name given by the newspapers to describe the Whitechapel murderer.
Local newspaper
A newspaper, The Illustrated London News, which would report on stories which were of a local importance or interest.
Lodging house
Temporary accommodation for casual workers, often sold on an 8 hourly rotation, which were basis, crowded but cheap.
London newspapers
In 1855 London had six morning newspapers, three evening newspapers and twenty influential weeklies. The organised press could mould public opinion and influence political events.
Lunatic asylum
The Victorian term for a psychiatric hospital.
Lunatics
means that in Victorian times this was used to describe a person with serious psychological disorders.
Met police
The London police, set up in 1829, who leader had a Commissioner (Sir Charles Warren) who was appointed by the Home Secretary
Miller’s Court
Murder site of Jack the Ripper fifth murder victim in Spitafield’s, Mary Kelly, November 1888.
Mitre Square
Typical small quiet dark square in Whitechapel with five exits. Murder site of Jack the Ripper fourth murder victim, Catherine Eddowes, September 1888.
Montague John Druitt
A suspect who may have been Jack The Ripper - Oxford educated, lived in Whitechapel, suspiciously committed suicide at the time of the murders.
Moral panic
Newspapers reports of increasing violent crimes fuelled Victorians fears that the inner-cities were lawless, full of vice and were in social decay.
Mrs Mary Burridge
Apparently, a newspaper reported, that she dropped dead in October 1888 having read a lurid Ripper account.
Mug-shot
A head and shoulders photograph, typically taken of person after arrest.
National newspaper
A newspaper like The Times which would report on stories which were of a national importance or interest.
Navvies
Often Irish manuel labourers who dug and built the canals, railways and roads in Britain.
Old Bailey trial records
The Old Bailey has a vast archive of trial records of cases and court hearing from 1674.
Opium den
means a place where the drug opium was sold and smoked.
Outcast London
Victorian belief, and prejudice, that Whitechapel symbolised the criminal underworld of gangs, slums, drunks and lawlessness.
Over-crowding
Housing in Whitechapel was often over-crowded with families occupying and living in one room.
Pall Mall Gazette
London newspaper that widely reported on the Ripper case.
Peabody estate
New housing estate built in Whitechapel in 1888 to reduce slum housing and re-house slum-dwellers
Photographs
Photographs were taken of crime scences for police records. Photographic records of arrested suspects began is 1894
Police Constable
They had to be less than 35, healthy and be able to read and write. They were given a new blue uniform, boots, a wooden truncheon, a rattle, handcuffs, a brown coat and a top hat lined with iron. They received 5p a day and were expected to walk their ‘beat’ 7 days a week
Poor relief
The system of giving benefits and money to the poor.
Poverty
Unemployment, casual poorly paid jobs, which led to hunger and was a cause of petty crimes in Whitechapel
Prince Albert Victor
A suspect who may have been Jack The Ripper - Grandson of Queen, wrote letters to a friend who claimed he may have contracted an STD from a Whitechapel prostitute.
Prostitute
A person, usually a women, who offers sexual activity in return for payment
Public house
A pub selling licensed alcohol to drink. Pubs were places were sociable places to meet.
Punch cartoon
A popular satrical magazine published which mocked politicans, Police Commissioners and leaders in authority.
Putter
a criminal who was financing the crime or robbery.
Rackets
Criminal activity or illegal scheme like forgery, smuggling, or selling items on the black market.
Rampsmen
names for those who violently mugged an individual in a dark street, often the victims were drunk, for their possessions.
Rent
Regular payments to landlords to stay or live in a house in Whitechapel. Landlords were repsonsible for the maintenance of the property.
Rookeries
Houses in Whitechapel were sub-divided with families occupying and living in one room. This sub-division increased profits from rent for landlords.
Scotland Yard
Headquarters for the Metropolitian Police in London. The Commissioner worked from this address
Segregation
In Whitechapel the different immigrant communities would live seperated from others, speaking thier language and protecting thier communities.
Self-help
Victorian attitude that individuals should be self-reliant and be independent of help when they are poor.
Sensationalisation
To exaggerate a news story, emblished which extra details, which focuses the report on the gory or sexual aspects helping sell the newspaper.
Sir Charles Warren
Ex-army Commissioner of the Metropolitan police 1886 - 1888 who resigned during the hunt of Jack the Ripper
Sir Robert Anderson
Assistant Commissioner of the Met Police and the leader of the CID during the investigation of Jack the Ripper in 1888.
Sketch
Artist drawings of the crime scene, the victims wounds or the described suspect.
Skipper
a vagabond who would ‘kip’ (sleep) rough moving every night ‘skipping’ from one location to another.
Slum
Housing that was over-crowded with many occupants and in a very poor condition.
Snaffle
to steal, the theft of an item.
Soaker
a drunk, a skipper, who would sleep on the streets, sleeping off the alcohol
Socialism
Popular political ideology that all wealth and property whould be shared equally
Specific enquiry
Narrowing an investigation into one area like, What were living conditions in Hanbury street in 1888?
Stalls
gangs of criminal who would create confusion, a diversion, to hide the illegal activity which was called the ‘Jolly-gaff’
The Old Bailey
Central Criminal Court of England and Wales dealing with significant criminal trials like murder.
The Star newspaper
Sold 300,000 copies a day reporting at the height of the Ripper murders in 1888.
Vices
Victorian attitudes that the key vices that caused poverty were drunkeness (alcohol), gambling and prostitution
Victim
A person who is harmed, injured, robbed or murder as a result of a crime.
Walter Dew
Young detective officer in H-division who helped Inspector Abberline.
Walter Sickert
A suspect who may have been Jack The Ripper - the German artist who painted prostitutes
Watch committee
a group of local politicians or law professional set up to monitor the work of the police force.
Whitechapel Vigilance Committee
Set up in 10 September 1888 after the murder of Mary Ann Nichols. This was a group of local business and traders who offered rewards to residents for information which might lead to the killer’s arrest.
William Henry Piggot
Arrested, as he fit the description of Leather Apron, interviewed by Abberline, but then released.
Workhouse
Accommodation for the poor and unemployed. The workhouse was very stricit with harsh punishments, but clean. Inmates would recieve basic bed and lodgings but had to work to stay in the workhouse.
Andrew Mearns
A clergyman who wrote a pamphlet in 1883 called, The Bitter Cry of the Outcast, about overcrowding in Whitechapel would spread criminal behaviour.
Larceny
A theft of personal property from a business.
Drunkenness
Police had to arrest drunks, under the influence of alcohol, who may have quickly got into an arguments or a fight in Whitechapel
Sweatshops
Tailors where clothes or shoes were made, the working conditions were hot, cramped with long hours and poor pay.
Tanneries
Leather was cured to be used for making shoes. Tanneries smelt foul.
Slaughterhouses
Animals were killed and slaughtered ready to be sold to the butcher.
Docker
A manuel worker job unloading cargo from the ships with goods arriving from around the Empire.
Counterfeiting
Making illegal copies or forgeries
