Jack The Ripper

The Jack the Ripper murders occurred in the East End of London in 1888 and, although the Whitechapel Murderer was only a threat to a very small section of the community in a relatively small part of London, the murders had a huge impact on society as a whole.

WHY IS JACK THE RIPPER SO FAMOUS?

Jack the Ripper has remained popular for a lot of reasons. He was not the first serial killer, but he was probably the first to appear in a large metropolis at a time when the general populace had become literate and the press was a force for social change. The Ripper also appeared when there were tremendous political turmoil and both the liberals and social reformers, as well as the Irish Home rule partisans tried to use the crimes for their own ends. Every day the activities of the Ripper were chronicled in the newspapers as were the results of the inquiries and the actions taken by the police. Even the feelings of the people living in the East End, and the editorials that attacked the various establishments of Society appeared each day for both the people of London and the whole world to read. It was the press coverage that made this series of murders a "new thing", something that the world had never known before. The press was also partly responsible for creating many myths surrounding the Ripper and ended up turning a sad killer of women into a "bogey man", who has now become one of the most romantic figures in history. The rest of the responsibility lies with the Ripper. He may have been a sexual serial killer of a type all too common in the 1990s, but he was also bent on terrifying a city and making the whole world take notice of him by leaving his horribly mutilated victims in plain sight. Lastly, the Ripper was never caught and it is the mysteries surrounding this killer that both add to the romance of the story and creating an intellectual puzzle that people still want to solve.

HOW MANY VICTIMS WERE THERE?

1. It is generally believed that there were five victims of Jack the Ripper. They were:-
2. 1.       Mary Nichols, murdered on 31st August 1888.
3. 2.       Annie Chapman, murdered on 8th September 1888.
4. 3.       Elizabeth Stride, murdered on 30th September 1888.
5. 4.       Catherine Eddowes, also murdered on 30th September 1888.
6. 5.       Mary Kelly, murdered on 9th November 1888.

EAST END HISTORY

But the Jack the Ripper murders also serve as a reminder of a not too distant past when a whole section of London society fought a daily battle against poverty and starvation.

As such they provide us with a window through which we can look back on a bygone age when the eyes of the world were focussed on the daily lives and struggles of the East Enders who were most affected by the crimes.

Thanks to newspaper reportage on the case, coupled with the records and musings of philanthropists and reformers who wished to bring the plight of the East End's poor to the attention of the wider Victorian society, we have an unrivalled opportunity to, literally, peer into the very streets where the Whitechapel Murders occurred at the time they were occurring and to observe the impact the killings had on those who dwelt in the area.

THE POLICE INVESTIGATION

Of course the murders were also the focus of a huge criminal investigation that saw the Victorian police pit their wits against a lone assassin who was perpetrating his crimes in one of London's most densely populated and crime ridden quarters.

As a result of official reports and the efforts of journalists to keep abreast of the progress (or, perhaps more accurately, lack of progress) that the police investigation was making, we are able watch that investigation unfolding. We can analyze the methods that the police used to try and track the killer and compare them with the methods that the police would use today. We can also ask - and hopefully answer - the question why didn't the police catch Jack the Ripper?

The Victorian police faced numerous problems as they raced against time to catch the killer before he could kill again. A major one was the labyrinth-like layout of the area where the murders were occurring, made up as it was of lots of tiny passageways and alleyways, few of which were lit by night. And, of course, the detectives hunting the killer were hampered by the fact that criminology and forensics were very much in their infancy.

JACK THE RIPPER SUSPECTS

Despite the fact that no-one was ever brought to justice or charged with the crimes, there have, over the years, been more than a hundred named suspects who may or may not have been Jack the Ripper. Some of those suspects are fascinating. Others are down right ridiculous.

Yet one thing is certain. No matter how unlikely the names of those that appear on the ever expanding list of suspects might be, the on going challenge of "nailing" the ripper has helped keep this series of crimes at the forefront of criminal and social history for over 120 years.

p/s: It would be hard to determine, since we don't even know who Jack the Ripper actually was but it seems perfectly possible that Jack the Ripper's identity may one day be discovered; it may be one of the serious suspects mentioned in this report, or one that the police dismissed too cavalierly all those years ago, or it may be someone completely unknown at this time. The future may or may not reveal the Ripper's name.