A Jack the Ripper Suspect is Found.

The newspapers on December 15th 1888 were reporting that a suspect had been arrested in connection with the Whitechapel Murders.

On 14th December 1888 Joseph Isaacs, aged 30, whose trade was given as "cigar maker" sand who was reportedly of "no fixed abode" appeared before the Police Court in Worship Street charged with having stolen a gold watch valued at 30 shillings from the shop of a watchmaker named Levenson.

According to the Daily News

"...The prisoner, it may be remembered, had been sought for by the police in consequence of a report of his movements on the night of the murder of Mary Janet Kelly in Dorset street, Spitalfields; and it was aid by the police that they wished the fullest inquiry as to the prisoner's movements on the night of November 8..."

As a result Isaacs was held in custody whilst the police made every endeavour to ascertain his movements on the night in question.

But, as with so many other suspects who the police were finding around this time , the case against him was a weak one and he was soon ruled out of any involvement in the murder of Mary kelly.

Detective Sergeant Record, H division, said that so far there was no further charge against the prisoner othe than for the theft of the Gold watch.

Isaacs was offerred the opportunity to go to trail but, instead, opted to plead guilty to the charge and was duly sentenced to three months' hard labour.

Was Jack the Ripper French?

W. T. Stead was an charismatic character who had caused a sensation in the early 1880's with his Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon.

He was also the editor of the Pall Mall Gazette and has been described as "the father of modern journalism."

The Pall Mall Gazette reported extensively on the Jack the Ripper Killings and had run an article that suggested the killer might be a Frenchman.

This brought a letter in response to the allegation which was published on 6th December 1888.

Sir,

I venture to offer you a few remarks upon the singular article which appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette last Saturday upon the Whitechapel murders. Under some circumstances I might comment upon the inferences drawn by your contributor, "One Who Thinks He Knows," from the fact that straight lines, drawn through the point at which the outrages were committed cross one another, but, remembering that I am in a country where Mr. Ignatius Donnelly and his Great Cryptogram are the subjects of serious discussion, I, as a native of a frivolous land, abstain from saying more than that I am myself engaged in preparing a diagram by which I hope to prove that the crimes were really the work of a Unionist who is gradually marking out in the East end of London an exact reproduction of the Union Jack.

Now, Sir, to speak seriously, I do not at all deny that the assassin may be a Frenchman; there are plenty of French assassins in the world, and, though I venture to think that in London English assassins are more plentiful, I am willing to admit the possibility of "Jack the Ripper" being my compatriot. But I say that the arguments by which "One Who Knows" seeks to establish this are utterly baseless and absurd. Frenchmen may be, as he says "the worst linguists in the world," but if he were a better "linguist" himself he would know that bad "linguists" may know their own language, and in this respect, Frenchmen may be compared favourably with any other people. As to his assertion that they constantly make mistakes in gender, it is simply untrue. There are a few substantives, such as "hotel," "ouvrage," &c., which have a feminine sound to the ear, and as to which some utterly uneducated French people fall into the error of applying to them feminine articles or adjectives; such a person might therefore talk of "une hotel juive," or "une ouvrage juive," but no French man, woman, or child would ever mistake a feminine for a masculine substantive, and the idea that they could, under any circumstances, write Juives for Juifs when using the word as a substantive is enough to make a Frenchman hold his sides with laughter. Perhaps "One Who Thinks He Knows" also thinks that the uneducated Frenchman speaks of femmes when he means hommes!

Your contributor refers for proof of his assertions to the "voluminous correspondence of Napoleon III." As I have not had access to this source of information - and, indeed, though tolerably conversant with the literature of my country, now hear for the first time of its existence - I should be much obliged if "One Who Thinks He Knows" would send you for publication a few extracts from this "voluminous correspondence" containing examples of mistakes in gender. He would be a doing a kindness to a poor French professor, who has always held that Napoleon III did much harm to his country, but who has hitherto held him guiltless of having introduced into its literature a new form of grammatical error.

I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
A FRENCHMAN
December 4.

An Attempted Murder

At around 1am on 3rd December 1888 the area around King's Cross(approximately 5 miles from the area where the Jack the Ripper murders occurred) was abuzz with rumours that another attempt had been made to murder a woman.

A prostitute named Harriet North, who lived at 12 Wood street, Cromer street, just off Gray's Inn road, was approached on Euston road by a young man who had a black moustache.

The two of them talked for a little time and then, presumably having agreed a fee for her services, she went with him along Belgrave street, King's Cross.

A few minutes later she realised that he had stabbed her in the abdomen with a sharp object. She cried out at him "Oh, my God, what have you done?"

The man didn't reply and hurried off. Luckily one of her friends, Sarah Ann Masters, heard her terrified screams and ran to her assistance.

Police constables Hy. Stone and Chas. Palmer had soon arrived on the scene and discovered that she was bleeding profusely from the wound. They rushed her to the Royal Free Hospital, Gray's Inn road, where she was seen by Dr. henry Tonks, one of the house surgeons, who admitted her onto Milne Ward.

According to Harriet North the man was a foreigner with a heavy black moustache.Indeed, this description tallies with that given in the Channel five programme reported and discussed in our Face of Jack the Ripper article.

However, journalists making enquiries at the Royal Free Hospital on the monring of December 3rd, were informed that Harriet North was not in any danger and doubts were being expressed as to whether she had actually been stabbed at all.

According to one newspaper:-

There are some scratches on the were (sic) part of the body but these might have been caused by sharp fingernails, in a struggle. The woman will most likely leave the hospital today. No importance is attached to the matter.

The Press Association reported that:-

The injury discovered on examination is in the nature of an abrasion, and could not have been inflicted by any sharp instrument, such as a knife. So strong is Mr. Tonks's opinion that it is not a case of premeditated assault, that he thinks the man probably was as much alarmed at the appearance of blood as the woman herself, and so made his escape. A woman named Sarah Ann Masters, who lives in the same house as Worth (sic), was with her for a few minutes before the occurrence, Masters having been accosted by the same man. From a statement of Masters it would appear that the woman Worth was herself under the impression that she had been stabbed with a knife, and that in her alarm she called Masters to her assistance. the woman's fears as to the nature of her injury are not, however, borne out by the surgeon in whose temporary charge she has been placed.

Sir Charles Warren, The Metropolitan Police Commissioner had resigned his position around the time of the murder of Mary Kelly. You can read more about Sir Charles Warren on this dedicated page.

On 24th November 1888 the Cabinet met to discuss the issue of his successor and it was reported in the press that the next commissor would be decided at this meeting.

Meanwhile, in the House of Commons, the Home Secretary was asked if there were any plans to offer a free pardon for anyone accomplice of the Whitechapel Murderer who might come forward.

It had been decided in the wake of Mary Kelly's Murder that there might be some benefit in offerring a pardon, but this raised the point as to why such a pardon shouldn't be offerred in relation to the other murders.

Henry Mathews replied that he would:-

"...be quite prepared to offer a pardon in the case of the earlier murders if the information before me led to believe that it would assist in the detection of the murderer. In the case of the woman Kelly there were certain circumstances which were wanting in the earlier cases, which made it more probable that other persons - at any rate after the crime - had assisted the murderer..."

On the evening of November 21st 1888 a ripple of horror ran through the district when the Evening News reported that:-


As we were about to go to press this morning news reached us from several sources that another murder and mutilation, similar to those which have already been perpetrated, had been committed at the East-end.

They immediately sent a reporter to the East End to visit the scene of the crime. Upon his return he stated that the woman had not been killed but had only been wounded.


According to the reporter a man, in the company of a woman named Farmer, had rented a bed in a common lodging-house in George Street at 8pm the previous evening.

At around 9.30pm the woman was heard screaming and the man came rushing out. The woman was discovered bleeding profusely from a wound in her throat. However, it transpired she wasn't dead only severely injured and, having bandaged the wound, the residents carried here to Commercial Street Police Station, pictured above.

The crime immediately sparked fears in the neighbourhood that Jack the Ripper had returned and, according to the Evening News, crowds were blocking the street where the attack had occurred.

The reporter managed to achieve a scoop by getting a glimpse of the woman as she was carried along Commercial Street on a stretcher.
He stated that:-

"It is difficult to guess her age, for want and sordidness have left their mark upon her to such an extent that even the most experienced would be baffled."

The reporter was scathing of the police stating that:-

We frankly confess to not indulging in hopes of being able to inform the public as to the real story, for no doubt the clever guardians of our lives and property will sequestrate the latest intended victim of "Jack the Ripper." As it is at present they look at you, smile, and assume an important demeanour. One might as well try to obtain information from a sphinx.

Commenting on the excitement generated around the house where the attack took place, the newspaper reported that:-

The police are extremely reticent, and prevent any one entering the house, while an excited crowd surrounds the place, but from one of the residents in the house the Central News learns that a woman, whose name has not yet transpired, was drinking in a public house with a man in Spitalfields. At ten o'clock, he accompanied her home to her lodgings in George-street, Spitalfields, and directly after that appears to have suddenly made an attempt to cut her throat. The woman, however, became aware of his design before he could carry it out, and struggled with the man, at the same time screaming loudly. The throat was wounded but slightly, and the woman was thus able to exert all her strength to cope with her assailant. The man, seeing the alarm was given, sought at once to make good his escape, and, relinquishing his victim, fled from the house. A few persons, attracted by the screams, and seeing the man running, pursued him for 300 yards, but he was then lost sight of. The police were on the spot within a few minutes, and were able to get from the woman a full description of the would-be murderer. The victim is between 40 and 50 years of age, and is now carefully guarded by police. In the district the belief is universal from all the facts surrounding the case that the work is that of Jack the Ripper, and the excitement consequently is intense. If this surmise be correct it is the first of his victims who has escaped. The woman's description of the man, however, will be invaluable to the police, and he should be apprehended within the next few hours. There is, of course, a possibility that after all this may not be the fiend who has already committed so many fearful deeds, but no one in the district entertains this idea.

You can experience your own London walks around the murder sites at this DIY walks site.

Mary Kelly's Funderal and More Suspects.

The newspapers of 20th November 1888 were reporting on the funeral of Mary Kelly, which had taken place the previous day (19th November 1888). She was laid to rest in Leyton Cemetery.

An hour before her body was removed from the mortuary several hundred people gathered around St Leonard's Church in Shoreditch, and watched in silence as the funeral arrangements were made. On top of the coffin, which bore the inscription "Marie Jeanette Kelly, died November 9, 1888, aged 25 years," were placed two crowns and a cross, made of heartsease and white flowers.

By 12.30pm as the cortege set of for the Cemetery the crowd had swollen to several thousand people but, according to one newspaper report they:-

manifested the utmost sympathy, the crowd, for an East-end one, being extremely orderly. Vehicles of various descriptions took up positions outside the church railings, and traffic was completely blocked until the hearse moved on.

Meanwhile the search for the murderer continued and several Jack the Ripper Suspects were also being reported on.

In West Bromwich there was much excitement when a man, who resembled the publish description of the Whitechapel Murderer, went to a house in Tentany Lane, and asked the woman who lived there if she knew of any houses of ill-repute anywhere near as he had come from London specially to :-

"...destroy the frequenters of such dwellings. He added that he was determined that they should no longer cumber the earth."

When the woman replied that there were no such houses in the vicinity the man hurried away. The woman didn't raise the alarm immediately and so the police had little luck in tracing the man who was described as being:-

"of medium height, about 35 years of age, with dark moustache, and of gentlemanly address."

In London, at the Thames Police Court, a "strange looking man" named Samuel Graham, aged 52, was charged with being a wandering lunatic.

A police Constable, giving evidence against him said that at around 5.45pm on the previous Monday several people had complained that Graham had:-

rushed at them while in the East India-road. Graham then knocked at a house door, saying, "He’s in there."
As he acted very strangely, witness took him to the station, when he knelt down and appeared to be praying."

According to Inspector King Graham had, for the previous few days:-

been wandering about and he had been to the station complaining that persons were following him. Graham had been charged on suspicion with being the Whitechapel Murderer.

After consideration by the Magistrate Graham was sent to the workhouse.

Another stir occurred on the previous Saturday when a Police Constable was walking along Harrrow Road when he heard a crowd shouting "Jack the Ripper."

Pushing his way through the constable found James Bunyan of kensal Road pinning Gersee Somo against a wall.

According to Somo he had been walking along Harrow Road when Bunyan began following him. Suddenly Bunayn cried out "I'll have you" and the crowd began shouting "He’s Jack the Ripper."

Bunyan then grabbed hold of Somo and pinned him against a wall, crying out, "Now I’ve got you." A struggle ensued, during which Somo's coat was torn. He tried to run away, but prisoner followed him, screaming, "I’ll have you."

According to the police constable, when he arrived at the scene he could get no satisfactory explanation from Bunyan for his actions so he took him into custody.

At his subsequent Court appearance the Magistrate remarked that:-

"the horrible tragedies in Whitechapel seemed to have an extraordinary effect on some people. There were so many instances of this kind that it was scarcely safe to go about the streets."

Bunyan was given 14 days in prison.

Thomas Cutbush - Jack the Ripper.

On Tuesday 18th November 2008 the Broadmoor High Security Hospital files on Thomas Hayne Cutbush were opened to the public.

Yesterday morning Richard Jones and Paul Begg were at the Records office at 9am to view those records.

There has been a great deal of speculation in recent weeks that the files might contain information that would prove that Thomas Cutbush was Jack the Ripper.

No serious researcher into the 1888 Whitechapel Murders thought the files would contain such a sensational discovery, but the Thomas Cutbush files did prove quite interesting.

For a start they did provide a description of Cutbush at the time he was transferred from Holloway Prison to Broadmoor. Interestingly there are similarities beteen him and descriptions given by witnesses who may have seen the face of Jack the Ripper.

It is also evident from the files that Cutbush was violent and there are several mentions of his having attacked attendants and fellow inmates. On one occassion when his mother and aunt visited him at Broadmoor his mother tried to kiss him on the cheek and he bit her face and proceeded to swear at the two women.

Cutbush died of Kidney failure in 1903 and his file provides an intriguing glimpse in to the state of mind of a leading Jack the Ripper suspect of the 1890's.

But it also gives a view of every day life for those confined to Broadmoor in the 1890's.

Whether or not Thomas Hayne Cutbus was Jack the Ripper, the files make it clear that he should me looked at in a new light as a potential suspect and, as Richard Jones says "doubtless we will be hearing more of him over the next few years."

You can read about what was found on the files by at the Thomas Cutbush Files section on our main website.