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.

The Times on Saturday 17th November 1888 reported on a slightly bizarre case that had come before East End Magistrate Mr. Lushington.

John M'Carthy who was 28 years old was charged with being involved in assaulting and robbing a man named Michael Hadsburgh.

Apparently Hadsburgh had been acting suspiciously in a local public house by, to quote one witness, "dancing about in the house, saying he was "Jack the Ripper."

This attracted the attention of M'Carthy who asked Hadsbburgh outright "Are you 'Jack the Ripper?'"

When Hadsburgh replied that he was M'Carthy had some more drink and without any warning seized hold of the unfortunate Hadsburgh whereupon a group of four or five men began "...knocking him about, and robbed him of 5s. which he had in his trousers pocket..." They then proceeded to march him to Leman Street Police Station.

At this point Hadsburgh shouted for the Police and when a constable came runing to the scene they all ran away.

Hadsburg though was able to identify John M 'Carthy as the main instigator as the attack and, as a result, M'Carthy was arrested and taken into Police custody.

He pleaded not guilty when he subsequently appeared before the local Magistrate Mr Lushington who then committed him for trial.


Notwithstanding the fact he was evidently attacked and robbed it seems somewhat strange that, with the area in a state of utter panic in the wake of the recent murder of Mary Kelly,Michael Hadsburgh should claim to be Jack the Ripper to the regulars at his local pub!

But what is interesting to note is that several people were seeing the murders as a source of fun. This is reflected in the number fake Jack the Ripper letters that were in circulation around this time.

You can watch various presentations on the area as it was in 1888 on the Jack the Ripper Videos section of our online resource.

Two more Jack the Ripper Suspects Are Arrested.

On Sunday 18th November 1888 a great deal of excitement was caused in London when a rumour circulated that a "medical man had been arrested at Euston, upon arrival from Birmingham, on a charge of suspected complicity in the Whitechapel murders."

The man had apparently been staying in a Common Lodging House in Birmingham since the previous Monday but the police were said to have discovered that he had left London by an early train on the morning that Mary Kelly had been murdered.


According to one newspaper the man was "of gentlemanly appearance and manners."
He also resembled the man that George Hutchinson claimed to have seen with Mary Kelly on the morning of her murder. If you haven't read the description yet you can view it on our online resource of witness descriptions of Jack the Ripper.


However the man was able to provide the police with a satisfactory account of where he was on the morning of the murder (9th November 1888) and was subsequently freed.

He was of course just one of many Jack the Ripper Suspects who were coming to the police's attention around this time.

A Star reported paid a visit to Commercial Street Police Station in the early hours of 18th November and discovered the police in a state of agitation in "..expectation of another murder being discovered this morning...and the detectives were mustered at the stations in readiness for any emergency. Up to twelve o'clock." However nothing happened.

It was also reported that on the previous evening considerable excitement had been generated by an arrest made in Flower and Dean Street.

A young man named Charles Akehurst went with a woman to her room in a tenement building and, to quote the Star, "...had the misfortune to make use of expressions which caused her to jump to the conclusion that she was in the hands of the murderer.."

The terrified woman ran to a policeman, who arrested the man. However he satisfied the detective, however, and was released after a short detention.


You can see the full story of the Jack the Ripper Murders on our acclaimed DVD Unmasking jack the Ripper.

At 10am on the morning of the 16th November 1888 a man bearing an uncanny resemblance to the person described by George Hutchinson was spotted on Queen Victoria Street near Blackfriars in the City of London. You can read Hutchinson's statement and description in our section about what did Jack the Ripper Look like?

Several people were struck by the resemblance and began to pay the man closer attention. to take action. Realising he was being watched the man hurried his pace and escaped into the nearest underground station.

At more or less the same time police officers in Bermondsey discovered a message scrawled in chalk on a wall of Wren's Buildings in Thomas Street. The message read

Dear Boss I am going to do three more murders. Yours, Jack the Ripper.

Evidently the name "Jack the Ripper" so beloved by composers of the Jack the Ripper Letters was filtering into the consciousness of the public at large.

The East End of London itself was fairly calm and, as the Evening News reported to its readers "The murderer appears to be as far from justice as ever"

With no information to help their investigation the police continued to draft officers into the area from all over London to investigate the numerous statements and snippets of information which were coming in from the public at large.

Most of these statements, according to the Evening News, were "without exception...absolutely worthless."

The police did make several arrests on 16th November but none of the apprehended were held in custody for more than a few hours before being eliminated from the investigation.

Meanwhile it was announced that the funeral of Mary Kelly would take place on the following Monday.

You can find more about Jack the Ripper at our dedicated online resource.

Jack the Ripper Suspects

On 14th November 1888 the press were discussing the recent resignation of Sir Charles Warren and questions were being asked in Parliament as to whether Warren had been the right man for the job.

A lot of discussion was also being conducted with regard to the appalling social conditions in the area that had been brought to the fore of public consciousness by the recent murders. You can read more about this in our Jack the history section.

Meanwhile on the streets the police were busy conducting their investigation in to the recent murder of Mary Kelly and the hunt for suspects was going at full pace. This is covered in a great more detail in our guide Richard Jone's book Uncovering Jack the Ripper's London.

Some excitement was caused when it was announced to the Press Association that the police had made an arrest "between midnight and 4am" on the morning of November 14th "in the eastern district in connection with the recent terrible murders."

According to the Evening News:-

About one o'clock some young men had their suspicions aroused by the peculiar behaviour of a man in the vicinity of the Spitalfields Flower Market. He accosted two women, and after remaining conversing with them for a considerable time, tried to persuade them to accompany him into one of the small streets adjoining the market. These thoroughfares are in general gloomy and badly lighted, and the women, being suspicious, refused to go with the man. He was followed for some distance by the watchers, and ultimately handed over to a policeman, who took him to Commercial street Police station. Here the man refused to give an account of himself or where he lived, on the ground that he did not wish his parents to be alarmed by police inquiries regarding him. Questioned as to his whereabouts on Thursday night and Friday morning last, the man gave various explanations, and contradicted himself so frequently that it was considered advisable to detain him until his identity and antecedents were thoroughly investigated.

In addition it was reported that on the previous day the police had arrested a man who was taken to Frederick Sreet Police Station at Kings Cross where he gave his name as Thomas Murphy.

On searching him they found "...a somewhat formidable looking knife with a blade about ten inches long..."

As a result he was detained in police custody and the police began making rigourous enquiries about him. According to the Evening News:-

The task was rendered very difficult by the confused and contradictory accounts which Murphy gave of himself, and the man was still in custody at six o'clock yesterday evening. Murphy is about 5ft 6in in height, and has the general appearance of a sailor. His hair and complexion are fair. He is dressed in a blue jersey tucked underneath his trousers, and his coat and trousers are of a check pattern.
Interestingly his description bears some similarity with the description given by Joseph Lawende of the man that he saw with Catherine Eddowes shortly before her body was discovered in Mitre Square. This description can be read on our Face of Jack the Ripper section on our website.

Our Jack the Ripper Tour Website will keep you up to date on all the news concerning the infamous 1888 murders, whilst we continue to add sections to our informative Jack the Ripper online resource.

A Witness Sees Jack the Ripper.

On 13th November 1888 the newspapers were reporting the fact that an important witness had come forward who saw Mary Kelly in the company of a man on the morning she was murdered.

According to the Daily News the man had given a full and accurate description to the police and:-

It may be said that notwithstanding examination and re-examination by the police, the man's story cannot be shaken, and so circumstantial and straightforward were his assertions that the police believe they have at length been placed in possession of facts which will open up a new line of investigation, and probably enable them to track the criminal.

The article continued:-

This man states that on the morning of the 9th instant he saw the deceased woman, Mary Janet Kelly, in Commercial-street, Spitalfields (the vicinity of where the murder was committed), in company with a man of respectable appearance. The man was about 5 feet 6 inches in height, and 34 or 35 years of age, with dark complexion and dark moustache curled up at the ends. He was wearing a long dark coat trimmed with astrakhan, a white collar with black necktie, in which was affixed a horseshoe pin. He wore a pair of dark gaiters with light buttons, over button boots, and displayed from his waistcoat a massive gold chain. The highly respectable appearance of this individual was in such great contrast to that of the woman that few people could have failed to remark them at that hour of the morning

The witness being referred to in the article was George Hutchinson and today his description is treated with a great deal of caution. We discuss him in a lot more detail in our Face of Jack the Ripper article.

But in its article on the 13th November the Daily News opined that this description was:-

Much fuller in detail than that hitherto in the possession of the police, and the importance they attach to this man's story may be imagined when it is mentioned that it was forwarded to the headquarters of the H Division as soon as completed by a special detective. Detectives Abberline, Nairn, and Moore were present when this message arrived, and an investigation was immediately set on foot.

As the police began following up this important clue Mrs McCarthy, the wife of John McCarthy, Mary Kelly's landlord received a postcard with a Folkstone postmark. It was one of the many Jack the Ripper letters that were being sent at this time and was signed "Jack Sheridan, the Ripper."

The badly spelled missive with, according to the Daily News "equally bad calligraphy", was written in black ink and read:-

"Don't be alarmed. I am going to do another; but this time it will be a mother and daughter."

The letter was handed straight to the police and it was noted that the handwriting bore no resemblance to the Jack the Ripper letter.

Dorset Street, the scene of the murder of Mary kelly, was still drawing the curious and the concerned and the Daily News reported in its November 13th issue that the visitors "were not confined to the poorer classes, for besides two officials of the Royal Irish Constabulary and two or three members of Parliament, a prominent Post Office official inspected the scene of the murder."

It was also noted that several people had seen the commercial opportunities afforded by the crimes as "...several men were hawking a publication which professed to be "A Complete History of the Whitechapel Horrors,"

However it appears that public appetite for reports of the murders was becoming greatly reduced because, as the Daily News told its readers "the demand for it could not by any means be considered great...."

Jack the Ripper Suspects

By the 12th November 1888 the horror of what had happened to Mary Kelly in Dorset Street had begun to sink in with the populace at large. One newspaper reported that "...interest in the terrible crimes of the East-end supersedes all other matters..."


In its issue of 12th November 1888 Echo gave its readers an impression of what effect the murder of Mary Kelly was having on the district as a whole:-

There is but one hope affecting the whole community - that the murderer may be brought to speedy justice. Should he be captured, and should he by any accident fall into the hands of the people, his fate will be certain and inevitable. The consternation and fear which at first seemed to almost paralyse the energy of the district, have given place to a revengeful determination.
The previous night had seen several false alarms in the district. At about 9.15pm cires of "Murder!" and "Police!" were heard coming from George Yard Building (which had earlier been the scene of the murder of Martha Tabram whom some suggest was the first victim of Jack the Ripper).

Two Police Officers were soon at the scene and hurried into George Yard Buildings to investigate. Very soon the street was filled with people from the adjoining buildings, whilst others who lived in the upper storey clambered onto the roof hoping to cut off any escape route for any criminal who might try to escape that way.

However, the officers had soon uncovered the truth. It transpired that a Mrs. Humphries, who was almost blind and who was living with her daughter on the second floor of the buildings, had gone to the outhouse to empty some slops. As she entered, her daughters boyfriend - who was on his way to visit his girlfriend - had slipped past her in the dark.

Startled, Mrs. Humphries had asked "who is there" whereupon the young man, who had a terrible stutter had blurted out an unintelligible answer. Mrs Humphries who, according to the papers,"...like her neighbours, was haunted with the terror of "Jack the Ripper," at once gave the alarm." Once this was explained by the police officers the crowds in the streets dispersed.

Hope that the murderer had been apprehended had run high in the district on the 11th November with the capture of another possible Jack the Ripper Suspect.

At around 10pm on the 11th November 1888 a doctor who, determined to catch Jack the Ripper, had blackened his face and put on an old jersey over his "good clothes" had been making enquiries in the vicinity of Dorset Street, where the murder of Mary Kelly had taken place. This didn't go down too well with the locals and suddenly a cry of'Jack the Ripper' went up.

The doctor was roughly seized by two men, one of whom was a discharged soldier. Luckily him there were numerous uniformed and plain clothes officers in the immediate vicinity and they quickly surrounded him. Realising that the mob might soon vent their full fury on him the man agreed to go to Leman Street Police Station with the officers. although the said officer had great difficulty manhandling him through the crowd that was determined to lynch him.Consequently he was very badly bruised by the time he reached the Police Station.

Once safely in custody he told the police that he was a medical man, and that he had disguised himself in the absurd manner in the hope of apprehending Jack the Ripper. He also, according to Echo:-

gave such particulars of himself as enabled the police to quickly substantiate their accuracy, and to discharge him after a short detention in the cells.

Mary Kelly - Victim of Jack the Ripper

On 10th November 1888 the East End of London had been shocked by yet another Ripper killing which had occurred the previous day.

At 10.45am on 9th November Thomas Bowyer had called at Mary Kelly's room at 13 Miller's Court to collect her overdue rent. When there was no reply to his repeated knocking on the door he had gone round to a broken window pane and peered into the room through it. He saw her horrifically mutilated body on the bed and ran to fetch her landlord John McCarthy.

Within moment the police were at the scene and word had spread through the neighbourhood that the ripper had returned.

The Morning Advertiser reported on the 10th November 1888 that:-

Yesterday forenoon the inhabitants of the East-end of London were thrown into a state of consternation by the discovery in Whitechapel of another atrocious crime, even more revolting than any of the previous six murders which have recently been committed in the same district. The victim is a woman of the "unfortunate" class, and the murder was committed under her own roof in broad daylight, but notwithstanding the publicity of the movements of the murderer, no reliable clue has been discovered as to the perpetrator of the crime.

Coincidentally it was in Dorset Street that a previous victim Annie Chapman had been lodging at the time of her death on 8th September 1888.

The Advertiser provided its readers with a glimpse of the street in which both murders had occurred:-

Dorset-street, Spitalfields, is a notorious neighborhood. It is filled with lodging-houses, tenanted chiefly by the lowest classes, amongst them some of the most degraded thieves and women of the streets. It was here that Annie Chapman, who was murdered in Hanbury-street on the 8th of September, lived, and the scene of the present crime is a court directly opposite the house to which that unfortunate woman was in the habit of resorting.

Referring to the murder of Mary Kelly the Advertiser informed its readers that:-

A terrible sight presented itself to the police officers when they entered the house. The body of the woman, perfectly naked, was stretched out on the little bedstead, the clothing of which was saturated with her blood.

The newspaper told how medical assistance had been summoned and how police stations across the capital were informed of the latest atrocity by the simple, terse Telegraph message, "The woman is simply cut to pieces."

"Within a very short time," according to the Morning Advertise, "half a dozen cabs arrived in Dorset-street from Whitehall, conveying detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department, among them being Inspector Abberline and Reid. Never before had so many men been dispatched to the scene of a murder from Whitehall."

The newspaper detailed how Miller's Court was soon a hive of activity and of "extraordinary excitement." It told its readers how:-

The whole space was closely packed with detective officers, and quite a small army of plain-clothes constables were within an astonishingly short space of time stationed in Dorset-street. Dr. Phillips, the divisional surgeon of police, soon arrived, and was followed by Dr. Bond, of Westminster, divisional surgeon of the A division, Dr. J. R. Gabe, of Mecklenburgh-square, and two or three other surgeons. They made a preliminary examination of the body and sent for a photographer, who made several photographs of the remains.


Referring to the reaction in the neighbourhood to news of another murder the Advertiser told how:-

the excitement in the neighbourhood...amounted to a perfect frenzy. Women rushed about the streets telling their neighbours the news, and shouting in angry voices their rage and indignation.
It also reported that Joseph Barnet, Mary Kelly's estranged lover was sent for and he "at once identified the body as that of Kelly, or "Ginger," as she was called, owing to the colour of her hair."

The body was removed from the scene and taken to the mortuary at around 4pm. A large mob followed the van to the mortuary, where a crowd was waiting to see the coffin transferred to the building.

The Morning Advertiser concluded its article by informing its readers that:-

The photographer who had been called in to photograph the room and the body removed his camera from the premises at half-past four, and shortly afterwards a detective officer carried from the house a pail with which he left in a four-wheel cab. The pail was covered with a newspaper, and it was stated that it contained portions of the woman's body. It was taken to the house of Dr. Phillips, 2 Spital-square. The windows of the room in which the crime was committed were boarded up, and a padlock was put on the door. The streets were patrolled by the police all the evening, and no one was allowed to loiter near the place.

With regards the photograph taken that day, it is worth noting that Mary Kelly was the only one of Jack the Ripper's victims to be photographed at the scene of the crime and that that photograph survives to this day. It is one of the photographs that we show on our
Jack the Ripper Tour and it really does convey the horror of this particular crime.

What nobody knew that day though was that Mary kelly would be the last victim of Jack the Ripper and that following this killing the Ripper would disapear from the area as suddenly and as mysteriously as he had appeared 3 months before.

Sir Charles Warren in Hot Water!

The Home Secretary Henry Matthews was due to be questioned about the conduct of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren. Responding to the barrage of attacks in the press against his force Warren had written an article for Murray's Magazine entitled 'The Police of the Metropolis.'

On the 8th November 1888 it was reported in the press that:-

The Home Secretary's attention will be called to the article published in a monthly magazine over the signature of Sir Charles Warren. Mr. Matthews will be asked whether it is in accordance with the usage and discipline of the Civil Service that a salaried official should be permitted publicly to discuss matters relating to his department, and disparaging the conduct of ex-Ministers of the Crown.

Matthews had issued a Memorandum reprimanding his Police Commissioner. Warren immediately tendered his resignation. His timing could not have been worse for the next day, after an absence of almost 6 weeks, Jack the Ripper was about to strike again.

On the evening of 8th November 1888 a laundress by the name of Maria Harvey paid a visit to the room of her friend, Mary Kelly, at 13 Miller's Court.

At 7pm Mary's estranged lover Joseph Barnet arrived and Maria Harvey left the two to talk, leaving behind a black crepe bonnet, an overcoat, two dirty cotton shirts, a boys shirt, and a girls white petticoat.

According to Barnet's later police testimony he stayed with Mary for around an hour whereupon another woman arrived and he decided to leave. As he left he apologised to Mary Kelly for the fact that he "had had no work and was very sorry that he was unable to give her any money." Those were his last words to his lover.

The woman who arrived was probably Lizzie Albrook, a 20 year old girl who may have been working as a prostitues. She was good friends with Mary Kelly and statements she later gave to several journalist apparently provide a poignant glimpse of Mary Kelly’s state of mind on what would be the last night of her life.

According to Lizzie, one of the last things that her friend said to her was 'Whatever you do don't you do wrong and turn out as I have.' Mary went on to tell Lizzie that she was "heartily sick of the life she was leading and wished she had money enough to go back to Ireland where her people lived."

Lizzie claimed that she was convinced that Mary wouldn't have gone out that night if she had not needed to in order to "keep herself from starvation."

Evidently Mary Kelly had earned some money as she was seen later by one of her neighbours Mary Anne Cox who lived at 5 Miller's Court. Cox was returning to her room at around 11.45pm when she saw "Mary Jane" (the name by which she apparently knew Kelly) walking ahead of her.

She was accompanied by a man who was carrying a quart can of beer. As Mrs Cox turned into the Court Mary and the man were entering Kelly’s room. Mrs Cox called out “good night Mary Jane,” but Kelly, who was “very drunk,” could scarcely answer, although she did manage to say “good night.”

Within a few hours Mary Kelly would be dead and the London would once again be plunged into a state of terror by the return of jack the Ripper.

The East End Poor

By Wednesday 7th November 1888, there had been no murders since the 30th September and life in the East End was beginning to return to normal.

In the wake of the "double murder" the police presence in the district had been greatly increased and this in turn had seen a downturn in the crime rate. It was probably this presence that led to the cessation of the murders throughout October as it was probably too difficult for Jack the Ripper to strike again.

The City as a whole was preparing for Lord Mayors Day and the Lord Mayors procession, due to take place on Friday 9th November 1888.

The Lord Mayor Elect and Mr. A. J. Newton, Sheriff of London and Middlesex, had made arrangements to treat 2,000 of the East End's destitute to a substantial meat tea and this was to be followed by by "a bright and amusing entertainment." According to the City Press

"The total number entertained on the 9th by the new Lord Mayor will exceed 10,000. No condition has been imposed, except that the recipients shall be the poor and needy. "

Meanwhile the authorities were paying close attention to the horrific social conditions that the recent Jack the Ripper murders had exposed in the area.

The London City Mission had submitted two reports which had thrown additional light upon the "condition of the people in the neighbourhood where the East End atrocities were committed."

One of the reports looked closely at Flower and Dean Street(pictured above) and its immediate vicinity commenting that:-

"All the victims lived in this district, and frequented the common lodging-houses situated within its boundaries."

This report also provides a brief glimpse of the activities of Catherine Eddowes, one of the victims on the 30th September and commented that:-

"...Some[of the victims] were well known to the missionary, especially the Mitre-square victim, who had on previous Sundays attended the service held by the missionary in one of the lodging-houses."

The report went on to opine that:-

"The earnings of this class of people are very inadequate, while the price they pay for their rooms is exorbitant."

If nothing else the Whitechapel murders had brought to the national attention the horrific social and living conditions that were the daily lot for many who dwelt in the area and many of the improvements that took place over the next few years came about as a result of this exposure.

But as night fell on 7th November 188, many of the residents at the Common Ldoging Houses no doubt felt a little grateful for the protection they provided. Because, although there had not been a murder for several weeks, there was still a great deal of apprehension, and many of the women must have been glad when they had hurried through the darker recesses of Whitechapel and entered the limited solace afforded by the Lodging Houses.

Today on the Jack the Ripper Tours.

The Evening News on the 6th November 1888 reported how on the previous Sunday a very excited man had rushed in to Commercial Street Police Station and told the the desk Sergeant that he wanted to know "... about these mutilated remains found in Osborne-street,"

The police at once took notice and asked him what mutilated remains he was referring too. The man took out a copy of a Sunday paper in which there was an article about the supposed crime mentioned in the letter in my blog of 5th November.

Even though it was clearly stated that the article was a hoax the man had evidently being "dwelling on the painful incident of the district for the past few weeks" and his mind, according to the Evening News reporter "had become affected."

The visitor then went on to accuse a perfectly respectable man of being Jack the Ripper and was duly asked to make a statement which he refused to do. He simply gave his address as being on Brick Lane and was then allowed to leave the police station.

The police then paid a visit to Osborne Street but no trace was found of any fresh crime.

This incident shows how the police in 1888 were hampered by informants coming forward to give their opinions on who Jack the Ripper was. At the height of the ripper panic, not only did they have to go and investigate a possible, though as it transpired fruitless, fresh murder, but they also had to interview the perfectly respectable man whom the informant had accused o being Jack the Ripper. According to the Evening News the man i n question was quickly proved innocent of any involvement in the crime.

Osborn Street where the "mutilated remains" were said to have been left is featured very early on in our Jack the Ripper Tour.

It most certainly features in the story of the murders in that Emma Smith, the first victim on the Whitechapel Murders File was attacked at its junction with Brick Lane and Wentworth Street in early April 1888. She would later die of her injuries.

But for the people of Whitechapel on November 6th 1888 there had been no murders since 30th September and they were starting to think that the murders had come to an end.

Today In Jack the Ripper's London.

Following the night of the double murder on September 30th 1888 (which to be more precise was the morning of the double murder as the two killings took place at 1am and 1.45am)the police flooded into the streets of Whitechapel and Spitalfields. Uniformed constables walked their beats night after night throughout October and plain-clothes detectives were drafted into the district wearing all manner of disguises, some even dressed up as prostitutes, so it is rumoured.

Although the increased police activity did not result in the ripper being caught it appears to have made it difficult if not impossible for the killer to strike and thus the whole of October passed with no further killings. As we say on our Jack the Ripper tour by November the area as a whole had breathed a huge sigh of relief as it was believed that the killings had ended. But Jack the Ripper was only biding his time and as was to be revealed in early November his murderous reign was not over yet.

On 5th November 1888 the Evening News reported that another letter signed by Jack the Ripper had been discovered. According to the article late on the previous Saturday night the constables on the beat were informed that "a piece of paper was picked up in Spitalfields on which was scrawled the following taunt:

Dear Bos

In spite of all your Police precautions, and in spite of all the efforts of the Vigilance committee, I committed another murder last night, and have hid the body away in Osborne-street, headless, legless, armless, and naked.-Yours truly, JACK THE RIPPER."

The police were convinced that the letter was a hoax but they had little choice but to follow it up and thus the beat constables and plain clothes officers were instructed to make enquiries in the district as to if any body had been been discovered or any woman had gone missing.

They were also told to make every effort to try and locate the author of the letter.

No body was found and no woman had gone missing but it just illustrates how seriously the police were taking the mounting correspondence with which the authorities and police were being bombarded on an almost daily basis by early November 1888.

On our Jack the Ripper tour we show some of this correspondence as well as handing out photographs of the area as it was in 1888.