Average Age of Whitechapel Prostitutes?

[Barnaby]

Mary Kelly aside, the victims were all middle-aged. I'm wondering if this represents a preference on the part of the killer or if there is another explanation.

Were there plenty of younger prostitutes walking the streets? Were the victims representative of the average prostitute or were they older? Any info on this demographic might shed light on possible preferences. Maybe Jack was just taking what was available. But I find it hard to believe that there weren't younger, more attractive prostitutes plying their trade. Or, maybe older/occasional prostitutes were less likely to have pimps and thus would be more vulnerable.

[Frank van Oploo]

Hi Barnaby,

Although I don't have the answer, I did list as many prostitutes as I could find, including their approximate ages. Plus, I've added a number of possibles. Perhaps someone could fill in the blanks or add others. Or better yet, provide us with more complete demographic info on the subject.

Anyway, here are my lists:

name age
Mary Jane Kelly 25
Mary Ann Cox 31
Martha Tabram 39
Emma Smith 45
Mary Ann Nichols 43
Annie Chapman 46
Elizabeth Stride 44
Catherine Eddowes 46
Annie Farmer 40
Rose Mylett 29
Elizabeth Jackson 24
Alice McKenzie 39
Frances Coles 25
Mary Ann Connelly 50
Julia Venturney 47
Luisa Smith 35
Elizabeth Burns ?
average 38.0 years

possibles
Elizabeth Prater 45
Ada Wilson 20
Annie Millwood 38
Eliza Cooper 39
Emily Holland 50
Margaret Cheeks ?
Mary Ann Monk ?
Margaret Franklin ?

All the best,
Frank

[sdreid]

Perhaps the older prostitutes couldn't be as picky about who they went off with or where they went off to.

Regarding Kelly's age, there isn't any way to verify it so I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't understating it by about 10 years in order to up her value. If so, she wouldn't be that far away from the others.

[Barnaby]

My gut feeling is that many view the "unfortunate" women as a homogeneous lot, but it might be productive to begin looking at differences between the victim and nonvictim prostitutes. Why did Jack choose one prostitute over another? Was it really just opportunity? Maybe so, but we have other cases, such as Bundy who preferred women with straight brown hair parted in the middle, to suggest that there might be a selection process beyond convenience. A deeper understanding of Jack's selection criteria might provide insight into his motives/identity.

[Sam Flynn]

Barnaby - I reckon the women the Ripper picked were simply "easy meat".

[sdreid]

Hi Barnaby,

Bundy did chose younger white women and perhaps those other traits played a part but most women have brown hair and the style for younger white women then was to wear it long, staight and parted in the middle so I always wondered if that tenet wasn't just a coincedence.

[Sam Flynn]

Merely focusing on the ages of the women we've heard about (victims and witnesses) will give a skewed picture, in that they constitute a minute subset of those women involved in active or casual prostitution in the East End. A little while ago I used a sample of 213 likely unfortunates, whose ages were registered at the Whitechapel Infirmary in 1888, producing the following results:

22 = median age of those describing themselves as "prostitute"

39 = median age of those describing themselves as "charwomen"

I include the latter because "charing" was sometimes taken as a euphemism for "unfortunate", and also because it's amongst the "charing" classes that one might expect to find the greater concentration of casual streetwalkers. It will be noted that the median age for "vocational" prostitutes was rather lower than the likely median for "unfortunates" - from this, I suspect that there we're dealing with two distinct distributions here: younger "full-time" prostitutes, and middle-aged casuals. In between, perhaps, there were those who were in more-or-less stable relationships that kept them in reasonable economic comfort for a period of time.

[dixon9]

really dont think the ages of the victims were a factor in the case,but a nice angle to look at.

Dixon9
still learning

[perrymason]

I think the age has some importance here Sam. We know that the true Unfortunate is a woman who has no work, no full time residence in her name, and none or insufficient financial assistance from their family or friends. In the only case we know of in terms of Canonicals, only one victim doesnt fit that bill.....and she is much younger....almost by half.

She has a room in her name, and at least 2 men giving her some money to live. The fact that she is quite young and pretty have direct bearing on her prostitution requirements....as in how much she has to resort to it.

It seems to me that the divorced middle aged women had to prostitute themselves more than youthful marketable ones just to survive. Hell....tell me if any one of the middle aged women in the Canonicals was behind 28d in rent how long they would be allowed to stay?

They were the ones that any prowler would be most likely to find outdoors after midnight plying their trades...the marketable youth were mostly indoors in brothels or fully or partially "kept" I would think.

The Mary Ann Cox's, The Martha Tabrams, the Mary Ann Nichols, the Annie Chapmans, The Liz Strides and the Catharine Eddoweses.....those would be the primary age group encounters for any client/killer after midnight on the street.

[Sam Flynn]

We know that the true Unfortunate is a woman who has no work, no full time residence in her nameSince when did the definition of "unfortunates" require that the unemployed woman - of whatever age - had to be homeless? Since when, for that matter, did we suppose that Jack cared about definitions anyway? I don't suppose for one moment that he asked his victims "Unfortunate or prostitute?", either letting them go or killing them depending on which answer they gave. All too Pythonesque, if you ask me.

Anyhow, Mike, this is not yet another "Kelly shouldn't be in the Canon" thread - it's a factual one about prostitutes' ages. Let's please try to keep it that way.

[dixon9]

Perry

do you believe Jack may have turned down a young prostitute as a victim,'letting her off due to her age'?

Dixon9
still learning

[perrymason]

Perry

do you believe Jack may have turned down a young prostitute as a victim,'letting her off due to her age'?

Dixon9
still learning

Hi Dixon,

I think thats a really good question to ask....and the answer is that I dont know. There are young women within the 13 or 14 women that were attacked and or killed during the relevant Ripper years, some younger than Mary....the question is do their attacks/murders seem indicative of something that Jack the mutilator might have done. Marys certainly seems like the work of a man who cuts women up, but is that proof Jack sought young women?

My guess is based on the demographic of 4 of the 5 Canonicals and the fact that the women he chooses seem to have little choice but to go with strangers to quiet places outdoors to conduct their business even during a killers rampage that Fall, that his prey were the women who had fallen off all civilization maps....so to speak. The divorced/widowed middle aged homeless women who were in abundance in the East End....with nowhere to go at night but where "he" might be lurking...unless they found some clients and didnt drink away the money they earned.

I think he killed the ones that HAD to be outside working after midnight to have a shot at a bed that night.

Best regards Dixon

[Sam Flynn]

do you believe Jack may have turned down a young prostitute as a victim,'letting her off due to her age'?
Absolutely not. If the chance arose for some "fresh meat", you can bet your boots that he'd have taken it.

[perrymason]

Absolutely not. If the chance arose for some "fresh meat", you can bet your boots that he'd have taken it.

As you see Dixon, there are often differing schools of thought on the topics at hand,:laugh4: ....thats why it always has to come down to what you can believe in. The evidence is there, the little that it is, and its awfully hard to make definitive statements that seem valid on that basis...(as my colleague and friend Sam did above:pleased:) ....but what rings true to you is likely all you can really believe in .....in the final analysis...... isnt it?

My research and thoughts have led me to believe that since 80% of the victims thought to be Jack the Rippers were of a certain stage in life and in certain circumstances, that they were likely the demographic pool from which he fished for victims.

Sams I assume suggests otherwise. Make sure you can know all that is relevant when assessing the answer...cause its what you think that matters now.

Cheers Dixon.

[dixon9]

thanks very much for reply and advice perry


Dixon9
still learning

[cappuccina]

Pragmatically, i think he was going for:

1) ...women he could pay for who were in his local geographic "comfort zone"....who in these areas of the East End would tend to be older more "down and out" women; and

2) ...the more "down and out" women would put up less of a fight, and would be less likely to be "missed" by friends and relatives, as many were homeless and estranged from their families in the first place...

He risked a younger, healthier woman putting up more of a fight or getting away from him...

[Sam Flynn]

Pragmatically, i think he was going for:

1) ...women he could pay for who were in his local geographic "comfort zone"....Agreed, Caps. [Edit:] Apart from the "could pay for" bit - I doubt that he'd have cared whether he could pay or not, nor even that a victim would necessarily charge him, by which I mean he might well have gone for non-unfortunates as well, given the opportunity. My impression of Jack is that he was nothing if not an opportunist.who in these areas of the East End would tend to be older more "down and out" womenCertainly more "down and outs"... but why would more of them be "older", necessarily?2) ...the more "down and out" women would put up less of a fight, and would be less likely to be "missed" by friends and relatives, as many were homeless and estranged from their families in the first place...Some slum dwellers were estranged from their families, but still had roofs over their heads - indeed, one or two of them seemed to be living in Miller's Court itself.
He risked a younger, healthier woman putting up more of a fightWhat if she were tired, tipsy and caught off-guard? or getting away from him...All the better if she were trapped in a small space, then, and he standing in the way of the only exit.

[perrymason]

I think homelessness is the key ingredient....although as I said, middle aged seems statistically to be undeniably a fine group for him to work with.

When you have nowhere to go to escape the streets, you are on them regardless of how many killers are out at night. These were women who had no choices....they were trapped on the streets with him in a very real way.

And Dixon, glad that helped...your most welcome.

Best regards