cost of accomodation

[John Casey]

Appropos of nothing in particular, I was thinking today of the relative cost of accomodation in 1888.

Polly Nicholls was paying 4d a day, or 2/4 a week, for a four bed dormitory in a lodging house, whereas Mary Kelly was paying 4/10 a week (29/ behind in her rent, 6 weeks behind, 29/ divided by 6 turns out to be 4/10) for a (sparsely) furnished room of her own.

Kelly was paying more than double Nichols rate, do others suppose it was really worth it for her to do so? I can see that at least Kelly had a guarenteed bed at the end of the day, but apart from that, she seems to me to have been paying a lot more money for not a lot more in the way of accomodation!

pax

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Pax. According to McCarthy, Kelly WASN'T paying, though Barnett had been when he was employed and living there. Keep in mind that Nichols was paying just for a bed, whereas Kelly had privacy, her own stove, a little bit of room, and a water pump just out her window. Twice the price of a random bed isn't too bad really.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[The Grave Maurice]

Tom seems to have nailed this one, John. Given the conditions in the typical doss house, MJK, even at the price that she and Joseph were paying, no doubt thought she was doing quite well.

Now, a tip about what is probably the most misspelled word in English that was given to me by my maternal grandmother and has served me well for many years: accommodation is such a large word that it will accommodate two cats on two mats. Remember it and pass it on.

[Tom_Wescott]

accommodation is such a large word that it will accommodate two cats on two mats.

This doubles as a good example of a doss house.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Adam Went]

Kelly could also come and go as and when she pleased (as she apparently did on the night of her murder) whereas at a lodging house for Nichols or any of the other victims for that matter, if they turned up late, even if they had their doss money, and the beds had already been let out to somebody else, then it was back to the streets for them......that's why you hear stories of them telling the watchmen to keep their beds for them while they went out to earn their doss money for the night.

Cheers,
Adam.