The GSG. What Does It Mean??

[Rosey O'Ryan]

Hi Mitch,
An interesting thought! But can you push it through the barrier, i.e. think out of the box. I will be watching.
Rosey -

[Ben]

Hi Gareth,

...you could have gone practically anywhere to the east of Middx Street to the extent of a mile, in any one of three compass directions

Not if you wanted to be guaranteed of a small, localized noctunal population of Jewish men. For that, the obvious venues to make a beeline for would have been the clubs.

If you'd heard of it, or guessed that something called the "Imperial" Club would be frequented by any other than Times-reading, moustachioed Englishmen.

And you were likely to have known of it if you knew the area well. If Jack recognised the advantage of Jew-scapegoating wherever it was possible and easy to acheieve (in addition to his other, more pressing motivations), the IWEC was obviously more preferable to the Imperial, which is why he went there first.

This is taking us away from the meaning of the GSG somewhat!

Regards,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Ben,

If you wanted to find Jews awake and active in the small hours because you were a serial killer who knew that Jews were getting the blame...

...you could have gone practically anywhere to the east of Middx Street to the extent of a mile, in any one of three compass directions.

youu were likely to find them near the Imperial Club

If you'd heard of it, or guessed that something called the "Imperial" Club would be frequented by any other than Times-reading, moustachioed Englishmen.

[Ben]

That's almost like comparing a Quaker's Hall to a strip-joint, Ben.

The relevent comparison is the one I've already highlighted, Gareth: they had Jews there in the small hours of the morning when the ripper was active. It matters not if one was radical and one was politically cosier. If you wanted to find Jews awake and active in the small hours because you were a serial killer who knew that Jews were getting the blame and thought "Hey, here's an opportunity", you were likely to find them near the Imperial Club and the IWEC, especially if you were familiar with the area.

Best regards,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

The signficance, to my mind, resides in the fact that it was a Jewish club, just as the WMEC was a Jewish club.

That's almost like comparing a Quaker's Hall to a strip-joint, Ben. We know for certain that the IWMEC was a focus of revolutionary thinking, that it was home to a radical press, had influential speakers give speeches on its premises, and - furthermore - that it had a reputation for these things. The Imperial Club carried no such baggage; indeed, by it's very name it suggests a cozying-up to the monarchy that no radical socialist would countenance in a million years - which, by the way was almost exactly 500,000 times longer than the Imperial Club had been in existence.

If Lawende, Levy and Harris hadn't come to our attention, I bet nobody would have even heard of the Imperial Club by now. This stands in stark contrast with the IWMEC, which - Ripperology aside - would have had a place in history irrespective of the Stride murder.

[Ben]

Hi Gareth,

Not quite, Ben. Middlesex Street itself, as well as Hutchinson Street and Ellison Street - all west of Goulston - had a significantly high Jewish population in their own right

But according to the Booth and Arkell maps, the Wentworth Model Dwellings formed part of what was apparently the densest Jewish splodge in that district. We don't know if either Hutchinson Street or Ellison Street was on a direct path of retreat between Mitre Square and the killer's home.

...as a small, discreet, businessman's club you mean?

We don't know how discreet it was, to be fair. The signficance, to my mind, resides in the fact that it was a Jewish club, just as the WMEC was a Jewish club. If you wanted to find Jews awake at the time of the murders for whatever reason (such as wanting to infer their guilt), you'll find them close to where the two double event murders were committed.

But I think we've just had this debate.

Best regards,
Ben

[Mitch Rowe]

It couldve been that JTR innocently tossed the apron away. But even if that there is a subconscious mind at work. Its very possible that doorway meant something more to JTR than a random thing.

[Graham]

Good thought, Mitch.

I suspect that whoever killed Eddowes left Mitre Square p.d.q. - maybe not running, but walking fast, as that would attract less attention, and we know that the Ripper was possessed of stealth and a large slice of luck - and was wiping his hands on the piece of cloth as he proceeded. I think it only human nature to discard such an item where it might not be seen or discovered for some time - a doorway being better in this respect than the street.

Cheers,

Graham

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Ben,

That's sort of what I suspected and semi-hoped. So even if there were Jewish enclaves to the west of Middlesex Street as we suspected, they weren't as dense as they were around Goulston Street

Not quite, Ben. Middlesex Street itself, as well as Hutchinson Street and Ellison Street - all west of Goulston - had a significantly high Jewish population in their own right.

If the killer did seek to take advantage of Jewish suspicion, it wasn't as if he needed the area around the club to be particularly dense in Jewry; the club "spoke" for itself

...as a small, discreet, businessman's club you mean? I don't quite see the significance - unless it was next door to a pub called "The Optimist's Arms"

[Ben]

In terms of the Jewish population of Duke Street - where the club was - the Jewish population was not as dense as it was a couple of blocks to the East

Interesting, Gareth.

That's sort of what I suspected and semi-hoped. So even if there were Jewish enclaves to the west of Middlesex Street as we suspected, they weren't as dense as they were around Goulston Street where the apron and message were later found. If the killer did seek to take advantage of Jewish suspicion, it wasn't as if he needed the area around the club to be particularly dense in Jewry; the club "spoke" for itself.

Best regards,
Ben

[Mitch Rowe]

Hmm..My idea was:
If this doorway on Goulston St was something that would have attracted anti-Jewish sentiment. So to speak. Maybe the only connection between
the GSG and JTR was that the doorway was the most logical place to cause a ruckus.

New question:

If the GSG never existed. What would the Police have thought about the location of the apron?

Could JTR have meant a subtle false clue toward the Jews but not knowing of the GSG it backfired on him?

[Monty]

Around 40 years before Jack, Houndsditch and that area was the main trading area for Jews. A lot of jewellery was bought and sold there and the Jewellery Mart pub in St James Place was the place to go to if you wanted to buy or sell, hence its name.

Monty

[Sam Flynn]

Indeed, Gareth. It would be interesting to know how dense the Jewish population was to the West of Middlesex Street, especially around Mitre Square and the club.

As I said a while back, Ben, an arrow fired in practically any direction eastwards from Mitre Square stood a fair chance of thudding into a Jewish doorway.

In terms of the Jewish population of Duke Street - where the club was - the Jewish population was not as dense as it was a couple of blocks to the East, and the number of residential premises weren't as numerous either. Of the residents of Duke Street in 1881, it looks like around 50% of them were Jewish; likewise Bevis Marks. Houndsditch seems to have had a Jewish population of around 60 percent; Camomile Street less than 20%. To the south of Mitre Square, Leadenhall Street, Jewry Street and Little George Street had almost no Jewish residents.

[Ben]

Indeed, Gareth. It would be interesting to know how dense the Jewish population was to the West of Middlesex Street, especially around Mitre Square and the club.

Best regards,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Ben,

I was looking at the earlier population map you kindly posted here

I was using the same one, but selected the areas in dark/navy-blue, changed them to red to make them more readily visible, and overlaid them onto the O/S map.

We have to remember that Arkell's survey stopped short at the City boundary, and didn't even cover all the streets within its remit on the Eastern side of that line - there are a number of "grey areas" (literally) that the population survey didn't touch. The "West Side Story" of Middlesex Street isn't told by the survey, and the streets between it and the City don't enter into the equation at all, even though it's apparent from the Census that these areas had a rather high Jewish population of their own.