Was Annie Chapman a rotund woman?

[Sam Flynn]

I doubt there were too many fat people in such an impoverished area as that.

True enough, but there may have been a high incidence of fatty livers, given that alcoholism was such a problem in the slums. Annie Chapman had had alcohol issues for years before she arrived in Whitechapel, and her husband left her because of her drunkenness. Ironically, he was also an alcoholic who died of cirrhosis not long after their separation.

[Scott Nelson]

Thirty plus posts now. Have we resolved this important question?

[Joshua Rogan]

Star 8th Sept;

"As she lay in the dead-house, where Simmons identified her, she was a stout woman of fair complexion"

[John G]

Sorry John, it's from the Daily News, 14th Sept.

Probably written by a journalist after he repaired to the local pub for a pint or ten! And Dr Phillips wouldn't have said "the deceased was fatty", as he was an educated man and that wouldn't be grammatically correct; it should be "the deceased was fat."

[John G]

Star 8th Sept;

"As she lay in the dead-house, where Simmons identified her, she was a stout woman of fair complexion"

And what, or should I say who, was The Star's source for this information? Mind you, we are talking about a newspaper who's typically headline was on the lines of "there's been another 'orrible murder!"

[Joshua Rogan]

The Echo 10th Sept has a similar report;

"Judging by the appearance of the woman, as she lay in the mortuary on Saturday, she must have been about five and forty years of age. She was a little over five foot in height, well and strongly built"

[Joshua Rogan]

Possibly. Two flaps from the anterior part of the abdomen and "another" from the... well, "posterior" flows naturally from "anterior" and sounds slightly rude, but there's no "posterior abdomen" as far as I know. I'd suggest, therefore, that the missing term was "pubic region", which is that part of the abdomen that extends from below the navel to just above the external genitalia. I daresay that "pubic region" might have been deemed a little too risqué for Victorian ears!

According to Swanson's 19th Oct reoort, there were two flaps of wall of belly, and one "pubes". It does read as if the info was gained from Dr Phillips' inquest evidence, so perhaps it was the paper that was being coy, rather than the doctor?

[Bridewell]

Probably written by a journalist after he repaired to the local pub for a pint or ten! And Dr Phillips wouldn't have said "the deceased was fatty", as he was an educated man and that wouldn't be grammatically correct; it should be "the deceased was fat."

Not sure about that. She could have carried a significant amount of fatty tissue, yet not presented visually as 'fat'. Phillips might have referred to her as 'fatty' in that scenario because he was not only an educated man, but a medical man also. That said, the mortuary photograph does suggest that she wasn't thin, although strangulation might have been partially responsible for her appearance there.

[DJA]

Possibly. Two flaps from the anterior part of the abdomen and "another" from the... well, "posterior" flows naturally from "anterior" and sounds slightly rude, but there's no "posterior abdomen" as far as I know. I'd suggest, therefore, that the missing term was "pubic region", which is that part of the abdomen that extends from below the navel to just above the external genitalia. I daresay that "pubic region" might have been deemed a little too risqué for Victorian ears!

The posterior abdominal wall is sometimes referred to as the back wall .......

as in ...... lateral/sides and anterior/front.