Jack's housing arrangements

[Elamarna]

Jerry

with regards to king William street, it looks as if there were no houses on the north side, the hospital occupying most of it.

Steve

[jerryd]

Hi,
I have a hunch he lived the other side of Mitre square, and he was on his way there when he encountered Eddowes, and possibly headed that way after killing Kelly, [ the man seen hurrying through the square bloodstained around 10.10am the morning of the 9th Nov.
Regards Richard,

I've had the same thought, Richard. I was thinking other side being on the north, though, near the Rose and Crown coffee shop on Houndsditch. This would coincide with Blenkinsop's sighting of a respectable man asking if a man and woman came by him in St James passage.

[jerryd]

Hi Steve,

This is the one.

It is near to the place where John Arnold lived and where he met the police officer who warned him about the murder in Backchurch Lane.

It is not far from the Royal Courts of Justice.

Regards, Pierre

Pierre,

That doesn't answer the question. Did your suspect live in the hospital? You specifically wrote King William Street as a possible residence. The other being in Whitechapel. What housing arrangement was on King William Street that your suspect lived in?

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
I have a hunch he lived the other side of Mitre square, and he was on his way there when he encountered Eddowes, and possibly headed that way after killing Kelly, [ the man seen hurrying through the square bloodstained around 10.10am the morning of the 9th Nov.
Regards Richard,

[Pierre]

Pierre

i know, i worked in that area for 25 years. just wanted to be sure

Steve

Yes, I see.

Regards, Pierre

[Elamarna]

Hi Steve,

This is the one.

It is near to the place where John Arnold lived and where he met the police officer who warned him about the murder in Backchurch Lane.

It is not far from the Royal Courts of Justice.

Regards, Pierre

Pierre

i know, i worked in that area for 25 years. just wanted to be sure

Steve

[Pierre]

Pierre

just asking because it can be easy to make mistakes,

you definitely mean that king William street and are not confusing it with the one in the city itself.

cheers

Steve

Hi Steve,

This is the one.

It is near to the place where John Arnold lived and where he met the police officer who warned him about the murder in Backchurch Lane.

It is not far from the Royal Courts of Justice.

Regards, Pierre

[Elamarna]

Hi,

An hypothesis. Two places. King William Street near the Strand and an adress in Whitechapel. (The red circle is not relevant).

Regards, Pierre

Pierre

just asking because it can be easy to make mistakes,

you definitely mean that king William street and are not confusing it with the one in the city itself.

cheers

Steve

[Elamarna]

Hi Pierre,

Nice map, by the way, 1868 map of London? With a red circle for the location of 2 Harvey's Buildings?

Anyway, why is King William Street important for your suspect? You think he was living at Charing Cross Hospital or are you re-wording a ripper hoax letter that stated his address was on Prince William street?

Hi Jerry,

I was about to ask the same about the hospital, it took up most of the street before it moved in the 2nd half of last century. great buildings still standing

Steve

[jerryd]

Hi,

An hypothesis. Two places. King William Street near the Strand and an adress in Whitechapel. (The red circle is not relevant).

Regards, Pierre

Hi Pierre,

Nice map, by the way, 1868 map of London? With a red circle for the location of 2 Harvey's Buildings?

Anyway, why is King William Street important for your suspect? You think he was living at Charing Cross Hospital or are you re-wording a ripper hoax letter that stated his address was on Prince William street?

[Pierre]

Jack could have had a place to call "home" after all...

"One room in the Peabody buildings is never let to two persons." (J. Ewing Ritchie, Days and Nights in London, 1880).

Single rooms were let out at 2s 6d per week in the 1880s. Families paid 5s per week for three rooms. Communal washing facilities and lavatories were located on the landings outside the rooms on each floor.

Peabody Buildings' house rules:

1. No applicants for rooms will be entertained unless every member of the applicant's family has been vaccinated or agrees to comply with the Vaccination Act;

2. The rents will be paid weekly in advance at the superintendent's office, on Monday, from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m.;

3. No arrears of rent will be allowed;

4. The passages, steps, closets, and lavatory windows must be washed every Saturday and swept every morning before 10 o'clock. This must be done by tenants in turn;

5. Washing must be done only in the laundry. Tenants will not be permitted to use the laundries for the washing of any clothes but their own. No clothes shall be hung out;

6. No carpets, mats, etc., can be permitted to be beaten or shaken after 10 o'clock in the morning. Refuse must not be thrown out of the doors or windows;

7. Tenants must pay all costs for the repairs, etc., of all windows, keys, grates and boilers broken or damaged in their rooms;

8. Children will not be allowed to play on the stairs, in the passages, or in the laundries;

9. Dogs must not be kept on the premises;

10. Tenants cannot be allowed to paper, paint or drive nails into the walls;

11. No tenant will be permitted to under-let or take in lodgers or to keep a shop of any kind;

12. The acceptance of any gratuity by the superintendent or porters from tenants or applicants for rooms will lead to their immediate dismissal;

13. Disordlerly or intemperate tenants will receive immediate notice to quit;

14. The gas will be turned off at 11 p.m. and the outer doors closed for the night, but each tenant will be provided with a key to admit him in at all hours [my emphasis];

15. Tenants are required to report to the superintendent any births, deaths, or infectious diseases occurring in their rooms. Any tenant not complying with this rule will receive notice to quit.

(Info from The Eternal Slum: Housing & Social Policy in Victorian London, Anthony S. Wohl, 2006.)


I posted this info on another thread relating to a specific suspect, but perhaps it needs to be lifted up a level to a more generic discussion about the sort of home in which Jack could have lived.

Some say he couldn't have afforded a room of his own - well, at 2 shillings and sixpence per week, for a single room (with key!) the Peabody Trust shows that he could. Some think he might have lived in a doss-house, others don't - or, that if he did, he'd have needed a "bolt-hole". Would he have had a family, or would they have got in the way...? And so on.

Ideas and comments on this general theme are quite welcome.

Hi,

An hypothesis. Two places. King William Street near the Strand and an adress in Whitechapel. (The red circle is not relevant).

Regards, Pierre

[Scott Nelson]

Was allowed to crash at 254 Whitechapel Road until the heat became too much? Eventually arrested because he wouldn't leave when he could.

[Christine]

Hello

Housing arrangements by status, if a local man :



Married with kids and regular work - rented room, maybe two rooms

Married and regular work - rented room

Married no regular work - Lodging House

Single with regular work - rented room

Single no regular work - Lodging House

Single/ Married and no work - Casual Ward or sleeping rough - due to harassment by the patrolling policeman during the night it was easier for a homeless person to sleep at day.

Well, any of the above could have lived with a family member, as this was common, especially among immigrants, so they would fall into Married and regular work, sort of by proxy. And of course there were occasional exceptions that could afford better.

[Jon Guy]

Hello

Housing arrangements by status, if a local man :



Married with kids and regular work - rented room, maybe two rooms

Married and regular work - rented room

Married no regular work - Lodging House

Single with regular work - rented room

Single no regular work - Lodging House

Single/ Married and no work - Casual Ward or sleeping rough - due to harassment by the patrolling policeman during the night it was easier for a homeless person to sleep at day.

[DVV]

What Jack did with his trophies is a complete mystery.
Especially if he was a poor dosser.
One of my baseless guesses is that he threw them to stray dogs.
Apologies to those who have their dinner now.

Amitiés,
David