How realistic was it for JTR to disguise himself as a PC?

[Sam Flynn]

Sam,

The first photo does not prove that the passage in question was flattened to ground

The building was old and dilapidated - just look at the poor state of the brickwork; they were hardly likely to leave that crumbling masonry there and build around it, and they didn't. It is a historical fact that the northern side of Duval Street (as Dorset Street was renamed in the early 1900s), including the entirety of Miller's Court, ceased to exist in the 1920s.

From the Wikipedia article linked to above:

"Dorset Street was renamed Duval Street on 28 June 1904. In 1920 the Corporation of London purchased Spitalfields Market, and demolished the whole of the north side of Duval Street, including Miller's Court".

From the Whitechapel Society website:

"The northern side of the street was demolished in 1928 to make room for enlargements to Spitalfields Market, with the southern side being cleared in the 1960’s leaving what was once Dorset/Duval Street as merely an unnamed service road beside a multi-storey car park."

From the London Pubology website, referring to the "Blue Coat Boy" which once stood five doors away from Miller's Court:



I could go on and list any number of sources, but I hope the point has been made.

[Leanne]

Except for my assigned parking space, which is directly over the location of MJK's bed.

Leanne, how good to see you return! I enjoyed your book on Barnett very much.

It would have been nice to see a bit more discussion and background on Joseph Fleming, though.

THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENT ON MY BOOK!
At the time I left these message boards, I was so full of studying the JTR case that I needed a break.
During my absence my Mother passed away and I was left with looking after Dad. We moved house from a busy Sydney suburb to a quiet semi-rural town just outside.

There's not much here and I hardly ever leave the house because of Dad. Being bored I just came back here out of curiosity.

That book was quite an achievement for a single "disabled" woman with nothing else to do.

[Leanne]

RELAX SAM,

All I am trying to is examine this video recording and open the possibility that it was filmed in the final remains of the entrance passage to Millers Court, before the carpark was completed:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Ripper+Victim+Mary+Kelly&&view=detail&mid=27F4C151249FF91D16C527F4C151249FF91D16C5&&FORM=VRDGAR

[Leanne]

All of this started with the question as to whether or not there was another door (for Elizabeth Prater to use), an open window or both to the storage shed that room 13 was originally part of. I'm hoping that I've found the only footage of that passage (NOT THE ENTIRE MILLERS COURT OR ROOM 13), before it was destroyed to finish that carpark.

I found a writing by Richard Jones (who used to host these Ripper tours), posted in March 2016. He said he used to take people along the line of the former Dorset Street, (at the time Duval Street) and stop at the gap in the kerb that marked the site of the entrance to Miller's Court. The host in the video might be Richard Jones.

If everything was completely destroyed for the Mary Kelly part of the tour, how did anyone know where the entrance once was?

[Leanne]

https://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com/generalnews/a-farewell-to-dorset-street/

Here is that writing of Richard Jones.

Have a look at the overlay of the buildings that were put there in the 1920's made by Andrew Firth. His Victorian photo shows the entrance of Millers Court viewed from an angle that shows the wall in question. Is that a window?

[Sam Flynn]

I'm hoping that I've found the only footage of that passage (NOT THE ENTIRE MILLERS COURT OR ROOM 13)

You haven't. Miller's Court, indeed the entire northern part of Dorset Street, was flattened and built over, in 1928.

If everything was completely destroyed for the Mary Kelly part of the tour, how did anyone know where the entrance once was?

In the same way that one can stand in many parts of a modern city whilst knowing that such-and-such building once stood there.

[Sam Flynn]

All I am trying to is examine this video recording and open the possibility that it was filmed in the final remains of the entrance passage to Millers Court, before the carpark was completed

It wasn't. I've been there myself, on many occasions, and nothing of the old Miller's Court was to be seen. Not one brick, slate or paving stone.

[Leanne]

OK. What about the old photo Andrew Firth used, were did he get that?

[Sam Flynn]

https://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com...dorset-street/

Have a look at the overlay of the buildings that were put there in the 1920's made by Andrew Firth. His Victorian photo shows the entrance of Millers Court viewed from an angle that shows the wall in question. Is that a window?

Yes. There was a window that fronted the front room of 27 Dorset Street, which John McCarthy used as a store-room for barrows and other paraphernalia. Whether it was boarded/bricked-up I don't know, but even if it wasn't, there was no way to access Mary Kelly's room from the front of the house, as it had been partitioned off and was only accessible from the back door to No 13 Miller's Court.

Incidentally, you'll notice from Andrew Firth's montage that the original frontages of the houses in Dorset Street stood several feet in front of the new buildings that replaced them after they were demolished.

PS: Interesting as this is, it's well off-topic for the subject of this thread.

[Sam Flynn]

OK. What about the old photo Andrew Firth used, were did he get that?

It's from Leonard Matters' book The Mystery of Jack the Ripper, published in 1929. The photograph was taken just before the demolition of Dorset Street.

[Leanne]

Above is a diagrame of Millers Court. I believe there was an open window to No 26 (Storage) in the covered passage viewable to any residents entering from Dorset Street. The large window at the front would have been the one that was boarded up.

OK any discussion on this can now be moved to the appropriate board. But above is the post which started it all here.

[c.d.]

Hello Leanne,

I was wondering if you were the Leanne of old when I saw your above post. Welcome back. Sorry to hear of your Mother's passing but it is nice to have you back posting again.

c.d.

[Leanne]

RELAX SAM,

All I am trying to is examine this video recording and open the possibility that it was filmed in the final remains of the entrance passage to Millers Court, before the carpark was completed:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Ripper+Victim+Mary+Kelly&&view=detail&mid=27F4C151249FF91D16C527F4C151249FF91D16C5&&FORM=VRDGAR

…...BEFORE the carpark was completed...…...one last Ripper walk.

[Leanne]

Hello Leanne,

I was wondering if you were the Leanne of old when I saw your above post. Welcome back. Sorry to hear of your Mother's passing but it is nice to have you back posting again.

c.d.

THANKS c.d.

[Sam Flynn]

…...BEFORE the carpark was completed...…...one last Ripper walk.

Not so. That footage was shot on a mobile phone, and the car park was built in 1971, decades before such technology became available. Indeed, the date under the video clip is 2011, so the car park had been there for 40 years already.