East End Photographs and Drawings

[Stephen Thomas]

Is 100 Commercial Road on the NE corner of Batty Street?

[Observer]

Hi again, a bit of frivolity, met this man in "The Princess Alice", he called himself Alan, and he informed me that he would tell me who Jack the Ripper was if I bought him a pint of beer. His great grandfather worked with him apparently.



all the best

Observer

[Rob Clack]

Hi again Rob, seeing your photo of 68 Brick Lane got the old grey matter working, and I did take a Photo of 68 Brick Lane Killeens former residence got totally bamboozled by all the Photos I'd taken, nigh on a thousand. The William Hill Building I took in Brick Lane is number 10, trouble is I can't for the life of me remember why I took it, does 10 Brick Lane ring any bells with you?

all the best

Observer

Hi Observer,

According to a report by Inspector Reid, Emma Smith was attacked opposite 10 Brick Lane. So that might be why.

Is 100 Commercial Road on the NE corner of Batty Street?

Hi Stephen,

It is. Same address the doctor was called from in the Lipski case. Forgot his name though.

Regards

Rob

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Stephen,

It is. Same address the doctor was called from in the Lipski case. Forgot his name though.

Dr John Kay.

[Rob Clack]

Thanks Gareth, got an illustration of it here somewhere.

Rob

[Observer]

Yes thats it Rob, I remember now. Would I be right in stating that Emma Smith was assaulted just where the two gentlemen in the photograph are situated?



all the best

Observer

[John Bennett]

Hi again, a bit of frivolity, met this man in "The Princess Alice", he called himself Alan, and he informed me that he would tell me who Jack the Ripper was if I bought him a pint of beer. His great grandfather worked with him apparently.

This guy looks like a character. Did you buy him the pint and if so, who was Jack the Ripper?

JB

[Rob Clack]

That's a tough one Observer as we can't tell for certain where the attack happened. The area you mentioned is roughly where she allegedly told her friends where she was attacked, but it doesn't explain Inspector Reids comments that it was opposite number 10. The location she was going in George Street she could have got to by turning left into Wentworth Street or by turning left into Thrawl street. So anywhere from Wentworth Street up to Thrawl Street could be the spot where she was attacked.

Regards

Rob

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Observer,
Its worth remembering that Inspector Edmund Reid wrote in his report on the attack on Emma Smith, that,"She would have passed a number of PCs en route but none was informed of the incident or asked to render assistance".In fact NONE of the PC"s in the area had heard or seen anything at all and the streets were said to be quiet at the time. The last person to see Emma Smith before her attack was her friend Margaret Hames ,another prostitute with whom she was soliciting in Limehouse .She last saw her with a man dressed in dark clothes and a white scarf at 12.15 am.in Burdett Road near West India Docks.
Best Wishes

[Observer]

Hi John, I would betray my Scottish ancestry if I'd have bought that bloke a pint, so Jack the ripprs identity must remain a secret I'm afraid

all the best

Observer

[John Bennett]

Hi John, I would betray my Scottish ancestry if I'd have bought that bloke a pint, so Jack the ripprs identity must remain a secret I'm afraid

all the best

Observer

Can't argue with that!

[Observer]

Hi Rob.

You're correct the area opposite number 10 Brick Lane would have took Emma Smith, past the Wentworth Street turn off, so if she was attacked in this location then she was not in Osborn Street, as reported in some accounts. The area occupied by the Two gentlemen in the above photo, is in Osborn Street and as you say she could have turned left into Wentworth Street in order to get to where she was lodging in George Street, I think if she had not been assaulted she would have turned left into Wentworth Street, so I would favour that location, just my opinion of course.

As Natalie points out though it's strange that the assault upon Emma Smith should go unheard, unnoticed.

all the best

Observer

[Septic Blue]

Doveton Street, Home of Charles Cross, looking West, much changed of course

[ATTACH]5516[/ATTACH]

Charles Lechmere (a.k.a. "Charles Cross") resided at 22 Doveton Street, Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, in 1888: ~40 yards along the pavement (i.e. opposite the farthest set of blue balconies).

The block of flats at the end of the thoroughfare coincides with the boundary that separated the Parish of St. Matthew Bethnal Green and the Hamlet of Mile End Old Town.


22 Doveton Street (Formerly: "Queen Street"), Hamlet of Mile End Old Town - 1873 OS Overlay
(Click to View in flickr)
Underlying Aerial Imagery: Copyright Google Earth, 2007
Overlying Plots, Labels and Color-Shadings: Copyright Colin C. Roberts, 2009

Red w/ Gold Outline: 22 Doveton Street, Hamlet of Mile End Old Town


22 Doveton Street, Hamlet of Mile End Old Town (Click to View in flickr)
Underlying Aerial Imagery: Copyright Google Earth, 2007
Overlying Plots, Labels and Color-Shadings: Copyright Colin C. Roberts, 2009

[Septic Blue]

... the area opposite number 10 Brick Lane would have took Emma Smith, past the Wentworth Street turn off, so if she was attacked in this location then she was not in Osborn Street, as reported in some accounts. The area occupied by the Two gentlemen in the above photo, is in Osborn Street and as you say she could have turned left into Wentworth Street in order to get to where she was lodging in George Street, I think if she had not been assaulted she would have turned left into Wentworth Street, so I would favour that location, just my opinion of course.

Emma Smith is the center, the green dot.

An excerpt from my Project Narrative:

"… urban topography can place significant limitations on the practicality, and even the possibility of a particular point 'playing host' to the impending subsequent murder. It is therefore quite remarkable that the murder site epicenter, in this case, not only affords both physical possibility and 'Ripperesque' practicality; but actually coincides with a prominent feature in the landscape of the 'Whitechapel Murders': The very spot, on which many surmise that Emma Smith was confronted by her alleged assailants.


Figure 1: Murder-Site Epicenter (Click to View in flickr)
Underlying Aerial Imagery: Copyright Google Earth, 2007
Overlying Plots, Labels and Color-Shadings: Copyright Colin C. Roberts, 2009

- Green Dot: Murder Site Epicenter - Southwest Corner of the Intersection of Wentworth Street and Osborn Street, Parish of St. Mary Whitechapel, County of Middlesex

- Red Color-Shading: 'Footprint' of Taylor Brothers' Chocolate & Mustard Factory, as depicted in the 1894 Ordnance Survey

- Yellow Dot: "the pathway opposite No. 10 Brick Lane" - Northeastern Exterior of Taylor Brothers' Chocolate & Mustard Factory, Brick Lane, Parish of Christ Church Spitalfields, County of Middlesex

Most accounts of the circumstances, in which Emma Smith was allegedly assaulted by a group of ruffians, on the morning of 3 April 1888, include references to 'Osborn Street' and/or the vicinity of a 'cocoa factory', with regard to the location of the attack. The references are generally vague and somewhat difficult to comprehend, as the thoroughfare 'Osborn Street' became 'Brick Lane' as it progressed northward through its intersection with Wentworth Street (west) / Old Montague Street (east), before passing the east side of Taylor Brothers' Chocolate & Mustard Factory. As the northwestern 'extremity' of Osborn Street, i.e. the southwest corner of its junction with Wentworth Street, was the point at which it was most closely 'connected' to the 'cocoa factory', it has perhaps been deemed to have been the most likely venue for the assault.

However, a very specific reference to the location of the attack was included in a report filed by Inspector Edmund Reid, Metropolitan Police Force, H Division (date unknown): "The offence had been committed on the pathway opposite No. 10 Brick Lane". Ironically, this assertion was contradictory to one made earlier in the same report: "She had been assaulted and robbed in Osborne (sic.) Street". But the specificity of the "opposite No. 10 Brick Lane" reference should not be ignored; especially in light of the distinct possibility that all 'primary' references to 'Osborn Street' were actually intended to describe the point, at which Smith first encountered the alleged group of men, who then followed her north into Brick Lane.

It would seem unlikely therefore, that the murder site epicenter actually coincides with the spot that Emma Smith identified as being the location, in which she was confronted by her alleged assailants. In fact, if Reid's 'Brick Lane' reference is assumed to be accurate, then the murder site epicenter lies approximately thirty eight yards southeast of the spot, on which Smith claimed she was attacked.

"the pathway opposite No. 10 Brick Lane"
Northeastern Exterior of Taylor Brothers' Chocolate & Mustard Factory, Brick Lane, Parish of Christ Church Spitalfields, County of Middlesex
Longitude: 0° 4' 15.15" West
Latitude: 51° 31' 3.02" North

In any case, the murder site epicenter is in remarkably close proximity to the spot, on which the 'Whitechapel Murders' saga purportedly began. If nothing else; the murder of Emma Smith set the 'stage' for the six murders that followed, within the 'Whitechapel' series. But, the purported location of Smith's encounter with her alleged assailants notwithstanding; the intersection of Wentworth Street / Old Montague Street and Osborn Street / Brick Lane is nonetheless a prominent feature in the landscape of the 'Whitechapel Murders'."

............

[John Bennett]

Here's a few I forgot I had, not sure if they've been posted before, I'm losing count.

Aldgate High Street looking toward Mansell Street, 1961.


Observer's post about Corbet Place reminded me about this one. This seems to be taken from the roof of a house on the south side of Hanbury Street, looking north up Corbet Place sometime in the 1930s. Grey Eagle Street stretches into the distance and the brewery is obvious. ("Get on with it!")


Goulston Street junction with Whitechapel High Street, 1981. Tubby Isaacs is as reliable as ever, though the Cash and Carry is now the 'Aldgate Exchange' (for those who haven't clocked it)..