Picture of 29 Hanbury Street passage?

[richardnunweek]

I was outside that very door at 530am on the morning of the 8th september 1965, on my tour of the sites, at the relevant times that autumn, i rubbed my hand across the front of 29 as i walked past, if i had only knew then aged 18 , how historic that would be, i would have taken a film crew with me..
or a camera
Regards Richard.

[Stephen Thomas]

I would expect a room to open up on the right.

Would the passage have had the same wooden wall/partition in 1888?

Hi Archaic

There would have been two doors on the right, one to the front parlour and one to the back parlour (are you lonesome tonight?-joke). As I said, Khanada's graphic was spot on but it could have been improved by showing the two rooms and the doorways to them.

The John Bennett picture I posted was of a rather grander house (#24) which no doubt still exists across the road from #29 and is probably worth a million quid these days . The staircase is straight with a half-landing as opposed to the curved one in the #29 photos.

The #29 wooden wall is on the right is original, no question.

[Rob Clack]

Thanks Archaic, we're hoping to have the book republished soon (no date as of yet) $145 is a ridiculous amount of money and I hope he doesn't sell it.
Anyway this is how 29 Hanbury Street looked on the day of the murder. From The Star 8 September 1888



Regards

Rob

[Rob Clack]

I did do this rough plan a while back.



Rob

[Archaic]

Rob, I thought the $145 edition of your book was the one engraved on tablets of gold?


Hi, Richard; that's pretty cool about touching #29 Hanbury on the anniversary.

Just think, if you had only had the foresight to never wash that hand again maybe you could have sold
genuine ''29 Hanbury Street Handshakes'' at the various Ripper conventions!

...but then someone would insist on testing your hand for DNA traces... just as well, I suppose.

Cheers, Archaic

[Brenda]

Thank you for the clearer copy of photo. Also, the diagram lays it all out very nicely.

I notice that the passage seems fairly well-lit. When comparing it to the photo of the back of the house, it appears there are a couple of small windows located between the ground and first floors. Is this the source of the lighting?

It has been noted before that in 1888, the front passage door was rarely if ever locked, which is how Annie Chapman and her killer were able to gain access. I assume there were others that also knew of this and utilized the passage and yard. Do you suppose there was a door at the top of the staircase that the residents could lock at night? Otherwise, anyone could have gained access to the entire house!

Something just doesn't seem right about it all. Surely the residents of #29 knew their passage was being accessed in this way.

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
What a enterprising idea, i wished i had obtained some kind of momento from that occasion , but [ I'm mad] i had waited for hours in the area, just to walk down that street at the relevant time, i wanted to feel the atmosphere, of what it would have felt in that street at that time, like i had done a week before in Bucks Row at 330am.
But my left hand did run along the door, which not many people apart from Graham have done, at least Casebook members..
Regards Richard.

[Archaic]

Hi, Brenda. Doesn't it seem especially odd in light of the fact that some of the residents specifically told investigators that they ''never lock their doors', because they are so sure of their neighbors?

Best regards, Archaic

[Archaic]

(Sorry for the double post; I just saw that Richard posted his response while I was responding to Brenda.)

Richard, I have a few questions regarding your anniversary visits to the crimes scenes: What did it feel like?

Was it what you expected? Was it quiet enough to feel the real ambiance? Did you ever write about your experiences?

Might make a good new thread, for those of us who can only 'visit' vicariously. Thanks, Archaic

[sdreid]

Rob - Is that door under the stairs to a closet? Looks like a good hiding place.

[Khanada]

Great stuff, Khanada

That's spot on.

Thanks Stephen -- I really just guessed from the photos and then played with Paint. Had the fence in the wrong spot until I looked closer at the pic where the back door is closed, actually.

[Rob Clack]

Rob - Is that door under the stairs to a closet? Looks like a good hiding place.

I believe it's another staircase down to the cellar.

Rob

[Khanada]

Oh -- just saw Rob's diagram! Wonderful stuff there. (I didn't even think about the two rooms, really, or where to put doors... )

Speaking of the doors... Is it possible that the partition along the right of the passage in No 29 is at least partially made up of old doors? In places, it kind of looks like it might be.

[Jane Coram]

Hi,

I don't know if this helps, but here's a reconstruction of what the front of Hanbury Street would have looked like at the time of the murder.

The door seen there, is obviously the original door, which led through to the back yard. The frontage of the shop was rebuilt a little while after the murder and another door put in on the right hand side of the old one to access the shop.

As to the panelling in the passage on the right hand side - it is certainly in the right position to be original, and as the house was built in the 18th century it seems very likely that it is the original panelling, as it was very fashionable at the time.

The door that can be seen on the right hand side of the passage, led through into the cat's meat shop, and is very probably the original door as well. The passageway originally had floor boards.

Hugs

Jane

xxxxx

[sdreid]

Thanks Rob. Do you know if the basement was dug out during the renewal or just filled in?