Long Liz?

[Steven Russell]

Elizabeth Stride is said to have been five foot two. I doubt if these towering proportions could have earned her the nickname, "Long Liz" even in 1888.

But to me, the assertion that the surname "Stride" invited "long", like Chalky White, Dusty Miller, etc. seems equally unlikely. Stride is not a popular name. Has anyone else come across another Stride?

I'm sitting firmly on the fence here and, to be honest, don't know what to think. Perhaps there is a third possibility. Any thoughts?

Best regards,

Steve.

[lynn cates]

Walter

Hello Steven. Besides her late husband, there was a PC Walter Stride.

Rgds.
LC

[Steven Russell]

Alright, alright. So there are other Strides. Thanks, Lynn. I asked for that. But my real question is, why is she called Long Liz?

Steve.

[cappuccina]

Isn't it derived from the descriptive Cockney slang regarding her last name....(a long) Stride....hence "Long Liz"??

[Captain Hook]

Isn't it derived from the descriptive Cockney slang regarding her last name....(a long) Stride....hence "Long Liz"??

Hello Steven & Cappucina,

If I remember correctly, it was Martin Fido who said Liz's nickname derived from her surname Stride.

Cheers
Hook

[Adam Went]

There's a woman who gets reasonably frequent mentions in newspapers of the 1870's by the name of Sarah Elizabeth Stride. Unfortunately I don't have full access to these articles but I came across her while researching an article on the Princess Alice.....from the fragments that I have seen, she stood trial for something in January 1878, appears to have faced bankruptcy and, at one stage in 1877, lived in Hart Street. She died at the age of 51 in November 1879. Don't know any more of her than that unfortunately.....has anybody else heard of or know anything about this woman?

Cheers,
Adam.

[Addy]

I also read she didn't get the nickname because of her hight but of her name. I believe I read it in a book of Paul Begg, that people called Stride often got the nickname of "Long".

Greetings,

Addy

[j.r-ahde]

Hello you all!

Well, to my knowledge MJK didn't get a nickname "Long Mary", though she was as tall as an average LVP man. That is; 5'7", 170,28 in centimeters.

So, the most obvious choice for "Long Liz" is her last-name!

All the best
Jukka

[Adam Went]

Gustafsdotter was quite a long maiden name....

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steven Russell]

Calling all Vikings

Apologies for going off topic but the suffix "-dotter" interests me. As I understand it, and I may be hideously wide of the mark, the traditional Scandinavian way to form a surname is to take the first name of the father and add -son for a son and -dotter for a daughter. e.g. if your dad is called Gustav, you could be Sven Gustavson or Ingrid Gustavsdotter.

I would like to know if this is correct. Also, something in the back of my mind is whispering that the practice is dying out especially with regard to -dotter but with the possible exception of Iceland. I would be very grateful to any Casebookers who could shed light on this matter.

Steve.

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Steven!

Yes, that's, what the Swedes did do in the past. And that was the old custom in the Finnish records too!

Probably the -sen ending in the Danish and Norwegian names has the similar kind of origin?!

All the best
Jukka

[YankeeSergeant]

"Long" and surmane

Apologies for going off topic but the suffix "-dotter" interests me. As I understand it, and I may be hideously wide of the mark, the traditional Scandinavian way to form a surname is to take the first name of the father and add -son for a son and -dotter for a daughter. e.g. if your dad is called Gustav, you could be Sven Gustavson or Ingrid Gustavsdotter.

I would like to know if this is correct. Also, something in the back of my mind is whispering that the practice is dying out especially with regard to -dotter but with the possible exception of Iceland. I would be very grateful to any Casebookers who could shed light on this matter.

Steve.

Steve, you are correct in your assumption. "Dotter" would be the correct suffix. I can't speak to the habit dying out. In checking Paul Begg's Jack the Ripper: the Facts, she is given several knicknames including "epileptic Liz" However, the casebook page on Elizabeth states her height as five feet five inches. Obviously she wasn't a towering woman but in that day and age she was likely taller than normal. Given that she appears to have been slender as well ( A difference between her and the rest of the vistims) she may well have appeared taller than she was. Nichols, Eddowes and Chapman appear to be rather stour women and Kelly inthe drawing that is extant of her seems to have a good but not necessarily slender figure. So let me ask my own question if Stride is a vistim of JAck the Ripper why did he stray from what appears to be a prvelence for stalking and killing plump women?

[Nino]

Elizabeth Stride is said to have been five foot two. I doubt if these towering proportions could have earned her the nickname, "Long Liz" even in 1888.

But to me, the assertion that the surname "Stride" invited "long", like Chalky White, Dusty Miller, etc. seems equally unlikely. Stride is not a popular name. Has anyone else come across another Stride?

I'm sitting firmly on the fence here and, to be honest, don't know what to think. Perhaps there is a third possibility. Any thoughts?

Best regards,

Steve.

Ciao Steve!
I think whether Fido (last name) whether Begg (Stride people often so-called) are right.
Nevertheless at 5ft2 she wasn't very tall, rather she was medium tall.
I thought for a third possibility. Best and Gardner, interviewed by The Evening News on 1st oct 88 said they saw Liz the last night at 10 pm in the "Bricklayer's Arm" pub. The day after Best went to the mortuary for Liz and he was almost certain to recognize "the same slight woman". Although at postmortem Blackwell found the body "fairly nourished", we have that Liz looked a strait appearance!

So we would get three reasons to call her "Long"