Victim solitary

[sdreid]

Self sufficient is a bit of a stretch since 98% of them had nothing to do with their present situation.

[sdreid]

Of course, upper class women (and men) were self sufficient and didn't have to work.

[sdreid]

Yes, women had fewer employment opportunities then and no reliable safety net like we have today. Living off a man then was a necessity at times where today it's just de facto prostitution.

[Elenahoyos66]

G'Day



I think that's true of all of them, Kelly also relied on the men in her life to support her, as they all did when they had men.

Yea, that is very true - - but that is true with a lot of women, even today - - women shack up with men to be protected and supported etc.

Be as that may, I think, really, the only thing the victims genuinely had in common is that they all met up with the Ripper

[GUT]

G'Day

while Eddowes wasn't a full time prostitute and did not rely on selling herself to earn a living completely, she did, on occasion from time to time, earn a few pennies for her 'delights'.

I think that's true of all of them, Kelly also relied on the men in her life to support her, as they all did when they had men.

[Elenahoyos66]

So maybe Kate was a prostitute. How about she was the only one, as far as we know, to be a hop-picker? That's unique. It also illustrates that she was not a full time hooker. She was also the only jailed just prior to her death.

I'm not so sure if she was the only one, although it does appear that the answer is a resounding yes.

Be as that may, even if she was the only one to take such trips, that doesn't really give her a "cut-up" from the rest of the victims (not that you're implying that). A lot of the poor people of Whitechapel went hop-picking; the country air was thought to have a healing power in and of itself. Given the surroundings and the putrid air in the city area of the poor, methinks that there be an extreme truth to this belief.

Apart from that, it was their way of earning a very, very small amount of money. Almost like a mini-vacation, if you will.

Be as that may, I'm sure Elizabeth Stride may have went on such excursions, as well as possibly Nichols or Chapman. Chapman may have actually taken vacations, though this is just an assumption. Kelly may have, given the fact that she appeared to have been a country girl.

Now, I think what should be clarified is that - - while Eddowes wasn't a full time prostitute and did not rely on selling herself to earn a living completely, she did, on occasion from time to time, earn a few pennies for her 'delights'.

This is Whitechapel. The women were drunks. Eddowes, by all accounts, appears to have been a very cheery and likable woman with a wonderful streak for life. If she was down on her luck, I do not think she'd be beyond having a go-at it with some man to earn a few rupee's.

The only one I can think of, honestly, to have had a whole profession solely based off of prostitution was Kelly. Given her age, and the fact that she made claims to have worked in a high-class brothel (there appears to be some sort of pride there?) - - she makes no other claim to earning a living, except off her body.

So, were the victims all alike? Not at all. They had many similarities in how they were living and their past, but each was a very different woman.

Nichols use to work as a maid at one point; Chapman would sell things; Stride would clean; and Eddowes, at one point, use to sell papers (?) as well as be supported by her man.

Kelly seems to have relied on the support of the men she was living with; but given her supposed youthful age, vanity and pride tends to run amuk.

[sdreid]

I have little doubt about them however.

[sdreid]

At least with modern Ripperologists.

[sdreid]

And, the same two are the ones whose status as a Ripper victim most comes into question.

[sdreid]

Yes, I suppose Kelly was one of 2 victims who wasn't a Saxon.

[Jon Guy]

I think Welsh speakers might take issue with you over defining their tongue as a foreign language...arguably it's far more original to British shores than modern English!

I only said Kelly spoke Welsh, and I`m sure my Welsh brothers (and sisters) wouldn`t have raised an eyebrow.
Are you an Englishman, Dave? ;-)

[Cogidubnus]

Didn`t Kelly speak Welsh, Stan ?

Hi Jon

I think Welsh speakers might take issue with you over defining their tongue as a foreign language...arguably it's far more original to British shores than modern English!

All the best

Dave

[sdreid]

I don't know for sure Jon but I wouldn't argue against that.

[Jon Guy]

One of the C5 spoke a foreign language - that's all we can say for sure.

Didn`t Kelly speak Welsh, Stan ?

[sdreid]

I assume Stride just picked up the language when she moved to England.