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victimology
First of all, sorry if this topic has already been covered. I looked through some topics, and saw some that were similar. I almost placed this post in one of them, but felt that given the nature of the subject, it needed a thread of it's own.
Now it seems pretty obvious that the women JTR attacked were all drunks & prostitutes. However I believe there were other similar traits that linked the victims together. For the most part I'll stick mainly with the Canonical five, but will touch upon other victims as well. Similarity #1, Hair color.
Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, all had dark brown hair. Catherine Eddowes may have had dark brown hair, as could have Mary Jane Kelly (Although I honestly think MJK was a blond, I also have other thoughts on her, but that's a different topic altogether).
Similarity #2, height.
Mary Ann Nichols 5' 2"
Annie Chapman 5'
Elizabeth Stride 5' 2"
Catherine Eddowes Unknown
Martha Tabram 5' 3"
All the victims seem to fit a certain height range.
Similarity #3, Children.
Mary Ann Nichols 5
Annie Chapman 3
Catherine Eddowes 3
Martha Tabram 2
Elizabeth Stride: gave birth to a stillborn girl on April 21st, 1865. While it is not possible to know for sure if she had any children who survived birth, it is possible that other people believed she had children. She told acquaintances that her husband and two of her nine children had drowned in the sinking of the Princess Alice in the River Thames in 1878.
Emma Elizabeth Smith 2
Similarity #4, Age
Mary Ann Nichols 43
Annie Chapman 46
Elizabeth Stride 44
Catherine Eddowes 46
Emma Elizabeth Smith 44-45
Martha Tabram 39 (one thing that struck me as interesting, was that she was stabbed exactly 39 times. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything, however it does kinda make you wonder)
Similarity # 5, broken marriages.
Mary Ann Nichols
she married printer's machinist William Nichols, and the couple had five children between 1866 and 1879. Their marriage broke up in 1880 or 1881 from disputed causes. Her father accused William Nichols of leaving her after an affair with the nurse who had attended the birth of their final child, though Nichols claimed to have proof that their marriage had continued for at least three years after the date alleged for the affair. He maintained that his wife had deserted him, and was practising prostitution. Police reports say they separated because of her drunken habits.
Annie Chapman
On 1 May 1869, she married her maternal relative John Chapman, a coachman, at All Saints Church in the Knightsbridge district of London. in 1881 the family moved to Windsor, Berkshire, where John Chapman took a job as coachman to a farm bailiff. But young John had been born disabled, while their firstborn, Emily Ruth, died of meningitis shortly after at the age of 12. Soon afterward, both Chapman and her husband took to heavy drinking and separated in 1884
Elizabeth Stride
On March 7th, 1869 she married John Thomas Stride, a ship's carpenter from Sheerness 13 years her senior, and the couple for a time kept a coffee room in Poplar, east London. In March 1877, Liz Stride was admitted to the Poplar Workhouse, suggesting that the couple had separated. They had apparently reunited by 1881 but separated permanently by the end of that year.
Catherine Eddowes
Eddowes, also known as "Kate Conway" and "Kate Kelly", after her two successive common-law husbands. She took up with an ex-soldier called Thomas Conway in Birmingham and moved with him to London. By him she had three children: a girl and two boys. Taking to drink, she split from the family in 1880 and a year later was living with a new partner named John Kelly at Cooney's common lodging-house at 55 Flower and Dean Street, Spitalfields. Here she took to casual prostitution to pay the rent. To avoid contact with his former partner, Conway drew his army pension under the assumed name of Quinn, and kept their sons' addresses secret from her.
Now it seems pretty obvious that the women JTR attacked were all drunks & prostitutes. However I believe there were other similar traits that linked the victims together. For the most part I'll stick mainly with the Canonical five, but will touch upon other victims as well. Similarity #1, Hair color.
Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, all had dark brown hair. Catherine Eddowes may have had dark brown hair, as could have Mary Jane Kelly (Although I honestly think MJK was a blond, I also have other thoughts on her, but that's a different topic altogether).
Similarity #2, height.
Mary Ann Nichols 5' 2"
Annie Chapman 5'
Elizabeth Stride 5' 2"
Catherine Eddowes Unknown
Martha Tabram 5' 3"
All the victims seem to fit a certain height range.
Similarity #3, Children.
Mary Ann Nichols 5
Annie Chapman 3
Catherine Eddowes 3
Martha Tabram 2
Elizabeth Stride: gave birth to a stillborn girl on April 21st, 1865. While it is not possible to know for sure if she had any children who survived birth, it is possible that other people believed she had children. She told acquaintances that her husband and two of her nine children had drowned in the sinking of the Princess Alice in the River Thames in 1878.
Emma Elizabeth Smith 2
Similarity #4, Age
Mary Ann Nichols 43
Annie Chapman 46
Elizabeth Stride 44
Catherine Eddowes 46
Emma Elizabeth Smith 44-45
Martha Tabram 39 (one thing that struck me as interesting, was that she was stabbed exactly 39 times. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything, however it does kinda make you wonder)
Similarity # 5, broken marriages.
Mary Ann Nichols
she married printer's machinist William Nichols, and the couple had five children between 1866 and 1879. Their marriage broke up in 1880 or 1881 from disputed causes. Her father accused William Nichols of leaving her after an affair with the nurse who had attended the birth of their final child, though Nichols claimed to have proof that their marriage had continued for at least three years after the date alleged for the affair. He maintained that his wife had deserted him, and was practising prostitution. Police reports say they separated because of her drunken habits.
Annie Chapman
On 1 May 1869, she married her maternal relative John Chapman, a coachman, at All Saints Church in the Knightsbridge district of London. in 1881 the family moved to Windsor, Berkshire, where John Chapman took a job as coachman to a farm bailiff. But young John had been born disabled, while their firstborn, Emily Ruth, died of meningitis shortly after at the age of 12. Soon afterward, both Chapman and her husband took to heavy drinking and separated in 1884
Elizabeth Stride
On March 7th, 1869 she married John Thomas Stride, a ship's carpenter from Sheerness 13 years her senior, and the couple for a time kept a coffee room in Poplar, east London. In March 1877, Liz Stride was admitted to the Poplar Workhouse, suggesting that the couple had separated. They had apparently reunited by 1881 but separated permanently by the end of that year.
Catherine Eddowes
Eddowes, also known as "Kate Conway" and "Kate Kelly", after her two successive common-law husbands. She took up with an ex-soldier called Thomas Conway in Birmingham and moved with him to London. By him she had three children: a girl and two boys. Taking to drink, she split from the family in 1880 and a year later was living with a new partner named John Kelly at Cooney's common lodging-house at 55 Flower and Dean Street, Spitalfields. Here she took to casual prostitution to pay the rent. To avoid contact with his former partner, Conway drew his army pension under the assumed name of Quinn, and kept their sons' addresses secret from her.