The Date when Kelly's Room was Re-let

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  • Chris Scott
    Chief Inspector
    • Feb 2008
    • 1853

    #1

    The Date when Kelly's Room was Re-let

    An earlier post posed this question:
    How soon after the murder would he (McCarthy) have been allowed to clean it all up to re-rent it out? I would imagine that he'd have been keen to do it pretty sharpish.

    From an article I found today (if it is reliable!) I can tell you the exact day when the room was relet after Kelly's death. The room stayed empty much longer than I would have expected, namely until Saturday 13 July 1889.
    The passage in question reads as follows:-

    Birmingham Daily Post
    18 July 1889

    It is a somewhat curious coincidence that the room in the court in Dorset Street where Mary Jane Kelly was murdered and mutilated on 9th November last, remained empty until Saturday last when it was let to a new tenant, whom the news of the last crime has quite unnerved.

    From the date of the article, the "last crime" mentioned refers to the death of Alice McKenzie in Castle Alley.
  • Sam Flynn
    Casebook Supporter
    • Feb 2008
    • 13333

    #2
    McCarthy might have found his "top-end" 4s 6d per week rooms reasonably tricky to fill at the best of times, Chris - even moreso Kelly's, after what had happened in it.
    Kind regards, Sam Flynn

    "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

    Comment

    • Chris Scott
      Chief Inspector
      • Feb 2008
      • 1853

      #3
      Hi Gareth
      On the subject of McCarthy's "top end" rents, I made the point in "Will the Real Mary Kelly?" that if we remember that the room was for two of them (Kelly and Barnett) it actually worked out marginally cheaper than staying in a lodging house. The standard charge in the common lodging houses was 4d per night for a single bed, 8d for a double.
      In old money this means that for Kelly and Barnett to stay at a common lodging house would have cost 8d x 7 per week. This is 56d or 4s 8d, 2d more expensive than McCarthy's rent for the week
      Regards
      Chris

      Comment

      • Sam Flynn
        Casebook Supporter
        • Feb 2008
        • 13333

        #4
        Indeed, Chris - but to find that in one lump may have been tricky for many couples, and prospective single-occupancy tenants would have struggled even more. Especially if McCarthy required a down-payment.
        Kind regards, Sam Flynn

        "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

        Comment

        • Chris Scott
          Chief Inspector
          • Feb 2008
          • 1853

          #5
          Very good point Gareth - for folks living hand to mouth that would not be easy

          Comment

          • j.r-ahde
            Inspector
            • Feb 2008
            • 1148

            #6
            Hello you all!

            I just couldn't help adding one thing;

            And if there were rumours about haunting there...

            All the best
            Jukka
            "When I know all about everything, I am old. And it's a very, very long way to go!"

            Comment

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