"A wgole week without a meal"

[Chris Scott]

I had not previously seen the account below which gives a version full of pathos of the situation of Mary Kelly. This perpetuates the myth of Kelly having a child but the assertion she had gone a week without food apart from sips of beer I had not seen before.
This is the start of an article on Warren's resignation dated 24 November 1888 from the Women's Penny Paper

[Chava]

Chris, thanks for posting the article. However I don't believe a word of this pathetic and affecting story. It suits everyone for the dear departed to be a soiled dove who was more sinned against than sinning. But the only part of the article that rings true is that Kelly hadn't eaten much and had subsisted on 'occasional drops of beer'. I'll bet she had occasional drops of beer. She certainly had a few drops on the night she died. Cox saw her profoundly drunk just before she was murdered. And no talk of her poor little boy among the women in the Court either. I imagine that was a story brought out on occasion to wring the heartstrings of some tender-hearted punter.

[Tom_Wescott]

While we appreciate all you share with us, Chris, the whole thing is hogwash. The reporter even admits he culled his information from various papers, and nowhere do I remember reading of her and her imaginary child starving. Mary had bread in her house and had consumed fish and potatoes in the hours prior to her murder.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Chris Scott]

Hi Tom
I agree that the account is bunkum but I did think it of interest if only in passing in the uses to which such stories were put at the time
I did not mean to imply that I placed any trust in the account as fact, which is why I called the claim an "assertion"
Regards
Chris

[Busy Beaver]

When exactly did Mary consume the Fish & Potatoes? If Blotchy is the murderer, I doubt very much he would have stayed for a meal. And then some other thoughts:
Could the fire have been put on for MJK to make her dinner?
Where did she get the fish from? Was it JB the earlier time of between 18.00-20.00, or could it have been brought round by his brother Daniel? Did she have potatoes in the house or did she go and buy them? Where did she get money for a meal? Possibly Blotchy's or Rich Man's takings? Did she have a meal already made up and all she had to do was heat it? I'm asking these weird questions because there is a time gap between Blotchy going up the court with Mary and her being seen out on the street by George Hutchison and there does not seem to be any evidence of dirty dishes lying about. It has been said Mary was house-proud but in the early hours of the morning if you are steaming, do you really want to do the dishes? And I'm sure even she had a plate to eat on albeit be it tin or enamel.

Busy Beaver

[Wickerman]

Many chandler's shops sold warm food, dried fish or a fish pie, a baked potato, maybe fish and chips. We can't determine when she last ate because the digestion was incomplete when she died, and of course the time of death was never firmly established.

.

[Busy Beaver]

If Mary did buy her "last supper" from a Chandler's shop, you would have thought because of all the interest from the case that the shop Mary visited, someone would have come forward to say that Mary was in the shop at x time and she purchased fish & potatoes. Matthew Packer was pretty keen to say he sold Elizabeth Stride was grapes- which we know was a fabrication.

Busy Beaver

[DRoy]

Busy Beaver,

I think Jon (Wickerman) said it already...no idea when she last ate. When she last ate could have been around regular supper time where there would have been lots of customers. It would probably be difficult to recognize customers especially if they were a busy shop. I must ask though, what would be the relevance even if she bought her dinner very late and could be identified? Are you trying to establish a more precise time of death?

DRoy

[The Good Michael]

Perhaps if the commissioner hadn't had his hash settled, he could have given it to Kelly.

Mike

[Busy Beaver]

Hi DRoy, I was trying to get a better time of death and also to see if she was with anyone after "Blotchy". George Hutchison gives his "account" from 0.200am to 0.230am and MJK is with rich bloke. If she was out getting a meal, it may have been possible for someone in the shop, or in the vacinity to have seen her with someone else. That time from 02.30 to murder time of 0.400am is quite a long one!

Busy Beaver

[C. F. Leon]

I'm listening to the Mary Kelly podcasts right now and I wonder if Hutchinson's 'Astracan Man', who had a parcel, may have brought the fish. This may verify GH"s account.

What happened to the money that Kelly had earned earlier in the evening, before she was killed?

[lynn cates]

Show me the money.

Hello CFL. What money?

Cheers.
LC

[Ginger]

If Mary did buy her "last supper" from a Chandler's shop, you would have thought because of all the interest from the case that the shop Mary visited, someone would have come forward to say that Mary was in the shop at x time and she purchased fish & potatoes.

I never thought of it before, but that does seem odd. Like DRoy says, though, she may have bought it earlier, when the shops were crowded. It's quite possible too that she had reheated leftovers, maybe from the previous day, and eaten them alone in her room. Fish and potatoes would keep fairly well in a cool room, I think (jacket potatoes are good for several days, if the skin is unbroken) and she did have a window out.

I'd have to think the police went 'round asking at places that served fish and potatoes, even if it's not recorded. Surely those are the sorts of questions (What time did she buy it? Was she alone?) that the detectives would have wanted answered, especially after doubt about the time of death arose.

[Penhalion]

I think her last meal was fish and chips. It was an inexpensive and quick food commonly found in the East End at the time. From what I've read, chippies first began to open in the East End in the 1860's and quickly became a staple in the working class (or poorer) diet. Most people in the East End didn't actually cook in their homes. If you look at the population density and number of people per room, in many cases there's just nowhere to do it. Using chandler's shops and fast food vendors as their kitchen/larder was very common. Even someone like MJK who had a fireplace in their room didn't necessarily have the ability to cook on it. A small coal fired fireplace would not have the space or equipment to allow even the simple reheating of most food items and there are no cooking/eating items referenced in any of the reports I'm familiar with other than the tea kettle.

[Ben]

Hi CF,

I'd assume that any money she earned that night was pinched by the killer.

With regard to Kelly's last meal, it is more likely that she consumed it with Blotchy, either out at a pub somewhere or in her own room, after Blotchy carried it home in his ale pail.