Kennedy and Lewis

[packers stem]

The Kennedy statement has always sounded more 'natural' , describing the dress state and the refusing to go with Kelly .
I think that's close to the truth .
The Lewis statements can be discounted quite easily as not only did her memory change during the statement with the crossing out of the woman talking to the man ,but she went from not being able to describe him in any way to , at the inquest , describing him down to his hat and quite ridiculously; the colour .
I've little doubt that Kennedy was Sarah Lewis' press name .
If not you would have to query how neither woke either if they both arrived separately at the Keylers ,and failed to mention each other (and I don't mean the Bethnal green part previously , just on the night in question )

[Michael W Richards]

Hello all,

Im sure we have all seen a case being attempted to merge these 2 women into a single source, so I thought Id post their remarks;

Sarah Lewis, at the Inquest;

"Sarah Lewis deposed: 1. I live at 24, Great Pearl-street, and am a laundress. 2.I know Mrs. Keyler, in Miller's-court, and went to her house at 2, Miller's-court, at 2.30a.m. on Friday. 2. It is the first house. I noticed the time by the Spitalfields' Church clock. When I went into the court, opposite the lodging-house I saw a man with a wideawake. There was no one talking to him. He was a stout-looking man, and not very tall. The hat was black. I did not take any notice of his clothes. The man was looking up the court; he seemed to be waiting or looking for some one. Further on there was a man and woman - the later being in drink. There was nobody in the court. I dozed in a chair at Mrs. Keyler's, and woke at about half- past three. I heard the clock strike.
[Coroner] What woke you up ? - I could not sleep. I sat awake until nearly four, when I heard a female's voice shouting "Murder" loudly. It seemed like the voice of a young woman. It sounded at our door. There was only one scream.
[Coroner] Were you afraid ? Did you wake anybody up ? - No, I took no notice, as I only heard the one scream.
[Coroner] You stayed at Keyler's house until what time ? - Half-past five p.m. on Friday. The police would not let us out of the court.
[Coroner] Have you seen any suspicious persons in the district ? - On Wednesday night I was going along the Bethnal-green-road, with a woman, about eight o'clock, when a gentleman passed us. He followed us and spoke to us, and wanted us to follow him into an entry. He had a shiny leather bag with him.
[Coroner] Did he want both of you ? - No; only one. I refused. He went away and came back again, saying he would treat us. He put down his bag and picked it up again, saying, "What are you frightened about ? Do you think I've got anything in the bag ?" We then ran away, as we were frightened.
[Coroner] Was he a tall man ? - He was short, pale-faced, with a black moustache, rather small. His age was about forty.
[Coroner] Was it a large bag ? - No, about 6in to 9in long. His hat was a high round hat. He had a brownish overcoat, with a black short coat underneath. His trousers were a dark pepper-and- salt.
[Coroner] After he left you what did you do ? - We ran away.
[Coroner] Have you seen him since ? - On Friday morning, about half-past two a.m., when I was going to Miller's-court, I met the same man with a woman in Commercial-street, near Mr. Ringer's public-house (the Britannia). He had no overcoat on.
[Coroner] Had he the black bag ? - Yes.
[Coroner] Were the man and woman quarrelling ? - No; they were talking. As I passed he looked at me. I don't know whether he recognised me. There was no policeman about.


Mrs Kennedy, Morning Advertiser:

"Mrs. Kennedy, 1. ..who was on the day of the murder staying with her parents at a house facing the room where the mutilated body was found, has made an important statement. She says that at about three o'clock on Friday morning she entered Dorset-street on her way to the house of her parents, 2. which is situated immediately opposite that in which the murder was committed. She noticed three persons at the corner of the street near the "Britannia." There was a man-a young man, respectably dressed, and with a dark moustache-talking to a woman whom she did not know, and also a female poorly clad, and without any head gear. The man and woman appeared to be the worse for liquor, and she heard the man say, "Are you coming?" whereupon the woman, who appeared to be obstinate, turned in an opposite direction to which the man apparently wished her to go. Mrs. Kennedy went on her way, and nothing unusual occurred until about half an hour later. She states that she did not retire to rest immediately after she reached her parents' abode, but sat up, and between half-past three and a quarter to four she heard a cry of "Murder!" in a woman's voice proceed from the direction in which Mary Kelly's room was situated. As the cry was not repeated she took no further notice of the circumstance until the morning, when she found the police in possession of the place, preventing all egress to the occupants of the small houses in this court. When questioned by the police as to what she had heard throughout the night, she made a statement to the above effect. She has since supplemented that statement by the following:-"On Wednesday evening, about eight o'clock, I and my sister were in the neighbourhood of Bethnal-green-road, when we were accosted by a very suspicious-looking man about 40 years of age. He was about five feet seven inches high, wore a short jacket, over which he had a long top-coat. He had a black moustache, and wore a billycock hat. He invited us to accompany him into a lonely spot, as he was known about there, and there was a policeman looking at him." She asserts that no policeman was in sight. He made several strange remarks, and appeared to be agitated. He was very white in the face, and made every endeavour to prevent them looking him straight in the face. He carried a black bag. He avoided walking with them, and led the way into a very dark thoroughfare at the back of the workhouse, inviting them to follow, which they did. He then pushed open a small door in a pair of large gates, and requested one of them to follow him, remarking, "I only want one of you," whereupon the women became suspicious. He acted in a very strange and suspicious manner, and refused to leave his bag in possession of one of the females. Both women became alarmed at his actions and escaped, at the same time raising an alarm of "Jack the Ripper." A gentleman who was passing is stated to have intercepted the man, while the women made their escape. Mrs. Kennedy asserts that the man whom she saw on Friday morning with the woman at the corner of Dorset-street resembled very closely the individual who caused such alarm on the night in question, and that she would recognise him again if confronted with him. There is no cause to doubt this woman's statement."


Lets start with 3 incongruities:

If these woman are one woman, why does Sarah refer to the Keyler's as someone she knows, calling her "Mrs Keyler" at one point, and Kennedy says it was her parents house?

Why does Sarah recall seeing someone she was approached by as short and stout, and Kennedy says he was around 5'7', which would be average height for the period.

What did Kennedy mean when she said the Keylers were "directly opposite where the murder was committed" in the court? 6 houses were in that courtyard...does anyone own a court occupants list?

I have found this drawing done by a policemans notebook used in the Kitty Ronan trial;