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With the permission of the author Mike Covell himself, I offer this review for your attention. I am most grateful to Mr Covell for his kindness in allowing me to write this review.
Leather Apron, Jack the Ripper, and the Whitechapel Murders of 1888
Mike Covell, Hull: Amazing Hull Tours Publications, 2014
Kindle e-book. approx. 218 pages
£5.15p
In the world of "Jack the Ripper", there are many sub-plots, side-stories and related parts that combine into the whole catalogue of interest that surrounds
the infamous murders of the Whitechapel area in 1888. One of them, and an important one at that, is the intruiging story of "Leather Apron".
Most of the readers will be aware of the name, and perhaps the story inter-linking "Leather Apron" with The Whitechapel Murders. One very important thing to bear in mind when reading of the Leather Apron however, is that the name associated with the murders in Whitechapel that year, came a good few weeks before any mention of "Jack the Ripper". Therefore it is essential to understand the build up and part played by this name in the story of the murders.
Mike Covell has had an interest in all things "Ripper-esque" for many years. He is a prolific writer and historian of note. His presentations at many functions on various subjects have been widely acclaimed as being of the highest quality. This is down to his dilligence and research and his enthusiastic approach to his work. He firmly believes in digging down to the bare facts and getting them brought up into the public light of day. His offering here, does exactly that, and then some.
In the introduction to this book, he writes the following:-
"The story of Leather Apron is both sinister and comical. It is one part murder mystery, one part police investigation, one part press invention, and part mass hysteria".
Pulling those four pieces of of the story together is far more difficult than one would think. The author quite obviously realised that the press, and the role the press played in the story, was a base factor in explaining the mass hysteria. The police investigation, at times seemingly ludicrous, interweaves into the story and makes the whole thing look, from this time and distance, quite bizarre. However, as Mike Covell rightly points out in his book through magnificent transciption of newspaper article after newspaper article, that at the time, the roller coaster of accusation and mystery was almost unstoppable. The press invention, as shown by the author time and again, gives us a far better understanding of the day to day life, the panic and the actual thoughts of the people of the day. Mike Covell has taken on a very difficult job piecing this all together in chronological order, for us all to digest, and presented us with a far clearer overview than has been seen before in any one publication.
The detail, and the attention to detail, through the press reports is surely what one could only describe as an exhausting piece of admirable transcription from hundreds of press reports, is quite amazing in itself. For the simple reason that it is probably impossible to accumulate every single press report from every single newspaper from all over the entire nation, this work stands out as quite unique in it's compilation.
There are a few gems hidden in all these reports, and only through Covell's dilligence can we now see the the intruiging development of the Leather Apron story. He discovered the earliest known (at present) report referring to Leather Apron..from 1st september 1888. This is actually very important, as it seems that certain local press men, or press associated persons, were informed of the name at an incredibly early juncture. Which asks the question of whether said local press (from all over the country) were already
in the district at that time of the murders or they were fed the information... before the national daily newspapers eminating from Fleet Street. And if the information was leaked, the obvious conclusion is that it came via the Press Association itself, originally leaked from the police themselves. Or..... perhaps not?
Covell shows in his book that press invention played a very large part in the Whitechapel mysteries. When one considers the fairly large possibility that the name "Jack the Ripper" itself was a press invention, it isn't hard to believe that Leather Apron was one too. In order to realise exactly why the press did these things, if they did, one must remember that a sales war was going on at the time between the newspapers themselves, and the more sensational the news, the more the papers sold. This factor alone is of great importance, along with the undercurrent of unrest within the poplace of the East End, and their unhappiness with the way they felt they were being ignored by the decision makers of Parliament, and indeed the way the police were treating them. There was a growing fear of an uprising... and the fear eminated from the East End of London being swamped with foreigners who,
in relatively large numbers, were not averse to the idea and ideologies of revolution. This, in the midst of a series of murders, gave the press a field day. Those newspapers wanting to fan the revolutionary flames, used the murders to stir the pot further.
Covell shows which newspapers were a little more guarded in their presentations, and those which were more flamboyant. The base stories from every day may well seem to be the same, but careful analysis shows that the war of words started to mount up very quickly indeed, and this contributed to the poplace of London, and especially the people of the East
End, to panic. The press saw the panic and stirred the pot even further. The police at this point in time, were really two steps behind the press.
All of these things are alluded to and shown to the reader in a monumental task of press-trawling and time consuming transcriptions done and presented by Covell. However, he doesn't stop there. The police reports are also included as well. This shows the balance of where the knowledge, or lack of knowledge about Leather Apron derives from.
Covell looks into one known but rather hidden person called Julius Lipman, as to whether this man could have been the "Leather Apron" widely presented to the public. The Lipman story is one of the lesser known stories and Covell presents this well. Tracing Lipman, the actual person, has been, and still remains, a very hard thing to do. Covell also goes into at great
length and depth, the events surrounding John Pizer, also better known as "Leather Apron". His exhaustive work on this singular character is excellent. Covell rounds off the whole sorry tale with reports of others known as, or purportedly known as, "Leather Apron".
This all leaves the reader with a better basic understanding of the issues at stake at the time. It would be impossible to have a totally comprehensive archive of all press reports in circulation from the whole country in one book on this one subject. Covell has done an amazing job in collating as many as he has, and transcribing them alone must have taken somewhere just short of an eternity..for which Covell should be highly congratulated and admired. It would simply be churlish to point out any press pieces overlooked.
This book is a great piece of important work. One is left with many thoughts as to whether "Leather Apron" is a press invention, in name at least. Covell's extensive work shows that this may very well have been the case. For the price, £5.15p, it is one of the better, more worthwhile books one could buy if one is interested in the true background to the story of "Jack the Ripper".
Highly recommended.
Phil Carter
Leather Apron, Jack the Ripper, and the Whitechapel Murders of 1888
Mike Covell, Hull: Amazing Hull Tours Publications, 2014
Kindle e-book. approx. 218 pages
£5.15p
In the world of "Jack the Ripper", there are many sub-plots, side-stories and related parts that combine into the whole catalogue of interest that surrounds
the infamous murders of the Whitechapel area in 1888. One of them, and an important one at that, is the intruiging story of "Leather Apron".
Most of the readers will be aware of the name, and perhaps the story inter-linking "Leather Apron" with The Whitechapel Murders. One very important thing to bear in mind when reading of the Leather Apron however, is that the name associated with the murders in Whitechapel that year, came a good few weeks before any mention of "Jack the Ripper". Therefore it is essential to understand the build up and part played by this name in the story of the murders.
Mike Covell has had an interest in all things "Ripper-esque" for many years. He is a prolific writer and historian of note. His presentations at many functions on various subjects have been widely acclaimed as being of the highest quality. This is down to his dilligence and research and his enthusiastic approach to his work. He firmly believes in digging down to the bare facts and getting them brought up into the public light of day. His offering here, does exactly that, and then some.
In the introduction to this book, he writes the following:-
"The story of Leather Apron is both sinister and comical. It is one part murder mystery, one part police investigation, one part press invention, and part mass hysteria".
Pulling those four pieces of of the story together is far more difficult than one would think. The author quite obviously realised that the press, and the role the press played in the story, was a base factor in explaining the mass hysteria. The police investigation, at times seemingly ludicrous, interweaves into the story and makes the whole thing look, from this time and distance, quite bizarre. However, as Mike Covell rightly points out in his book through magnificent transciption of newspaper article after newspaper article, that at the time, the roller coaster of accusation and mystery was almost unstoppable. The press invention, as shown by the author time and again, gives us a far better understanding of the day to day life, the panic and the actual thoughts of the people of the day. Mike Covell has taken on a very difficult job piecing this all together in chronological order, for us all to digest, and presented us with a far clearer overview than has been seen before in any one publication.
The detail, and the attention to detail, through the press reports is surely what one could only describe as an exhausting piece of admirable transcription from hundreds of press reports, is quite amazing in itself. For the simple reason that it is probably impossible to accumulate every single press report from every single newspaper from all over the entire nation, this work stands out as quite unique in it's compilation.
There are a few gems hidden in all these reports, and only through Covell's dilligence can we now see the the intruiging development of the Leather Apron story. He discovered the earliest known (at present) report referring to Leather Apron..from 1st september 1888. This is actually very important, as it seems that certain local press men, or press associated persons, were informed of the name at an incredibly early juncture. Which asks the question of whether said local press (from all over the country) were already
in the district at that time of the murders or they were fed the information... before the national daily newspapers eminating from Fleet Street. And if the information was leaked, the obvious conclusion is that it came via the Press Association itself, originally leaked from the police themselves. Or..... perhaps not?
Covell shows in his book that press invention played a very large part in the Whitechapel mysteries. When one considers the fairly large possibility that the name "Jack the Ripper" itself was a press invention, it isn't hard to believe that Leather Apron was one too. In order to realise exactly why the press did these things, if they did, one must remember that a sales war was going on at the time between the newspapers themselves, and the more sensational the news, the more the papers sold. This factor alone is of great importance, along with the undercurrent of unrest within the poplace of the East End, and their unhappiness with the way they felt they were being ignored by the decision makers of Parliament, and indeed the way the police were treating them. There was a growing fear of an uprising... and the fear eminated from the East End of London being swamped with foreigners who,
in relatively large numbers, were not averse to the idea and ideologies of revolution. This, in the midst of a series of murders, gave the press a field day. Those newspapers wanting to fan the revolutionary flames, used the murders to stir the pot further.
Covell shows which newspapers were a little more guarded in their presentations, and those which were more flamboyant. The base stories from every day may well seem to be the same, but careful analysis shows that the war of words started to mount up very quickly indeed, and this contributed to the poplace of London, and especially the people of the East
End, to panic. The press saw the panic and stirred the pot even further. The police at this point in time, were really two steps behind the press.
All of these things are alluded to and shown to the reader in a monumental task of press-trawling and time consuming transcriptions done and presented by Covell. However, he doesn't stop there. The police reports are also included as well. This shows the balance of where the knowledge, or lack of knowledge about Leather Apron derives from.
Covell looks into one known but rather hidden person called Julius Lipman, as to whether this man could have been the "Leather Apron" widely presented to the public. The Lipman story is one of the lesser known stories and Covell presents this well. Tracing Lipman, the actual person, has been, and still remains, a very hard thing to do. Covell also goes into at great
length and depth, the events surrounding John Pizer, also better known as "Leather Apron". His exhaustive work on this singular character is excellent. Covell rounds off the whole sorry tale with reports of others known as, or purportedly known as, "Leather Apron".
This all leaves the reader with a better basic understanding of the issues at stake at the time. It would be impossible to have a totally comprehensive archive of all press reports in circulation from the whole country in one book on this one subject. Covell has done an amazing job in collating as many as he has, and transcribing them alone must have taken somewhere just short of an eternity..for which Covell should be highly congratulated and admired. It would simply be churlish to point out any press pieces overlooked.
This book is a great piece of important work. One is left with many thoughts as to whether "Leather Apron" is a press invention, in name at least. Covell's extensive work shows that this may very well have been the case. For the price, £5.15p, it is one of the better, more worthwhile books one could buy if one is interested in the true background to the story of "Jack the Ripper".
Highly recommended.
Phil Carter
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