Whitechapel Unsolved Murder Figures

[Jibby Reznor]

Hello,

Just wondering if anyone has any figures on the number of unsolved murders in Whitechapel in 1888?

any help much appreciated

Jibby

[smezenen]

Jibby,
I dont know if this is a complete listing but a quick search turned up 11 unsolved murders in 1888.

1. Emma Elizabeth Smith (c. 1843 – 4 April 1888) was an East End prostitute of mysterious origins approximately forty-five years old. At the time of her death was living at a common lodging-house at 18 George Street, Spitalfields.

2. Martha Tabram (name sometimes misspelled as Tabran; used the alias Emma Turner; maiden name Martha White; separated), (10 May 1849 – 7 August 1888). Born in Southwark she was a casual prostitute who at the time of her death, aged thirty-nine, resided at a common lodging house at 19 George Street, Spitalfields.[4]

3. Mary Ann Nichols (maiden name Mary Ann Walker, nicknamed "Polly"; separated), (26 August 1845 – 31 August 1888), a casual prostitute. Born a Londoner, at the time of her death she was living in a common lodging house at 18 Thrawl Street in Spitalfields. She was forty three years old but according to contemporary reports looked about ten years younger.[5][6]

4. Annie Chapman (maiden name Eliza Ann Smith, nicknamed "Dark Annie"), (September 1841 – 8 September 1888), a casual prostitute. Born a Londoner, at the time of her death she resided in a common lodging house at 35 Dorset Street. She was widowed and 47 years old.[7]

5. Elizabeth Stride (maiden name Elisabeth Gustafsdotter, nicknamed "Long Liz"), (27 November 1843 – 30 September 1888), a casual prostitute. Stride was Swedish but had moved to London in 1866 at the age of twenty-two. At the time of her death she was living at the common lodging house at 32 Flower and Dean Street, Spitalfields. She was 44 years old at the time of her death.

6. Catherine Eddowes (also known as "Kate or Catherine Conway" and "Mary Ann Kelly," from the surnames of her two common-law husbands Thomas Conway and John Kelly) (14 April 1842 – 30 September 1888). Born in Wolverhampton, at the time of her death she was living with her partner John Kelly at Cooney's common lodging house at 55 Flower and Dean Street, Spitalfields. She was forty-six years old. Eddowes and Stride were both killed on the same night, mere minutes and less than a mile apart, the two murders were given the nickname "The Double Event."[8]

7. Mary Jane Kelly (called herself "Marie Jeanette Kelly" after a trip to Paris, nicknamed "Ginger"), (c. 1863 – 9 November 1888), an attractive red-haired Irish prostitute of somewhat mysterious origins and history. At the time of her death she was living in a single room at 13 Miller's Court, at the rear of 26 Dorset Street, Spitalfields. She was approximately 25 years old when she was murdered.

8. Rose Mylett (true name probably Catherine Mylett, but was also known as Catherine Millett, Elizabeth "Drunken Lizzie" Davis, "Fair" Alice Downey, or simply "Fair Clara"), (1862 – 20 December 1888). She was a known Whitechapel prostitute, with a propensity to drink, who frequently lodged in George Street, Spitalfields but also had connections with Poplar, where she was known as "Fair" Alice Downey. She had once been married to a man named Davis. She was twenty-six years old at the time of her death. [9][10][11]

9. Alice McKenzie (nicknamed "Clay Pipe" Alice and used the alias Alice Bryant), (c. 1849 – 17 July 1889), a prostitute who resided at Mr. Tenpenny's lodging house at 52 Gun Street Spitalfields. She was approximately forty years old at the time of her death.[12]

10. An unidentified woman (? – est. 10 September 1889) whose remains were designated the "Pinchin Street Torso" (a term coined after a torso was found in similar condition to the body which constituted "The Whitehall Mystery," though the hands were not severed). A speculation of the time that the body belonged to Lydia Hart, a prostitute who had disappeared, was refuted after the latter was found recovering in hospital after "a bit of a spree". Another claim that the victim was a missing girl called Emily Barker was also refuted. The woman was never identified.[13]

11. Frances Coles (also known as Frances Coleman, Frances Hawkins and nicknamed "Carrotty Nell"), (1865 – 13 February 1891), a prostitute described as 'young and pretty'. At the time of her death she was living at common lodging house at 8 White's Row, Spitalfields. She was twenty five years old.[14][15][16]

this is a cut and past from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitechapel_murders.

[sdreid]

In my view, Annie Millwood (1950-1888). The "Natural Causes" verdict (What are the odds?) smacks of cover up or PR.

[Doug Irvine]

According to [I]Jack the Ripper the Simple Truth [I] by Bruce Paley there were no murders in Whitechaple in 1887 and none in 1886 either. If that's any help?

[Malcolm X]

i think SAM FLYNN knows this, because i can remember a similar post to this a few years ago......... i think it's a very few before and only a few after 1891

[Sam Flynn]

According to Jack the Ripper the Simple Truth by Bruce Paley there were no murders in Whitechaple in 1887 and none in 1886 either. If that's any help?

The points to remember are:

a) not every murder or inquest was reported in the press;
b) not every murder resulted in a court hearing;
c) not every crime that might have been a "murder" was recorded as such, but as manslaughter or misadventure (for example);
d) the statistics on "attempted murders" need to be borne in mind - but the data are patchy;
e) many an assault could have been done with murderous intent, but would merely have been logged as "assaults" of various kinds;
f) it has been suggested that some officials would encourage "lesser" verdicts to be returned, so as to reflect better on their districts;
g) the probability of "unreported" murders - e.g. "hushed up" gangland/domestic killings; murders of missing persons; etc.

Taking all that into account, it's clear that we should not place too much faith in the "official" figures, which - almost inevitably - would have been underestimates.

[Roy Corduroy]

Thank you, Sam.

Recently researcher Debra Arif discovered the Nov 1887 murder of Emily Horsnell of 19 George St, Spitalfields. (click here) And Sam ran the census.

Roy

[Doug Irvine]

Sam Flynn I have no doubt that life in Whitechapel was, nasty, violent and short. If a monster like Robert Pickton can kill up wards to 49 women in this age of cradle to grave computer tabulation, than god only knows how many people were killed in 1888. But, I think what Jibby is interested in is what was the official number and personally I think that it is only by knowing the official number that we can gauge the response of the police and government. In Jack the Ripper the Simple Truth by Bruce Paley there is a picture of the death statistics for 1887. Under the heading homicide, murder and manslaughter are lumped together, there are three dots ... indicating a tally of zero. The following quote is from William Beadle's article The Real Jack the Ripper, taken from The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper, edited by Maxim Jakubowski and Nathan Braund. "Knife attacks were not as common in the East End in 1888 as might be imagined. These assaults stand out. That is why the Ripper murders caused so much panic. There were no murders in 1886 or 1887 and one each in 1889 and 1890."If you missed the Pickton case check this out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pickton

[DVV]

Recently researcher Debra Arif discovered the Nov 1887 murder of Emily Horsnell of 19 George St, Spitalfields. (click here) And Sam ran the census.
Roy

Hi Roy,
It's nice you remind us this. The case was of top interest, quite similar, apparently, to Emma Smith's.
And it proved the old assertion that "there were no crimes in Whitechapel in 1887" to be wrong.

Amitiés,
David

[Sam Flynn]

But, I think what Jibby is interested in is what was the official number and personally I think that it is only by knowing the official number that we can gauge the response of the police and government.

As I explained, the "official number" is very likely an extreme underestimate.

In Jack the Ripper the Simple Truth by Bruce Paley there is a picture of the death statistics for 1887. Under the heading homicide, murder and manslaughter are lumped together, there are three dots ... indicating a tally of zero. The following quote is from William Beadle's article The Real Jack the Ripper, taken from The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper, edited by Maxim Jakubowski and Nathan Braund. "Knife attacks were not as common in the East End in 1888 as might be imagined. These assaults stand out. That is why the Ripper murders caused so much panic. There were no murders in 1886 or 1887 and one each in 1889 and 1890."

The problem I've found in some Ripper books is that they sometimes don't take into account the bigger picture, Doug - particularly the suspect-based ones. Paley and Beadle are both excellent authors, and I've enjoyed all their books, but they are to my mind quintessentially suspect-based writers.

I think the bigger picture in terms of the Ripper murders wasn't so much that they stood in stark contrast to a (almost certainly mythical) violence-free East End, but that they were unutterably horrendous in their execution, and were perpetrated with reckless daring on public rights of way.