Whitechapel

How should I structure a 'how useful is source...' question?

P- Provenance
U - Useful (for enquiry)
C - Content (quote)
K - Knowledge (link to what you know)
U - Useful (supports your wider knowledge)

What was the beat

• A major aim of the Met was to prevent crime.

• Its main way of doing this was to deploy constables on the ‘beat’ –

• Patrolling a set route of streets to deter criminals from committing crime

• Asking people what they were doing

• Break up fights and arrest suspects.

Which police division was responsible for Whitechapel?

H Division.

Who was the unpopular Police Commissioner for the Met during Bloody Sunday 1887?

Sir Charles Warren

Who was Charles Warren

• Warren, a former army general, was appointed Met Commissioner in 1886.

• Warren banned a planned unemployment protest in Trafalgar Square on 13 November 1887.

• When the protestors ignored the ban, he deployed thousands of police, supported by about 1000 men from the army.

• Violent clashes followed, many people were injured and one protestor later died.

• Warren directed the operation from horseback.

• When Jack the Ripper struck in the autumn of 1888, in Whitechapel, Warren ordered an increase in patrols. Failure to catch the murderer cost Warren his job.

What was housing like in Whitechapel

• Lodging houses, where lodgers paid a nightly fee for a bed and access to a kitchen, were particularly squalid. Around a quarter of Whitechapel’s population lived in lodging houses. Encouraged crime, as people needed money to pay for the bed that night. Scheduled in 3 eight hours shifts

• Rookeries, (slum areas) in Whitechapel, where most housing was located, were extremely overcrowded with poor sanitation. Each apartment had around 30 people in a room

What was the Peabody estate- what did it aim to do

• George Peabody paid for the building of 11 blocks of flats in a former slum.

• The Peabody Estate opened in 1881 and tenants were charged reasonable rents

• Designed by Henry Darbishire

• Rent was 3 shillings for 1 room, 6 shillings for 3 rooms

• Average wage was 22 shillings and six pence

What were workhouses

• Like elsewhere, workhouses in Whitechapel were seen as the last resort.

• They offered a bed and food in return for hard labour.

• Conditions were deliberately poor, families were split up and inmates had to wear a uniform.

• Most were elderly, ill, disabled, orphans or unmarried mother

• Punishments were harsh

Why was employment low

There was high unemployment because of an economic depression, and few jobs were available to women so many turned to prostitution to survive

What jobs did most of the employed have

• Worked long hours for low pay in factories in ‘sweated’ trades, where conditions were cramped and dirty

• Worked building the railways or in the dockyards. Pay was better but numbers required were variable so weekly incomes varied enormously.

How did the environment lead to more crime

• low income levels that led to stealing for survival by those desperate to avoid the workhouse

• unreliable (or lack of) work that meant many had a lot of ‘spare’ time, which led to alcoholism, disruptive behaviour and violence

• overcrowding that led to tensions between residents (especially between London-born locals and Irish and Jewish migrants), which often spilt over into violence
  • the high levels of prostitution that led to violence on women

What are the two main immigrant communities in Whitechapel in the late 19th Century?

Jewish people.
Irish people

What problems did the Irish population encounter?

• Many Irish migrants left Ireland for the USA in the 1840s but ended up in London.

• Poverty meant most could only afford to live in the least expensive parts of London.

• Most worked as navvies (labourers building roads, railways or canals) or dockers.

• They had a reputation for being drunk and violent and were also associated with terrorism, such as the Fenians, who were seen as fanatical terrorists fighting for Ireland’s independence from Britain

What problems did the Jewish community encounter?

• Large numbers of Eastern European migrants arrived in Whitechapel in the 1880s, mostly Russian and Polish Jews, including those who had fled persecution in the Russian Empire after Tsar Alexander II’s assassination in 1881.

• Poverty meant they were only able to settle in the cheaper parts of London.

• Tended to stick together within these areas. By 1888, some parts of Whitechapel had a 95% Jewish population

• Recently arrived Jewish migrants were prepared to accept lower pay and poor conditions, leading to an increase in the sweatshop system – this annoyed other workers and non-sweatshop employers.

• Antisemitism and violence against Jewish people rose rapidly.

• Anyone with an unfamiliar accent was suspected of being a violent revolutionary.

• Migrants were blamed for many crimes, such as the Ripper murders (Ripper was thought to be jewish at one point), which increased racial hatred and violence.

What political groups were active in Whitechapel?

• From 1848 there was a wave of attempted revolutions across Europe. Many of the revolutionaries ended up in London’s East End.

• Movements set up or supported by the revolutionaries were anarchism, which opposed organised government, and socialism, which wanted the end of capitalism.

• Both movements were feared by the authorities, and middle and upper classes, but attracted some support from residents of Whitechapel.

What did a police officer do in Whitechapel?

Go on the beat.
Question suspects.
Stop crime
Arrest people
Record information in his diary.
Report to seargent

Why was policing Whitechapel difficult?

• The police weren't trusted. (blue devils, Bloody Sunday - heavy handed)

• Difficult to interact with immigrant communities (language and cultural barriers)

• Very limited manpower - London population of 5 million and only 13,319 officers, 1383 police on duty at a time.

• Police had problems with absenteeism and drinking on the job.

• Narrow streets and Smog made it easy to escape the police.

• Poverty and alcohol made crime worse.

• Protection rackets - gangs who would demand money for 'protection'.

• Protection rackets - gangs who would demand money for 'protection'.

• Seen as supporting government - they would have to take children to the workhouse.

How did the environment make policing in Whitechapel difficult

Dark, narrow alleys and courts with multiple doorways into rookeries packed with people and their possessions made chasing and finding criminals extremely difficult

How did gangs make policing in Whitechapel difficult

Alongside individual petty thieves, large professional gangs of thieves and pickpockets operated. They ‘employed’ individuals who were well-trained at both stealing and getting away from the crime

How did prostitution make policing in Whitechapel difficult

With very few jobs available to women, some turned to prostitution to survive. By 1888, approximately 1200 prostitutes, vulnerable to violence, worked in brothels or on the streets.

How did alcohol make policing in Whitechapel difficult

The large number of pubs and gin houses in Whitechapel sold very strong alcohol at affordable prices. Drunkenness frequently fuelled violence. Many alcoholics turned to crime to feed their habit

How did Protection Rackets make policing in Whitechapel difficult

Gangs, such as the Bessarabian Tigers, demanded ‘protection money’ to ‘protect’ people’s businesses. Refusal led to property damage and violence. Fear of these gangs meant people very rarely reported them to the police and either paid up or retaliated with violence themselves

How did violence against Jewish people make policing in Whitechapel difficult

After large-scale Jewish migration in the 1880s, attacks on Jewish people became common. Some police were antisemitic themselves, while the language barrier prevented others from helping catch their attackers

How did violent demonstrations make policing in Whitechapel difficult

Public protests were fairly common in Whitechapel. The Social Democratic Federation was involved in many of these protests, such as the Trafalgar Square demonstration in November 1887. Large numbers of angry people in one place frequently, led to disorder and violence and needed a large number of police to deal with them.

What was the vigilance committee

• Set up by businessmen in Whitechapel on 10 September 1888, due to the police’s lack of progress in catching the ‘Ripper’ murderer.

• Offered a reward for information leading to the capture of the murderer.

• Patrolled the streets every night with torches (burning wood) and whistles.

• Disrupted the police investigation, but also hampered the police by sending false leads and encouraging criticism of the police in newspapers

What investigative policing was done by the Whitechapel police

• House-to-house searches for evidence. In the Ripper case the pubs and opium dens were searched.

• Distributing leaflets and advertising in newspapers appealing for information from the public. In the Ripper case 80 000 leaflets were distributed.

• Following up clues found or not found at the crime scenes. In the Ripper case it was noted that one of the victim’s rings had been taken.

• Following up evidence from the bodies detailed by post mortems and coroners’ reports. In the Ripper case the police visited hospitals, as some of the mutilated bodies were thought to show the murderer had good knowledge of anatomy.

• Detailed annotated sketches of the crime scenes were drawn and photographs taken. In the Ripper case these were used to compare murders with others.

• Setting up soup kitchens to encourage the poorest to come forward with information.

• Interviewing witnesses or suspects including those provided by tip-offs.

What were the 'Ripper murders'?

Carried out by unknown man - 'Jack the Ripper'.
Serial Killer.
Killed and mutilated five women in 1888.

Why was it difficult to catch the Ripper?

Media - put pressure on the police and were very critical.
H Division and the City of London Police did not work together.
Lack of Forensics - no fingerprinting and couldn't tell if blood was human.
Vigilance Committee.

How did the media cause problems for police

This caused problems for the police as, although media coverage encouraged the public to come forward, it also attracted hoax letters and thousands of theories on the identity of the killer, all of which had to be investigated.
Media coverage also stirred up racial hatred, as the media was convinced that an ‘Englishman’ could not have committed such awful crimes.
This led to more violence for the police to deal with, as attacks and discrimination against migrants increased.
The media also added to the pressure on the police by criticising the investigation

What changed in policing after the Ripper murders?

Bertillon system - mug shots and measurements of those arrested kept on file.
Better communication - phones after 1901
Acceptance that poor living conditions helps create the conditions for crime - 1890 Houses of Working Classes Act - began to clear slums.