Whitechapel c1870-1900

Watch commitee

A group of local politicians or law professionals set up to monitor the work of police forces

why were the police out numbered?

there was only 13,319 men by 1885 in the met police having among a population of over 5 million with only 1,383 officers available at one time

How often were police men abused

During the 1860s a Middlesborough policeman could be expected to be assaulted twice a year when making an arrest or a report

Why are memoirs/reports useful

They give an insight into what police work was like from the point of view of someone who physically experienced it.

The media

often mocked the police force but show attitudes towards police at the time however were not always accurate so police station statistics should be consulted also.

The criminal investigation department (CID)

Added to the met police in 1842. Caused mass confusion whether detectives were meant to detect or prevent crime. Corruption scandal in 1877 meant Howard Vincent was appointed to set up the CID but detection standards didn’t improve prime example being the ripper murders along with more corruption

Appointment of Charles Warren

* Charles Warren was appointed as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London in 1886.
* He was previously a Major General in the British Army and had served in various military campaigns.
* Warren's appointment was controversial due to his lack of experience in policing and his involvement in the suppression of the Irish Land League.
* During his tenure, Warren oversaw the investigation into the Jack the Ripper murders, which remains unsolved to this day.
* Warren resigned from his position in 1888 following criticism of his handling of the Ripper case and his clashes with the Home Secretary.

What did Bloody Sunday (England) add to the feelings around the police

That the police favoured the middle and upper classes over the working class

Was Whitechapel a wealthy area?

No it was one of the capitals poorest districts with gangs ruling its streets

Out of 30,000 there was an estimated 1,000 homeless

Who did long-established Londoners share Whitechapel with

Irish and Jewish Eastern European immigrants

How was sanitation in London in the 1870s

Terrible, London was a heavily polluted industrial city and prevailing wind from the west carried smoke and stinking gas fumes which choked the east end

In Whitechapel there was little healthy drinking water and sewers ran into the streets.

Whitechapel housing

Overcrowded housing was a given in slum areas and could be characterised by dirt, disease and crime

What were ”rookeries”

Houses divided into several apartments where there could be up to 30 people living in one apartment sharing beds so close together it was difficult to move about

Most extreme case of a Whitechapel rookery

containing 123 rooms accommodating 757 people, where families hovered on the brink of starvation

Whitechapel population to houses occupied

30,709 people : 4,069 occupied houses

What size families did poor and rich people have

rich tended to have less family more servants in a large home whereas poor had many children still having to live with their parents even into their twenties in a small house

What other type of housing was provided in Whitechapel?

Lodging houses which provided one a bed in squalor conditions for the night smelling terribly and unintentionally housing rats

There were over 200 lodging houses in Whitechapel how many people lived in them

8,000 about a quarter of the local population

What act allowed the Peabody Estate to be built?

The Artisans’ Dwellings Act as part of London’s earliest slum clearance programme where narrow courtyards of slums were replaced with 11 new blocks of flats designed by Darbishire paid by Peabody a wealthy American who had moved to London.

How many flats did the Peabody Estate provide?

286 Flats with rent starting at 3 shillings for a one room flat or 6 shillings for a three room flat

some poor families spent as much as a third of their wages on rent a week

Where did most residents work in Whitechapel

The ‘sweated’ trades like tailoring, shoe- making and making matches. Sweatshops were small, cramped and dusty, with little natural light. Hours were long and wages were low some worked 20 hours and slept on site

What were other work options

Railway construction, labourers in the docks however this work was uncertain day to day and left families with an unstable income.

Why were Workhouses set up?

As part of the **Poor Relief** system. They offered food and shelter for those too poor to survive in the general community. Inmates included old, sick, disabled, unmarried mothers and orphans. Conditions were intentionally made worse to put people off from entering the workhouse (keeps costs down)- it was a last resort

What made workhouse conditions so bad?

Inmates were expected to do tough manual labour, wear uniform, families were split up and punished if they even tried to talk to each other

Why was Barnardo significant

He initially set up a school for children whose parents had died from an infectious diseases and in 1870 opened an orphanage for boys before later opening a girls home. By the time he died in 1905 there were nearly 100 Barnardo’s homes nationally, caring for an average of 85 children each

Irish immigration

* Grew rapidly in the East End in the 1840s.


* The first immigrants were young men hoping to get to America from London but running out of money before getting there.
* They settled into areas near the river becoming navigators doing labouring jobs on the canals, roads etc.
* Violence amongst them, especially when drunk, was commonplace and they were not well liked

Fenians

* Irish nationalist catholic group demanding freedom from the rule of the UK who organised a bomb attack on Clerkenwell Prison.
* By December 1867 there was a huge surge in anti -Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment
* A new department of the Met police known as Special Branch was formed to counter Irish terrorism.
* This made life for all Irish immigrants harder as they were all seen as probable Fenians, terrorists and Traitors

Eastern European Jewish Immigrants

* Came in the 1880s when Tsar Alexander II of Russia was assassinated and a Jew was blamed
* The Jews had to flee the pogroms ( A Russian word meaning Government supported attack on Jews)
* With similar events happening in Poland and Germany many fled to London
* By 1988 95% of the total Jewish population of parts of Whitechapel leading to segregation within Whitechapel.

Why did the Irish and Jews face discrimination?

Irish- Fears of the Fenians

Jewish- conflicting attitudes to work and business + cultural differences

Why were the Jews resented by the local people

Because they were successful and seemed to easily find work and or set up businesses. This is because some Eastern European immigrants preferred employing desperate new arrivals whom they could give lower wages due to their desperation for work

What was H division

The division of the police force for whitechapel

How were the police viewed in Whitechapel

Unpopular due to the economic depression and widespread poverty of the 1870s-90s were seen as upholders of governments poor decisions. And soon got a reputation for heavy handedness and violence despite only carrying a truncheon

How big was prostitution in Whitechapel

Massive 1,200 prostitutes and 62 brothels by 1888

Why was prostitution such a huge problem

Women who walked the streets were vulnerable to rape and assault

It was not illegal at the time but seen as a social problem of the time

There were no contraceptives so abortion was common and abortions were performed in conditions that meant many women died from infection or surgical shock

What drugs were a problem for the poor in Whitechapel

\-Alcohol- 45 pubs and gin palaces in in a mile of Whitechapel road

\-opium- opium dens

Drunkenness often caused violence and alcoholics so desperate for money for drink may resort to violence

Why were tensions so high

immigrants like local people found it difficult to find work and were also in common lodging houses

Was H division effective

No they were overstretched and understaffed and couldn’t stop gangs or fights.

\-gangs such as Bessarabian Tigers and Odessians

How was there hostility towards the police as they did social work acts in Whitechapel

Tried to stop prostitution but this was resented by the women who relied on it to live

When they tried to conduct people to workhouses or send kids to school although they did provide benefits in soup kitchens (set up to find out information as paying money was discouraged.

In 1888 how many women were murdered around Whitechapel as part of the Jack the Ripper murders

Five women:

Mary Ann Nichols, found in Buck’s Row on 31 August

Annie Chapman, found in back yard of 29 Hanbury street, Spitalfields, on 8 September

Elizabeth Stride, found in Berners Street on 30 September

Catherine Eddowes, found in Mitre Square, Aldgate, also on 30 September

Mary Jane Kelly, found inside 13 Miller’s Court, Dorset Street, Spitalfields on 9 November

Who was assigned to the case

Inspector Frederick Abberline and his CID team to assist uniformed men

How was their job made harder

300 or so letters were sent in all claiming to be the murderer

What was rubbed off the wall which was a major clue in the case.

“The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing”- ordered to be washed off by commissioner Warren before it could be photographed apparently fearing backlash against the Jewish community.

Although he may have had another motive Eddowes was killed inside the boundaries of the city of London which had its own police force, independent of the Met and he didn’t want to be beaten to the capture of the serial killer by rival force

One example of rivalry being an issue in police investigation a massive problem in Whitechapel

what methods did the police use in their inquiry initially after the first killing (Marry Ann Nichols)

* Following up on direct leads- there was a rumour of gang being involved in it but was quickly rejected
* Setting up soup kitchens-Encouraged the poor to come forward to give info in return for a hot meal
* Interviewing witnesses-Very view i witness claims only one from Elizabeth Long which conflicted with the autopsies predicted time of death
* Following up on coroner’s reports- Believed to be highly skilled link to hospital or vet
* Visiting lunatic asylums- Such violent murders made them assume the murder was a lunatic and could have escaped or have been housed in one after his crimes
* Following up on clues found with victims- Envelope seals attempted to be tracked and rings of Annie attempted to be found in pawn shops
* Following up on journalists’ theories- Manchester guardian claiming John Pizer was the ripper but he had strong alibis
* Arranging post mortems- cut marks on the killer were left handed a must have had some knowledge of anatomy and possibly experience of dissection. For many weeks, inquiries were made at slaughterhouses

How did the public view the polices attempts

Viewed as incompetent especially after the ‘double event’ with the double murder happening on the 30th of September

How did Newspapers portrayal of the murderer throw police off

The press frequently portrayed suspects as foreign drawing heavily on negative stereotypes of Jewish immigrants which was a further distraction to the police

How did the methods begin to deviate from the norm

\-They dressed up as prostitutes (without removing their beards) and wore rubber on the bottom of their shoes to lure the murderer in

How did the experiment with bloodhounds Barnaby and Burgho go wrong

They performed well in tracking trials in London parks but the police forgot to pay the owners who refused to work with them again

What investigative techniques did they lack at the time

* Lack of forensic techniques
* It would be another 12 years or so before fingerprinting would be used to detect criminals.
* DNA evidence only began to be used in the latter stages of the 20th century
* They couldn’t even tell the difference between animal and human blood
* Crime scene photography was only just beginning to be used

The Whitechapel vigilance committee

\-Deeply frustrated by the police handling of Mary Ann Nichols, a group of Whitechapel businessmen and traders set up the Whitechapel vigilance committee on 10th September 1888. Particularly angry about failing to offer residents a reward to residents for information leading to the killer’s arrest

\-they organised their own rewards system and took to the streets at night , armed with burning wood, whistles and hob nail boots in the hope of catching the ripper in the act accept it only helped throw police off the scent

\-additionally they may have wanted to sabotage the police to make the government look stupid for the upcoming elections for London County Councils as they may have been SDF supporters and in general it seems many were determined to embarrass the police

What was the Bertillon System

combined physical measurements, photography and record-keeping to identify repeat criminals. Adopted in 1894. However not much evidence of successful use

The Houses of the Working Classes Act 1890

Opened the way for the new London County Council to begin housing development schemes to replace slums with mass low costing housing.