Whitechapel

Question 1

what was the main police station in Whitechapel called

Answer 1

Leman Street Police Station was the main station for H Division and the Whitechapel area.

Question 2

what was a beat constable

Answer 2

 Regular on-foot patrol by each police officer around a set area of Whitechapel;
 Police had a truncheon, handcuffs, a whistle, a lamp, and their note book;
 Constables kept records in their beat diaries and regularly met and discussed
events with their sergeant;
6
 Focus on observation, stopping and questioning and chasing and apprehending suspected criminals.

Question 3

why was alcohol a problem for police in Whitechapel

Answer 3

Alcohol caused some people to become more vulnerable to becoming victims of crime.

Alcohol also made disputes worse, leading to violence. Moreover, it caused problems for police constables who were trying to obtain formation about a crime from drunk witnesses and victims.

Very strong drink was available to all but the very poorest people, and there were 45 pubs and gins houses in Whitechapel - one on almost every street corner.

Question 4

what is corruption

Answer 4

a dishonest behaviour done by those in positions of power such as managers or government officials.

Question 5

what is incompetence?

Answer 6

in 1881, Whitechapel’s 30,709 people lived in 4,069 houses - on average 7.5 in each;

Question 7

what was housing like in Whitechapel

Answer 7

Much of Whitechapel contained slum housing (also known as “rookeries”);
 Houses were divided into several apartments sometimes with 30 people in
each house;
 In 1881, Whitechapel’s 30,709 people lived in 4,069 houses - on average 7.5 in
each;
 Whitechapel’s population density was 189 per acre compared to 45 in
London as a whole.

Question 8

what was the CID

Answer 8

The Metropolitan Police also had a detective force, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with 294 detectives in 1883;

 The CID was set up in 1878 by Howard Vincent after the ‘Trial of the Detectives’ (1877) which exposed corruption in the previous detective force.

Question 9

what was the h division

Answer 9

Whitechapel was the H-Division of the Metropolitan Police;
 It was run by a Superintendent, a Chief Inspector, 27 Inspectors, 37 Sergeants
and around 500 Constables;
 There were 15 CID detectives attached to the Whitechapel H-Division;
 This force was responsible for policing 176,000 people among the poorest
areas of London;
 There was a police to population ratio of 1:300 in Whitechapel compared to
1:390 for the whole of London (but there was far more crime in Whitechapel).

Question 10

when and who were the victims of the Jack the Ripper murders

Answer 10

 31 August, 1888: Mary Ann “Polly” Nicholas – Buck’s Row, Whitechapel
 8 September, 1888: Annie Chapman – 29 Hanbury Street, Whitechapel
 30 September, 1888: Elizabeth Stride – Dutfield’s Yard, Berners Street,
Whitechapel
 30 September, 1888: Catherine Eddowes - Mitre Square, Aldgate, City of
London
 9 November, 1888: Mary Kelly – 13 Miller’s Court, Dorset Street, Whitechapel

Question 11

what were the problems the media caused for the police after the Jack the Ripper murders.

Answer 11

The police and the media.

300 letters and postcards sent to police or newspapers by men
claiming to be the murderer. Most famously, “Dear Boss” (first using the
name Jack the Ripper);

Hostility from the press including rubbishing police leadership, officers
and methods by respectable (The Times) and popular (e.g. Illustrated
Police News) newspapers.

Question 12

when was fingerprinting first used

Answer 12

after 1900 so not in the Jack the Ripper murders

Question 13

why was blood and dna not an option in the investigation of the jack the ripper murders

Answer 13

Blood and DNA: DNA evidence only used from late C.20th. Scientists could not tell difference between human and animal blood, let alone blood groups.

Question 14

why were witnesses relied on but not always helpful in the Jack the Ripper murders

Answer 14

o The lack of forensic techniques (see below) meant that the police
were forced to rely on eye-witnesses.
o Eye-witness evidence was generally lacking and, where available,
vague, for example, George Hutchinson’s statement regarding the man he thought he saw Kelly just before her murder, and Matthew Parker’s vague identification of a man in the vicinity.

Question 15

what is the census

Answer 15

The census was taken every 10 years (1871, 1881, etc.) It is an official government document which is designed to record details about the whole of Britain’s population. Forms were sent to each address, help was provided where needed and there were punishments for inaccurate or incomplete information. The census records every address (including workhouses and lodging houses) and the names, ages, relationship (husband, wife, son, daughter, etc.) and employment of every person. The records can give evidence of, for example, overcrowding.

Question 16

why were the differences between the different newspapers

Answer 16

Press reports – particularly from higher-class publications like The Times - may contain comprehensive, objective, accurate and typical evidence. On the other hand, particularly in more popular journals such as the Illustrated Police News and the East End Observer, there is a tendency to sensationalise and exaggerate to get attention and increase sales.

Question 17

what were some problems with policing in Whitechapel §

Answer 17

Whitechapelhadaterriblereputationforhighlevelsofcrime(muchof
it linked to levels of poverty and unemployment);
o Crime was made easier, and policing more difficult, by the maze of
badly lit alleyways and courtyards with multiple entrances and exits; o Immigrantculturalandlanguagebarriers,plusprejudiceagainst
immigrants, added to policing problems;
o Someareas,suchasEwerStreet,weresodangerousthatthepolice
wouldn’t go there.

Question 18

why was homelessness a problem for people in Whitechapel

Answer 18

Homelessness:
 There were “lodging houses” / “doss houses” where homeless people could
sleep in 8-hour shifts:
 Terrible unhygienic conditions including heat, rats and shared beds
(dirty, unhygienic bedding, etc.);
 200 lodging houses catering for 8,000 people.

Question 19

what is an example of a place in Whitechapel where homelessness and crime were a big problem

Answer 19

1871 census: 902 lodgers in 31 doss houses.
 1871 Board of Works Report: 38 houses, 143 rooms, 298 people including
evidence of overcrowding and buildings in dilapidated condition.
 Narrow yards, dilapidated houses, very cramped rooms, poor sewerage.
 Terrible reputation for prostitution, thieves and violent crime.
 (Modern police profiling of the crimes suggest that, along with two of his
victims, the Ripper probably lived on Flower and Dean Street.

Question 20

where was a place where housing was moving forward in Whitechapel

Answer 20

Modelhousing–thePeabodyEstate:
 Artisan’s Dwellings Act, 1875, encouraged slum clearance.
 1881, George Peabody funded slum clearance and the creation of 286 flats
in the Peabody Estate.
 Rents were from 3 to 6 shillings for 1 and 3-room flats respectively (average
labourer income was 22 shillings).

Question 21

why was there division between some people and the jewish community in Whitechapel

Answer 21

Massive Jewish immigration from Russia to Whitechapel occurred in the
1880s.
o Hostility to the Jewish immigrants:
 The Jewish immigrants had a reputation for being a separate un-British, unintegrated community. This was based on physical looks, clothing, language, religion, culture and the fact that they tended to live in their own separate communities;
 Jewish immigrants were unpopular for their business success and business practices such as running sweatshops, paying low wages and, therefore, being able to undercut British businesses;
 The Jews were also unpopular due to their supposed link to radical socialist and anarchist political groups.

Answer 22

 Links to immigration:
o Therewassignificantprejudiceagainstimmigrantgroups.This
frequently, as in the Ripper murders, led to press (e.g. Illustrated Police News) and public pressure on the police to focus their attention on immigrants as suspected criminals (e.g. Leather Apron / John Pizer);
o Irishimmigrantshadareputationfordrunkennessandviolentcrime including terrorism (Fenian link);
o Jewishimmigrantshadareputationforgangs,immoralpractices,and radical political links (Anarchism and Socialism).

Question 23

what were the slums in Whitechapel known as

Answer 23

rookeries were common in the slum areas of Whitechapel. They were areas filled with lodging houses, where very poor people stayed in overcrowded conditions

Question 24

what were lodging houses or doss houses

Answer 24

individuals could sleep in dormitory style bunks paying a few penny’s a night. Lodgers could pay less if they were upright and leaning over a rope

Question 25

were there Irish immigrants in Whitechapel

Answer 25

Yes. Irish migrants had been settling in Whitechapel since the 1840s and by c.1870 there were well-established Irish lodging houses. It was mostly Irish workers who were employed at the docks as ‘navvies’ (navigators); doing labouring jobs on canals, railways and roads; or working as dockers on the Thames. They were characterised as being drunk and violent.

Question 26

did some jewish immigrants bring over ideas of socialism

Answer 26

Some Jewish migrants brought the idea of socialism to London with them and set up socialist organisations such as the International Working Men’s Educational Club and a newspaper, Worker’s Friend, in Whitechapel.