Author: Richard Jones

By early October, 1888, the unknown miscreant who was carrying on a murderous reign of terror in the East End of London was being sought high and low, with little success. All manner of people were coming forward […]

Life in Victorian Whitechapel was, for many of the residents, a daily battle for survival. Conditions were harsh, hunger was just a pay-packet away, and disease and death were all around. If there was one thing that the […]

Here we go again. Another of our quizzes is ready to test your knowledge of the infamous case that has kept people guessing for more than 130 years. If you are a quiz regular, and are, therefore, up […]

In 1890, General William Booth )1829 – 1912) published In Darkest England, and the Way Out, in which  he proposed to remedy the evils caused by poverty, such as vice, by establishing homes for the homeless, training establishments that could […]

For many years, prior to the onset of the Jack the Ripper murders, health officials had been warning about the dreadfully living conditions that had been allowed to develop, unchecked, in the districts of Spitalfields and Whitechapel. KILLED […]

Arthur George Frederick Griffiths (1838 – 1908), was a British military officer, prison administrator and author who published more than 60 books. His writings were, to say the least, sensationalist, and his books on crime and criminals found an eager […]

The common lodging houses of Victorian Britain catered to a varied clientele. Many times they were the place of last resort for their residents, the level below them being wither the streets or the workhouse. References to the […]

Violent crime was a common occurrence in the streets of the Victorian East End of London. Spitalfields, in particular, was an enclave that “enjoyed” more than its fair share of attacks and attempted murders. The thoroughfares that led […]

In May, 1901, the murder of Annie Austin at a common lodging house in Dorset Street, Spitalfields, led to speculation that, after an absence of several years, Jack the Ripper had again returned to the streets of the […]

In the wake of the murder of Mary Nichols, which took place on August 31st, 1888, there was a belief in the area, as well as amongst the police officers who were trying to trace the perpetrator of […]