Author: Richard Jones

When, in early October, 1888, the police released the notorious “Dear Boss” letter, which bore the chilling signature “Jack the Ripper”, it is surprising just how quickly the name caught on, and, within a few days, the name […]

Following the murder of Alice McKenzie, which took place on the 17th of July, 1889, the newspapers began, once again, to focus their attention on the districts of Spitalfields and Whitechapel, and upon the class of women that […]

The early Whitechapel murders – those of Emma Smith and Martha Tabram, took place over Bank Holiday periods in London. Although there was quite a lot of press coverage – and outrage – over the murder of Emma […]

It is interesting to study the newspapers for references to and stories about Jack the Ripper a few years after the Whitechapel murders had brought terror and panic to the streets of the East End of London. One […]

After a period of some nine months, the Whitechapel murderer had, so it appeared, returned to the streets of the East  End of London to carry out the murder of Alice McKenzie on the 17th of July, 1889. […]

Warning, you might want to wear a face mask whilst reading the following article! Today, London’s air contains a concoction of toxic gasses, and the capital is recognised as the worst area for air pollution in the United […]

July 2018 is shaping up to become one of the hottest months in living memory. We are basking in, seemingly, endless sunshine. The tubes are like furnaces, and everybody is carrying bottles of water with them wherever they […]

Spoiler alert. If you believe there was a barber by the name of Sweeney Todd who lived on Fleet Street and who delighted in cutting the throats of his customers in order that his mistress could turn them […]

A common crime committed against men in the East End of London in the 19th century was that of using a woman, probably a prostitute, to lure them to a location where the men would sometimes be drugged to […]

On the 30th September, 1888, Jack the Ripper carried out two audacious crimes when he murdered twice in less than an hour. The first victim, on what has become known as the “night of the double murder”, was […]