Author: Richard Jones

Following the night of the double murder – the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, which both took place in the early hours of 30th September, 1888, many newspapers began drawing attention to the sad plight of […]

The American novelist Herman Melville (1819 – 1891) observed that “there are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear – the city of London and the South Seas.” There can be no doubt that, […]

One of the points that was frequently made in the newspapers in the aftermath of the later Whitechapel murders, once the infamous “Dear Boss” letter had bestowed the moniker of “Jack the Ripper” upon the miscreant responsible for […]

Jack the Ripper, and his notorious murder spree, have always been favoured exhibits for waxworks and chambers of horrors. Indeed, no sooner had the Whitechapel murders begun than various entrepreneurs were capitalising on sensationalism that the crimes were […]

It has often been stated that Wynne Edwin Baxter, the Coroner who presided over the deaths into the deaths of the majority of Jack the Ripper’s victims, deliberately drew out the proceedings at those inquests in order to give […]

On February 6th, 1902 the following article, which took a close look at some of London’s most notorious streets, appeared in Pearson’s Weekly. Interestingly, the article began with a jaunt through Dorset Street, which, at the time, had […]

Today we have it relatively easy. After all, we only have to contend with a list of a few hundred Jack the Ripper suspects the cases against whom, no matter how bizarre they might seem to the sane and […]

The Metropolitan Police Force came into being on the 29th September, 1830, thanks to the efforts and perseverance of the then Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel. Within a year of its formation, however, this new force suffered the type […]

In November, 1888, following many months of wrangling and disagreements with the Home Secretary, Henry Matthews; Sir Charles Warren, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, resigned from his post. Contrary to what is often stated, the reason for his resignation […]

Well, the first month of 2018 has simply whizzed by, and it’s time for the second Jack the Ripper quiz of the year. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to answer, to the best of […]