Author: Richard Jones

Albert Bachert (whose name the press frequently spelt as Backert) succeeded George Lusk as head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, at some stage in 1889. He seems to have enjoyed the publicity that his involvement with the hunt […]

In November 1889, newspapers all over the United Kingdom began to report on a “curious epidemic” that was raging in St. Petersburg, Russia. Over the next month or so the media began to chart the spread of this illness […]

One of the things that always intrigues me concerning the history of the Jack the Ripper murders, is just how many different strands of interest the crimes manage to inspire in people. Some people enjoy wandering the streets […]

On 21st November 1888, with the East End still reeling from the shock of the murder of Mary Kelly – which had taken place earlier in the month – news broke of another attack on a woman by […]

One of the problems facing the poor of London in the 19th century was that, in many cases, they lacked access to adequate medical facilities should they fall ill. There were dedicated medical practitioners who laboured to treat […]

On Saturday the 17th of November, 1894, Marie Damyon (also known as Marie Martin) was murdered at a coffee shop in Thomas Street, Whitechapel. For several newspapers, the crime brought back memories of the Whitechapel Murders that had […]

The common lodging houses of Spitalfields and Whitechapel are integral to the Jack the Ripper story. Almost all the victims – with the exception of Mary Kelly – were staying at one of these houses at the time […]

By November the 13th 1888 – although the people of London didn’t know it at the time – the actual murders of Jack the Riper had ended, although the Whitechapel murders themselves would continue for several more years, […]

In July 1890, some of the constables in the service of the Metropolitan Police, hoping to emanate the success of the match-girls and dockers, attempted to orchestrate a full scale police strike to persuade the authorities to increase […]

On the 9th of November 1888, after an absence of over a month, Jack the Ripper returned to the East End Streets and carried out his most gruesome and disturbing crime to date – the murder of Mary […]