Author: Richard Jones

Today, I am pleased to hand over to author Philipp Röttgers, who begins the first of an episode by episode look at the TV series Whitechapel. Over to you Phillip. FASCINATION WITH JACK THE RIPPER There has been […]

In the late 19th century, photography was a relatively new medium, and there was much discussion as to what could actually be achieved with the camera. Indeed, it was often commented upon that the camera might be able […]

Goodness me. We’re three months into 2020 now, where does the time go? So, without further ado, it is time to launch our third Jack the Ripper quiz of the year. For those of you who are old […]

On the evening of Thursday, 4th June, 1897, a gang-fight in Clerkenwell resulted in an appalling tragedy when an innocent twelve-year-old girl, by the name of Margaret Jane Smith, was accidentyl shot and killed by one of the […]

Irrespective of the notoriety that the murders of Jack the Ripper inflicted on the streets of Spitalfields, the area as a whole was, in Victorian times, a pretty unsavoury one, and violent crime, much of it caused by […]

In 1919, with men having returned to the East End of London from fighting for their country through the horrors of the First World War, a combination of factors –  including slum clearances and west end residents spotting […]

Flower and Dean Street had a reputation for being one of the worst streets in London at the time of the jack the Ripper murders. It was a street made up of common lodging houses, and the consensus […]

On Thursday 24th September, 1903, Jeremiah Slowe walked into the Lord Nelson pub on Whitechapel Road, and callously stabbed to death the barmaid, whose name was Mary Jane Hardwick. St James’s Gazette carried news of the murder in its […]

In January, 1898. the baby of a slipper maker and his wife died. At the inquest into the child’s death, it was revealed that the parents were too poor to afford a doctor to treat their ailing baby, […]

It is surprising how frequently the name of “Jack the Ripper” turned up in the court records once the “Dear Boss” letter had given him his name. Indeed, it would appear that many criminals, who could not possibly […]