THE JACK THE RIPPER LONDON TOUR.
INTRODUCTION
The crimes known as the "Jack the Ripper Murders" took place in the autumn of 1888 in the area to the East of the City of London.
It was an area that comprised the districts of Spitalfields and Whitechapel, two of the Victorian capital's most poverty-stricken and crime-ridden neighbourhoods.
Many of the women who lived in the area led transient lives seeking shelter by night at the district's Common Lodging Houses where a single bed cost four pence and a double bed eight pence.
They lived a hand to mouth existence and supplemented what little money they were able to earn by legitimate means with prostitution.
At the height of the Ripper scare, in September 1888, the local police were asked to report on the number of prostitutes who lived in and worked out of this area. Based on the accounts given by the the local beat officers they replied that, although their was no way of knowing for certain, the general consensus was that there were around 1200 prostitutes in the neighbourhood, "most of them of a very low nature."
It was these poverty-stricken prostitutes - or "unfortunates" as they were known to polite society - that Jack the Ripper targeted throughout his killing spree in the autumn of 1888.
It isn't known for certain how many victims Jack the Ripper had but it is generally agreed there were five.
Those five are often referred to as "the canonical five." They were:-
- Mary Nichols murdered on August 31st 1888.
- Annie Chapman who died on the 8th September 1888.
- Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes who were both murdered in the early hours of the 30th September 1888, the so-called night of the double murder or, as the press at the time dubbed it, the "double event."
- Mary Kelly who was murdered on the 9th November 1888.
The first murder, that of Mary Nichols, being on August 31st 1888 and the final murder, that of Mary Kelly, being on 9th November 1888 gives us a time line for the murders of around 10 weeks.
But the murders also provide us with a window through which we can look back into that bygone age and glimpse the everyday lives of the people who lived through the so-called autumn of terror.
The online Jack the Ripper Tour will tell the story of the events of those 10 terrible weeks when terror stalked the shadows and the whole of London walked in fear.
You will be able to enjoy an online step by step Jack the Ripper tour around the East End of London and learn the full fascinating story of Jack the Ripper. You will also be able to view evocative images of the streets of the East End as they were in 1888 and as those locations look today. We will also be adding a series of online films which will enable you to get a real sense of actually being in the East End of London following Jack the Ripper's murderous trail.
So prepare to enjoy a totally different online experience as you set out on the first leg of your Jack the Ripper Tour.
Your Jack the Ripper Tour of London Begins With a Look at Whitechapel High Street.
