Whitechapel only

Question 1

Housing in Whitechapel

Answer 1

• Conditions - rookeries, doss houses
• Attempts to improve - Peabody estates, 287 flats on Royal Mint street
• Work - sweatshops
• Workhouses - picking oakum, families kept apart, yadayada earn keep

Question 2

Tensions in Whitechapel

Answer 2

• Racial tension - strict comp for housing and employment - newspapers claimed jack the ripper had to be foreign as no Englishman could be so barbaric
• Irish immigration - navvies, hard drinking, Fenians, catholic, large numbers
• Eastern European immigration - 1881 loads of Jews, 30,000 with language barriers - Yiddish, established own businesses
• Grow of anarchism and socialism - xenophobia (fear of foreigners) meant dangerous views, anarchism - gov unnecessary, socialism - organised strikes, demanded better pay, shorter hours, newspaper

Question 3

Police organisation in Whitechapel

Answer 3

• H Division - Metro police split into different division - H Division was Whitechapel, 1 policeman for every 300 people, 1888
• Rookeries and lodging houses - narrow streets, cheap accommodation, petty theft
• Alcohol - addiction common, ripper victims were alcoholic, high number of pubs, often crimes
• Prostitution - serious problem, not illegal, petty, vulnerable to attack
• Gangs and protection rackets - Bessarabian Tigers, The Odessians, feared speaking out
• Immigration - anti-semitic attacks, distrust in police

Question 4

Metropolitan Police

Answer 4

• Recruitment - chosen from outside of london - healthier and bigger build, good character (follows rules, honest), good pension, good promotion prospect, steady employment
• Role of beat constable - presence deters people, arrest, follow a beat - day -1h, night - 30 mins
• Role of CID - detectives - 1842, uneffective, bribes, 1877 - redone, gathers info, photo, interview, statements
• Home secretary and Sir Charles Warren - met commissioner, military drills, tightened rules, CRITICISED - Trafalgar Square demonstration, Ripper investigation

Question 5

Police investigations in Whitechapel

Answer 5

• Ripper murders - 3rd Aug - 9 Nov 1888 - Annie Chapmanm Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes
• Investigation techniques - autopsies, photography, sketches, no forensic techniques, interviews - 2000
• Media reporting - newspapers, 300 hoax letters, wasted police time, racial tensions, PENNY DREADFULS
• Cooperation with other police forces - Racist graffiti on wall, City Police photo, Warren said no to prevent a riot
• Whitechapel Vigilance Commitee - George Lusk (after receiving kidney from Elizabeth Stride) offered reward, hoax letters, tried patrols but were amateurish and made loads of noise