On 13 February 1891 Police Constable Ernest Thompson was patrolling alone for the first time since he joined the Metropolitan Police. At 02:15 he heard the footsteps of a man retreating and then his lamp shone upon the body of a woman in Swallow Gardens. She was still alive. Instead of chasing the man Thompson […]
In 1888 Francis Tumblety was accused of being Jack the Ripper. Twenty-three years earlier he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Contemporary press reports give valuable, if exaggerated, insights into the lifestyle of this extraordinary character known as the Indian Herb Doctor and the pimple banisher. Tumblety was said […]
Whilst researching Jack the Ripper I am constantly learning about fascinating individuals from the period. William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, preached his first sermon outside the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel. Today the charity works in 133 countries with over a million members. Originally it provided food and shelter to the destitute in […]
Did Jack the Ripper confess in Australia? In March 1892 it was reported that a man in Melbourne Gaol had confessed to being Jack the Ripper. Frederick Bailey Deeming was awaiting trial for the murder of his wife, Emily Mather. He married her in Rainhill, England on 22 September 1891, before leaving for Australia. After […]
Seweryn Klosowski, alias George Chapman, was executed on 7 April 1903. He poisoned three of his partners for unknown reasons. Rumours circulated that he was also Jack the Ripper. Inspector Abberline told a journalist that he felt Chapman was the man his officers struggled to catch fifteen years earlier. In 1994 Phillip Sugden regarded Chapman […]
On 8 April 1887, Good Friday, a fish porter named Joseph Barnet met a woman who called herself Mary Kelly. The couple agreed to a second meeting on the following day and then lived together. They settled in Millers Court, Whitechapel. Barnett left Kelly on 30 October. Nine days later she was killed by Jack […]
Emma Smith died on 4 April 1888. She is the first victim in the police files on the Whitechapel murders although there were, and remain, good reasons to believe that she was killed by a different assailant. The police investigation into the crime was perfunctory, at best. Chief Inspector West attended the inquest on 7 […]
A collection of items relating to Jack the Ripper murders were auctioned in Exeter on 22 March. They belonged to Inspector Joseph Helson who, as Head of J Division, led the investigation into the murder of Mary Ann Nichols, often regarded as the Ripper’s first victim in 1888. The collection included a photograph of Nichols […]
Pleased to have been interviewed for this article, https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/10/31/who-was-jack-the-ripper/71036418007/
