George Hutchinson's statement is too good to be true?

George Hutchinson's statement is too good to be true? Then it came to me and I should have spotted it earlier ...

Excerpt from George Hutchinson's statement:
'I stood against the lamp of the Queen’s Head Public House and watched him. They both came past me and the man hung his head down with his hat over his eyes. I stooped down and looked him in the face. He looked at me stern. They both went into Dorset Street. I followed them. They both stood on the corner of the court for about three minutes. He said something to her. She said: “All right, my dear. Come along. You will be comfortable”. He then placed his arm on her shoulder and she gave him a kiss. She said she had lost her handkerchief. He then pulled out his handkerchief, a red one, and gave it to her.'
There it is. Did you see his lie? No, and neither would any human because we don't perceive colour at night.

This is the physiological reason if you're interested:
There are two kinds of light-sensitive organs located in the backs of our eyes: rod-shaped and cone-shaped. Both rods and cones are sensitive to light. The difference between them is that the rods allow us to see in very dim light but don’t permit detection of colour, while the cones let us see colour but they don’t work in dim light.When it gets dark the cones lose their ability to respond to light. The rods continue to respond to available light, but since they cannot perceive colour, everything appears to be various shades of black and white and grey.

A little about coal gaslight:
Gaslights became brighter after 1885 with the invention of the gas mantle. I think it safe to assume that gaslights emitted a dull light even with the invention of the mantle, which I doubt were utilised in slum Whitechapel in 1888. Coal gaslight emits a yellow greenish tone and would degrade the colour red even if Mary Kelly and her punter were standing under a lamp post, which they weren't. The position of the lamp opposite no 13 (Mary Kelly's room) would not have cast light on the entrance to the court. So George Hutchinson couldn't have seen a red handkerchief from where, and when, they stood.

George Hutchinson may have seen a man give Kelly a red handkerchief, but earlier, under a brighter, and natural, light. 'He then pulled out his handkerchief, a red one, and gave it to her'. Hutchinson's critics are right. His observations are too detailed. He's lying, but why?

If Hutchinson's story regarding the red handkerchief is true, ignoring his stated time-frame, and he witnessed a man tie a red handkerchief about Mary Kelly's neck, then the symbolism of that action prior to her death is acute.

N.B George Hutchison spent all his money going down to Romford. It must have been for some other purpose than visiting Romford Market, which didn't/doesn't trade on Thursday.

Jack the Ripper killed himself after slaying Mary Kelly.

Jack the Ripper killed himself after the brutal slaying of Mary Kelly. He must have. There were no more murders after November 1888. Well, there were more killings but it wasn’t The Ripper because he was dead. And so begins the circular argument. As the killings didn’t stop, why is it assumed the Ripper died in 1888? We don’t know whether The Ripper killed himself because we don’t know his identity. (I have a suspect. But that’s another blog.)

Serial killers do not stop killing from their own choice. That is comforting but whilst superficially convincing, this maxim is not necessarily true. There have been instances when a series has ended for no apparent reason. It was assumed the murderers committed suicide – an easy explanation. A serial killer’s psyche is likened to drug dependence. Its addictive nature prevents the killer from relinquishing his reliance and is compelled to continue killing. Yet the flaw in this argument is that it is based on the experiences of those offenders who have been caught. Little is known about those who have not.

Yet heroin addicts can and do break the habit. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suppose that some serial killers, can halt the addictive cycle. But these killers aren’t identified, hence the incapacitation, incarceration or death scenario. As such, it is not an implausible supposition that certain offenders are freed from their murderous deeds by dint of some extreme personal trauma – a near-capture experience, for example . . . 

Plan of Miller's Court

Plan of Miller's Court from a policeman's notebook (Kitty Ronan trial).

The perfect tool for the job!

The perfect tool for the job! The knife on the cover of Jack the Ripper is a Khyber knife. Its length, tip to handle, is eight inches. As with firearms returned with soldiers during/after WW2 so this knife travelled with the troops and was readily available in Whitechapel. The peshkabz knife is designed to penetrate mail armour.The knife is typically used as a thrusting weapon, however, the wide hollow-ground blade also possesses considerable slicing performance, and is extremely effective using slashing or cutting strokes.During colonial rule in India, the British frequently referred to all Afghan blades of this pattern collectively as "Afghan knives" or "Khyber knives".
 Martha tabram. "Whoever it was knew how and where to cut." Two knives were suggested as the murder weapons. One was a narrow bladed dagger-like instrument. The other must have enough strength to break the sternum - most likely a bayonet.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0164EUSCA

Inside the mind of a murderer

Orbitofrontal Cortexin (green). My suspect for Jack the Ripper sustained damage to his frontal lobe - a bullet to his forehead.

  Joel Rifkin strangled 17 prostitutes in four years, at random and without remorse. But years after New York police caught him in 1994, he still said he had no idea why he killed.
"It was just something that happened and, you know, I had no plans to repeat it," Rifkin said in an interview from prison, where he is serving a life sentence. "Am I just evil? Am I brain-damaged? I mean, these are questions I want answered."So do a lot of scientists. Using imaging techniques that allow them to map the brain with growing precision, they have found subtle but similar patterns in the brain activity of people who commit violent crimes.
The Frontal Lobe
In the 1990s a research team — led by Adrian Raine of the University of Southern California and Monte Buchsbaum, now at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York — did brain scans of 25 convicted murderers.They found that many of the killers had abnormalities in the front sections of the brain — the so-called frontal lobes.
"In the normal person the frontal lobe is one of the most highly active areas of the brain," says Buchsbaum, calling up an image on his computer. 
 He points at a brightly colored cross-section of a man's brain on the screen. "In this individual, who carried out a murder, we can see that the frontal lobe is quite inactive."
Why does that matter? Because scientists have found that parts of the frontal lobes seem to be involved in planning and organizing, and — perhaps most important to the understanding of violent crime — impulse control.
"The frontal lobes are the part of the brain that put a brake on impulses and drives," says Dr. Jonathan Pincus, a psychiatrist at Georgetown University in Washington. "It's the part of the brain that allows us to say, 'Don't do that! Don't say that! It's not appropriate! There are going to be consequences!'"
Pincus has examined brain scans of more than 100 killers, including some of Rifkin. He says Rifkin matches many other offenders he's seen: "His frontal lobes were very, very seriously damaged."
There is compelling evidence of an association between frontal lobe brain dysfunction and aggressive behavior. Among the most striking findings are those of Lewis and her colleagues in studies of death-row inmates. All 15 death-row inmates examined by Lewis and her colleagues (1986) had histories of severe head trauma.
The basic model for how violence arises in the brain is that the initial impulses originate in deep regions of the limbic system, or emotional brain. After that, it's the job of the prefrontal cortex to decide whether to act on these impulses or not.
At the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Dr. Jordan Grafman, chief of the cognitive neuroscience section, has studied wounded Vietnam veterans and found that those with penetrating head injuries that caused damage to parts of the prefrontal cortex, as shown on CT scans, were at increased risk for violent behavior.
High rates of neuropsychiatric abnormalities reported in persons with violent and criminal behaviour suggest an association between aggressive dyscontrol and brain injury, especially involving the frontal lobes. The studies reviewed support an association between frontal lobe dysfunction and increased aggressive and antisocial behaviour. Focal orbitofrontal injury is specifically associated with increased aggression.
Case studies as far back as 1835 have reported the onset of antisocial personality traits after frontal lobe injury.Such cases typically involve damage to the orbitofrontal cortex, which clinical observation has associated with “poor impulse control, explosive aggressive outbursts, inappropriate verbal lewdness, jocularity, and lack of interpersonal sensitivity.”Such gross dysregulation of affect and behaviour may occur while cognitive, motor, and sensory functioning remain relatively intact. Blumer and Benson dubbed this orbitofrontal syndrome “pseudopsychopathy,” based on similarities to psychopathy—a personality type that, as defined by reliable and valid checklist criteria, is strongly associated with violence and criminality.
 Inside the Mind of a Killer.

The mad butcher

This is an odd music-hall song:. "Mary Jane you don't know her, but - ha"

THE MAD BUTCHER


Once I was happy and gay
But now I'm dreadfully changed
And all my acquaintances say
That I am insane and deranged
I once was as red as my beef
But now I'm as white as my veal
My senses have flown thro' my grief
And my heart is as hard as my steel.

Chorus: I'm the mad butcher; I'm the mad butcher
I'm the mad butcher; they say I'm insane
I'm the mad butcher; I'm the mad butcher
Brought to this state all thro' false Mary Jane.

Mary Jane you don't know her, but - ha
The thought of her now makes me start
She shone on my path like a star
But she's stolen my pluck and my heart
Each day she'd call in at the shop
When my heart ‘gainst my ribs would go thump
When she asked me to weigh her a chop
And some suet, a jolly good lump.

Chorus:

She smiled at me one afternoon
I grew hot and cold by degrees
I told her my love very soon
In the sawdust I knelt on my knees
But she spurned me and then what was more
I know you will say it was too bad
She married the tailor next door
And ever since then I've been mad.

Chorus:

One day I'd a furious shock
I hacked and I chopped up the meat
At one blow I severed the block
And I pitched the sheep's head in the street
By turns I now laugh and then cry
But somehow I've lost all my trade
I cry, buy, buy, the buy, buy, buy, buy
But my customers all seem afraid.

Chorus:

 Written by Henri Clark (1840-1905)

Police Fixed Points. London1882.

Police Fixed Points. Dickens's Dictionary of London, by Charles Dickens, 1882.

The under-mentioned places are appointed as fixed points where a police constable is to be permanently stationed from 9 to 1 a.m. In the event of any person shaking a rattle, or persistently ringing a bell in the street or in an area, the police will at once proceed the spot and render assistance.

A or Whitehall Division.

Bridge-st, at foot crossing Victoria Embankment

Buckingham Palace, The foot crossing opp (4.30 p.m. to 12.30 a.m.)

Charing + at National Bank

Horse Guards,

The, Whitehall Northumberland - avenue, Charing + centre of crossings.

B or Westminster Division.

Albert-gate, Knightsbridge

Bessborough-gdns, nr Vauxhall-br

Broad Sanctuary

Brompton-rd, near Montpelier-st

Buckingham Pal-rd, nr Ebury-br

Cromwell-rd, near Exhibition-rd

Eaton-pl, cor Upper Eccleston-st

Eaton-sq, near St. Peter's Church

Exhibition-rd, cor Kensington-rd

Grosvenor-rd, Thames Bank, near Caledonia-st.

Hans-pl, Chelsea

Keppel-st, Fulham-rd

King's-rd, Chelsea, near Royal Avenue-ter

Millbank, near the Horseferry-rd

Onslow-sq, the end nearest South Kensington ry.-stn

Pimlico-rd, Chelsea, near White Lion-st

Sloane-sq

Sloane-st

Smith-sq, nr John-st, Westminster

St. George's-sq, Lupus-st, Pimlico

Thames Emb., nr Flood-st, Chelsea

Victoria ry. - stn, Buckingham Palace-rd

Victoria ry.-stn., junction of

V'ictoria-st and Vauxhall-br-rd

Victoria-st, Westminster, near Strutton Ground

Warwick-sq, Belgrave-rd

Wilton-cres, Knightsbridge

C or St. James's Division.

Beak-st and Regent-st, corner of

Branch Bank of England, Burlington-gdns, neighbourhood of

Charles-st, cor John-st, Mayfair

Cranbourne - st and Castle - st, junction of

Cranbourne-st and St. Martin's-la. corner of

Crown-st and Oxford-st, corner of

Hamilton-pl, Piccadilly, corner of

Haymarket, cor Pall Mall

Hyde-park-cornerby Apsley House

Litchfield-st and Grafton-st

Moor-st, Church-st, and King-st

Mount-st, cor South Audley-st

National Gallery, In front of

New Bond-st, cor Conduit-st

Oxford-st-circus, corner of Swallow- st, south side of

Oxford-st, west of Regent-st

Park-la and Oxford-st, corner of

Piccadilly-cir

St. James's-st and Piccadilly, cor

South Molton-st, Oxford-st, cor of

Wardour-st, cor Little Pulteney-st

D or Marylebone Division.

Alpha-rd and Grove-rd, corner of

Bathurst-st, corner of Westbournest, Paddington

Chapel-st and Edgware-rd, cor of

Edgware-rd, cor Hyde-pk-pl

Harley-st, cor New Cavendish-st

High-st, corner of Paradise-st

James-st, corner of Barrett-st

Marylebone-rd, cor Up. Baker-st

Montague-pl, cor Gloucester-pl

Oxford-st, between Orchard-st and

North Audley-st

Portman-sq, corner of Baker-st

Regent-cir, Oxford-st, corner of

Princes-st

Southwick-cres, in front of St.

John's Ch, adjoining Cambridge sq

and Oxford-sq, Paddington

Union-st, corner of Gt. James-st, Lisson-gr

Upper Gloucester-pl and Park-rd, corner of

E or Holborn Division.

Bedfordbury, corner of New-st*

Charing  +, near the Post-office

Drury-la, corner of Coal-yard*

Gray's-inn-rd, corner of Holborn*

Judd-st, corner of Euston-rd*

Oxford-cir, corner of Regent-st,

North-side*

Seven Dials*

Southampton-row, cor of Holborn

South Eastern Ry, Charing  + centre of Strand

Temple Bar

Tottenham-ct-rd and Oxford-st,

corner of

Tottenham-ct-rd, corner of Euston-rd*

Wellingt-on-st, corner of Strand

* A constable is continuously stationed at these points during the whole 24 hours

G or Finsbury Division.

"Angel," Islington

Baker-st (corner of), King's  +

Bateman's-row, Shoreditch

Canal-br, City-rd

Cat and Mutton -br, corner of Pritchard's-rd.

Chiswell-st, Finsbury-sq

City-rd, corner of East-rd

Exmouth-st, near "Spa"

Eyre-st-hill, Leather-la

Farringdon-rd and Charterhousest (corner of)

Golden-la, St. Luke's

Gray's-inn-rd, Holborn end

Great Eastern-st and Curtain-rd, Junction of

Hatton-gdn, Charles-st end

Hoxton-st, corner of Gt. James-st

King's + at the junction of Gray's inn-rd and Pentonville-rd

Kingsland-rd, corner of Ware-st

New North-rd, corner of Murray-st

Old-st, Tabernacle-sq, Shoreditch

Queen's-rd-br,cor Gt.Cambridge-st

Rosemary Branch-br, corner of Bridport-pl.

St. John-st opposite Central-av, Metropolitan Meat Market

Shepherdess-walk, cor of

Sturt-st

Whitecross-st, St. Luke's

York-rd, corner of King's + opposite "Victoria."

H or Whitechapel Division.

Ben Jonson-rd and White Horse st, Stepney, junction of

Brick-lane and Bethnal-green-rd, junction of Church-st, Wapping

Church-st and Albert-st, Mile End New Town, corner of

Columbia-rd, Bethnal Gn, opposite the " Birdcage"

Commercial-rd-east, nr." George "

Cross roads, Dock-st, Leman-st,

Cable-st, and Royal Mint-st

Flower and Dean-st and Brick-la, Spitalfields, end of George-yd,

High-st, Whitechapel, end of G.E. Ry.,

High-st, Shorediteh, front of Great Garden-st and Whitechapel rd, end of Hare-alley,

High-st, Shoreditch, end of Hermitage-br, Wapping

Keate-ct, Commercial-st, Spitalfields, end of

London Docks, Upper East Smithfield, entrance to New Gravel-la-br, London Docks*

Obelisk, near the, corner of Leman st, Commercial-st, New Commercial-rd, and High-st, Whitechapel

Old Gravel-la-br, London Docks*

Settle-st & Commercial-rd, end of

Shorediteh Church

Spitalfields Church

Stepney ry.-stn, Commercial-rd-ea.

Warner-pl and Hackney-rd, corner of

Wells-st, Whitechapel, opposite Sailors' Home

Whitechapel Church

Whitechapel-rd, in front of East London-ry.-stn

White Horse-la and Mile-end-rd, Junction.

* A constable is stationed at each

of these points from 3 p.m. to 7 a.m.

the following day.

K or Stepney Division.

Armagh and Roman rds, Bow, junction of

Barking-rd ry.-stn

Blackwall + Blackwall

Burdett and Mile End rds, cor of

Custom House ry.-stn, Victoria-Docks

E. and W. India Dock-rds, junc. of

East Ham-gate, East Ham

Forest-gate ry.-stn.

Grove and Roman rds, Bethnal Gn, junction of the

Maryland-point-br, Stratford

Poplar Hospital, East India Dk-rd

Stratford Town Hall

Tidal Basin ry.-stn., at foot-br,

Victoria Dock-rd

White Post-la and Wick-la, Victoria-pk, corner of

Upton-pk ry-stn

L or Lambeth Division.

Blind School, north end of London-rd

Broadwall, corner of Roupell-st

Commercial-rd, cor of Princes-st

Kennington and Lambeth rds, corner of Kennington + Lambeth Palace

London-rd, south end of

Lower Kennington-la, corner of

Kennington-pk-rd

Marsh-gate, Westminster-br-rd

Obelisk at E. end of Kennington rd

Palace and Westminster-br rds, corner of

Princes-rd, corner of Lambeth-wlk

St. George's Cathedral, in St. George's-rd

Stamford-st and Blackfriars-rd, corner of

Vauxhall +

Vauxhall-walk, cor of Leopold-st

Victoria-crossings, Waterloo-rd

Waterloo and Blackfriars rds, junction of

Waterloo ry.-stn

Waterloo-rd, corner of Herbert's bdgs

Waterloo-rd, corner of York-rd

Westminster-rd, corner of Hercules-bdgs

M or Southwark Division.

Bermondsey - st and Tooley - st, corner of

Blackfriars-rd, corner of Friar-st

Black Horse-court, Gt Dover-st

(5 p.m. to 1 a.m.)

Charlotte-st and Blackfriars-rd, corner of

Derrick-st and Thames-st, Rotherhithe, corner of

Dockhead

Findlater's-corner, London-br

(5 p.m. to 1 a.m.)

Newington-causeway, south end

Plough-rd and Deptford Lower rd, junction of with several other streets, Rotherhithe

St. James's Church, Jamaica-rd

Southwark-pk-rd and St. James's rd, crossing at

Southwark -st and Southwark-brrd, crossing at

Spa-rd and Grange-rd, corner of

Southwark-br-rd, corner of Great

Suffolk-st

Star - corner, near Bermondsey Church

Upper Grange-rd and Old Kent-rd

corner of

N or Islington Division.

Ball's-pond-rd, corner of South gate-rd

Broadway, South Hackney

Clapton-rd, corner of Lea-br-rd

Essex-rd, corner of New North-rc

Green-lanes, corner of Highbury New-park

Green -lanes, corner of Seven Sisters '-rd.

Hackney ry.-stn., Mare-st

Haggerstone ry.-stn

Highbury-pk, corner of Highbury- gr

High-st, Homerton, corner Church-rd

Lordship-rd, corner of Manor-rd,

Stoke Newington

St. Paul's-br, Canonbury. A constable is continuously stationed at this point during the whole 24 hours

Triangle, Mare-st, Hackney

Upper Clapton, corner of Hill-st

Upper-st, Islington, corner of Providence-pl

Victoria-rd, corner of Gainsboro'- rd, Hackney Wick

Walthamstow ry.-stn., James-st

Walthamstow, Wood-st, corner of

Valentine-rd

P or Camberwell Division.

Anerley ry.-br, Anerley (5 p.m. to 1 a.m.)

Barry and Underhill rds, East Dulwich, junction of

Bell-gn, near gas works, Lower Sydenham

Brockley, Manor, and Cranfield rds, junction of

Canal-br, Old Kent-rd

Crescent, Southampton-st, Camberwell, the corner of

"Elephant and Castle," Newington- butts

Elliott-bank and Sydenham-hill rd, corner of

Forest-hill ry.-stn, Forest-hill

"King's Arms," Old Kent-rd

"Lion," Camberwell-ga

Nelson-st, Wyndham-rd, Camberwell, corner of.

New + and Lewisham rds, junc. of

Peckham-rye, south end of Rye-la

The Palatinate. Rodney-pl, New Kent-rd

"The Swan," Peckham-pk-rd

Trafalgar-br, Trafalgar-rd, Old Kent-rd

Tulse-hill ry.-stn, Approach-rd, corner of

R or Greenwich Division.

Blackheath village, centre of Broadway,

Deptford Charlton Church Greenwich Church, opposite

High-st,

Deptford, junction of numerous roads leading into

Lee-br, junction of Lewisham-rd,

Lewisham High-rd, Lee-rd, and Granville-pk

Market-hill, Woolwich

New + Gate

Nightingale-la

S or Hampstead Division

Albany-stand Euston-rd, corner of

Belsize-pk, Buckland-cres

Belsize-rd and Abbey-rd-west, St. John's Wood, corner of

Blenheim-ter and Abbey-rd, cor of

Child's-hill, Hendon

Cobden Statue, High-st, Camden Tn.

Euston and Hampstead-rds, cor of

"Eyre Arms," corner of

Finchley and Grove-end rds

High-st, Hampstead

Kilburn-rise, corner of Palmerston and Edgware rds

North Gate, corner of Avenue-rd,

St. John's Wood Park and High sts, Camden Tn, corner of Primrose-hill-rd, corner of Adelaide- rd

"Swiss Cottage," corner of Upper Avenue-rd and Finchley-rd

The Boys' Home, Regent's-pk-rd

Upper Hamilton-ter and Abercorn pl, corner of

Upper Heath, Hampstead

T or Kensington Division.

Albert Embankment, Chelsea, at the S. end of Oakley-st

Earl's Court-rd, Kensington, at Dist. Ry. Stn.

Fulham-rd, near St. George's Workhouse, Chelsea

Fulham Tn., Fulham, in High-st, between Fulham-rd and Putney-br

Gloucester-rd, opposite the Dist. Ry. Stn., Kensington

Goldhawk-rd, at north of Grove, Shepherd's Bush

Great Western-rd, by St.Peter's and West Croft sqs, Hammersmith

Hampton Court, from Bushy-pk Gates to

Hampton-br

Holland-villas-rd, Kensington, at junction with Addison-cres and

Holland-rd King's-rd, Chelsea, between Manor st and Vestry Hall

North-end-rd, Fulham, from ry.- stn., to Gibb's-gn

Notting-hill High-st, by Metropolitan Ry. Stn.

Queen's Elm, Fulham-rd, Chelsea

Richmond-rd, Fulham, at LHlic Bridge

Sands-end, Fulham

Shepherd's Bush, between Uxbridge-rd ry.-stn. and Richmond-rd

Sherbrook-rd, Fulham, by the

Salisbury Hotel

Starch-gn, by S. side of Pond, Goldhawk-rd, Hammersmith

Tregunter-rd, Brompton, between

The Boltons and Redcliffe-gdns

Uxbridge-rd, Hammersmith, by Conyngham-ter

West Kensington-gdns, Hammersmith, between ry.-br. And North-end-rd

V or Wandsworth Division.

Altenburg-gdns, Battersea-rise

Austin and South rds, Battersea, the junc. Of

Balham, near ry.-stn.

Clapham June, at the entrance of ry.-stn., L. & S.W.R., Wandsworth- rd

East Moulsey, Bridge-rd, near Hampton Court ry.-stn.

Falcon-Ja and High-st, Battersea, junction of

Hammersmith-br, and Castlenau, approach to

Kew-gn, near residence of the Duchess of Cambridge

Kingston ry.-stn Maiden ry.-stn.

Market-pl, Kingston

Plough-la and York-rd, Battersea, corner of

Putney ry.-stn., outside

Red Lion-st and High-st, Wandsworth, corner of

Surbiton ry.-stns., outside

Tyneham-rd, Battersea

Wandsworth, cab rank, ry.-stn.

W or Clapham Division.

At the triangular piece of ground where Kennington-gate formerly stood

High-st, Collier's Water-la, Parchmore- rd, and Woodville-rd, junc. of

Nine Elms-la and Wandsworth-rd,

Vauxhall, corner of "Plough," Clapham-com, near the

X or Paddington Division.

Bishop's-rd, at posts of crossing in, Paddington, by "Royal Oak"

Clarendon, Silchester,Walmer, and Lancaster rds, junc. of, Nottinghill i e

Cleveland-sq, corner of, at end of

Chilworth-st, Paddington

Clifton-gdns and Clifton- villas, junc. of, in Warwick-rd, Paddington

Great Western and Tavistock rds, junc. of, near Westbourne-pk ry.-stn.

Harrow-rd and Kilburn-la, junc. of, at Kensal-gn

Harrow-rd, N.E. corner of, in Edgware-rd, Paddington '

Ladbroke-gr-rd, Notting-hill, at its junc. with Portobello-rd, near G.W.R. br

Latimer, Walmer, and Silchester rds, junc. of, Notting-hill, in first-named road

Lock-br, at S.W. corner of, Harrow-rd, Paddington

London-st, by^ cabstand at N.W. corner of, in Craven-rd, Paddington

Norfolk-ter and Pembridge-villas, junc. of, at pillar letter-box, Westbourne-gr

North Pole-rd, at junc. of Latimer-rd, Notting-hill Princes-rd, at its junc. with William-st,

Notting-hill

Queen's-rd, W. corner of, in Bayswater-rd, Paddington

St. Ann's-rd, opposite turning of

St. Katharine's-rd, Notting-hill

Westbourne - pk- rd, Paddington, opposite Alexander-st, by cab stand

Y or Highgate Division.

Barnsbury-rd, corner of Copenhagen-st, Islington

Blackstock-rd and Seven Sisters'-rd, corner of

Caledonian-rd, nr Copenhagen-st

Crouch-end, at junc. of Crouchend- hill and Crouch-hill

Freeling-st and Bemerton-st, corner of

Holloway-rd, at Hornsey-rd

HornseyRise, near "Shaftesbury" Junction-rd, at Holloway-rd King's +, at end of York-rd

Malden-rd and Prince ofWales'-rd, corner of

Muswell-hill, near entrance to Alexandra Palace

"Nag's Head," near, in the Seven Sisters'-rd

N. London Ry. Stn., at corner of Camden-rd and College-st

Pancras-rd, under railway-arch

Southampton and Circus roads, Haverstock-hill, junction of

Tollington-pk, at Stroud-gn-rd

York-rd, at corner of St. Paul's Rd

Ankle-Jacks in Whitechapel

Police use of ‘silent’ rubber boots was common enough that ordinary people were aware detectives wore India Rubber soles. Coincidentally, at 29 Hanbury Street, a Mr Taylor made tennis shoes. Sir Charles Warren trialled several varieties of boots both waterproof and/or silent. The extent of the test isn’t known, but that silent rubber soles existed and weren’t rare was presumably known by police/ripper – after all, a ‘mere’ streetwalker recognised the sneaky footwear. Curiously, a style of this boot was called Ankle-Jacks

The code of immorality in the East End is, or was, unabashed in its depths of degradation. A woman was content to live with a man so long as he was in work, it being an understood thing that, if he lost his job, she would support him by the only means open to her. On this occasion the unemployed man was toasting bloaters, and, when his lady returned, asked her “if she had had any luck.” She replied with an adjective negative, and went on to say in effect that she had thought her lucky star was in the ascendant when she had inveigled a “bloke” down a dark alley, but that suddenly a detective, with India rubber soles to his shoes, had sprung up from behind a wagon, and the bloke had taken fright and flight.

With additional adjectives the lady expressed her determination to go out again after supper, and when her man reminded her of the dangers of the streets if “he” (meaning the murderer) was out and about, the poor woman replied (with no adjectives this time), ‘Well, let him come—the sooner the better for such as I.’ A sordid picture, my masters, but what infinite pathos is therein portrayed! Melville Macnaghten.

Amelia Richardson, 29, Hanbury-street, deposed: I am a widow, and occupy half of the house- i.e., the first floor, ground floor, and workshops in the cellar. I carry on the business of a packing-case maker there, and the shops are used by my son John, aged thirty-seven, and a man Francis Tyler, who have worked for me eighteen years . . . 

[Coroner] Did you hear any noise during the night? - No.

[Coroner] Who occupies the first floor back? - Mr. Walker, a maker of lawn-tennis boots. He is an old gentleman, and he sleeps there with his son, twenty-seven years of age.

Excerpt of police letter, undated. From an unknown person to Henry Matthews, the Secretary of State, reporting on trials of police boots. During the past twelve months Sir Charles Warren has had trials made of several varieties of boots with [text missing] waterproof or silent [text missing] none have [text missing] suitable for the [text missing] police force of [text missing] adapted [text missing] when the changes of [text missing] and weather are taken into consideration though in [text missing] instances they have been found very suitable in particular cases.

The constable has to walk daily for 8 hours and the greatest caution is required in making changes in his boots, as upon these his efficiency so much depends.

Two important complaints against the noiseless boots are that the wearer is very much more fatigued than when ordinary boots are worn, and that the feet are ‘drawn’ and made sore.

Many very strong reasons have been sent to the Commissioner by the public in favour of the retention by Police on their beats of boots which are not silent.

Ankle-jacks were short, sporting boots, that stopped at the ankle and had five lace-up eyelets on either side. They were popular between the 1840s and the 1870s, and these lace-up boots were said to “thrive chiefly in the neighbourhoods of  Houndsditch, Whitechapel, and Billingsgate. They attach[ed] themselves principally to butchers’ boys, Israelitish disposers . . . itinerant misnomers of ‘live fish.’ . . . Their term of servitude varies from three to six weeks: during the first they are fastened to the topmost of their ten holes; the next fortnight, owning to the breaking of the lace, and its frequent knotting, they are shorn of half their glories, and upon the total destruction of the thong (a thing never replaced), it appears a matter of courtesy on their parts to remain on at all. On some occasions various…wearers have transferred them as a legacy to very considerable mobs, without particularly stating for which . . . individual they were intended.”

Denbigh Asylum

This eerie abandoned Victorian Denbigh asylum is for sale for £2.25 million 

The reasons people ended up in asylums in Victorian Britain were often as sinister as the treatments themselves. Husbands who wanted rid of wives, or families who stood to make money by getting a relative out of the way, were known for plotting to have them hauled off. It took only two doctors’ signatures to get rid of an inconvenient wife or rich eccentric relative.
Poor working-class women were among the most vulnerable. Infidelity was evidence of moral insanity and could see a woman end up in the asylum.

A Parisian brothel

Was Mary Jane Kelly really called Margaret?

Was Mary Jane Kelly really called Margaret?
A friend of Mary Kelly stated Mary Kelly looked thirty but was really twenty-four. Presumably, it was Mary Kelly who stated her age as twenty four – it wouldn’t be the first time a person has lied about her/his age. Mary Jane Kelly said she married a collier named John Davies/Davis at age sixteen.

This John Davies’s age ranges from 24 to 27, but undoubtedly refers to the same man (only one man died in the Cwm Bargoed Colliery in this accident).

3rd September 1881

THE FATAL COLLIERY EXPLOSION AT DOWLAIS. On Wednesday afternoon Mr Thomas Williams, deputy-coroner, held an inquest touching the death of a collier, named John Davies, aged 24, who lost his life on Monday night, owing to a slight explosion of gas at the Cwm Bargoed Colliery, the property of the Dowlais Company, by which same occurrence four other men were burnt; one rather severely. The explosion, it appears, took place in what is known as the long Work, and it is supposed that the deceased went into a part of the workings where there was gas with a naked light, the gas being thus exploded. The inquiry was adjourned until the 13th, in order that the injured men may be enabled to give evidence, and that the Government Inspector may be communicated with.

10th September 1881

At the same place, also, an inquiry was held into the cause of the death of John Davies, collier, aged 27, living at 18 Lewis Street, who was killed by a slight explosion of gas in the Cwm Bargoed Colliery, Merthyr Tydfil on the 23th August.

This is an easy John Davies to trace as his death is registered after the 1881 census and helpfully, the newspaper sited his address: 18 Lewis Street.

John Davies

England and Wales Census, 1881

Name         John Davies

Event Type            Census

Event Date            1881

Event Place            Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, Wales

Registration District          Merthyr Tydfil

Residence Note     Lewis St

Gender       Male

Age            26

Marital Status (Original)    Married

Occupation            Coal Miner

Relationship to Head of Household          Head

Birth Year (Estimated)      1855

Birthplace Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales

John Davies                      Head    M         26        Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Margaret Davies               Wife     F          23        Dowlais, Glamorganshire, England

Howell Davies                   Son      M         2          Dowlais, Glamorganshire, England

David Davies                     Son      M         5 M      Dowlais, Glamorganshire, England

Timothy Callaghan            Lodger M        35        Bandon, Ireland

George White                    Lodger M        20        Castletown Beacheaven, Ireland

Howell Davies, census of 1891, is not living with his mother or brother. I haven’t found David Davies – as yet.

Howell Davies

England and Wales Census, 1891

Name         Howell Davies

Event Type            Census

Event Date            1891

County       Carmarthenshire

Parish         Conwil Elfet

Ecclesiastical Parish           CONWIL

Registration District          Carmarthen

Gender       Male

Age            13

Occupation            Farmers Servant

Relationship to Head of Household          Servant

Birth Year (Estimated)      1878

Birthplace Carmarthenshire, England

David Edwards     Head              M        23        Carmarthenshire, England

Sarah Edwards      Wife               F         21        Carmarthenshire, England

Anne Thomas        Servant          F         20        Carmarthenshire, England

Howell Davies       Servant         M        13        Carmarthenshire, England

John Davies

England and Wales Marriage Registration Index

Name         John Davies

Event Type            Marriage

Registration Quarter          Apr-May-Jun

Registration Year 1873

Registration District          Llandovery

County       Carmarthenshire

Event Place            Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales

John Davies probably married one of the following people

Name         John Davies

Name         Margaret Jones

Name         Mary Morgans

Margaret was fifteen or sixteen when she married this John Davies. She was born in 1858.

Dowlais, as well as coalmining, has an ironworks. Mary claimed her father, John, worked as a gaffer in an ironworks. If Mary Kelly’s is Margaret, her surname is therefore Jones and her father is John Jones! It could be worse. He could be called John Smith.

Is this the reason Mary Kelly said she disliked France?

Prostitutes in Paris’s high-class brothels were mostly naked, the men fully clothed. Strangely, the lower one descended the social scale the more clothes the women wore.
I wonder, is this the reason Mary Kelly said she disliked France? It's one thing have a quick skirt lift, quite another lolling about stripped to a pair of stocking as men sample the 'merchandise'.

Fairy Fay

At first glance the name, Fairy Fay, is endearing. It's actually two fairies - the definition of fay is fairy. But what did the journalist mean when he chose that moniker? And what would his contemporary readership understand by that choice of title? It's rather an 'in' joke. Fairy (Lower Peoples). A debauched, hideous old woman, especially when drunk. Not so charming after all.

Fairy Fay was born when, in an article for Reynolds News, Robertson christened her, “for want of a better name”, and stated she was the Ripper’s first victim, having been attacked on Boxing Night, 1887. Inspector Edmund Reid supposedly headed the investigation, but to no avail. The perpetrator was never caught. From there, her legend grew, when author Tom Cullen, as quoted here from his 1965, fourth edition of When London Walked in Terror, wrote Fairy Fay was “the rather whimsical name the press gave to the unidentified woman whose mutilated body was discovered near Commercial Road, on the night of Boxing Day, December 26, 1887.” Cullen reprinted Robertson’s suggestions that Fairy Fay was killed after midnight, upon leaving a Mitre-square Pub, while taking a shortcut home. But as for the actual location of the alleged crime, Cullen merely states “in the dim warrens behind Commercial Road she was struck down and carved up by an unknown assassin.”
-Quentin L. Pittman, esq. The full article is found here