A Sunday Night In Dorset Street, Spitalfields - 11th November 1888.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ย. 2021
- In the aftermath of the murder of Mary Kelly - which took place on the morning of Friday the 9th November, 1888 - people began congregating around the narrow entrance into Miller's Court inside which the murder had taken place.
Tow days later, on the evening of Sunday the 11th of November, a journalist from the Daily News arrived in the street to observe the people and find our as much as he could about the crime, whilst, at the same time, hoping to gain an insight into the lives of the local residents.
His report was published the next day (Monday the 12th of November) and it really does provide us with an evocative view of one of the Jack the Ripper murder sites in the immediate aftermath of the atrocity.
Not only did the journalist write about the crowds that were milling around the scene, but he also interviewed a "missionary" who had known Mary Kelly, and who private a little information about her antecedents.
This video features the full text of the story and combines it with contemporary photographs and illustrations to provide a glimpse into the murky world of Victorian Spitalfields and the lives of the people who lived there.
Your time capsule awaits!
The 1901 census shows my great-great grandparents and 6 children (including my great grandfather then aged 17) residing in 2 rooms at 13 Dorset St. This really brings home what their life must have been. Amazing - thank you.
@Alex Alex One of the pictures of the East End in this video was from 1905 (at the 0:41 mark) so life was still shabby for people of that area at that time.
Put things in perspective.
London has changed so much. In a great many ways for the better, but I do feel that as time marches on and what little remains of the old is replaced by the new, we lose our connection to these people and the hardships they faced (and in many cases overcame). They deserve to be remembered and it's a blessing to have dedicated people like Richard who are able to tell their stories for them.
Some things have not changed. Prostitution remains as I have found during extended visits to Whitechapel and Spitalfields. As the more affluent have moved in they do not appear (so far) to have displaced the oldest profession.
London is going the other way again fs the knife crime is a joke acid attacks, terrorist attacks every couple of years is just accepted its a joke ran by a bunch of jokers that haven't a clue but are voted in because feels and shiiiiit you think those then cared about those from londo of the 1700s
Plenty of hardships endure still.
I hate when old buildings are taken down. I know it has to happen in some cases but they never just replace them with similar ones. It's always cold, empty office blocks etc.
I pity anyone that had to view Mary Kelly’s body that morning but I always think of the poor photographer that had to capture those images. I am sure they stayed long in his memory.
Was the photographer a cop as well? Some are trained in photography.
The poor photographer? Joseph Barnett who had been Mary Kelly’s partner for 20 months had to identify her, and he could only tell it was her from the colour of her eyes and 1 ear.
He must have been affected badly the rest of his life from that experience. He had implored Mary to stop prostituting for a long time before, and didn’t like her friends who he thought were a bad influence on her. Some think he may have been the ripper, committing the murders out of insane jealousy trying to scare Mary away from the trade. Alas she wouldn’t stop. Maybe Joseph was the killer? If so, it would be a huge surprise as there are many better suspects than him. But who knows? The amount of ripper books I have read, many put forward very convincing cases for the ripper definitely being one of 15 ‘very likely’ suspects! These authors really do their homework and each book leaves you thinking ‘it must have been him!’
PTSD for sure. How anyone thinks you could go from perpetrating this to normal life is beyond me.
Imagine how his day went. A call goes out that the Ripper struck again and the poor bastard is thinking "here we go" thinking it's going to be like the others. Then he walks in and see the mess he made of her. Had to haunt him until the day he died.
I'm not sure about that. People were used to lots of gore at that time.
Thank you very much Richard.
The longer I’ve been studying Ripperology, the more I find myself occupied with the common people and daily life in Whitechapel. It’s not hard to imagine how people felt concerning the Ripper, but it’s a completely different thing understanding the struggle to survive in this harsh environment. I truly appreciate your unboxing of these little time capsules for us to take part of.
You are very welcome
Same here. It is a truly fascinating subject.
I too have always been fascinated by Jack the Ripper most of my life (52) and in 1994 when I was 24 I went from the Eyemouth on the southeast coast of Scotland down to Kent each year to do the hop picking season there. I lived on the farm. On a Saturday we would get a bus to the town of Tonbridge five miles away and go round Tonbridge market. One Saturday in 1994 I came across a stall run by a house clearer, and he had cleared an attic and found a suitcase full of old newspapers. There were many from ww1 and ww2, but among them I found SIX genuine police news broadsheets, all of them with those famous illustrations on the front page reporting on Jack the rippers murders! I asked how much they were, and believe it or not, he was only asking £1 per paper. I bought every ripper copy I could find and ended up with six. They are the special series of six editions reporting almost solely on the ripper. Unfortunately there are only 4 different as there are two doubles in the six. I recently looked on eBay and saw 3 of the same papers up for sale at £2,995. I messaged the seller and he asked me for a photo of my papers, then for the measurements in inches, and he told me they were the rare broadsheets. Apparently one copy recently sold for £1000 at auction. He had three different copies so priced his accordingly. I doubt if they will sell for that though. I think around 300 each would be a decent price. How lucky was I that day though! I also have a half pint Victorian pewter cup, made without a handle, and stamped crudely in the base are the words ‘hearts of oak, Whitechapel’ I found out that until recent years the pub still traded but closed down. 👍
I may not have a whole lot in life, but I am immensely grateful for all that I do have. That is made ten fold when I hear of the conditions that these people had to live in. What a harsh, difficult life to live and to then be scared witless because of a monster tearing women apart. Thanks for sharing.
I expect my great grand mother knew her. She was the same age, I think also of Irish stock. 'Worked' on Dorset street around the same time. I recently found all this out from researching my grandfather's life . It's chilling to think that it could easily have been her instead of Mary Jane and I would not be here now!
"The misty gloom of the November evening" really sets the mood.
Indeed, Max, I liked that line also.
We can’t help these poor souls now, but let’s help the ones that are around us today.
Nah I'm good.
Just 14 decades ago , not long ago really considering how fast a decade passes.
How they managed to get through a single day is beyond me.. I'd hate to lose even 1 day of showering.. They always wore their whole wardrobe.. If they never had a room.. they certainly had no wardrobe.. I liked hearing the true witnesses account of Mary Kelly.. So interesting from a person who really knew her..
They were hard days back then with hard people unlike the soft moaners of today!!!
@@stigg333 so you’d rather go back to 1888?
@@stigg333 it's only you whose moaning
Exactly. To live one day to the next is absolutely shocking to us. At that time 'we' were the richest country in the world with a massive Empire!. The spoils of those riches were in close vicinity to all those poor wretched people scrambling for a living around the docks. Horrific.
As always, this is really outstanding. I love this type of scene-setting historical presentation.
Thank you very much!
Excellent viewing! Richly and evocatively told. It’s like strolling down the streets of Whitechapel and Spitalfields from almost 150 years ago.
Some of those stories about the old ladies and glimpses into workhouses had me a little choked up. So sad. Makes me pleased that at least, whatever it’s flaws, we have a welfare state and free healthcare.
Many thanks Richard, a great job as always 👍
Another interesting TH-cam video. Well researched and narrated as always .
Just to add that the workhouse did not disappear during the Edwardian period but was in use UNTIL 1947 when the NHS / Social security safety net came into being .
Let's not forget this and treasure the advancement this country has made since the end of WW2 , because all to easily we can slip backwards to these dark days when life was cheap & short .
Wonderful article Richard…beautifully read 👍🏻🇦🇺👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video ,depressing viewing, and iguess nothing has really changed,,
Thank you, Anthony.
Excellent !
It's strange but having been interested in the case for many years and after taking part in countless discussions, it almost seems like I've actually visited the various crime scenes and especially Millers Court.
My brain seems to have taken the few still images of the court and interpolated the missing "in between images" to produce a sensation which feels like I've actually entered the archway and navigated my way in and around Kelly's little room many times !!
Most fascinating to hear the story of the missionary and his personal experience with the folk of the area in general, as well as with Mary Kelly herself. That such efforts were being made at all is heartening. I am reminded of the statue of Salvation Army founder William Booth, where his mission began about 20 years earlier, just a 5 minute walk from Bucks Row/Durward St.
One wonders what became of the letters written between Mary and her mother, on both sides of the Irish Sea. Given we are not truly certain if that was her real name, it might be impossible to learn more now. Yet one can't help but wonder if some family in Limerick has a box of old family correspondence, or if such letters were kept at all past a few months or years. Had Mary's letters from her mother been found and kept by someone from Miller's Court, it would have made a great start to a fascinating line of research. So many "what ifs!" Thanks for adding another fascinating dimension to the story, Mr. Jones!
It would be an alias she was using probably, the woman in the room was alnost certainly not a woman named Mary Kelly
Thankyou Richard. EXCELLENT content
Glad you enjoyed it
Excellent presentation! Thank you.
You're very welcome!
Impeccably done, as always.
Thank you! Cheers!
Thank you, Richard. Very touching content. The way you describe, speak or read about these times, about these individuals, makes it very real. ❤
Glad you enjoyed it
Another fascinating and well researched video. Thank you.
So nice of you
Having seen the photograph of Mary Kelly's mutilated body it;s difficult to imaging how they lifted her from the bed to maybe a coffin. It must have been the most horrific sight they have ever witnessed.
thank you for another great video Richard.
What was great about it Mathew,the main talking point was two days before that,on the 9 the,we already knew how bad that place was.
Very welcome
You are totally missing the point, Leslie. The article wasn't written on the 9th, it was written on the 11th, and then it appeared on the 12th. It's intention was to show the reaction to the murder and what was happening in the vicinity in the days that followed. The coverage didn't just stop on the 9th, no matter how much you would like it to have done so!
@@JackTheRipperTours I'm not missing the point,the videos u did previous were' y the canonical five' and the Schwartz video...then u went straight to the 11 November,even if it was written on the 9th,it's of very little relavence compared to the absolutely huge talking point with the murder and butchering of kelly.and the police nonsense following it. I think we all have a fair idea what people of the area where saying in the aftermath and conditions they were living.
@@JackTheRipperTours actually I've not said the article was written on the 9 the in my original post.maybe u missed the point.and what ever happened to the packer video u said I where coming to?
Thank you Richard.
You are very welcome
This is excellent in every way. Even the outro music is perfectly chosen. Thank you very much for a stellar production and presentation.
It was a brutal time for the poor, they only got help from charitable sources but the establishment didn't care and these people especially the women had to do more than one job to feed the kids and some resorted to prostitution. Poor Mary Kelly was taken to the hearts of the community after her death though but the times were hard and since the 1840s it got worse. Awful time and respects to all of these people, we must never forget that the system turned a blind eye to poverty, nothing much changes there.
Beautifully presented Mr.Jones, you truly did transport us! New subbie here!
You paint such a vivid picture of Dorset Street. Having experienced the weather in London firsthand certainly helps. Thank you for your videos.
My pleasure 😊
Fascinating stuff! Great production! Many thanks :)
Many thanks!
Faboulous video, thanks Richard!❤
Lovely and touching video. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Beautifully narration ,as always x
Thank you kindly!
Reminded me so much of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. No wonder they didn't find Jack in all this chaos.
In my research of Jack the ripper since the year 2011 I have had nightmares about Mary Jane Kelly. One in particular was a old house form that era. I had entered through the front door. There was no light in the house except for the moon light. There down the hall a woman sitting in a chair at the table by herself. She had a black dress on. Her hair was in a bun in the back. She glanced at me briefly. Her face was darkened by the shadows. She looked sad but had a accepting of her fate look. As if she was at peace with everything. I didn't want to disturb here so I did not get too close. She never spoke but just looked at me and looked away. Although I may not approve of her life choices she was still a human being. I hope all those involved including the ripper find peace.
That is very evocative.
RADICAL MYSTIC, JTR won't find peace. He has to atone for all the blood he shed, which should take a good while.
The girls will find peace despite their crimes which were brought on by poverty and chronic alcoholism. Addictions can be hard to break even when circumstances are good, which they never were for these poor women. The Ripper showed an unbelievable lack of empathy for his victims, so I hope that when death came inevitably for him, that it brought him no consolation. If there is peace for the Ripper, it should be the peace that death will forever imprison him so that he can never harm another human being like he did Mary Kelly and the others ever again.
@@brianbommarito3376 what crimes do u refer to, about those girls?
These women had no choices..either starve or sell their bodies!
Thank for this view of life back then. It almost mad me cry
Googling Leonard Matters I stumbled upon a photograph of the above during the process of demolition. Also a very fine Lego rendition of the same, if that's your kind of thing!
LOVE IT, RICHIES HERE AGAIN. MARVELLOUS. THANK YOU.
Thanks for listening
A Good Presentation as usual 👋
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Beautifully evocative - i was at once at worcester school as a child for a week, it was a strange window into a life i knew not, and then i fucked off back to belfast
The fact that the man who was interviewed knew that Mary Jane Kelly "was not Welsh, but of Irish parentage", and that he knew that Mary Jane's mother lived in Limerick and often wrote to her in Spitalfields, makes be believe that this man really did know her and had spoken to her enough to find out where her mother actually lived in Ireland.
Maybe researchers should have a closer look at the census records, especially those of 1881 and 1891 for the city of Limerick and also the County of Limerick, if they still exist.
Tracking her family from Spitalfields, to Carmarthenshire and then from Ireland and back to Limerick could just well be possible.
Goodness! What terrible times….
How horrible the lives of women in that time and place.
At the western end of what used to be Dorset Street is the old convent (now student accommodation) and at the eastern end of the site of Dorset Street are a row of 4-5 shops (between the Christ Church and Fashion Street, on Commercial Street).
It's strange to think that people would have watched the events following the discovery of Mary Jane Kelly's mutilated body, the arrival of the police, the senior Metropolitan police officials, the doctors, the journalists, the huge crowd of spectators and bystanders, from the doorways and the windows of the above mentioned buildings.
The building which was the Queens Head public house, back in 1888, is at the corner of Commercial Street and Fashion Street, and its possible to imagine Mary Jane and her mysterious companion walking past George Hutchinson, as he stood under the gas lamp outside the Queens Head.
It's also possible to look north west, across the busy Commercial Street, and see how close Dorset Street was originally situated. It's also easy to look southwards down Commercial Street to the entrances to the once notorious Flower and Dean Street, Thrawl Street and Wentworth Street.
The area around Commercial Street still has many pubs, churches, houses and other buildings, which were in existence during the time of the murders.
It's amazing how the killer was able to get away in such a crowded and relatively small area, especially when we remember that many police officers, vigilante patrols, as well as the thousands and thousands of local residents were always in the area.
I often look at the people in old photographs and wonder who they were and what stories they might tell, what fate befell them and what they might make of today.
As an amateur family historian I wonder if we would have had as many insights into the appalling living conditions of the time if it hadn't been for those terrible murders.
Think I saw you walking by Aldgate Station last week. Wanted to say hi and congratulate you on your work but you looked stressed and busy.
Hi Tony. I always look stressed, thinking of the next video! You should have said hello, it would be nice to chat.
@@JackTheRipperTours if I see you next time I will. Thanks for all your work!
My pleasure.
These were the people who were going to rise up and disrupt the established order of things. The people we needed to be protected from because of their awful habits and warped morals. I wonder how long some of those judging woukd have lasted if their circumstances were similar.
I see from one of those illustrations that McCarthy kept his shop open. Not sure what that says but at the very least it implies indifference.
bills to pay
I'd say it shows how desperate he was to feed his family. Ice cold winter was nearly upon London, and there were plenty of penny pamphlets, hastily written solely to capitalise on this latest tragedy.
Excellent account.
Glad you think so!
. . . the life and times.
I wonder what happened to those broadsides and songs
Real people. Real flesh and blood. Real thoughts and feelings. OMG.
How elocuent!
What about the 9th November?
What about the 9th, Leslie? The article was written on the 11th and appeared on the 12th, not on the 9th. It is about what was happening in the street in the days that followed the murder, and, as such, it is an important historical record.
@@JackTheRipperTours what about the 9th? u ask. Well it's when Mary Kelly was hacked to bits in her room. Front page news around the world.
@Ab Intra who cares about what it was like 2 days after the murder.. everyone already knows what a dive the place was. Just seems odd that jack the ripper tour' skip the Kelly murder and talk about something pointless article.thats all.
Could you show me a newspaper from the 9th, Leslie, that had the death of Mary Kelly on the front page?
I haven't skipped Mary Kelly's murder, Leslie. It is on the Victims video, it is on the Then and Now video. The article is an important and interesting article because it is showing the people who lived through it.
God morgen
How they managed to get through a single day is beyond me.. I'd hate to lose even 1 day of showering.. They always wore their whole wardrobe.. If they never had a room.. they certainly had no wardrobe.. I liked hearing the true witnesses account of Mary Kelly.. So interesting from a person who really knew her..