#catherine eddowes

[blamed-for-nothing]

[victorianwhitechapel]

The International Day of Families is observed on 15 May every year. The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 and reflects the importance the international community attaches to families. The International Day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.

In human society, family (from Latin: familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as members mature and learn to participate in the community. In most human societies, the family is the primary locus of attachment, nurturance, and socialization.

The women victims of brutal attacks in and or around London’s Whitechapel area between 1873 and 1891 were daughters, granddaughters, nieces, aunties, mothers, grandmothers, cousins... Here's a list of all their known relatives:

Annie Smith Chapman:

Parents and siblings: Daughter of George Smith and Ruth (née Chapman). Older sister of Emily Latitia (b. 1844), George William Thomas (c. 2nd June 1844 ~ d. June 1854), Miriam (c. 25th January 1852 ~ d. June 1854), William (c. 1st February 1854 ~ d. June 1854), Georgina (b.1856), Mirium Ruth (b.1858), and Fountain Hamilton (b. 1861).

Husband and children: Married John Chapman (1869 – 1884). Mother of Emily Ruth (b. 25 June 1870 - d. ca. 1882), Annie Georgina (b. 5 June 1873), John Alfred (b. 21 November 1880).

Extended family: Uncle Thomas Smith. Daughter-in-law of George and Ann Chapman.

Catherine Eddowes

Parents and siblings: Daughter of George Eddowes and Catherine (née Evans). Younger sister of Alfred (c. 2nd August 1833), Harriet (c. 3rd October 1834), Emma (b. 30th November 1835), Eliza Gold (c. 14th May 1837) and Elizabeth Fisher (b. 1838). Older sister of Thomas (b. 9th December 1844), George (b. 1846 – d. 1885), John (b. January 1849 – d. 18th March 1849), Sarah Ann (b. 1850), Mary Ann (b. 1852) and William (b. 1854 – d. 1854).

Husband and children: Had a relatioship with Thomas Conway (1862 – 1881). Mother of Catherine Ann "Annie" (b. 18 April 1863), Thomas Lawrence (b. 8 December 1867), George (b. 15 August 1873), Frederick William (b. 21 February 1877). Common-law wife of John Kelly (1881 – 1888, her murder).

Extended family: Uncle William Eddowes, uncle Thomas Eddowes, aunt with unknown name, paternal grandfather Thomas Eddowes. More ancestors can be found here. Son in law was Louis Phillips (married to daughter Annie). Her great-great-great-grandaughter is Jean Smith and her daughter is Tracey Marks.

Emma Elizabeth Smith

Children: A son and a daughter.

Elizabeth Gustaffsdotter Stride

Parents and siblings: Daughter of Gustaf Ericsson and Beatta Carlsdotter. Younger sister of Anna Christin (b. 1840), older sister of Carl Bernard (b. 1848) and Svante (b.1851).

Husband and children: She gave birth to a stillborn daughter result of her 7th month pregnancy (21 April 1865). She married John Thomas William Stride (1869 – 1881) and the couple had no children.

Extended family: Daughter-in-law of William Stride and Elenor Monk Stride. Her husband had 8 more siblings. PC Walter Stride was her nephew by marriage. Her sister-in-law was Olena, married to her brother Carl Bernard; and her brother-in-law was Bernhard Olsson. Descendants relatives are John and Sally Edmonds (Sally is related to John Stride).

Alice Pitts McKenzie

Parents and siblings: Daughter of Charles Pitts and Martha (neé Watson). Younger sister of William (b. 1833), John (b. 1838), Martha (b. 1840) and Jane (b. 1843), older sister of Charles (b. 1847) and Thomas (b. 1850).

Husband and children: Married to Joseph Kinsey (1863 – 1867, his death). Mother of Joseph James Kinsey (b. 21 July 1866 – d. 12 October 1866). She was in a relatioship with John McCormack (1883 – 1889, her murder).

Mary Ann Walker Nichols

Parents and siblings: Daughter of Edward and Caroline Walker. Sister of Frederick and Edward Jr. One of them died on June 1886.

Husband and children: Wife of William Nichols (1861 – 1881). Mother of William Edward (b. 17 December 1864 – d. 1866), Edward John (b. 14 July 1866), Percy George (b. 18 July 1868), Alice Esther (b. December 1870), Eliza Sarah (b. December 1876), Henry Alfred (b. 4 December 1878).

Extended family: Her maternal aunt was Mary Webb. Maureen Nichols is a descendant.

Martha White Tabram

Parents and siblings: Daughter of Charles Samuel White and Elisabeth (neé Dowsett). Younger sister of Sarah Elizabeth (b. 1832), Henry (b. 1837), Esther (b. 1839), Stephen (b. 1842) and Mary Ann (b. 1847).

Husband and children: Married to Henry Samuel Tabram (1865 – 1875). Mother of Frederick John (b. February 1871) and Charles Henry (b. December 1872). Had a relationship with Henry Turner (1876 – 1888).

Extended family: Her parents-in-law were John and Hannah Tabram. Her sisters-in-law were Anna or Hannah and Mary, and her brothers-in-law were Thomas and William (Mary, Thomas and William Tabram were triplets). She has a step-son, Henry, from Henry Samuel's first marriage to Mathilda.

Frances Coles

Parents and siblings: She was the daughter of James William Coles and Mary Ann (née Carney). Her older sisters were Mary Ann (b. ca. 1853) and Selina Adelina (b. 25th October 1855 – d. 1897), and her youngerbrother was and James Jr. (b. 30th August 1862 – d. ca. 9th January 1889).

Extended family: Baby niece Selina Adelina (b. and d. 1877), daughter of her sister Selina.

Rose Mylett

Parents and siblings: Daughter of Henry Mylett and Margaret (nee Haley). Younger sister of Mary (b. 1855) and William (b. 1857), older sister of John (b. 1863).

Husband and children: Common-law wife of Thomas Davis (c. 1880 ~ 1883). Mother of Florence Beatrice "Flossie", "Florrie" (b. 22 October 1880), and Henry (b. 29 June 1883 – may had died in infancy).

Emily Atkins Horsnell

Parents and siblings: Unfortunately itis not known at the moment the names of Emily Atkins parents. She had a sister, Mrs. Ekins.

Husband and children: Emily was married to Alfred Horsnell (1880 – before 1886). She was the mother of Emily Horsnell (b. 1881).

Mary Kelly

Parents and siblings: Daughter of John Kelly. She had seven brothers (one of them called Henry) and at least one sister (not known if older or younger).

Husband and children: Married to a man with surname Davies (1879 ~ 1881, his death). They had no children.

Ada Elbury Wilson

Parents and siblings: Daughter of Henry Edwin Elbury and Emma (née Fry). She was the sister of Charles and Henry (don't know if older or younger), and the older sister of Rose, Emma and Thomas.

Husband and children: Ada married Samuel Wilson (1889 – 1891) and it is not known if they had children.

Extended family: A niece named Zoa Lavinia Elbury, daughter of her brother Henry.

Elizabeth Jackson

Parents and siblings: Daughter of John and Catherine Jackson. Younger sister of Annie and May, sister of James (not known if older or younger).

Husband and children: She was in a relatioship with John Fairclough (1888 – 1889, her murder) and was murdered when she was eight months pregnant.

[ninjaofthepurplethings]

Catherine “Kate” Eddowes (14th April 1842 - 30th September 1888)

When Catherine was just over a year old, she and her whole family crowded onto a laden canal barge for the two day journey from Wolverhampton to London. Being eight in number they couldn’t possibly afford to pay the train fare for a quicker journey.

Catherine’s father George worked in the tin-working trade and tensions had run high between certain factory owners and their workers. Many of the men unionised in response to their working conditions and pay and ultimately called a strike. Edward Perry, the owner of the factory who employed George, was no friend of the working man and was known for prosecuting strikers for breaching their contract. They could expect two months hard labour in prison as punishment. Perry offered £30 to anyone who could identify anyone who could provide information about the “daily secret meetings... inducing our men to leave our employment”. The finger was pointed at George, he was tried and found guilty. After his release from prison, George had to accept that he would no longer be able to find work in Wolverhampton and decided to try his fortunes in London.

Among the poor and working classes there was little knowledge about contraception, and even if they did know about the primitive version of condoms made out of sheep guts or contraceptive sponges, they likely couldn’t afford them. Socially it was considered both a woman’s duty to bear children and to take responsibility for contraception. Despite inadequate knowledge and access to contraception, the middle and upper classes looked down with disdain on the poor and their large families, pointing out that they would not be so poor if they did not have so many children. Maternal Rights campaigner Margaret Llewelyn Davies spoke about “a life of excessive childbearing” and the toll on the wellbeing of women. The more children they had, the more likely the mother was to suffer a physical toll and the further resources had to be stretched, the more it fell upon mothers to deny themselves food in order to ensure that her wage earning husband and children could eat. Malnutrition was a common cause of miscarriage, stillbirth and failure to thrive in the 19th Century. Ultimately, Catherine’s mother bore 12 children, 10 of whom survived. As soon as one of the children was old enough, they would be expected to find employment to help support the growing family. Although Catherine did attend school, at least for a while, she was not fully literate (only about 49% of women were able to read and write at that time) despite being described as having “...an unusual degree of intelligence”.

In 1855 Catherine’s mother developed a cough and she grew weak and thin. Catherine was only 13 when her mother died from consumption (tuberculosis) at the age of 42- the average life expectancy of women of her class at that time. Two years later Catherine’s father also became unwell. Catherine and her siblings had to start to seriously consider how to survive without parents or an income, with younger siblings who still required a lot of care. Sadly, their disabled older brother and the youngest siblings were sent to the workhouse after their father died. Catherine was sent to an Aunt and Uncle’s in Wolverhampton with the promise that they would help to find her employment.  

Catherine’s Aunt and Uncle were able to find her a position as a scourer in a nearby tin factory. This work involved dipping tinware into oxide baths in a room full of fumes from acid vats for twelve hours a day. Apparently Catherine wasn’t too overjoyed by her new position, as she was caught stealing items and dismissed, but fortunately not brought before the Magistrate. At 19 Catherine decided she needed another fresh start and set off for Birmingham, a 14 mile walk, in order to live with another Uncle who was well known as a bare-knuckle boxer.

Meanwhile, Thomas Quinn, who had changed his name from Conway, had served in India with the Royal Irish regiment. Thomas was medically discharged due to rheumatism, a heart defect and lung damage caused by chronic bronchitis. For a working class man the majority of jobs available would have involved some form of physical labour, something Thomas would have found difficult due to his health. Thomas instead became a “Chapbook man”; part vagabond, part door to door salesman, storyteller, singer and seller of song sheets and pamphlets. Thomas would pick up local news and gossip to regale prospective clients with while he tried to sell them knickknacks and charm was an essential skill. When unable to earn enough shillings to pay for food or a bed for the night, Thomas would have had to go hungry and sleep outdoors. It is not clear exactly how Catherine and Thomas met, but she fell head over heels and began following him, trudging around the country and assisting him in entertaining strangers, singing in pubs and markets in order to sell their goods. Catherine was described as good natured, gregarious and outgoing so her personality was well suited to this. 

Catherine became pregnant soon after they met. In 1863, with no permanent home and at 9 months pregnant, Catherine had to seek assistance at a Workhouse in Norfolk. Hygiene and good sanitation as a preventative measure against infection and disease was little understood at the time, so sanitation was poor and expectant mothers would also share wards with patients with infectious diseases such as small pox, tuberculosis and syphilis. Babies were delivered without soap and water and in that particular Workhouse the gas jets were often left on in order to deter rats. Catherine gave birth to Catherine “Annie” Conway on 18th April 1863 and re-joined Thomas tramping about the country with Annie strapped to her back. 

Several years later, after travelling up and down the country, the couple decided to stay more permanently in London and moved into a small house near Westminster in 1868. Catherine had a second child, a son named Thomas and in 1869 a daughter Harriet, named after one of her sisters. Thomas’ plans of making a better living as a pedlar in London did not come to fruition and little Harriet died of malnutrition at only a few weeks old. Thomas took off to Yorkshire in the hopes of making money while Catherine remained in London and by January 1870 Catherine, Annie and little Thomas were in Greenwich Union Workhouse. Sadly this become a pattern for Catherine over the next 10 years. In 1873 she gave birth to another son, George, named after her father; again giving birth in a Workhouse. The “Poor Law” would not allow destitute mothers to receive financial relief from the parish, as the local authorities were concerned that providing money to “immoral women” would equate to state subsidised prostitution. It made no difference that Catherine was in a monogamous Common Law relationship with the father of her children, there was no distinction made between women like her and sex workers. Catherine had no choice but to bring some or all of her children with her whenever she entered the Workhouse. They would be stripped, given Workhouse uniforms, separated by gender and age, with children under seven being allowed to remain with their mothers and older children being taken to live separately. Parents were allowed weekly “interviews” with their children in the dining hall. In 1876, when Catherine was expecting her fourth child, Frederick, and presented herself at Greenwich Workhouse, her older two children were dispatched 18 miles away to the Industrial School in Sutton.

Thomas Conway’s frequent absences and the financial hardship this caused the family began to lead to physical altercations between the couple. Catherine also began to drink heavily, while Thomas did not drink alcohol at all. Catherine’s family blamed Catherine for the beatings she received, as was the common attitude at the time, when it was deemed necessary for a husband to impose discipline within the home through physical violence. In terms of victim blaming, these attitudes have not really changed that significantly since then. 

Between November 1876 and December 1877 Catherine was in and out of Workhouses on at least seven occasions. In August 1877 she had been arrested for being Drunk and Disorderly and sent to Wandsworth Prison for 14 days. Despite blaming Catherine for her misfortunes, her sisters did try to offer her shelter and support. Shortly before Christmas Catherine and Thomas had yet another altercation and her family was shocked at her disfigured appearance on Christmas Day. Catherine repeatedly returned to Thomas and they changed addresses frequently due to their lack of stable income. In 1879 they returned to hawking ballads together, with Annie now being old enough to look after her siblings. However, on 4th October they took little Thomas and George out with them and instructing the boys to stay where they had been put, wandered off. The boys were found and taken to the Workhouse. It took a week before Catherine was located and made to reclaim her children. A similar incident occurred in November that year. On this occasion Catherine (or Thomas it should be noted) could not be found and after a month 16 year old Annie came to claim them. It is not know what Catherine’s state of mind was at the time, but she had lost her infant son Frederick earlier that year and she was using alcohol to excess. 

Catherine and Thomas’ relationship limped along until 1881 and Catherine turned to her sister Elizabeth for assistance. However, as her sister’s Emma and Harriet had already discovered, Catherine’s behaviour made it difficult to be supportive of her. She was arrested again for drunken disorderliness and was spared prison on this occasion. But, by the end of the year, Elizabeth broke of her relationship with her sister and Catherine turned to her remaining sister Eliza who lived in Spitalfields. Eliza was also struggling in poverty so when Catherine had the 4 pence to do so she would stay at a lodging house on Flower and Dean Street. There she caught the eye of another lodger, John Kelly. If Catherine’s sisters had disliked Thomas Conway, they had utter disdain for John Kelly. Although he was described as “quiet and inoffensive” he was a dosser and a heavy drinker, while Thomas had been a teetotaller. Nevertheless, Catherine and John were popular with their fellow lodgers and Catherine was known to be always ready with a song or to give away her last few pennies to those who needed it. Catherine and John could not always afford to pay for their bed at Flower and Dean street and on those occasions Catherine would sleep rough and was well known among other homeless women, some of whom were the first to come forward and identify her after her murder.

Catherine’s continued drinking and resultant itinerant lifestyle also caused her to lose her relationship with her children and she became entirely dependant on John Kelly and he on her. In the summer of 1888, Catherine and John headed for Kent to join thousands of others in seeking casual work picking berries, fruit and later hops. Unfortunately, the harvest had been poor and they returned to penniless to London on 27th September. The spent a night at a parish ward and the next day John was able to earn a few pennies at the market, enough to pay for one bed but not enough for two. John’s version of events is muddled and unclear, but it does appear that Catherine almost certainly slept rough while John paid for a bed for himself. On the 29th they wandered off, presumably to try and earn some money. According to John, Catherine went off in an attempt to find out where her daughter Annie lived in order to ask her for money, promising she would be back at 4 O’Clock. Despite having no money, Catherine was found in a crumpled, drunken and incoherent heap by Police at 8:30 that evening. 

Catherine was taken into custody and put in a cell to sober up. She was then released at about 1am. With no money and no possibility of getting a bed for the night Catherine wandered the dark streets, perhaps looking for someone she might know or ultimately somewhere to sleep. A few hours later her mutilated body was discovered. 

On the 8th of October 1888 hundreds of people lined the streets to watch the carriage carrying Catherine’s coffin to Ilford Cemetery and five hundred people gathered to pay their respects as she was interred- whether out of genuine regard for Catherine or some ghoulish fascination with the Ripper Murders remains unknown. 

[Source: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (2019)]

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[zutalorsihavemissedone]

This book is amazing! It has so much detail on the lives of the Jack the Ripper victims. I had no idea so much information about them was even known, but the author has found so much data about where they were born, what their childhoods were like, why they married who they did, and the circumstances life threw at them.  Their lives were so sad! Even sadder than I assumed. Most of them were not prostitutes. In fact, the author speculates they were targeted because they were asleep and vulnerable (this explains why there were never any signs of struggle of defensive wounds).  I learned so much from this book. I highly recommend it. 

[victorianwhitechapel]

🌺💀🌺 Day of the Death 🌸💀🌸

The Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated in Mexico and elsewhere associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, and is held on November 1 and 2. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and to remember friends and family members who have died. It is commonly portrayed as a day of celebration rather than mourning.

We would like to celebrate the lives of the 21 murdered women in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London at the end of Victorian Times.

Margaret Hames (1833 – ?)

Annie Smith Chapman (1841 – 1888; 47 yo)

Catherine Eddowes (1842 – 1888; 46 yo)

Emma Elizabeth Smith (1843 – 1888; 45 yo)

Elizabeth Gustaffsdotter Stride (1843 – 1888; 44 yo)

Mary Ann Walker Nichols (1845 – 1888; 43 yo)

Alice Pitts McKenzie (~1849 – 1889; 39 yo)

Martha White Tabram (1849 – 1888; 39 yo)

Annie Millwood (~1850 – 1888; 38 yo)

The Pinchin Street torso (1849~59 – 1889; 30~40 yo)

Frances Coles (1859 – 1891; 32 yo)

Rose Mylett (1859 – 1888; 29 yo)

Emily Atkins Horsnell (~1861 – 1887; 26 yo)

Mary Kelly (~1863 – 1888; 25 yo)

Ada Elbury Wilson (1863 – 1952; 89 yo)

The Whitehall Mystery (~1864 – 1888; 24 yo)

Elizabeth Jackson (1865 – 1889; 24 yo)

Thames Mysteries of 1873 & 1874 (?)

Totthenham Court Road Mystery of 1884 (?)

The Rainham Mystery (?)

💐🕯🪦Gone, but Not Forgotten🪦🕯💐

[victorianwhitechapel]

World Television Day

On the 21st of November is World Television Day. Obviously, on Victorian times the TV didn't exist yet, but there are some TV films, series and mini-series that portrayed the Whitechapel Murder Victims. As a way of tributing these women, we decided to celebrate World Television Day by posting TV shows that featured them.

Jack The Ripper (1988 mini series):

In this TV mini-series starring Michael Caine, Annie Chapman is played by Deirdre Costello:

Angela Crow plays Liz Stride:

Susan George plays Catherine Eddowes:

And Lysette Anthony plays the role of Mary Kelly:

The Ripper (1997 TV film):

In this TV movie, Josephine Keen plays the role of Elizabeth Stride:

Catherine Eddowes is played by an unknown actress (please, contact me if you can identify her!):

And Mary Kelly is played by Karen Davitt:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (2001 TV Series):

In this fantasy TV series, there is an episode about the Whitechapel murders, the 5th episode of the 3rd season called "The Knife".

In it, Jennifer O'Dell plays Catherine Eddowes:

And Rachel Blakely plays the role of Mary Kelly:

--

PS: As Tumblr only allows to post 10 photos in one post, I cannot post the shows posters.

[victorianwhitechapel]

"Letters from Whitechapel" board game

Get ready to enter the poor and dreary Whitechapel district in London 1888 – the scene of the mysterious Jack the Ripper murders – with its crowded and smelly alleys, hawkers, shouting merchants, dirty children covered in rags who run through the crowd and beg for money, and prostitutes – called “the wretched” – on every street corner.

The board game Letters from Whitechapel, which plays in 90-150 minutes, takes the players right there. One player plays Jack the Ripper, and his goal is to take five victims before being caught. The other players are police detectives who must cooperate to catch Jack the Ripper before the end of the game. The game board represents the Whitechapel area at the time of Jack the Ripper and is marked with 199 numbered circles linked together by dotted lines. During play, Jack the Ripper, the Policemen, and the Wretched are moved along the dotted lines that represent Whitechapel’s streets. Jack the Ripper moves stealthily between numbered circles, while policemen move on their patrols between crossings, and the Wretched wander alone between the numbered circles.

***

This game includes the Five Canonical victims (Annie Chapman, Catherine Eddowes, Elizabeth Stride, Mary Ann Nichols and Mary Kelly) as tokens to play with.

There are 8 pieces for the unfortunates (5 are marked in red, the others are not).

The game is played on the 4 nights in which the 5 Canonical victims were murdered.

In the board there are marked the 5 places where the Canonical victims were murdered and also include the crime scenes of "Fairy Fay" (Margaret Hames), Emma Elizabeth Smith and Rose Mylett.

In the Historical Notes section, there are all these 8 women plus Martha Tabram, The Whitehall Mystery, Alice McKenzie, The Pinchin Street torso and Frances Coles.

[victorianwhitechapel]

Global Movie Day

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established Global Movie Day, a day for film fans around the world to celebrate their favorite movies and engage with Academy members and filmmakers across social media. The inaugural holiday was held last year (the day before the 92nd Oscars).

The second annual Global Movie Day was held on Saturday, February 13, 2021.

On Victorian times movies were in their infancy, but there are some movies and films that portrayed the Whitechapel Murder Victims. As away of tributing these women, we decided to celebrate Global Movie Day by posting films that featured them.

A Study in Terror (1965)

In this story about Sherlock Holmes against Jack The Ripper, Kay Walsh played the role of Catherine Eddowes:

Mary Ann Nichols was played by Christiane Maybach:

Barbara Windsor played Annie Chapman, Edina Ronay played Mary Kelly and Norma Foster played Elizabeth Stride:

Murder By Decree (1979)

In this new Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper film, Susan Clark was Mary Kelly:

Other actresses in this short are: June Brown as Annie Chapman, Hilary Sesta as Catherine Eddowes, and Iris Fry as Elizabeth Stride.

From Hell (2001)

In this film based on Alan Moore's graphic novel of the same name, Annabelle Apsion was Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, Lesley Sharp was Catherine Eddowes, Katrin Cartlidge was Annie Chapman, Heather Graham was Mary Jane Kelly, Samantha Spiro was Martha Tabram, and Susan Lynch was Elizabeth "Long Liz" Stride

Ginger (2016)

In the 2016 short "Ginger", Katie Jarvis plays the role of Mary Kelly:

Other actresses in this short are: Karen Brace as Annie Chapman, Lena Margareta as Elizabeth Stride, and Tracy-Lee Gardener as Catherine Eddowes.