WHITECHAPEL + JACK THE RIPPER

Housing

Employment

Pollution

Alcohol

Immigration

streets and roads were 'maze-like'

rookeries (slums) were extremely overcrowded

up to 30 people shared 1 apartment

the Peabody Estate was built in 1857 by George Peabody and offered a better alternative

there were lodging houses where the homeless could sleep in shifts - 200 lodging houses for 8000 people

high unemployment due to tough work conditions

many women turned to prostitution to survive - 1,200 in 1888

crime became alternative employment - begging, theft for food due to starvation

workhouses were a last resort as inmates did manual labour in exchange for bed and board. People would rather die than go to the workhouse

smoke from trains turned houses black and affected health

at times it was not possible to see your hand in front of your face - pea soup fog

caused violence, theft for more alcohol and brawls

many tuned to alcohol to escape reality

women tended to ignore domestic responsibilities for alcohol

50,000 Jewish people moved here in the mid-late 1800s and they weren't trusted

Irish immigrants had a reputation of being very violent and were not well liked

tensions increased as many types of people crammed into Whitechapel

Crime

had a terrible reputation or high levels of crime

crime was made easier by the maze of badly lit alleyways

prejudice against immigrants and language barriers added to policing problems

some areas, such as Ewer Street, were so dangerous that the police wouldn't go there

main problems included prostitution, gang crime and alcohol-linked violent crime

Policing

whitechapel was the H division of the Met Police

responsible for policing 176,000 people among the poorest, most crime-stricken areas of London

Jack the Ripper

was a serial killer who murdered and mutilated 5 women in the East End of London in an area called the 'evil square mile' which included Whitechapel. This was a slum area, full of smoke from factories and narrow streets and alleyways. He was never caught.