Living At 29 Hanbury Street After Annie Chapman's Murder.

[@paulj5381]

Thanks for the mention on James Mason's visit to 29 Hanbury street , it is on youtube.

[@cazzawazza9553]

Yes it it

[@noahbrock349]

Brilliant video. Keep up the good work. The animations were an interesting addition.

[@rob5944]

A very detailed and absorbing video, I'd love to see similar ones on the other murders, thanks!

[@kathygrosvenor7900]

For those questioning the “Cat’s Meat” sign, meat from slaughtered horses was placed on skewers and sold as food for cats. The sign revolted me at first, as I thought it food for people. I apologise for this late comment. I’ve only just discovered this very sad, yet interesting, story. Have we evolved at all since the days of “ Jack the Ripper”?

[@hellooohowareudoing]

If you search " Jack the Ripper LOCATION: 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields. Annie Chapman " you can see actual video footage of 29 Hanbury Street, I found it fascinating!

[@paulanthony5274]

Yes with James Mason it's like stepping into a time machine. Everything's the same apart from some crap in the yard. The fence, the steps, the brickwork on the house, the doors. And it's about 80 years later. Only downside is it isn't on that long.

[@lauravanzilen8599]

Just watched it. I had no idea it existed! Amazing to see him walking at the exact spot she was found and it looks exactly the same as 80 years earlier!!!

[@rob5944]

​@@paulanthony5274yes, it's a shame it isn't more detailed. I can only assume that interest in the case has grown over the years and it just didn't warrant any more screen time back then. Take the Titanic, would they really scrap the only remaining sister ship today, I doubt it.

[@karthiksheshadri6600]

can you share the url please

[@paulmilesuk1]

I found this a long time ago and have been searching for it ever since. I'm hoping I can find it again!

[@omarhamid3638]

Great video! It’s quite fascinating to get a little insight into the lives of the inhabitants and the general history of 29 Hanbury Street. The Brill sign was always intriguing. Thanks very much Richard 👍

[@rob5944]

I totally agree, a bit like Bucks Row. Ot appears in have been used as a garage in thr 1960s.

[@BenLujan-r5q]

Thank you, Mr. Jones, for another great JTR vid!

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

It may only be of little interest, as it’s some way further down the street, but Bud Flanagan (of The Crazy Gang, and later the singer of the Dads Army theme tune) was born at 12 Hanbury Street in 1896. I sometimes wonder if his parents were living there at the time of the murder. If not, I wonder how aware they were, when they moved in, that this was the same street that Chapman was murdered on. Census records showed that his parents were living in Brick Lane in 1881 but were in Hanbury Street in 1891. Even if the weren’t living there in 1888, they must have known what had happened in that road as they were still quite close by at the time of the murder. It must have been terrifying times to live there at the time - but folks had to live somewhere and I don’t suppose you could afford to turn a property down just because a murder had been committed close by.

[@straingedays]

12 Hanbury street, may be found on electoral or rental rolls. Birth/Baptism show abode, also Marriage & Death/Burial records. If I still had a subscription, I'd of happily researched it. Dads Army theme remains a classic dity stuck in my head thanks to Bud and I've all the episodes and specials As you have the 81, 91 census records: Were children born/died between those dates? Locating baptisms/burials will show the address. Electoral rolls don't occur every year but show eligible adults who lived at the address. Rent rolls were compiled each year and list head of household (but not all were available online). Newspapers don't often list normal folk but you may get lucky. A great swag of my ancestry lived in London boroughs from late 1700s to 2000s. Most moved around throughout their lifetime and as you said - folks had to live somewhere - We may never know why they moved, or thoughts said on choosing a new abode, details like that are lost to history for the majority.

[@victorcontreras3368]

Great AI segments that add a goof flavor of realism! Good work as always, Mr. Jones👍

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

I watch your videos from France and I find them very interesting. Thank you!

[@JackTheRipperTours]

So nice of you

[@numinousbookofreview]

Kind of ridiculous that these historic streets were demolished.

[@kittyhawk9707]

Really ... ?? .. Look at how grim and depressing they looked in the photo's .. they where slums and not fit for purpose in 1888 .. You can't keep old,crappy, out of date and not fit for purpose buildings just because " its old and ist oric innit"

[@tony--james]

@@kittyhawk9707 also, the area was heavily bombed by the Germans during WW2, "Total number of bombs dropped from 7th October 1940 to 6th June 1941 in Whitechapel: High Explosive Bomb : 72

[@paulohagan3309]

@@kittyhawk9707 Yes, misplaced nostalgia.

[@David-uf8ex]

They were filthy slums that most likely would have been destroyed by the blitz anyhow

[@oldskoolpaul77]

What a fantastic insight! I really enjoyed this video! Thank you for all your hard work Richard

[@JD-Media]

Another great video!

[@Autumnroses123]

Really enjoyed this thank you!!!! 🎉❤

[@PerryCJamesUK]

I love this channel. There are so many fascinating details about life in the shadow of the ripper that give us a real sense of what life was like in the area. Excellent work.

[@Rollin_L]

I've posted this before, but when I was just short of 9 years old, my family visited London for some time, when the north side of Hanbury Street was still intact. Had I known anything about the JTR history at the time, I'd have insisted that we visit No 29. Alas, a missed opportunity!

[@kathygrosvenor7900]

Rollin, at 9 yrs old, you wouldn’t have had a good nights rest had you heard the story. However, it’s so exciting that you enjoyed such a visit to London at 9 and making memories for a lifetime. In my mind, a trip to London in the 60s, with even the wildest remote possibility I might see The Beatles, or even one, would have been the exclamation point of my entire life! Lol

[@naarahjanemorris3121]

Thanks for sharing this video.

[@filmbuff2777]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@GilbertSyndrome]

Brilliant content as usual, Richard. Cheers from Liverpool 🍻

[@alp-1960]

Thank you Richard, lots of great videos recently.

[@katesleuth1156]

Very interesting video. Thank you.

[@carolwebber9247]

Love the way this was done. Really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

[@roywillis5551]

How absolutely fascinating! Excellent video , well narrated. Thank you!

[@elizabethabraybant7282]

Very informative! Thank you.

[@susanpage8315]

My father’s family lived in Spitalfields during the Jack the Ripper murders. It must have been a scary time.

[@TheBrummie60]

Same here, as my maternal grandparents lived in Spitalfields. 16 years old at the time of this particular Ripper murder, it was passed down the generations within my family that grandad saw the police at the scene on his way to work early that grizzly morning.

[@sirlancealittles]

The AI was rather clever...well done, sir....

[@Sassy413]

I dragged my husband to Lizzie Bordens house and I actually thought it was a pretty interesting tour at least this was my experience. Here in the states this was the biggest murder story in those days. Except towards the end of the tour “ghost”stories was added …..” So and so felt a presence in the room thing”. The story about who killed Lizzie’s parents is much more compelling than ghost stories. Regardless my husband who didn’t want to go ended up thinking it was pretty good. Jack the Ripper must have been mind blowing back then. The fear.

[@tonylinsell8918]

Excellent as ever Richard,presentation and research you always do brings subject to life.What a dreadful experience it must have been to discover Annie’s body and the state it was in!

[@AustinD1993]

Very well done Richard!

[@jessicaturik6593]

I love this channel. I watch a video every night often more. I especially love your videos with Steve Blomer and wondered if he has his own channel or where i can listen to more of him as well?

[@hectorchavez7097]

I really like the characters telling their stories....I thought I wouldn't but it actually makes it engaging to imagine these poor folks sharing their side of the events surrounding them.

[@normandavidtidiman9918]

Yeah,agree. No offence to Mr Jones, whose videos are very good, but I really don't like his attempts at portraying characters and speaking in an affected accent in an attempt to sound contemporary. Mind you,I noticed the last actress speaking in very much the same manner. At least it wasn't Richard speaking in his all-purpose Victorian female voice 😁😉

[@ruiseartalcorn]

Many thanks for yet another marvelous presentation! :)

[@michaelbeams9553]

Well done . Thank you .

[@becausegang7266]

James Waker a Tennis Boots maker? I can feel a limerick in the works 😅

[@perlefisker]

😂

[@lauraarcher1730]

There was a young man called James Waker,……

[@WadeRaney-vv5oi]

A Great Presentation,the visuals ✔,like they were recorded in 1888,👋

[@Legionmint7091]

I find the letter to Mr. Richardson that was mentioned in The Echo on the 20th of September a lot more interesting than the contemporary police did. The wording ”I am an associate of yours” certainly raises quite a few red flags. Admiration from one serial killer to another is not unheard of. Serial killers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr. were at least partly the inspiration for Richard Ramirez’s killing spree and Ramirez was delighted when he found out that he had been placed in the same jail cell that held Bianchi after his arrest. Dana Sue Gray contacted Dennis Rader for the same reason, just to mention a couple of examples. Could there have been a serial killer operating in the Liverpool area at the same time as Jack the Ripper (JTR) was active? Someone who had gone unnoticed because the police never connected the dots. A serial killer who yearned for attention and notoriety that they considered they rightly deserved, and possibly recognition from JTR? The fact that the sender went to the trouble of including an entire newspaper in a package, not just a cut out article, that moreover was marked with a pencil, may indicate significance. I can’t help but wonder exactly what was marked, and if anything else in the paper was highlighted as well, particularly in the classifieds that may have been overlooked? The following are sheer speculations. The adress may of course have been chosen on a random whim, and the letter may have been an attention seeking hoax, but please, bear with me on my little journey down this speculative rabbit hole. The fact that the package was addressed to JTR, but was sent to Mr. Richardson, could very well indicate that the included postcard, the envelope and/or the paper may have contained a message in code meant for JTR. The sender obviously craved attention and may have counted on that the letter would be published in the papers if it was sent to Mr.Richardson, papers that JTR most likely monitored meticulously. Since the adress 39 Pitt Street apparently was false, the question arises if the number had a different meaning to the sender? 3 and 9 corresponds to the letter C and I in the alphabet, as in SEE I, or in correct English SEE ME, however to write SEE ME (C ME) would have translated to 3,13,5 or 3135 Pitt Street, that even at first glance would have revealed that the adress was false, meaning the post card immediately would have been dismissed as a hoax. So the sender may deliberately have compromised their grammar. Even if this is a long shot, Pitt Street may have been chosen deliberately as well. Even though Pitt Street is named after William Pitt the Elder (1st Earl of Chatham and Prime Minister 1766-1768) the words Pitt and pit are pronounced the same way. ”From Hell” and ”From Pit” have a similar meaning. Synonyms to pit are (among others) grave, hollow and..hell. SEE ME (in) HELL STREET could therefore possibly be the code. In an article in, ironically, Liverpool Echo from 22 MAY 2022 called ”Little Hell' on the streets of Liverpool was part of city's dark past” you can read: ”Pembroke Place, near the existing sites of Liverpool University and the Royal Liverpool Hospital, frequently made headlines in the 1800's for being an area of ill-repute. Described as 'little hell', it comes up time and again in historic newspaper reports that make references to murders and brothels in the area.” What if Pembroke Place, Oakes Street and Norman Street was the area the sender was referring to in code? It’s admittedly quite far-fetched but the signature K.T. may nevertheless be interesting as well. When Donald and Bettye Harden cracked the Zodiac killer’s first cryptogram (also known as 408) they did it because they rightly assumed the word KILL would be present in the Zodiac’s letter. Serial killer Dennis Rader signed his taunting correspondence to the police with BTK, an acronym for Bind Torture Kill. The K in K.T. could possibly stand for ”Kill”, as in Kill Tarts for instance. It could of course also be a wordplay for Katy or Katie, thus indicating the letter writer was female. I’m quite curious if this letter may have been a clue to a serial killer in the 1880’s Liverpool area who remained undetected and subsequently never was caught. Or…if the Thames Torso Murders killer was trying to communicate with the killer of the Whitechapel murders. 😉 On the more serious side, I’ve always been fascinated that two serial killers operated simultaneously in a very close proximity and surely must have been aware of each other’s existence. In reality there were most likely two other active serial killers in London at the same time as Jack the Ripper. A third, less known, serial killer who bore the moniker the West Ham Child Killer was thought to be responsible for the "West Ham Vanishings” between 1881-1890, in which four young girls were abducted and presumed murdered in similar circumstances in the West Ham area. However, only the bodies of two victims, Clara Sutton and Amelia Jeffs, were recovered. But just as in the case of the Whitechapel murders and in the Thames Torso Murders the perpetrator was never identified. Thank you for your patience if you could be bothered to read this far.

[@PCHolmes]

Great and informative video! The AI is as horrible as the murder itself. Can you generate Abberline, Philips, Kosminski, Tumblety, and the rest of the gang talking?:) That'd be epic - Jack the AI fiend.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Lechmere would be the best, as we have an actual picture of him, albeit as an old man. Just the week before, Lechmere walked right past 29 Hanbury Street roughly at a similar time to when Annie was killed.

[@CarolLeslie-x5n]

I love the actors in authentic costume it’s a fabulous touch thank you for this it’s brilliant. Was the cats meat lady selling food for cats or of cats? 🤢

[@hectorchavez7097]

Great timing for thus video...just yesterday, I was discussing with my daughter of the crowded living conditions reported in the East End

[@tremorsfan]

There have been so many movies about Jack the RIpper. Maybe for fun you could rank them. Make sure to include "Terror On the London Bridge" aka "Bridge Across Time".

[@straingedays]

Jack The Ripper (1988), is still my favourite. It was a TV movie staring Michael Caine. Took me years to find a full copy of it. Notable others are: The Lodger (1927), The Phantom Fiend (1932), and Sherlock Holmes: Murder By Decree (1979) with the classic line *_"You squashed my pea"_*

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Is that the one with Knight Rider/Baywatch Hasselhoff?

[@tremorsfan]

@@lyndoncmp5751 I believe so, yes.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

​@@tremorsfanThought so. A fun little film. Enjoyable at least.

[@seank.9764]

Murder By Decree is a true classic that starred Christopher Plummer and James Mason as Holmes and Watson. A wonderful watch if you ever have the inclination. Full of atmospheric dark cobblestone alleyways and horse drawn carriages on foggy London streets. A must see for ripper fans. Haven’t heard of a Hasselhoff version.

[@oldskertonion]

Good stuff thank you

[@robertgraves8843]

"The London nobody knows" is a remarkable and quite haunting documentary. I have a copy of it somewhere on disc and it occasionally appears on TV. I'm not sure if any of the other locations still existed in 1967. If so, it would have been an idea to include them in that film. Anyhow, Hanbury street fell victim to that mid to late 1960s war on Victoriana that probably seemed an acceptable, (fashionable and profitable), Idea at the time. I live in Southend and this is one town where the developers of the '60s let rip. I remember reading the account of one researcher who, when standing at one of the murder sites as it was being demolished, asked the workman if he understood that he was erasing history. The man allegedly replied " Fuck history. This is progress". I suppose sentiment, in retrospect, might be called a luxury.

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

There’s been a lot of architecture that has fallen to so-called progress which I consider a loss. A lot of it is gentrification and has erased the character of a community. But some of it was, unfortunately, necessary. Much of Hanbury Street was already around 200 years old when Annie Chapman died and even the newer buildings had fallen into a terrible state of disrepair. By the late 1960s, much of the East End housing had become neglected through years of poverty and lack of proper funding. Disease was rife. Vermin was rife. In many cases the dwellings were lacking basic modern amenities. Many still relied on outside toilets and were still overcrowded tenements like they were in 1888. Many still were structurally unsound. One only has to see the James Mason program, part of which is filmed at 29 Hanbury street, or to look at the photos taken in the 1950s and 1960s to see what sort of a state it was in. A lot of the East End went in the Blitz, so when the money and resources was available to regenerate post-war London (bear in mind there were still kids playing in bomb craters in the 50s and 60s) so I guess it made sense to clear out the so-called slums and rookeries at the same time. There was a need for affordable housing, and it would have been too costly and time consuming to restore and update the existing buildings. I also wonder if the removal of the Ripper sites specifically may be a way of forgetting about the terrible things that happened there. Bud Flanagan’s birthplace at Number 12 is of a similar age and style. That got a blue plaque. But 29 was torn down. That being said, 29 wasn’t torn down to make way for affordable housing. It made way for an extension on a brewery. And the dull, faceless eyesore that stands there now is no improvement.

[@32446]

It was civic vandalism and not an improvement at all.

[@chadgaluska5148]

Are the houses on the south side of Hanbury from this period?

[@JackTheRipperTours]

Some of them are.

[@TransVangal]

I like how you guys used the old AI lady to narrate with period hair and clothing 🎉🎉🎉

[@JackTheRipperTours]

Thanks, glad you liked it.

[@samhain1894]

I love the animation!

[@Legionmint7091]

Thank you for yet another interesting video Mr. Jones. I note that you implemented some AI technique that worked splendidly. Question: has the letter to Mr. Richardson from ”K.T.” ever been published? Was there any similar murders in Liverpool at the time that the author of the letter may have been referring to?

[@JackTheRipperTours]

Hi, It was published in a few newspapers. The letter to Mrs Hardyman wasn't made public as far as I can find. There are several newspaper mentions of the police watching Liverpool, and. of course, Tumblety spent a good deal of time in Liverpool.

[@Legionmint7091]

@@JackTheRipperToursThank you for your answer. I elaborated a bit on my speculations in another post in the comment section.

[@YortOK]

This murder in the series is very peculiar. It happened at 5.30am and it begs the question, what was the Ripper doing all night long in the hours before, surely it didn't take 5 hours to find a victim. Or maybe he took advantage of an opportunity while he was on his way to work.

[@paulohagan3309]

If it was Lechmere, he could have done it on his way to work.

[@Miguel195211]

Very interesting case as to who committed this horrific crime.

[@ChrissieTimms]

Does cat’s meat mean dead cats sold as meat, rather than meat to feed cats with? I rather think it may be the former 😱

[@tony--james]

best I can find online, as that spooked me also, "So, just to emphasize, meat for cats, not of cats. Specifically, horsemeat-gnarly leftovers collected from nearby slaughterhouses. In Victorian-era London, there were hundreds of cat's meat men (and women and, sometimes, kids), with beats in poor neighborhoods as well as posh ones." "The cat's meat man used to be a common sight in London and other large towns between the mid 1800s and the 1930s."

[@lindecarr1982]

No cat and dog meat was meat that was unfit for human consumption. It was still sold in the 60’s when I lived in East London.

[@ChrissieTimms]

How shocking to knock down those beautiful houses! Done up, they’d sell for millions now and be a real asset to the area instead of that dreadful building that replaced it. London needs homes 🙄😐

[@32446]

Shame it’s gone. The other side of the street survives.

[@seanwelch71]

May I suggest using actual friends in costume would be better than the animations.

[@marshrabbit7565]

"I was just cutting leather from my boot, gov."

[@marcoscu]

Fascinating video, pity about the use of AI content.

[@dermotkelly6946]

Super will watch later 👍

[@cbamr]

Isn’t it part of an indoor market now, Richard? Where they sell a variety of different food

[@preciousdevere288]

People lived cheek by jowel in great poverty.

[@stevenmcghee6649]

Last time I looked, the James Mason documentary was available to watch on Talking Pictures TV's online site. I have it on DVD but not sure if it's a legitimately-released disc or a pirate.

[@EvanDavies-p5b]

Notice that there were two carmen living in the premises, and the murder took place close to the workplace of a third. This reinforces me in the belief, that a geographical profile of a local carman, is probably not a reliable predictor of them being the killer.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

But one carman WAS seen by another carman lingering alone and acting suspiciously right next to the body of one of the victims at or near the time of death and with nobody else in sight or sound. 😉

[@hamerjohn]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Was that Lethcmere

[@lyndoncmp5751]

​@@hamerjohn Yes indeed. The only suspect thus seen.

[@YortOK]

The 5.30am time of the murder is also perculiar. What was he doing all night, surely it didn't take 5 hours to find a victim. Did the killer take advantage of an unexpected victim while he was on his way to work.

[@franceshaypenny8481]

Poor Annie. I'd buy a crochet work from her any day.

[@williamkanegateshead]

So.........the first mention of Jack the ripper was in the press before the letter which was attributed to him. Hmm.....

[@TheSavagederek]

Mrs Richardson looks like Maw Broon 😂

[@rebekahbjackal2818]

Looks like Sally fields

[@ramenlover334]

Went there on the 27th of December. Posed for a photo so my partner knew where 29 was. Unfortunately at that time it was covered by wooden boards ( They were making part of that indoor car park into a store of some kind ) so I look like some crazy person posing at a works site.lol

[@chicagogyrl4846]

They ate cat’s meat??!

[@thebandit666]

At first when I heard about this I thought oh how nice for them to make little meat pies for the cats. And then I thought oh wait...

[@user-wi9hv2pb2q]

Yes but that was slang for Anything just like "Bush meat" today in other 3rd world countries. That would've included dogs, certainly cats, but most likely rats and mice. Dead cart horses and birds would've been proudly labeled as such. And frankly all you're paying for is the illusion you are eating cat.

[@Copeandseethe822]

Probably. Meat pie vendors weren't always on the up and up. Ingredients were typically poor or even completely rancid. Dickens mentions going to a pie vendor that they know for a fact doesn't use cat meat. It's also mentioned in the musical Sweeney Todd. When we meet Mrs. Lovitz she's struggling to compete with a woman she claims has been catching strays and "popping 🐱 into pies."

[@Dosser810]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is cat's meat? Is it literally the meat of cats? If so, you daren't keep a pet in that street!

[@Markboy1]

It's cat food. For feeding to cats, not for people to eat them!

[@alaminhussain5302]

​@@Markboy1thanks for clarifying it

[@markdoran3350]

You using AI to produce modified voices and to fit faces and mouths o the words? Works well, Richard!

[@JackTheRipperTours]

Thanks Mark. I'm still nervous about using it, but it will enable me to cover topics that I have no images for in the future.

[@maryaha7]

It's perfect, and really adds to the story. Thanks for the great videos!

[@NickPenlee]

Amazing to learn how much money some demolition rubble would fetch today! How much for the N.Brill signage, or front and backdoors to the property. A small fortune perhaps! Sadly they would have ended on a rubbish dump or landfill.

[@StephenPike]

AI... oh no.

[@pilipalaglas36]

Comment for the content and algorithm.

[@johnjones-eu1rv]

The east end conference took place this weekend and I understand it was unanimously noted that the ripper was Maybrick

[@ckhthd]

The murder being committed after 5 am is inconceivable. This murder was not conducted under any particular rush. It must have been executed in some degree of darkness. With the back door open, I have to believe the visitors simply did not see the body. Yes there would have been a considerable smell but it is quite possible the toilet used by some 20 people likely left the back yard constantly smelling pretty bad. I have to give credit to the doctor's estimated time of death. This was a risky place to kill even at 3:30 but by 5 it is untenable. There is no possibility she was killed elsewhere.

[@elijahbey3366]

Cats meat shop?

[@christopherlawley1842]

Google is your friend

[@lyndoncmp5751]

I wonder if Lechmere's mother was a supplier?

[@inisipisTV]

Most likely the nickname of the butcher of the shop that sells regular meat. A cheeky joke on the shop’s name. (Since cats are more skin and bone and is more food for the really desperate and penniless that it would hardly warrant to have a professional paying business made of it.😅)

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@inisipisTV Its rather meant as a seller of meat for cats. A cat food seller.

[@PatrickWhelan-sp1th]

What was it about Annie Chapman that led to her being described as the dark woman by that witness.? There must have been hundreds of dark haired dressed in black women in the East end. Surely this references her complexion but Annie was a white woman evidently this is puzzling!

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

Chapman, specifically, was known locally by the nickname Dark Annie, which may be why she was described here as the dark woman. I’ve read a few suggestions that maybe she was of mixed race. But the police photo suggests otherwise. There is also a photo on Annie in better days, before she fell into alcohol abuse after the death of her child. And she doesn’t appear very dark skinned. I’ve read in many cases that people of the time were less sensitive then than they are now in describing people of colour and ‘dark’ would seem less likely than other nicknames that could be applied at the time if she were of mixed race. That being said, ‘dark’ was also used to describe people o f a swarthy complexion which could be her natural complexion, or could just as easily be acquired from hard living, exposure to the elements and a tough lifestyle. This might apply to Annie and the pallor in the police photo may be because she had lost a lot of blood, combined with the limitations of lighting and photography at the time. However, we do know that people with dark haired were often described as ‘dark’ . Although the two photos show her hair looking dark, this may just be because of the lighting in the photo as she’d been described by Inspector Chandler as fair haired. In and around the 1880s people who were morose or prone to bad moods were sometimes described as dark. From the things I’ve read about her life and her descent into alcoholism, I wouldn’t be surprised if this weren’t the case. She would have every reason to suffer with depression. People would also be described as morally dark, which would make sense given how she was known to engage in prostitution and heavy drinking. Another use of the word dark at the time was for people living on the streets and sleeping in dark archways and alleys. Food for thought. Mary Kelly was sometimes known as Black Mary, despite being a read-head. In her case it may be because of her moods. She was renowned for her temper, and it has been said by some that knew her that she would get into fierce fights with women who intruded on her patch. Fights which she would usually win. We may never know for sure why she was called Dark Annie, but there are a few possibilities.

[@Majqq12]

cats meat? 😮

[@ftumschk]

Cats' meat dealers would get cheap off-cuts of ordinary meat, which they'd process and sell as pet-food for cat owners to buy.

[@Island-lava]

@@ftumschkoh thank you. I was wondering.

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

Cats meat Sellars would often get good deals if someone’s tired old horse or mule died. The meat would be sold for cats meat, or cheap pies, and the bones would be rendered for glue. The cats meat sellers would often go out with carts (as the son of the cats meat woman at 29). The bits of tough, cheap meat were stuck on skewers and sold for cat food. They would often cry out “wallah, wallah cats-meat” to draw attention to their wares. Even as recently as the early-mid 20th century, horse meat was used in cheap cat food. I imagine the cat food in the 1880s was just a dietary supplement and a means of making sure the cat didn’t leave home. The main reason for owning a cat then was to catch mice, of which there would have been many and certainly in most houses at that time - especially in the backstreets of the East End. So cats would have also been feeding themselves as part of their job.

[@DM-qd6bv]

@@GrilloTheFlightlessthank you for the insight. Very interesting.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

I wonder if Lechmere's mother was a supplier.

[@davidmoser3535]

mrs r was the RIPPER

[@JasonX2]

They have solved the case with dna!

[@byglenn]

The document of importance …..LIVERPOOL…..if this is true how can the Maybrick connection be ignored !!!!

[@GilbertSyndrome]

@@byglenn Maybrick had no connection to Pitt Street, as far as I'm aware.