Jack the ripper biography summary page

For three months in 1888, fear and panic stalked the streets of London’s East End.

During these months five women were murdered and horribly mutilated by a man who became known as ‘Jack the Ripper’, although some believe the true number to have been eleven.

Whitechapel in the East End was like a festering sore on the face of Victorian London in the late 19th century.

The overcrowded population lived in hovels, the streets stank of filth and refuse and the only way to earn a living was by criminal means, and for many women, prostitution.

The only relief from this miserable life was a bottle of gin bought for a few pence, to give blessed oblivion.

The ‘terror’ started on Friday 31st August when the body of Mary Ann Nicholls, aged 42, was found in Bucks Row (now called Durwald Street).

Her face was bruised and her throat had been slashed twice and nearly severed. Her stomach had been hacked open and slashed several times. She was su