The Whitechapel Murders

The Whitechapel Murders

The Whitechapel murders attracted so much attention mainly because

no-one knew who Jack The Ripper was, what he looked like and also

because Jack The Ripper was the first serial killer in 1888. The

people of Whitechapel were so scared that they did not want to leave

their homes because of what the newspaper said, this also shows how

the newspapers were exploiting the murders by lying and exaggerating

in the story so people would buy the newspaper; because of exploiting

the murders they made the people of London panic. Another point that

the Whitechapel murders attracted so much attention was the

whereabouts were the murders happened. The East End in 1888 was a

dangerous place to be and most of the lower class lived there. There

were mainly English, Poles and Jewish people living in the East End.

The Jews fled and settled in the East End and the Jewish population

was on the increase, they had more power, money and numbers than most

people who lived in London. Many Poles came to live in the East End

because the rents were low and few questions were asked. The

inhabitants of Whitechapel, and of other areas, were at first very

suspicious of these newcomers. The Metropolitan Police estimated that

there were 1,200 prostitutes in Whitechapel and many more women who

took clients from time to time to supplement their weekly earnings.

There were more than 200 lodging houses, which could sleep almost

9,000 people in long rooms with rows of beds. More than half of the

children born in the East End died before the age of five and many who

survived were brought up in poverty.

One of the main factors of interest within the Jack The Ripper case

was the unresolved matter of' who was Jack The Ripper?' this

particular aspect of the Rippers murders gathered quite a following

because the possible theories that the killer could have had any

medical knowledge would make him a high class member of London's poor

society.