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Follow the footsteps of Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper – known as the infamous London killer who murdered five women prostitutes between August and November of 1888 – has continued to fascinate and horrify millions of people by still remaining unknown even today.

A name regarded with terror by the residents of London’s East End, Jack the Ripper murdered five women, known as the ‘Canonical’ five, Mary Ann Nicholls on the 31st of August, Annie Chapman on the 8th of September, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddoweson on the 30th of September, also known as the ”double murders”, while his fifth and final victim, Mary Jane Kelly was murdered on the 9th of November.

Over the years, the identity of the murderer has deepened and mystified, to such an extent that the truth is almost obscured. Not only that, but the introduction of press stories, books, plays and musicals, have dramatized and distorted the facts to a degree where fiction has become publicly accepted more than the reality.

However, even though Scotland Yard weren’t able to apprehend the killer while working on the case, they did as a result have a few suspects; Kosminski, a poor Polish Jew who resided in Whitechapel, Montague John Druitt, a 31-year-old barrister and school teacher who committed suicide in December of 1888, Michael Ostrog, a Russian born multi-pseudonymous thief and confidence trickster, who was detained on several occasions in asylums and Dr Francis J. Tumblety, a 56-year-old, American ‘quack’ doctor, who was arrested in November of 1888 for offenses of gross indecency. Consequently, these suspects proved futile to apprehending the true killer, known as Jack the Ripper, and as a result has remained a mystery to this very day.

For me, walking in the footsteps of Jack the Ripper was something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while and this year, while I was back in London during the summer, I was given the chance to take the tour to discover the streets and alleys where the infamous murders happened over a century ago.

The tour, which starts out at Tower Hill, right on the boundary between Scotland Yard territory and City of London Police territory is designed to transport you back to the year of 1888 transporting you down dark sinister streets and alleys, portraying the true ambiance of the Victorian East End. This is also where the tour starts, as visitors can then begin to understand the conflict between the two London police forces – a conflict which ultimately blurred the investigations and as a result made it easier for Jack the Ripper to slip through the hands of the police on several occasions.

During the tour, visitors will discover Buck Row, where the first murder – Mary Ann Nicholls – took place. An unrelenting journey will continue onto Hanbury Street where Annie Chapman was discovered in the early hours on the 8th of September, followed then by revisiting the scenes of the ”double murders” of Elizabeth Stride when you walk down Berner Street where she was found murdered lying on the ground and Catherine Eddoweson, who was discovered in Mitre Square. Evoking the gaslight and fog, while depicting menacing shadows and stealthy footsteps, visitors will continue onto the final murder site. As you walk into the single room that once belonged to Jack the Ripper’s fourth victim, Mary Jane Kelly, the chills will travel down your spine, as you imagine her body as it was found lying in her bed at 13 Miller’s Count, off Dorest Street, Spitalfields, in East End London.

Not only will you be able to dig deep and explore each of the murder sites, you will also be looking into the evidence, as you decide which of the suspects could be the true Jack the Ripper.

After you’ve explored all the possible avenues, you can head over to The Ten Bells pub, as I did – a pub which might have been the place where Jack the Ripper himself enjoyed a pint or two before his nightly job.

Walks begin every night at 7:30pm from Tower Hill tube station (except Dec 24th & 25th) and runs Sunday afternoons from 3pm.

For more information, check out Jack the Ripper tours. The Jack the Ripper tours costs £7. However for adults 65+, full-time students and people with the London Walks Discount Card prices are £5. Children under 15 go free if accompanied by their parent(s).

Alternatively call 020 7624 3978 for more information.