The story of Jack the Ripper is tragically woven into the very fabric of Victorian London. Everyone seems to have heard of him.
These days, much of the London where he carried out his horrific murders has either been knocked down or redeveloped, but if you want to go to one place where Jack would have been a regular visitor, make your way to the Ten Bells pub in Commercial Street. This is where in the late 1800’s, ‘ladies of the night’ would go to meet customers. Drinks would be bought and a rendezvous planned. It was the perfect place for Jack the Ripper to spy out suitable victims.
One unfortunate woman was Mary Jane Kelly who became the Jack the Ripper’s fifth and final victim. She lived locally and like many of the single women who lived around Spitalfields, resorted to prostitution at night to meet the costs of a drink habit and to pay for lodgings.
On 8th November 1888, Kelly was spotted having a drink at the Ten Bells Pub. In the early hours of the following morning, she was noticed going back to where she lived with a man who made an obvious effort to conceal his appearance by pulling his hat down over his eyes. Later, a neighbour who lived immediately above Kelly, reported hearing the feint cry of ‘murder’ but did not react as it was only one scream.
Years later, between 1976-1988, the public house was renamed ‘The Jack the Ripper’ but reverted back to its original name after a long campaign by the action group ‘Reclaim the Night’ stating that a murderer of women should not be celebrated in such a fashion.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia. utside Ten Bells Public House, Spitalfields. Image by Ivantsp own work.