Murder and Mayhem

Hi everyone.

It was a really good meeting this morning, we got loads of work done. I hope everyone is looking forward to actually doing the presentation.

Claire was thinking of using a quote from one of Sherlock Holmes books to illustrate perhaps why the whole Jack the Ripper has survived so many years....

I think its this one:

"There is a mystery about this which stimulates the imagination; where there is no imagination there is no horror"

Ref: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A Study In Scarlet.

It sums it up quite well. We are mystified about the character, we imagine the horrific conditions, the murders etc. By the way this story was not about Jack the Ripper.

The other thing which I'm going to try and work into my conclusion is the fact that all this happened just over a hundreds years ago. This was during my Grandfather's lifetime. He was born in 1884. My Mother can remember her Mother discussing it and how it was passed by word of mouth through the family from her parents. just 3 generations.

My conclusion is going to be based on how Jack the Ripper occurred at a time of change as illustrated by the material in the presentation.

I'll use the idea that had the same murders happened a 100 years before the information wouldn't have survived. It would have been woven into folkloric style stories. Jack the Ripper was spawned from the pit of Industrialisation, and regardless of whether he was rich or poor, he was still a product of the time, place and people. The media sensationalised his activity, but to some extent the media at the time was a sensation in its own right. The ability to send news all around the world by wire, the ability of the general population to read all of these thing conspired to ensure he remained alive in peoples memories....and when the memories faded or were gone to the grave the printed word, the photographic image took over and acted as the consciousness of the people. I'm also going to suggest that if those murders happened 100 years later they would also pass out of the consciousness of people. We have so much information now that the horrors of one case are quickly replaced by the horrors of another, they are absorbed into the everyday. Also there would be a much greater chance of catching the perpetrator of heinous crimes, fingerprints, DNA, trace evidence, better photography.

To sum up the discussions we had, particularly as we weren't all around at the same time.

1. The idea that Jack might have been well to do, aristocracy, educated, could come from a number of things.
   Droit de seigneur: Although this is based 'lord's right' in medievel times and is disputed as fact, the chances are that through oral story telling traditions some notion of the aritocratic feudal system existed. A 'them' and 'us' situation within both the working class and the upper class.
2. It distanced the poor of London from the criminal. Rather than think that the murderer was a husband, lover, father, brother etc, it might have been easier to place the murderer outside of the known circle of aquaintances. It also highlights our own ability to act as criminal. "If Jill Bloggs could be a murderer well then so could I" style of thing.
   
3. Strangely, that disassociation may have acted to maintain the status quo. Instead of rebelling against the conditions under which they were living, the poor carried on. Was this because they viewed the upper class etc as corrupt - morally. Hypocrisy loomed large withinVictorian Society. To some extent you have to read between the lines to find out what went on between the sheets, in the doorways and alleyways etc. Unless you delve into Victorian pornography there sex etc is eluded to in literature. Certainly writers such as Thomas Hardy were castigated for discussing illigitimacy and sex before marriage. Mary Ann Evans (who wrote as George Eliot) also sufferred social exile due to her relationship with George Henry Lewes.
4. The way in which the environment contributd to J the R ability to commit murder. When we went on the walk our guide explained how one of the murders took place (Catherine Eddowes I think) in a dark courtyard. Catherine was quite badly mutilated (info is in the handouts) so it must of taken no small amount of time to do the damage. While this was happening a watchman from the factory that formed one of the wall stood in a doorway looking into the square and saw and heard nothing. Well maybe nothing unusual. It was probably too dark to see anything, coupled with fog and smog. But also, if you live in a society where sex on the streets for tuppence is commonplace, the chances are a few odd noises in a dark courtyard arn't going to catch your attention.
5. We discussed the difference in annual income, which translates across to the mortality rate and average age of death.
6. We also discussed the number of prostitutes as recorded by the police and the areas in which they were to be found. There are also charts that show how they were categorised.
   
7. There is some difficulty in locating the division area of Whitechapel, but the J the R casebook website indicates that it was covered by Div H and J. Whilst we couldn't find number for J (The met have incomplete Records) The highest number of prostitutes is recorded in H Division.
8. We discussed the fact that most of the victims (Mary Kelly being the exception) were in their 40's and basically coming to the end of their lives. Affected by alcohol, poorly nourished, exposed to disease and harsh living conditions they would not have lived into old age.
9. We discussed some of the reform movements: Chartist, Temparence etc. Some were very harsh in their treatment of the poor and believed that they were idle etc. Often only turned to in desperation because of their restrictive practices. We also chatted about some of the Acts of Law passed.
10. We talked about some of the outcomes. J the R did succeed in awakening a social consciousness about the plight of the poor. The position of women changed quite considerably in the following 40 years. Acts were bought in to protect workers and stop child labour. Slum clearance in some areas (although not always a help...often people couldn't afford the new housing) but things slowly, very slowly got better.

There is probably other stuff so feel free to add.

Reminder: Thursday 29th Nov 9-11 HLC room 129 for final tweeking of presentation
Monday 3rd October 3-5 room 128 HLC for practice. The plan is to all meet at 4pm.

Claire needs all bullet point etc that you want on the slides by Monday.

For anyone in Research Methods I've Emailed Steve to tell him we might be late, I'll let you know the outcome.

Good luck getting all your stuff together.

Polly