In the late
19th century, England became the poster child for how to live ones
life. It was the height of the Victorian era and England was the beacon of culture,
fashion and standards of living.
In London in the 1880’s there was a
clear boarder between the classes. There was the West end of London which encapsulated
how we see the Victorian era today. On the West end of London were the
socialites of the day and where the royal family resided. Women in the latest fashions
paraded up and down the streets, nannies pushed prams through lush gardens, the
houses stood tall and immaculate. If you lived in the West end, you lived in privilege.
The East end of London was a very different
beast. The over crowded streets showed the true nature of the economic times in
Victorian England. Entire families huddled together for comfort on the
sidewalks, many of them with no home or money to sustain them. Peddlers sold
paper flowers, stale bread and trinkets trying to scrape by a living. The surge
of immigrants coming to London in refuge found they were desperate to feed their
families by any means necessary.
It was common place at this time for
many women in the East end to walk the streets selling their bodies to make
enough money to feed their children and rent a bed for the night. It was
recorded that in the 1880’s Whitechapel, London alone had over 1200 prostitutes
wandering the dark alleyways and pubs. London police did very little to curb
this believing that it was a waste of time and resources to arrest these women.
Little did they realize that the East end was creating the perfect atmosphere
for one of the most horrifying serial killers in history.
Mary (Polly) Ann
Nichols
Mary Nichols, who went by the name Polly,
was born on August 8th, 1845 on Dean St., London England. Polly had
a typical childhood growing up. When she was 21 years old, she met William
Nichols, who was a Printers Machinist and they married in 1866.
Polly and William struggled to make
ends meet. They had four children to care for so they had to make every penny
stretch. Polly collapsed under the pressure and began to drink heavily. In 1880
William and Polly separated. There has been some debate over the true nature of
the separation. Polly’s father claimed that William had been cheating on her,
so Polly left the home heartbroken. William insisted that she left when her
drinking became too intense for him to live with so Polly left.
It did not take long for Polly to
realize that she couldn’t survive without making some money to feed and house
herself. At first Polly attempted to work menial jobs to earn a living. She
began by working in the public workhouse and also attempted being a servant for
a more affluent family. Her alcoholism was too out of control for her to hold
down any of the honest jobs she found, leaving her destitute. She did what many women did at that time in
order to survive. Polly began walking the streets of Whitechapel as a prostitute.
In August of 1888, Polly was staying
with her friend, fellow prostitute Emily (Nelly) Holland in a common lodging
house in Spitalfields. The lodging house charged eight pence for a double bed
and four pence for a single bed per night. On August 30th, 1888
Polly found herself escorted out of the Lodging house for not having the money
to pay for a bed that night. She didn’t seem too bothered when she left,
stating that she would be back later. She had just acquired a new hat that day
and felt confident that she would make enough money to pay for a bed.
The last time she was seen alive was
when her friend Nelly crossed paths with her on the street later that evening.
Polly had explained that she had made more than enough money to pay for a bed
for the night but had already spent the money. Nelly could see that Polly was
already intoxicated. Polly assured her friend that she would find one more
customer for the night and she would return to the lodging house. Nelly left
her there, assuming she would see her later.
Polly would be found dead roughly an hour later.
Charles Cross was ending his night
was a cart driver and heading home. On his way in the dark, he saw a bundled
mass on the ground. He figured that someone had dropped a bundle off of a delivery
cart and moved closer to examine it. When he got closer he discovered that it
was a woman lying on the ground. Her skirts were hiked to her waist and her legs
spread apart. He thought initially that she was drunk and had passed out.
When he got closer he realized
something horrific had happened. The woman appeared to have her throat cut.
Charles’ friend and coworker saw him examining the woman as he was heading home
and came over to assist him. Her hands were cold and Charles assumed the woman
was dead. His friend was not so sure and insisted that they look for a police
officer. Both men left the woman in search for help.
There was a police officer on duty
that night patrolling the area and was the next one to find the body. He immediately
concluded that the woman was dead. Her throat had been cut so deep that it had
nearly decapitated her. He ran to get assistance.
Several police came to the scene
along with a doctor. They began to make inquiries with anyone who had worked or
lived in the immediate area. No one had heard anything out in the street that
night. With no witnesses the police had very little to go on.
Later in the morgue, the Coroner found
something more disturbing as he examined the body. The woman had not only had
her throat cut, but had also had jagged slashes in her abdomen. The woman had
been disemboweled.
They were able to track down who the
woman was by a workhouse seal that was sewn to her petticoats. A woman working
at the workhouse confirmed that the woman they found was Polly Nichols.
This became the first of five gruesome
murders that occurred during the fall of 1888. Police had no idea that this
first murder was the beginning of the spiral that would cause fear, hostility
and the first international media frenzy.
Polly Nichols was buried on September
6th, 1888 in a public grave.
Her grave was unmarked for decades, but her name would carry on forever as the
first official victim of a phantom killer later named Jack the Ripper.
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