Why was east london ripe for murder in 1888?
East London was ripe for murder in 1888 primarily because it was so overcrowded. Its districts were also a mix of itinerants (eg: sailors at the docks), and a large ethnic population (Jews, Russians, Poles, Chinese, Irish, etc.) all living cheek by jowl with the bone fide Cockney, and those who had moved to London to find a job. Tenement houses (or slums) sometimes had a number of families living in a single room in terrible conditions. Remember that convicts were no longer transported to ‘the colonies’ like Australia at this time, so their prisons were also overcrowded. 2,000 prostitutes walked the streets of this great capital, and policing was made difficult because there were two distinct police forces – the City of London police (who only patrolled the Royal Mile) and the Metropolitan Police. Four of Jack’s accepted crimes occurred in the Metropolitan jurisdiction, while one of the ‘Double event’ murders occurred in the City of London’s area. Throw Scotland Yard into the mix, and