Whitechapel 1888The evidence, and its limits

Scene · Mary Jane Kelly · 9 November 1888

13 Miller's Court, Dorset Street — Mary Jane Kelly

Then: Room 13, Miller's Court — the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Street, Spitalfields, reached through a brick archway between Nos. 26 and 27. Now: Demolished 1928; the former Dorset Street is an unnamed service road off Commercial Street, E1.

Schematic plan

Schematic reconstruction — not a historical plan · North at top: Dorset Street along the bottom; the arched passage runs north into Miller's Court; Room 13 on the right (east) of the passage's end. · Room drawn ≈ 12 ft square (approx, secondary). Not a survey.

Dorset Street27 Dorset St — McCarthy's chandler's shop26 Dorset St — front room ("the shed")Arched passage to Miller's CourtMiller's Court (whitewashed houses; dustbin, water tap)Room 13 (≈12 ft square, approx)Wooden partition (to front room of No. 26)Door (locked; key missing)Small window (broken panes; coat as curtain)Larger windowFireplace (opposite door)Bedstead (against partition)Table beside bed (door strikes it)Table by larger windowCupboard (opposite fireplace, per wiki)

approximate uncertain · numbered circles are evidence hotspots (dashed ring: uncertain position)

Plan key: 15 drawn elements, with the basis for each

Choose a numbered hotspot on the plan, or one from this list, to see its claims and source passages.

Case overview · Map · Timeline · Inquest

Time window

Scene summary (research team's compilation)

Barnett visited 7.30–7.45 p.m. Cox saw Kelly go in with a man at 11.45; singing at 1.00; light out by 3.00. Hutchinson (statement) c.2.00–2.45; Lewis saw a watcher at 2.30. Cry of 'Murder' c.3.30–4.00 (Prater, Lewis). Maxwell's 8–8.45 a.m. sighting disputed. Body seen by Bowyer c.10.45; door forced 1.30 p.m.

Last reported sighting
“a quarter to twelve... still singing at one o'clock (Cox); About 2 am (Hutchinson); 8–8.45 a.m. (Maxwell, disputed)” ≈ 01:00 (claim; claim; claim)
Discovery
“At a quarter to eleven a.m.” ≈ 10:45–10:50 (claim)
Police beats
  • No beat constable passing the court is mentioned in the inquest passages retrieved for this site (gap).

Events at this scene

  1. "between half-past seven and a quarter to eight on Thursday night"19:30–20:00 Barnett visits Kelly at Miller's Court and stays about a quarter of an hour; last time he saw her alive.
  2. "at a quarter to twelve" (DT, Star; Times and MA give the same time)23:40–23:50 Cox sees Kelly, very drunk, go into her room with a short stout man with a blotchy face and carroty moustache carrying a can of beer; Kelly says she is going to sing.
  3. "Deceased was still singing at one o'clock when I returned." (DT) / "returned about one o'clock, and she was singing then" (MA) / "About one o'clock in the morning" (Star)00:55–01:10 Cox, back at about 1:00 to warm her hands, hears Kelly still singing; she goes out again. The Star separately reports an unnamed person in the court hearing "Sweet violets" about 1 am.
  4. "I stood at the corner until about twenty minutes past one."... "I went to bed at half-past one" (DT) / "no singing in deceased's room after 1:30" (Times)01:00–01:30 Prater waits at the corner of the court for a man, talks in McCarthy's shop, then goes up to her room (No. 20, above Kelly's): no light seen, quiet, no singing.
  5. "About 2 am 9th" (police statement) / "At 2 o'clock on Friday morning"... "between 10 and 5 minutes to 2 o'clock as I came by Whitechapel Church" (press)01:55–02:05 Hutchinson meets Kelly on Commercial Street near Flower and Dean Street; she asks for sixpence; a well-dressed man accosts her and they walk to Dorset Street; Hutchinson stands by the Queen's Head (press: corner of Fashion St) as they pass.
  6. "at 2.30a.m. on Friday"... "I noticed the time by the Spitalfields' Church clock" (DT) / "about 2:30" (Times)02:28–02:33 Sarah Lewis comes to Mrs Keyler's (2 Miller's Court) and sees a stout man in a wideawake hat waiting and looking up the court (position variously reported); a man and a woman without a hat, the worse for drink, pass up the court.
  7. "I returned to my room at three o'clock" (DT) / "at 3:10 a.m." (Times) / "at 3.10 a.m." (MA)03:00–03:10 Cox returns home: Kelly's light is out and there is no noise; she does not sleep for the rest of the night.
  8. "about half-past three o'clock or a quarter to four" (Prater); "nearly four" (Lewis)03:30–04:00 Prater and Lewis hear a cry of "murder".
  9. "on Friday morning, from eight to half-past eight" (DT) / "between 8 and 8:30" (Times) / "at eight" (MA) / "as near as possible about half past eight" (DN 10 Nov) / "about half past eight" (Central News)08:00–08:30 Maxwell speaks to Kelly at the corner of Miller's Court; Kelly says she feels ill and has brought up a half-pint of ale.
  10. "At a quarter to eleven a.m., on Friday morning"10:45–10:50 Bowyer, sent by McCarthy for the rent, gets no answer, looks through the broken pane and sees the body; returns to McCarthy.
  11. “which I entered at 11.15”11:15 Dr Phillips arrives, looks through the window; decides not to enter yet.
  12. “about 11.30”11:25–11:35 Abberline arrives; waits for bloodhounds.
  13. "We remained until about 1.30 p.m."13:25–13:35 Superintendent Arnold arrives, the bloodhound order having been countermanded, and orders the door forced.

Layout

Layout (research team's description from the cited sources)

Miller's Court ran north off Dorset Street through a narrow brick archway between No. 26 and McCarthy's chandler's shop at No. 27. Room 13 was the back parlour of No. 26, partitioned from the front room by a thin wooden partition, and its door was the first on the right at the end of the passage. Two windows looked onto the court, at right angles to the door; the smaller, nearest the entrance, had broken panes and a coat hung as a curtain. Inside: a fireplace opposite the door, a bedstead pushed against the partition, a small table so close beside the bed that the opened door struck it, a second table by the larger window, a chair and a cupboard. Room 13 is commonly given as about 12 ft square (approx). A lamp in the court faced the door.

  • Retrieved Well supported Back room of 26 Dorset St; door at end of passage (claim; claim)
  • Retrieved Well supported Two windows to the court; smaller nearest entrance, broken panes (claim; claim)
  • Retrieved Well supported Bed against wooden partition; table close to left side of bedstead (claim)
  • Retrieved approximate Room ~12 ft square (Casebook wiki) (claim)
  • Inference approximate Furniture positions on plan schematic (claim)
How the body lay (position only; no injury detail)

On the bedstead, lying two-thirds over toward the edge nearest the door; Dr Phillips concluded she had been attacked lying at the partition side with her head in the top right-hand corner, then moved. No injury detail given here.

Street names: Dorset Street → Duval Street (1904); north side demolished 1928; now an unnamed service road

People at the scene

Witnesses
Joseph Barnett, Thomas Bowyer, John McCarthy, Mary Ann Cox, Elizabeth Prater, Sarah Lewis, Caroline Maxwell, George Hutchinson
Police
Inspector Walter Beck (H Division), Inspector Frederick George Abberline (CID, Scotland Yard), Superintendent Thomas Arnold (H Division), Inspector Charles Ledger (G Division), Sergeant Edward Badham (31H)
Medical
Dr George Bagster Phillips

Drawings and images

Room 13, Miller's Court: schematic floor plan

Reconstruction, not a photograph. Schematic floor plan drawn from inquest testimony and press descriptions. Furniture only; no body is depicted. Not a photograph, survey or historical plan.

Floor plan (north at top)

Floor plan (north at top) - schematic reconstruction, not a photographRoom 13 seen from above, with the passage on the left and the court above. Solid lines are documented in the cited sources; dashed lines are not documented and are indicative only. 16 numbered hotspots link to the source notes below the drawing.

documented in the cited source not documented - indicative zone (position only) · numbered circles link to the notes · 13 documented, 3 indicative features

Room 13, Miller's Court: schematic floor plan. Plan of Room 13, about 12 ft square: the door from the arched passage on the west side, the two windows facing Miller's Court on the north side (the smaller one by the corner, with broken panes), the fireplace opposite the door, the bedstead behind the door against the partition to No. 26, two tables and a chair. Dashed items are not documented and are indicative only.
Source notes for the 16 numbered features

  1. Room about 12 ft square documented · ≈12 ft × 12 ft

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Back to the drawing

  2. Wooden partition cutting the room off from 26 Dorset Street (formerly its back parlour) documented

    Drawn as the south wall, the side towards the front of No. 26 and the side the bed stood against; the partition's exact line is not documented.

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Claim: Elizabeth Prater, in the room above, returned about 1.20 a.m… · Back to the drawing

  3. Door from the end of the arched passage, the first door on the right; spring lock, key missing documented

    Door width and its exact place along the wall are not documented.

    Claim: The door was locked when Bowyer and Phillips arrived; the ke… · Back to the drawing

  4. Arched passage from Dorset Street into Miller's Court documented

    Claim: Miller's Court ran north from Dorset Street through a brick … · Back to the drawing

  5. Miller's Court (the yard with the dustbin and water tap) documented

    Claim: Miller's Court ran north from Dorset Street through a brick … · Back to the drawing

  6. Smaller window, nearest the door, round the corner by the gutter spout; two panes broken documented

    It faces the court, at right angles to the door wall. Its size is not documented.

    Claim: The door was locked when Bowyer and Phillips arrived; the ke… · Back to the drawing

  7. Larger window facing the court documented

    Its size and exact position along the wall are not documented.

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Back to the drawing

  8. The spring lock could be worked by reaching through the broken window documented

    Claim: The door was locked when Bowyer and Phillips arrived; the ke… · Back to the drawing

  9. Fireplace (grate) opposite the door documented

    Its width is not documented.

    Claim: A large fire had been kept up in the grate, hot enough to me… · Back to the drawing

  10. Bedstead behind the door when open, close against the partition documented

    Furniture only; no figure is drawn. Its size is not documented.

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Back to the drawing

  11. Table by the bed, behind the door (the door knocked against it when forced) documented

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Back to the drawing

  12. Second table, next to the larger window documented

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Back to the drawing

  13. Contents: an old bedstead, two old tables and a chair documented

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Back to the drawing

  14. Chair not documented - indicative

    The chair is documented; where it stood is not.

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Back to the drawing

  15. Small cupboard opposite the fireplace not documented - indicative

    Only the secondary Casebook wiki mentions it, and "opposite the fireplace" is also where the door is; position indicative.

    Claim: Room 13 was the partitioned-off back room of 26 Dorset Stree… · Back to the drawing

  16. Sizes of the door, windows and furniture not documented - indicative

    No source gives them; they are drawn at plausible sizes so the plan can be read.

    No source describes this; drawn for legibility only.

    Back to the drawing

Images

Period photographs, plans and press illustrations, with their licences. Illustrations are artists' impressions. Images flagged as graphic stay hidden until you choose to see them.

Whitechapel, Dorset Street, Miller's Court No.13. Photograph taken the day of the murder of Mary Jane Kelly of the outside of Mary Kelly's room [1].
Whitechapel, Dorset Street, Miller's Court No.13. Photograph taken the day of the murder of Mary Jane Kelly of the outside of Mary Kelly's room [1].Unknown photographer (Police photographer). Public domain · source page
26 and 27 Dorset Street with the arched entrance to Miller's Court, photographed c.1928 and published in Leonard Matters, The Mystery of Jack the Ripper (1929). It shows the street frontage, not Room 13.. Photograph c.1928, forty years after the murder: the frontage as it was then, not in 1888
Photograph c.1928, forty years after the murder: the frontage as it was then, not in 188826 and 27 Dorset Street with the arched entrance to Miller's Court, photographed c.1928 and published in Leonard Matters, The Mystery of Jack the Ripper (1929). It shows the street frontage, not Room 13.Unknown author, circa 1900.. Public domain · source page

Content notice: graphic material

Interior of Room 13, Miller's Court, as drawn for Reynolds's Newspaper, Sunday 18 November 1888 (artist unknown): fireplace, two tables and the bed. The remains are drawn as indistinct masses on the table and bed.

This item describes or shows severe injuries in explicit detail. It is part of the historical record and is shown for evidential reasons only.

Your choice applies to this kind of material for the rest of this browser session.

The Illustrated Police News - 17 November 1888 - The scene of the murder, Miller's Court. Period illustration: an artist's impression, not a photograph
Period illustration: an artist's impression, not a photographThe Illustrated Police News - 17 November 1888 - The scene of the murder, Miller's CourtUnknown author. Public domain · source page
Dorset Street, SpitalfieldsDorset Street, UK, photographed in 1902 for Jack London's book The People of the Abyss. Miller's Court was reached through an alleyway on the right.Photograph first published in Jack London, The People of the Abyss, Macmillan, New York, 1903, 319 p., page 2. [1]
Dorset Street, SpitalfieldsDorset Street, UK, photographed in 1902 for Jack London's book The People of the Abyss. Miller's Court was reached through an alleyway on the right.Photograph first published in Jack London, The People of the Abyss, Macmillan, New York, 1903, 319 p., page 2. [1]Jack London. Public domain · source page
photo by Matt Hucke, http://www.graveyards.com, August 2006.. Modern photograph (2006): the site as it was then, not in 1888
Modern photograph (2006): the site as it was then, not in 1888photo by Matt Hucke, http://www.graveyards.com, August 2006.MattHucke at English Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0 · source page
"The Discovery of the Sixth Ripper Murder", cover of Famous Crimes, Past and Present, vol. II n° 18, 1903. Thomas Bowyer discovers Mary Jane Kelly's horribly mutilated corpse on the morning of 9 November 1888.. Period illustration: an artist's impression, not a photograph
Period illustration: an artist's impression, not a photograph"The Discovery of the Sixth Ripper Murder", cover of Famous Crimes, Past and Present, vol. II n° 18, 1903. Thomas Bowyer discovers Mary Jane Kelly's horribly mutilated corpse on the morning of 9 November 1888.Unknown author. Public domain · source page