Whitechapel 1888The evidence, and its limits

Scene · Mary Ann Nichols · 31 August 1888

Buck's Row — Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols

Then: Buck's Row, Whitechapel (south footway, in front of the gateway to Brown's Stable Yard, between the Board School and New Cottage; Essex Wharf opposite). Now: Durward Street, London E1 — south side between Trinity Hall (former Board School, the only survivor) and Kempton Court; next to Whitechapel station.

Schematic plan

Schematic reconstruction — not a historical plan · North at top; Buck's Row runs left (west, toward Baker's Row) to right (east, toward Brady Street). · Schematic. Width of plan ≈ 60 m (approx); street width drawn from Matters' ~20 ft (approx). Not a survey.

Buck's Row (cobbled roadway)South footwayNorth footwayBoard School (now Trinity Hall)East London Railway (beneath street, approx)Brown's stable-yard gates (closed, ~9–10 ft)Brown's Stable YardNew Cottage (Emma Green)Terrace of two-storey cottages (to Brady St)Essex Wharf (3-storey offices; Purkiss)Warehouses, north side (Brown & Eagle wool warehouse, Schneider's cap factory — positions uncertain)Winthrop Street (behind school; slaughterhouse)Body (head east)

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)

Last seen alive c.2.30 a.m. (Emily Holland, Osborn Street). PC Neil passed the spot c.3.15 and saw no one. Found by Cross (Lechmere) and Paul c.3.40; by PC Neil c.3.45. Dr Llewellyn on scene c.3.50–4.00. Body removed before Inspector Spratling arrived c.4.30.

Last reported sighting
“About half-past two” ≈ 02:30 (claim)
Discovery
“not far from 3.45 a.m. (coroner); Cross c.3.40 (inferred)” ≈ 03:40–03:45 (claim)
Police beats

Events at this scene

  1. “1:20 or 1:40 AM”01:20–01:40 Turned out of the lodging-house kitchen (18 Thrawl Street) for lack of doss money; shows off a new bonnet.
  2. "About half-past two" (DT); "about two o'clock" (Echo); "positive as to the time being 2.30" (MG)02:15–02:45 Ellen Holland sees Nichols at the corner of Osborn St / Whitechapel Rd, talks with her ~7-8 min; Nichols walks off eastwards.
  3. “about a quarter-past three”03:10–03:20 Neil sees the slaughtermen at work (about a quarter past three).
  4. "about a quarter-past three, or half an hour before I found the body" (DT); "last on the spot... at 3.15" (MG, police-sourced)03:10–03:20 PC Neil passes along Buck's Row on his beat, sees no one (previous round).
  5. "about 3.40am" (Abberline report, secondhand); no clock time in Cross's testimony03:36–03:45 Cross notices a figure at the gateway ("thought it was a tarpaulin"), walks into the middle of the road, hears a man ~30-40 yards behind.
  6. "at a quarter to four o'clock" (DT); "about a quarter to four" (DN); "at a quarter to four" (Star); "at a quarter past 4" (Times); "at twenty minutes past four" (Echo); "at 20 minutes past four" (ES/MA)03:43–03:52 Carmen speak to PC Mizen at Hanbury St / Baker's Row. Content disputed; whether Mizen continued knocking up disputed.
  7. "about a quarter to four" (Star 31 Aug); "reports the time as 3.45" (MG); "about 4.30" (Echo 31 Aug, error); "half an hour" after his 3:15 pass (DT)03:43–03:50 PC Neil, walking east along Buck's Row toward Brady St, comes upon the body and examines it with his lantern.
  8. "Dr. Llewellyn came in about ten minutes" (DN 3 Sep, Neil)03:55–04:10 Llewellyn arrives and examines the body; Thain returns with him and finds Neil and two workmen at the body.
  9. “about a quarter-past four”04:15–04:20 Thain calls at the slaughterhouse for his cape; slaughtermen go to see the body.
  10. “about half-past four (DT) / 4 30 (Times)”04:30–04:40 Inspector Spratling arrives; body already removed; blood being washed away; stains between the stones.
  11. About six o'clock that day06:00–08:00 Spratling examines Buck's Row and Brady Street for blood; railway lines searched with Sgt Godley.

Layout

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

A narrow, cobbled east–west street. On the south side, from west to east: the three-storey Board School (1876–7); the East London Railway, cut beneath the street just east of the school; the closed, roughly 9–10 ft wooden gates of Brown's Stable Yard; then New Cottage (Emma Green) and a terrace of two-storey cottages running east toward Brady Street. On the north side, opposite the gateway, the three-storey brick offices of Essex Wharf (manager Walter Purkiss living there), with large warehouses along the north side. Winthrop Street, with Barber's horse-slaughterhouse, ran parallel behind the school. The only lighting mentioned at the inquest is a street lamp 'at the end of the row'.

  • Retrieved approximate Gateway closed, about 9–10 ft high, leading to stables (claim)
  • Retrieved Well supported Houses eastward of the gateway; Board School westward; Essex Wharf opposite (claim)
  • Retrieved Well supported Railway cut beneath the street just east of the school (claim)
  • Retrieved approximate Street ~20 ft wall to wall, ~3 ft pavement (Matters, 1928) (claim)
  • Retrieved uncertain One street lamp at 'the end of the row' — end not specified (claim)
  • Inference approximate Relative spacing on the plan is schematic (claim)
How the body lay (position only; no injury detail)

Lying on her back on the footway outside the closed gateway, lengthways along the street, head to the east, left hand touching the gate, legs extended; bonnet beside her left hand. Clothing disarranged (pulled down by Paul before police arrived). Blood where the neck lay.

Street names: Buck's Row (and adjoining White's Row) → Durward Street, 25 Oct 1892 (Casebook wiki) Baker's Row → Vallance Road Thomas Street → Fulbourne Street

People at the scene

Witnesses
Charles Andrew Cross (Charles Allen Lechmere), Robert Paul, Emma Green, Walter Purkiss, Patrick (reported as Alfred) Mulshaw, Henry Tomkins, Emily Holland
Police
PC John Neil (97J), PC John Thain (96J), PC Jonas Mizen (55H), Sergeant Kirby (Kerby), Inspector John Spratling (J Division), Inspector Joseph Helson (J Division), Sergeant Godley, Detective-Sergeant Patrick Enright, Inspector Frederick George Abberline (CID, Scotland Yard)
Medical
Dr Rees Ralph Llewellyn

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.

Durward Street (formerly Buck's Row), photographed c.1928 and published in Leonard Matters, The Mystery of Jack the Ripper (1929). Not an 1888 photograph.. Photograph c.1928, forty years after the murder: the street as it was then, not in 1888
Photograph c.1928, forty years after the murder: the street as it was then, not in 1888Durward Street (formerly Buck's Row), photographed c.1928 and published in Leonard Matters, The Mystery of Jack the Ripper (1929). Not an 1888 photograph.Hulton Archive. Public domain · source page

Shows the victim (not graphic).

Popular illustration of PC Neil finding the body of Mary Ann Nichols by lantern-light (date of publication uncertain; Commons gives 1903).. Period illustration: an artist's impression, not a photograph
Period illustration: an artist's impression, not a photographProvenance warning: Same image as above. Commons title 'PC Jonas Mizen Discovers…' contradicts testimony (the passage from “Casebook transcription: Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols inquest, day 2 (3 September 1888), from The Daily Telegraph, 4 September 1888, p. 2”: Mizen arrived after Neil). Use a neutral caption; do not repeat the Commons title.Popular illustration of PC Neil finding the body of Mary Ann Nichols by lantern-light (date of publication uncertain; Commons gives 1903).Unknown author. September 1888.. Public domain · source page

Shows the victim (not graphic).

The Illustrated Police News - 8 September 1888 - Mary Ann Nichols. Period illustration: an artist's impression, not a photograph
Period illustration: an artist's impression, not a photographThe Illustrated Police News - 8 September 1888 - Mary Ann NicholsUnknown author. Public domain · source page
Durward Street (Buck's Row) in 2006. Murder scene of Polly Nichols, the first victim in the Jack the Ripper murders.. Modern photograph (2007): the site as it was then, not in 1888
Modern photograph (2007): the site as it was then, not in 1888Durward Street (Buck's Row) in 2006. Murder scene of Polly Nichols, the first victim in the Jack the Ripper murders.MattHucke. CC BY 2.5 · source page
Essex Wharf, Durward Street, 1988 The viewpoint is just about where the body of Jack the Ripper victim Mary Ann Nichols was found 100 years before the photograph. The street was then called Buck's Row. The "Wharf" name did not indicate a nearby navigation, but possibly the nearby railway yards.. Modern photograph (1988): the site as it was then, not in 1888
Modern photograph (1988): the site as it was then, not in 1888Essex Wharf, Durward Street, 1988 The viewpoint is just about where the body of Jack the Ripper victim Mary Ann Nichols was found 100 years before the photograph. The street was then called Buck's Row. The "Wharf" name did not indicate a nearby navigation, but possibly the nearby railway yards.Robin Webster. CC BY-SA 2.0 · source page
Ordnance Survey map published 1894, detail around Buck's Row (shown under its later name, Durward Street) and Brady Street. The red dot was added in 2009 by a Wikimedia Commons contributor to mark the murder site; its placement is approximate and is not evidence for the exact spot.
Ordnance Survey map published 1894, detail around Buck's Row (shown under its later name, Durward Street) and Brady Street. The red dot was added in 2009 by a Wikimedia Commons contributor to mark the murder site; its placement is approximate and is not evidence for the exact spot.Ordnance Survey (map); red markers added by the Commons uploader (DrKay), released into the public domain. Public domain · source page