The Graves of the Canonical Victims
A collection of photographs and descriptions of the present-day locations
of the graves of Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catharine
Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. Submitted by Ian Griggs. Including photographs
of Mary Kelly's grave marker (before it was vandalized) submitted by Maureen
Barlow.
Last week (circa 2/97), together with a friend who was visiting the
UK from California, I visited all five of the victims' graves. The following
update may be of interest to Casebook visitors.
Tuesday (25th February 1997) we went to the East London Cemetery at
West Ham. This is the last resting place of Liz Stride. With the help of
a lady at the Cemetery Office, and then one of the gardeners, we found
her grave. It does not have a headstone or a marker to indicate that she
is there but we were assured that it is the correct location. The grave
has what is called a "frame" - a plain and simple concrete outline
which indicates the position of the grave. It is nothing more than a low
(4 inches) concrete "wall".
The following day, we first went to the City of London Cemetery at
Manor Park where we visited the graves of Mary Ann Nicholls and Catharine
Eddowes.
The graves are only a few yards apart and each has a plain and somewhat
formal bronze marker - set horizontally in the ground. We noticed that
both of Eddowes' names were spelt differently (wrongly?) than normal. I
understood that her Christian name was Catharine (rather than the normal
Catherine) and that there was the letter E between the W and S of her surname.
Her marker, however, is exactly as follows:
Here lie the remains of CATHERINE EDDOWS (Aged 43 years) Buried
8th October 1888 VICTIM OF "JACK THE RIPPER"
Mary Ann Nicholls marker was exactly the same apart from her age (42
years) and burial date (6th September 1888).
Both the graves and their markers are in a well-kept condition in a
pleasant part of the cemetery.
The gravestones of Catherine Eddowes and Mary Ann Nichols have been updated as of 2003, as part of their inclusion in a Heritage Tour guide. The most recent version can be seen below (click on the image for a larger view).
Photographs courtesty of David McCarthy, Systems & Quality Manager, City of London Cemetery and Crematorium.
We next went to the nearby Manor Park Cemetery to seek out the grave
of Annie Chapman. The two gentlemen in the Cemetery Office were very kind
to us but the bad news was that her grave no longer exists. They explained
that it had been a public grave (virtually a communal grave) and that she
had been buried twelve feet down! That ground has since been re-used. The
office did have records however and we were given photocopies of a large
framed "tribute" which had been prepared some years ago. This
included pictures of the grave site and what appeared to be a rough wooden
marker reading as follows:
"WITHIN THIS AREA LIE THE MUTILATED REMAINS OF ANNIE CHAPMAN
WHO WAS INTERRED HERE IN GRAVE NO 78 ON THE 14th OF SEPT IN THE YEAR OF
1888"
There was also a copy of the relevant extract from the Admittance Register
of the Cemetery.
Finally, we re-visited St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetery at Leytonstone
where Mary Kelly was buried.
We had tried to find her grave (unsuccessfully) last year and had later
learnt that the marker had been stolen. We had, however, been in the correct
place. We again found the spot (row 67,grave 16) but the marker had not
been replaced. Due to severe storms over the previous few days, there were
many wreaths and flowers scattered about and I placed a wreath on the spot
where we calculated the grave to be. We then took photographs of it.
We also took photographs of the three graves we did find (Eddowes,
Nicholls and Stride), together with photographs of the entrances to the
City of London Cemetery and St Patrick's Cemetery. Anybody interested in
copies is invited to contact me by email.
(The following two photos
by Maureen Barlow)
These photos were taken in September, 1996, in Leytonstone (NE London)
at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetary. The headstone is painted in black
with the inscription, 'Marie Jeanette Kelly, Age 25, MURDERED Frio Nov
9th 1888.'
As you can see, several mementos were left: several plants, roses
(which I left), a small bottle of gin, a wooden rosary (which can
be seen to the left of the stone above), and a "snow globe" with
a plastic flower in the globe, with an inscription: "MJK: R.I.P.
-- J.B."