Annie Millwood

Possible victim mentioned in Sugden's The Complete Jack the Ripper and Hinton's From Hell. The widow of a soldier named Richard Millwood, Annie was thirty-eight years of age in the winter of 1888. She lived in 8 White's Row, Spitalfields, and may have been supporting herself through prostitution, though that is pure speculation.

Annie was admitted into the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary on Saturday, February 25, 1888 from 8 White's Row, Spitalfields. Records report the cause of admission simply as 'stabs' to the legs and lower torso with a knife. An article in the Eastern Post sheds a bit more light on the subject:

"It appears the deceased was admitted to the Whitechapel Infirmary suffering from numerous stabs in the legs and lower part of the body. She stated that she had been attacked by a man who she did not know, and who stabbed her with a clasp knife which he took from his pocket. No one appears to have seen the attack, and as far as at present ascertained there is only the woman's statement to bear out the allegations of an attack, though that she had been stabbed cannot be denied."

In her own words, the man was a stranger. The exact number of wounds is unknown.

Regardless, Annie made a complete recovery and was released a little less than a month later, on March 21, being sent to the South Grove Workhouse, Mile End Road. Strangely, ten days later on the 31st of March, she collapsed and passed away in the back yard of the building while 'engaged in some occupation.' Coroner Baxter headed the inquest on April 5th, and her death was attributed to 'sudden effusion into the pericardium from the rupture of the left pulmonary artery through ulceration.' The death was from natural causes, unrelated to her vicious attack over a month before.

Although rarely mentioned in connection with the Ripper murders, it may be interesting to note that there are many similarities between this murder and that of Martha Tabram:

• Age (38) — Martha Tabram was 39.
• Location (White's Row) — only minutes away from George Yard, site of Tabram's murder.
• Injuries (Repeated Stab Wounds in Lower Torso) — similar to 39 stabbings of Tabram.

It is quite possible that the same man who attacked Martha Tabram attacked Annie Millwood, and in light of recent proposals that Tabram be included as the 'sixth' canonical Ripper victim, there are bound to be more studies into the attack of this previous victim.