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How modern spitalfields relates to the spitalfields of the 1880s
Casebook Message Boards: General Discussion: Research Issues / Philosophy:
How modern spitalfields relates to the spitalfields of the 1880s
Author: Matthew James Payne
Tuesday, 02 April 2002 - 04:25 pm |        | I'm doing a dissertation on the changing image of Spitalfields, part of which includes studying the late Victorian influence of the JTR murders.
I have several questions that i hope some of you will be able to help me with:
1. Does anybody know if any buildings which in 1880s Spitalfields were doss houses, brothels, opium dens, slaughterhouses etc still survive in their original built form today? (im after addresses so i can take photos).
2. In particular, does anybody know the location of a waxworks set up in the area immediately after the murders?
3. Does the whitechapel mortuary that the victims were taken to still survive and if so, where is it?
4. I read somewhere on the message boards that the spitalfields area is still a haven for prostitution, can anyone elaborate on this?
5. I've read about tunnels that extend under Christ Church and catacombs under the old fruit exchange. can anyone give me more information about underground spitalfields?
6. There is a an archway on the modern flower and dean estate that seems to be the only old looking remnant of the previous dwellings. Does anyone know if this is the case?
Thanks for reading this, hope you can help.
Matt |
Author: Christopher T George
Wednesday, 03 April 2002 - 08:53 am | | Hi, Matt:
Good luck to you in your project. Possibly Viper can help you with identifying which of the remaining buildings today may have been dosshouses, slaughterhouses, etc., at the time of the murders in 1888.
To address one of your questions, no. 3, "Does the Whitechapel mortuary that the victims were taken to still survive and if so, where is it?" I believe that one of the scandals of the case is that the victims were taken to various temporary morgues that were more or less sheds at various locations in the district. As I understand it, then, there was no one "Whitechapel mortuary." Possibly Stewart P. Evans or Paul Begg can address this question further.
Best regards
Chris George |
Author: The Viper
Wednesday, 03 April 2002 - 01:13 pm | | 1. Does anybody know if any buildings which in 1880s Spitalfields were doss houses, brothels, opium dens, slaughterhouses etc still survive in their original built form today?
The building at 8 White’s Row, where 1891 Whitechapel Murder victim Frances Coles and occasionally-alleged victim Annie Millwood lived, is still standing. But the entire dwellings of Dorset Street, Flowery Dean and Thrawl Streets have all gone. Some of the early C18th properties that would have looked very similar survive in White’s Row, Fashion Street, Fournier (formerly Church) Street, Princelet Street and so on.
I’m not aware that any of the slaughterhouse buildings survive – certainly not the one in Winthrop Street. It's impossible to say which houses were used as brothels and opium dens, unless you have obtained some specific addresses by research. The opium dens were concentrated in the London docks, located some way to the south-east of Spitalfields. They were kept largely by men of South East Asian extraction – usually Chinese.
2. In particular, does anybody know the location of a waxworks set up in the area immediately after the murders?
Not precisely, but it was on Whitechapel Road. I once found a press clipping which described complains being made to the local authority about a 'penny show'. It was being held at numbers 106-107 Whitechapel Road, sited between Thomas and Court Streets. However, it should be stated these complaints may not refer to the same nuisance.
3. Does the Whitechapel mortuary that the victims were taken to still survive and if so, where is it?
No. Or at least not if you’re talking about the one in Eagle Place to which Nichols and Chapman were taken. Dr. Phillips used to complain about the facilities there constantly because the place was little more than a shed belonging to the local workhouse. It was pulled down a few years after the Ripper murders. I think it was during the 1890s, but the old one was still in use at the time of Frances Coles’ murder. Liz Stride was taken to St. George’s-in-the-East mortuary, close by the church of that name. Catherine Eddowes was taken to the City Mortuary in Golden Lane. Mary Jane Kelly was removed to Shoreditch Mortuary which was behind the parish church of St. Leonard. Hence the five Canonicals ended up in four different mortuaries.
4. I read somewhere on the message boards that the Spitalfields area is still a haven for prostitution, can anyone elaborate on this?
Yes, it is. Commercial Street is a red light area, especially at the northern end. You’ll often see prostitutes in the side streets to the east of it too, such as Wentworth Street and Quaker Street.
5. I've read about tunnels that extend under Christ Church and catacombs under the old fruit exchange. can anyone give me more information about underground Spitalfields?
Help! Somebody else please.
I don’t honestly know, but the answer is 'probably'. These C18th churches were built with enormous crypts, and it's not unusual for major buildings to have tunnels either. Maybe somebody else can help with this. Certainly, some of the pubs on the East End's main streets had huge cellars stretching right below the roads. The Commercial Tavern at 142 Commercial Street had a tunnel from its cellar that is believed to have stretched to the Cambridge Music Hall which occupied no. 136.
6. There is an archway on the modern Flower and Dean estate that seems to be the only old looking remnant of the previous dwellings. Does anyone know if this is the case?
Yes, that's correct. Even by 1888 a certain amount of the rookery had been, or was being rebuilt. It's not strictly true to say that the Ripper was responsible for the improvement of the area's housing, as one occasionally reads. The process had already started. What is true is that the murders publicised the plight of the locals and gave the reformers and philanthropists a big boost. The Thrawl Street area was rebuilt as a result of organisations headed by the Rev. Samuel Barnett, from St. Jude’s Church and by the influential Rothschild family of financiers. The commemorative arch was retained when the locality was redeveloped in the early 1980s and stands in the eastern section of Wentworth Street. It’s almost opposite the end of Gunthorpe Street (formerly George Yard).
Regards, V. |
Author: Matthew James Payne
Wednesday, 03 April 2002 - 05:17 pm | | Dear Viper
Just to say thanks for coming up with answers to all of my questions, im sure all of the information will prove useful to my dissertation and i hope, once ive looked into the area a bit more, it will spur on more questions that you may be able to help with.
thanks again
Matt |
Author: Monty
Thursday, 04 April 2002 - 07:36 am | | Matt, Viper,
Re point 5. Wasnt (or insnt) there a system of tunnels under the mentioned area built for the purpose of storm/sewage tunnels?
I believe there is a theory (mentioned in a old, old Fortean times) that Jack used these tunnels a means of escape.
A colleague of mine (who is off sick with damaged "traps" ????) mentioned to me this theory. Apparently these tunnels where big enough to drive a carriage through.
I shall find out more...unless you boffs out there beat me to it.
Re Point 4.
Brick lane is also rife with the scarlet ladies.
Dont ask how I know.
Monty
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