Mary Nichols - Jack the Ripper's 1st Victim.
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- Опубликовано: 21 апр 2021
- Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols was murdered in the early hours of Friday the 31st of August, 1888, in Buck's Row, Whitechapel, and is generally thought of as the the first of the canonical five victims of Jack the Ripper.
In this video, we follow the course of her life, from her birth in Shoe Lane, off Fleet Street, in the City of London, on August 26th, 1845, through her early adult years when she married William Nichols, by whom she would have five children.
You will see the place where the marriage took place, and view the south London estate where the family had their first real home.
We follow her downward spiral, as alcoholism took its toll on her private life, causing her to separate from her husband and abandon her children. We see the Workhouse in which she spent varying amounts of time on and off between 1880 and 1888, and other locations which she frequented, including the street where she lodged at her father's house for a, and the street where the couple lived at whose house she worked as a servant in 1888, and from which she wrote a letter to her father which gives a real insight into what type of person she was.
In early August, 1888, she found her way to the East End of London, where she resided at two common lodging houses. We hear testimony from those who knew her during this period and feature some locations that still survive which she visited or frequented during the last three weeks of her life.
The story then takes us to August, 31st, 1888, when, lacking the fourpence that would pay for her bed in the lodging house, she was forced out onto the streets of Whitechapel where she met her killer and went with him to a dark gateway in Buck's Row, oblivious to the danger she was in.
The final section of the video, features the police investigation into her murder, discusses the inquest into her death and then covers her funeral, which took place on the Thursday after her death.
Combining footage of the locations as they are today, with evocative images and illustrations that show them as they were in 1888, this film gives a vivid and detailed insight into the life and death of Mary Ann Nichols, the first victim of the killer who would become known as "Jack the Ripper."
I'm so glad your telling the story about his victim. Everyone focuses on Jtr, and the victims other then being called prostitutes ,are often overlooked as women with feelings and families ,and the reason's they ended up where they were at in their life. You did a wonderful job telling her story!
Thank you, Phoebe. Very kind of you to say so.
Very well said. Respectfully telling their story gives them back dignity!
I honestly believe that if the authorities had acknowledged and respected each of these women's humanity, "Jack the Ripper" would have been identified. They just presumed based on prejudices about homeless poor women from working-class backgrounds. The prevailing assumption was that the killer was targeting prostitutes, or was some religious zealout intent of ridding from society what he seen as impure evil - when his/their modus operandi may have been entirely different. Had they actually considered the victims themselves as human beings, with complex lives, then I'm certain they'd have caught JTR.
Sadder that had she not been murdered we would not know or care about her.
I agree!!! They were human beings, women and vulnerable living where they were forced to live. We might as well dehumanize them by saying his victims were all very poor or had noses. Lol That is not a judgement one way or another, but it has an undertone of a bias. One was a widow but she is not referred to as a widow. I guess making them women of, "low morals," or however the people then generalized these women sold more papers.
I love the style of your videos, no sensationalism or directly exaggerated horror, just pure information and facts. So rare nowadays!
Thank you for saying so. I'm really pleased that you like them.
Thank you for returning the humanity that was taken from this lady. I have long wanted someone to speak about these women with the respect and gentleness you have given them, to tell the story of their lives and not just their deaths. The thing I hate most about their murderer, other than the fact he stole their lives, is that he stole their dignity. Thank you for your empathy.
And thank you for your kind words, China.
@@JackTheRipperTours
My pleasure.
Please do these documentaries for the rest of the victims! I watched this one and the Martha Tabram one, loved them both... it’s amazing that there’s so much information about them and their lives
Will do.
@@JackTheRipperTours I agree! Ty for you're fine channel from Detroit area Usa
I'm so glad to have found this channel via Sinead of London Tours. You don't sensationalise the facts and have so much compassion for these poor sad women. Thank you.
Thank you, that is very kind of you.
This channel is absolutely brilliant and filled with so much info I haven’t seen anywhere else. Thank you for sharing with us 👍✌️🙏❤️
Wow, thank you!
You did a brilliant job here. Very respectful. Very touching. Thank you.
Thank you very much!
These women were much more than how they have been portrayed in modern day reading and how they've been classified in historical records. Richard, you tell their stories with so much respect. They had a massive impact on bring about social change. It's sad that they died so terribly, but they didn't die in vain. Bringing attention and publicity to the Eastend squalor and poverty, which was questioned? As the city of London at this time was one of, if not the most lucrative places in the world. Thank You.
Thank you, Jobes, so kind of you to say so.
Wonderful work and remembrance to a woman who, like so many, struggled during an unforgiving and brutal time and place.
Thank you, Kathleen.
Another excellent video.
Charles Cross / Lechmere is my pick for JTR out of the suggested suspects. He was caught in the act and bluffed his way out of the situation. Paul found him stooping over the body, not away from it as Cross claimed. Cross stopped Paul from sitting the body up. There was approx a 20 min opportunity between PC Neals earlier walk along Bucks Row and Robert Paul arriving to find Cross hovering over the body. The doctor's opinion on the time of death takes it even closer to the time Paul found Cross. Cross gave a false name to the Police and changed his story. Based on the time he left home Cross would have arrived at Bucks Row earlier than he claimed, well ahead of Paul.
After getting away with the murder, despite being caught red handed, he was encouraged to carry on.
Thank you.
Cross/Lechmere is my pick as well. The fact that Paul apparently arrived not long after him, but he had no idea that Cross was just ahead of him on his walk makes you think Cross was at the scene a lot longer than he admitted.
Why did Cross stop if he was the perpetrator? I agree there is a lot to point in his direction but I can move past the question of why he stopped.
that was so good very detailed story with great photos of days gone by . R.I.P Polly x , well done Richard for a top video please do more .
Thank you, very kind of you to say so.
This is so sad. Such was life back in the day. Watching this just makes me appreciate everything I have that much more.
It really does Yelena.
It's a crying shame that they've lost her grave . Stupid fools!
For far too many things are just as bad as they were in this time period.
Her Grave Remained Unmarked Until 1996 When The Cemetery Placed This Marker For Her
The victim was still bleeding from the neck and her upper arms were warm when the first police man found her. How could the murderer flee the scene so quickly without being seen or heard as if he had vanished into the air?
Thus why Cross is considered by some the killer since he was with Nichols around the time she received her fatal injury. He lied to Robert Paul and to the cop.
There were no street lights it was easy to flee in darkness.
It was a team with horse drawn carriage.
The murder commited in the carriage.
@@lisakaz35 I've always thought it was Charles Cross also known Alen Lechmare. Him having blood over him wouldn't of raised suspicion seeing as he worked in a slaughter house.
That part of London was full of alleyways, courts, passageways and cut throughs (and often still is). That, combined with the darkness, pollution and lack of bright electric street lighting (the narrator eve says Buck’s Row had little lighting), made it a very easy place to hide. It just goes to show, the murderer was obviously very familiar with the area, hence why it was so easy for him to slip into the shadows.
Wonderful video very respectful its good that the victims are seen as real people whose lives drifted in a direction they could not help
Thank you, Dave.
Robert Paul and Charles Lechmere should have seen and heard each other while walking up Bucks row infront and behind each other...but they didn't. Lechmere was already there long before Paul arrived doing what he did. And the Lechmere tapping on the shoulder ritual was to stop Paul from passing to see what he saw.
The Ripper probably lived on old Montague....not Doveton
It's unclear if Cross/Lechemere and the other fellow went in the same direction or if, after the other fellow went on Cross finished her off . . .
I still believe that Martha Tabram was the first ripper victim. There's endless simarities with the other murders, but only 1 difference. She was stabbed instead of slashed. Everything else was the same
Very informative video you do such justice to the victims of Jack The Ripper very respectful
Very kind of you to say so, Christina.
Your channel is of great internet yo me. It also gives me a real sense of comfort !
Love these videos., so subscribed. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome! Thank you!
“The murder may have still been at the scene when Charles cross strolling along to work.” 🤔
There's a growing contingency holding Cross as a prime suspect, as another documentary goes into Cross' life and person. It revealed that his real name was Charles Lechmere, and he provided his false name to the police. He also lied about a PC already being with Nicholl's body when he and Robert Paul encountered a constable after leaving her body, likely so the constsble would allow them to leave instead of leading him to her body. Lechmere also didn't come forward during the inquest until after his presence at the murder scene was mentioned by Robert Paul, so it could've been implied that Lechmere was attempting to avoid the inquest. It's also believed that Lechmere was at the murder scene well before Paul had approached, giving him enough time to commit the murder but not enough time to flee unseen before Paul's approach. His life is examined, as he grew up not knowing who his father was, and allegedly had a contentious relationship with his mother-in-law. His walk to work on those early mornings also put him within close proximity to most of the murders around the time they were committed, save for the ones when he had the day off from work and could therefore move freely about Whitechapel in search of potential victims.
@@glennwelsh9784 I think that's the point that he's getting at Glenn. Also if you watch the jtr documentary where they use computer imagery to show the streets as they were back then the area where she died is lit up with a lamp so any blood that was leaking from the wound would be visible would it not? So like Christer Holmgren said the wounds must have been incredibly fresh. Points to lechmere. People who don't think its him say,it was too dark and point out that p.c Neil had a lantern so that's why he saw the blood,but if it was slightly lit up by the street lamp and lechmere and Paul got down close to the body,they would have seen it,in fact it would appear quite black but still. Even if we get that gut feeling it was him though,the evidence is all circumstantial,so we'll never know. Otherwise,if there was no blood there yet and her throat had been cut two minutes earlier after strangulation,it leads to only one man,lechmere.
The fact he pointed out the body to Robert Paul but then wouldn't help prop her up also makes it suspicious and the dress being pulled down to hide the injuries.
I also watched the documentary that you all are speaking about. I believe that he was guilty also but like someone else said It's likely we'll never know!
@@glennwelsh9784 my thing is didn’t Lechmere live another 40 years or so? How did he go from being a maniacal, disorganized killer to living a normal life? It doesn’t track for me.
@@rachelraquel758 Yeah, what doesn't track is that JTR stopped killing for some reason, and it likely wasn't because he wanted to. Killers like him don't just stop killing, they can't. They're compelled to kill because they get some kind of gratification out of it, like an addict looking for their next big high. On the night of the Double Event, JTR was compelled to seek out and kill a second victim because he left the site of Elizabeth Stride's murder unsatified. He didn't get to complete the act as he wanted, so he had to find another victim to get that high. So he was either apprehended, institutionalized, moved to a different location to continue his murders undetected, or died. Could any of those scenarios apply to Lechmere?
A wonderful narration of Mary Ann Nichols, which I found very interesting!! Thank you….
Thanks for listening
If you look into Lechmere's life you will never ever again refer to him as "Cross" and realize that he used that name deceptively. Old Tarpaulin hey? The incident in 1876 when the young boy was killed was tragic in itself but we have to establish whether Cross was Lechmere in this instance by knowing his address etc and matching it all up. Whatever happens his family were all Lechmere which makes it obvious to me that the "Cross" name was just to deflect attention. I am not saying for sure he was the Ripper but there are way too many anomalies that surface when you research this man. No disrespect, your knowledge is second to none and your videos are all superbly interesting to watch.
Today is the 133th anniversary of her death- may dje test in peace🙏🙏
It's great that we can talk to you about jtr and you're an excellent source for information,having seen you several times in documentaries. My two favourite stories from back then are jtr and also TITANIC 24 years later. I have wondered a few times if Richard has any interest in TITANIC as I do. Both stories stand at the top for me. Do you have any interest atall?
Hi Paulus. Yes, very interested in Titanic.
😥💔💋⚘RIP Mary, no more suffering, you are in the arms of the lord🙏💋
I've always thought the ripper as Charles Cross.
After all these years post the industrial revolution, the World Wars and the digital boom, it is still devastating we will never get to the end of officially solving the tragic series of events. But I still remain hopeful a team of people are able to find an ethical and revealing conclusion that ends the myths and supernatural/media narrative. Thank you for these series of videos.
You are right on that point. Hopefully the myths etc. will one day be put to rest once and for all.
Read the book;
The Ripper and the Royals.
I found it in a local library.
This book is as close to the truth
as we'll ever get.
Shocking, is an understatement.
@@markrymanowski719 Pure fiction, little fact in that book.
Well done 👍👍 love your vids
Thanks, Mick.
So sad Rip Mary Ann 😢
Such a tragic life. Thank you, a very engaging and interesting video.
I am pleased that you enjoyed it. Thank you for letting me know.
Oh, goodness! I had utterly forgotten the use of the word "fast" to mean xely active, only about women, though.
Forgive me, I’m new to the history - what is the assumed time delay between the attack on Mary Ann Nichol’s and the discovery of her body? The injuries described are so severe she surely was deceased immediately, and yet there is the suggestion that she may have had a weak pulse when the carmen discovered her.
One of the men who found did say he thouht he felt a movement in her chest.
She may have been poisoned
before the attack.
If she was dying from poisoning,
that would explain the weak pulse.
It could very well be that there was very little time between her getting murdered and getting discovered. The pulse she might have had when found was probably the last bit of electricity processed in the body and that would explain why she was still warm at certain bodyparts. A very fresh body but def dead when found.
Zero seconds as the murderer was disturbed and became the joint discoverer.
Polly Nichols, the only victim attacked and mutilated in the street. Liz Stride was attacked, possibly strangled, in the street then forced/dragged into Dutfield’s Yard for intended mutilation. Did Polly and Liz sense danger and refuse their client? Revealing, that Ripper immediately attacks; doesn’t move on to find another victim. Emotions overcoming logic or is he a slow learner? On both occasions when he attacks in the street, things go wrong. Ripper almost gets caught. A risk taker on a lucky streak. Polly Nichol’s murder site is on the end of Buck’s Row leading into a more open space, just after the school, with many places to hide or escape. In contrast, there are terraced houses, both sides, all the way towards the other end of Buck’s Row. The Ripper was fortunate he was disturbed by Cross/Paul approaching from the long, narrow end of the street. He could hear them coming and simply slip away, on past the school. However, if Ripper had been disturbed by PC Neil approaching from his school end beat, Ripper’s best escape route was blocked. Once PC Neil saw blood with his light, or Ripper bolted, there would follow a long chase up Buck’s Row, whistles blowing. The Ripper’s killing spree could have ended before it really began?
Great video, I love all your vids. One tiny moan, though: the word "meagre". It's pronounced mee-gur. Not mee-yay-gur. Please don't take that too harshly, it's not a criticism, my sole purpose in telling you that is to help you improve your content...which I love, by the way. Thank you.
No offence taken. Thank you for your kind words.
Fabulous videos! Love the historical details and depth of info. You mention Charles Cross in this one, tell me, what do you think of him as a suspect? I rather think he's an interesting candidate for Jack the Ripper
Thanks Kristina, pleased you enjoyed it. Yes, I will be looking at Charles Cross in the future.
@@JackTheRipperTours Everybody is calling him Cross but at home at the time, his wife and kids were all Lechmere. Cross was an alias that kept prying eyes/questions away from his family IMHO.
Life was tough back in those days.
Its upsetting that her own husband blamed her for her drinking rather than owning up to his infidelity.
Thanks for the update I'm addicted to Jack the ripper😂😂👍🍻
No problem 👍
Excellent 👍🏻
Thank you Kate.
I looked into what 4d then would be worth in modern money, going by the Bank of England inflation calculator it works out less than £2, however if we take wages as our comparison it is equivalent to about £100
Thank you. It's so hard to compare the value of money. When I read that someone spent $100 on their rmedeival castle I have no idea what that is.
All the years I’ve seen ripper stuff nobody every mentioned that some of these women were wives and mothers
That's exactly what I thought. I love the fact that these ladies are being spoken about as real people and not used as a gory spectacle. This channel is so respectful and empathic.
Thank you very much.
You are welcome!
Brillant thanks
Thank you, Jenna.
I know a year has past since this video but I also feel it was Charles Allen Lechmere, but I am perplexed that the knife was not found and if he put it on his person, you would have thought both Mr. Paul and Lechmere would have been searched by the police for weapons ? Thoughts ?
Can you talk about the theories that Charles cross was the killer?. They seem sensational and very circumstantial to me. But I’d love to hear your viewpoint on their supposed evidence.
I'm working on a Charles Cross video. Hopefully it will be finished later this year.
How many families have been destroyed by alcohol??
My father died of liver cancer and he had been a fairly constant and heavy drinker
Your excellent videos make this Texas girl want to fly to London and take the Jack the Ripper Tour. Blessings to you, sir.💜
Thank you kindly
I’m curious as to why she, and others, began drinking as there is always a reason behind alcoholism. Was her husband abusive to her? In 1871 in Canada, my 3x gr grandmother died on the street from the cold & the obituary in newspaper stated that “she was a drunk & a prostitute”. I thought that it was harsh that the newspaper would print such a thing. I then realized that it was her husband that wrote the obituary in 1871. I only know this b/c I am researching my ancestry.
There sadly seems to be little to say why the ladies drank, because in nearly every case, the ex partner's account of the relationship was accepted and of course the victim wasn't around to put her side. As with the assumption that they were all 'prostitutes' No one who knew her seems to have thought Polly was a prostitute, in fact many stressed the opposite. Curious how her remark about the bonnet was assumed to be a reference to soliciting, when she could just as equally have been intending to pawn it! I think Polly was more likely to have stolen her way to survival, considering how she absconded from her employers.
But there is so much assumption and random judgement. I saw a comment earlier where someone sneerily proclaimed that everyone with British ancestry has at least one prostitute in their family tree! That is patently ridiculous, but that is the kind of looney you get when discussing these things.
Dismissing someone as a prostitute seems to have been the Victorian way of removing themselves from any guilt by association. It is akin to the way the 'Establishment' and the RW press now refer to 'Benefit Scroungers' and CHAVs. It is far easier to blame the victim than the system, and if you can convince other victims that they are somehow betraying them they are not going to look for the real culprits.
I hope you find the truth about your ancestor. I would lay money on her not being what they claimed, or if she was, she was driven to it as her only means of survival.
How come it is always the prostitute that is the pariah, and never the johns who use her? Here, prostitution is not illegal, but soliciting, pimping and using a prostitute Is! Brilliant! It's a trade, and like every trade there are no suppliers if there is no demand. After all ,when was the last time you saw a gong farmer or a lamplighter?
This is shocking. I've read old papers circa confederation era and never seen an articlre with such words. I can't imagine this obit made t into print. Would you tell me which paper ran this?
She was disobient for sure. But it could mean a lot of things too. Like another man, or he's bitter. Or she was as he said.
😔😔😔
Such a sad waste due to drink, I think if Jack hadn't got her the booze would have.
The only silver lining to the ripper not being caught or properly identified, is the names of his victims being a lot more well known then normal and their stories remembered, as tragic as they are and as horrible as they ended, and his real name is lost to time, can't really say that about any other serial killers, generally the victims are almost nothing more than footnotes in the killers life story, everyone knows Bundy, Gacey, Sutcliffe etc etc, but how many know the names their poor victims, which is quite sad really
It’s interesting how this first murder got so much publicity in the newspapers. From the way Iv alway heard it Whitechapel was a place already known for a lot of crime and murders. One things for sure the killer was getting off on the publicity because the next murder got worse.
I ice how the thunderstorm hit there was a fire etc...it's almost as if jack the ripper seized the chaotic day feeling like it was the best time to kill safely knowing the police would be busy
If the drawing was done from first person, which it appears to be, the knife must’ve been very large and sharp. Notice how short her hair is in front. Most women of the time never cut their hair, unless they were very sick or if so, they only cut bangs/fringe in the very front. Her hair was cut right at the level of the place where her throat was slashed.
It seems that when her throat was slit, as a one police officer witness stated “as to be nearly beheaded” that her hair was down and it was cut at the sides of her neck, as well.
It makes sense, since her bonnet was off. It’s also worth noting that hairpins and small combs to hold the hair were a rare possession for many of these women. According to the era and dictation of style, decorum, practicality and modesty, hair was always worn up. Even by unfortunate women and prostitutes. The hair would have been held up by being twisted and secured on its own, or with something else ... or a bonnet. I believe it’s possible her bonnet was holding up her hair, and it came free in the struggle. Otherwise, she might have removed it to avoid crushing it against the wall during coitus. While slashing through her throat, he also cut her hair. To slash as deep across the whole neck, the knife would have to be very long, large and sharp. It would likely only have been stopped by the cervical vertebrae, which would be extremely difficult to sever.
This doesn’t align with the testimony of non-canonical victims when describing their assailants knives. However, it’s easy enough for a developing serial killer to choose a larger weapon, more suited to his nefarious purpose.
He must’ve been carrying it with intent to search for a victim, wearing clothing to easily conceal and to access it, and to hide blood stains. The dark cloaked figure is not far-fetched. Neither is leather apron, (although I doubt the victims would have gone with him in such an outfit).
If Paul thought she was breathing then cross must have the finished her off surely after?
Are any Cops considered suspects?
Hi Addie. It has been suggested. At the time someone wrote to say it was Sergeant William Thicke.
I wonder why most of them had aliases?
Some weren't 'aliases' so much as pet names. Also it was a dog eat dog world, and I suspect many people trying to survive in this cesspit fell foul of at least one person, so frequent name changes would have been expedient. Look into records and you will find hundreds of examples, men as well as women. In fact, some of the men associated with these women have several themselves!
OMG my hair fell out while I watched this. I ate it all but still scary
I was born a century later.
Charles Lechmere
BS. Martha Tabram was the 1st victim.
I'm inclined to agree with you Russell, but this is dealing with the "canonical" five.
4d !
The Ripper did not like older looking prostitutes. Ugly...women.
He hated them enough to kill them!.Oh my! 40 was too old to solicit men for sex. People usually did not live past 65 then. 40 then is like 60 in 2023.
It appears he hated their distasteful looks ,l am honest. Then those women smelled. Bad hygiene.
Now the Ripper was not necessarily a doctor.. Okay.
He could have been a:
Clergy man;
Butcher; mortician;
or even a dad.
That last lady's woman death was a copy cat killer
Jack stopped with 4 women
I think Jack died shortly after the 5 th victim
I don't think he lived too much longer after killing these 4 women. One not his doing.
Also that shawl was good evidence
This was evidence from the mid 2000s. ( 2007)?
It was God's way of giving a clue!
That shawl DNA don't have to match now in 2007 or 2023.
2 different types of blood means the other type was the killer 's
So it was legit.
U had the answer correct
See the fact it had two DNA 's explains one was the killer. Okay.
U know, a rich man could be a suspect too!
Rich men like pretty prostitutes!
No one seemingly adore old prostitutes
Nope
Someone hated seeing these women
They could not vare their ugly sight
That last one was pretty
It was not Jack's doing
Jack was almost near death.
He did not live ...
It all stopped after the 5 th woman.
Serial killers can't stop unless their more victims are gone!!
Jack soon could have been dead too.