A wave of brutal murders took place in the autumn of 1888, in the east End of London, which caused a great scandal amongst the British Establishment.
Queen Victoria was the heir of the throne at the time and London was the largest capital city of the world, with an ever expanding empire, of which she has ruled for 50 years.
The city of London reflected the supreme confidence of the time; yet not far away, in White Chapel was crime, violence, drunkenness and poverty which 76,000 residents were subjected to everyday.
The East End was the outcast area of London. In 1883, the Chairman of London’s school board did a report that out of 1129 families, 871 of them were living in one roomed homes, with up to nine people in each.
White Chapel had the worst slums, worst over crowdedness and the highest death rate, along with being the immigrant district. In the 1880’s there was a great influx of Jewish immigrants who were feeling persecution from Russia, Poland and Romania. White Chapel appeared as a foreign town, with most of its inhabitants being lower class Jews, who spoke in their own language and dressed in a different manner to the other citizens.
These immigrants lived in a different way to the rest of the gentile population, which caused them to be resented by them, which was made even greater by the fact that they were Jewish. This created a lot of racial tension, as these immigrants were accused of taking English jobs and homes. However, they all shared the poverty of the East End. Their living conditions were dire, as sanitation was poor and the streets were covered in straw and horse droppings. Life was made to be a daily