The 1881 census sheds some interesting light on the victims of Jack the Ripper as covered on our London walks.

Of the five victims four of them were married with children and had led reasonably comfortable lives before an alcohol fueled downward spiral brought them to the East End of London where they solicited on the streets and thus became victims of Jack the Ripper.

Annie Chapman, the second victim, who was murdered on the 8th September 1888 in hanbury Street Spitalfields, is listed in the 1881 census as being a ’stud grooms wife.’ She is shown as living with her parents. She and her husband moved out shortly after the census was taken. Following the death of her daughter in 1884 she turned to drink and began the downward spiral that brought her into the clutches of Jack the Ripper.

Elizabeth Stride, the thirs victim who was murdered on 30th September 1888, is shown in the census as living with her husband. Newspaper reports suggest that she wasn’t still with her husband at the time of her murder.

Catharine Eddowes was murdered in the early hours on the same day that Elizabeth Stride was murdered. According to the census she was living with her husband, John Conway, in 1881.

Our Jack the Ripper London walk takes place seven chilling nights a week and makes a great way to get the feel of the streets as they were at the time of the murders.

Our east End London walks range from Jack the Ripper right through to an intriguing tour of the Jewish East End.