Jack The Ripper Abberline
INSPECTOR ABBERLINE
Name Inspector Frederick George Abberline
Abberline was 45 years old in 1888.
Abberline was 45 years old in 1888.
He was a portly, balding officer with a thick moustache and bushy side whiskers.
He had already spent fourteen years as a detective with the local police force, H division, and had gained an unrivalled knowledge of the area’s streets and criminals.
The magazine Toby praised him as:-
“A well known East Ender…[to whom] scores of persons are indebted…He has a decent amount of curiosity, and has been known to stop gentlemen at the most unholy times and places and enquire about their health and work – questions which are often settled by a magistrate, generally in Mr Abberline’s favour.”
The previous year Abberline’s dedication and service had been recognised with a promotion to Central Office at Scotland Yard, and a farewell dinner was held for him in December 1887 at the Unicorn Tavern, on Shoreditch High Street.
But he had barely settled in to his new position when it was decided that his knowledge of the East End villains was just what was needed in the hunt for the Whitechapel Murderer. Thus, in early September 1888, he found himself recalled to his old stomping ground of Spitalfields and Whitechapel.
Almost immediately on arriving back in the area Abberline appears to have disagreed with the common consensus amongst police officers that the crimes were gang related. He appears to have quickly come to the conclusion that he was dealing with a lone assassin. But how were the police to catch this unknown miscreant?
Abberline began his investigation by looking for a common denominator. What did the victims share in common?
Two things stood out. Firstly, they were all common street prostitutes. Secondly, they all lodged in a relatively small area that consisted of 9 to 12 streets which were known collectively as “the evil quarter mile.”
This was a neighbourhood where the common lodging houses were predominant and Abberline decided that a solution to the mystery might lie in this area. So in early September his detectives went in to the evil quarter mile to interview the estimated 1200 prostitutes that police intelligence suggested lived in and worked out of the neighbourhood.
Very soon their investigation turned up a likely sounding suspect whom the local prostitutes knew. simply as "Leather Apron." but he was not jack the ripper
The magazine Toby praised him as:-
“A well known East Ender…[to whom] scores of persons are indebted…He has a decent amount of curiosity, and has been known to stop gentlemen at the most unholy times and places and enquire about their health and work – questions which are often settled by a magistrate, generally in Mr Abberline’s favour.”
The previous year Abberline’s dedication and service had been recognised with a promotion to Central Office at Scotland Yard, and a farewell dinner was held for him in December 1887 at the Unicorn Tavern, on Shoreditch High Street.
But he had barely settled in to his new position when it was decided that his knowledge of the East End villains was just what was needed in the hunt for the Whitechapel Murderer. Thus, in early September 1888, he found himself recalled to his old stomping ground of Spitalfields and Whitechapel.
Almost immediately on arriving back in the area Abberline appears to have disagreed with the common consensus amongst police officers that the crimes were gang related. He appears to have quickly come to the conclusion that he was dealing with a lone assassin. But how were the police to catch this unknown miscreant?
Abberline began his investigation by looking for a common denominator. What did the victims share in common?
Two things stood out. Firstly, they were all common street prostitutes. Secondly, they all lodged in a relatively small area that consisted of 9 to 12 streets which were known collectively as “the evil quarter mile.”
This was a neighbourhood where the common lodging houses were predominant and Abberline decided that a solution to the mystery might lie in this area. So in early September his detectives went in to the evil quarter mile to interview the estimated 1200 prostitutes that police intelligence suggested lived in and worked out of the neighbourhood.
Very soon their investigation turned up a likely sounding suspect whom the local prostitutes knew. simply as "Leather Apron." but he was not jack the ripper
Comments
Post a Comment