QUICK FACTS
  1. Whitechapel in 1888 was the district of London that commentators and reformers were highlighting in their endeavours to draw attention to the living conditions of the poor.
  2. It had a reputation for vice and villainy that was unequalled, albeit there were parts of the Victorian Metropolis that were worse than Whitechapel.
  3. By carrying out the majority of his murders in Whitechapel, Jack the Ripper fed into a general angst about the district that was shared by many of the middle and upper classes.
  4. And yet, on the whole, Whitechapel was probably as respectable as any other area of London at the time.

WHITECHAPEL IN 1888

THE ABYSS

In 1888, Whitechapel had a dreadful reputation for vice and villainy, and was the district of London that social commentators had been focussing on for years as they attempted to draw attention to the awful living conditions that existed in the area.