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Dorset Street, Spitalfields, photographed in 1902; Mary Jane Kelly was killed in Miller's Court, off this street, in 1888
Dorset Street, Spitalfields, photographed in 1902; Mary Jane Kelly was killed in Miller's Court, off this street, in 1888. Photo: Jack London · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Unexplained mysteries · Whitechapel, London · 1888 – 1891

Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel Murders

Unresolved1888 CE – 1891 CEWhitechapel and Spitalfields, London, UK

Five women were murdered in London's East End in the autumn of 1888. The killer was never identified, and the women were long remembered only as victims.

Between 31 August and 9 November 1888, Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly were murdered in Whitechapel and Spitalfields, among the poorest districts of London. These five are known as the 'canonical' victims; police files cover eleven Whitechapel murders between 1888 and 1891, and not all were necessarily by the same person. No one was charged.

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How to read the labels

EstablishedSupported by strong, converging evidence.
ContestedEvidence exists but qualified scholars disagree.
UnresolvedThe question is open; evidence does not settle it.
LegendComes from myth, literature or tradition, not physical evidence.
SpeculativeA hypothesis with little direct evidence so far.

Hero image: Dorset Street, Spitalfields, photographed in 1902; Mary Jane Kelly was killed in Miller's Court, off this street, in 1888. Photo: Jack London · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons. Evidence labels describe the written claims, not the image. Version 1 · updated 2026-10-22.