Mary Ann Nichols was the first victim of Jack the Ripper, she was murdered on the 31st of August 1888 and found dead outside Bucks Row. The second victim of Jack the Ripper was Annie Chapman, who was murdered just over a week after the murder of Mary Ann Nichols.
Let's take a look at who Annie Chapman was. Who was Annie Chapman? Annie Chapman was born on September 1841, she was given the full name of Annie Eliza Smith. The second name that she is now known for, Chapman, came from her husband through marriage. Her parents were George Smith and Ruth Chapman. Not much is known about the early life about Annie Chapman. What we do know is that Annie was born just six months after her parents were married. Her parents were married on the 22nd of February 1842. Her parents, George Smith and Ruth Chapman, also had three other children, who were Annie's siblings. The three other children were (1) Emily Latia who was born in 1844, (2) Georgina (1858), (3) Miriam Ruth (1858) and a son called Fountain Smith (1861). This is all we know of Annie Chapman's earlier life, her childhood. We do not know much else about her or her childhood. Most of what we do know about Annie, comes from her adult life. Annie Chapman's Married Life Annie Chapman married John Chapman on the 1st of May 1869. The marriage certificate lists their place of residence as 29 Montpelier Place, Brompton. She married John Chapman when she was 28 years old. Annie Chapman and John Chapman lived with Annie's mother, at 29 Montpelier Place, Brompton. Annie's mother lived there until the time of her death, in 1893, which was several years after Annie Chapman was murdered by Jack the Ripper. She outlived her daughter Annie, who died in the early morning hours of the 8th of September 1888. Before Annie died, she lived in several other places, both during her marriage to John Chapman and after her marriage broke up. Montpelier Place, Brompton was the first place that he couple lived, but, it was not the only place that they lived. They also lived in several other places. These other places included 1 Brook Mews in Bayswater, they moved into Bayswater in 1870, they also moved into 17 South Bruton Mews, Berkley Square in 1873. Then, lastly in 1881, Annie and John moved to Windsor, where John took on a new job as a coachman.
In some ways, this was the beginning of a new life for Annie Chapman and George Chapman, however, in other ways, it was the beginning of the end for their relationship and marriage.
Just a few years after beginning their new life in Windsor, Annie and John broke up, in what is said to have been of 'mutual consent'. They ended their marriage either sometime in 1884, or sometime in 1885, the exact date is unclear. Their marriage broke down just a few years Annie was murdered by Jack the Ripper. Both Annie and John were heavy drinkers, which may have contributed to the marriage breakdown between them, though, that is hard to tell. Annie Chapman had a problem with drinking before her marriage even ended. There are police reports that Annie was arrested on several occasions for being too drunk. A police report indicated that the pair broke up because of Annie's 'drunken and immoral ways''. It's unclear what Annie's ''immoral ways'' were. Perhaps it was her drinking, or perhaps there was something else to that statement that we don't know about Annie. She was also known as 'Dark Annie', which may have implied a dark side to her personality. Annie Chapman Moves To Whitechapel Annie Chapman moved to Whitechapel in 1886, around two years before she was murdered by Jack the Ripper. When Annie moved to Whitechapel, she lived with a man called John Sivvey. The pair lived in 30 Dorset Street, Spitalfields. While living at 30 Dorset Street, Spitalfields, Annie received a weekly allowance of 10 shillings from her husband. She received this allowance until his death, on Christmas Day in 1886. After that, the payments that she received from her husband naturally stopped. It is probably at this point that Annie Chapman turned to prostitution. Her situation wasn't helped any, when John Sivvey left her. He left Annie at around the time her husband died, which indicates that he was only with her for the money. What happened in her life between 1886 after her husbands death and up until May or June 1888, is unclear. This is because there isn't much to go on about Annie's life from this timeframe. Although, it's possible that this was the time Annie turned to prostitution, due to financial difficulties. The few months before Annie's murder becomes more clearer, by May or June in 1888 Annie had a new accommodation and was living in lodging houses in Whitechapel. She was living at Crossingham's Lodging House at 35 Dorset Street, Spitalfields, which would be her last place of residence before her death. The lodging house which she took up residence in, wasn't far from her old address. Her new home was 35 Dorset Street, Spitalfields. As well as taking up prostitution to earn money, Annie also had worked selling flowers and doing crochet work. In mid-August, she met her estranged brother, who she informed that her life was hard. Her brother in return gave Annie 2 shillings. Annie met her brother that month on Commercial Road. On the 1st of September 1888, Annie Chapman had a fight with Eliza Cooper, a woman who also lived in the lodgings with Annie. The fight was about Edward Stanley, though, there is conflicting information about why the two were fighting about him, it's possible that there was a love rivalry going on there. Annie was unwell that week, from the 1st of September to the 8th of September. She was said to be unwell because of the fight she had with Eliza Cooper. However, she was also possibly unwell because of her lack of food consumption. Annie said to Amelia Palmer that she was feeling unwell and that she had nothing to eat or drink on the day of the 4th of September. Her lack of food consumption was most likely due to her not being able to afford food or drink that day. As Amelia Palmer said that she gave Annie 2d for some food and tea. She also said to Annie not to spend the money on alcohol. Which indicates that Annie was unwell in her final week because she was not eating or drinking soft fluids because she was spending the money on alcohol. The final week of Annie's life from the 1st of September to the 8th of September 1888, was eventful and tragic. It was a week of fights, ill health, prostitution and depression. What was to follow was to shock the Whitechapel region of London, when Annie Chapman became the second victim of Jack the Ripper. Annie Chapman Died On The 8th Of September 1888
2 Comments
Gafyn Reynolds
27/7/2017 21:53:19
Interesting read! Can't wait for the next instalment :)
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Real Time History
31/8/2017 00:25:03
Thank you Gafyn! :-)
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