Mary Jane Kelly was the fifth, and final victim of Jack the Ripper. Before she was murdered by Jack the Ripper, it seemed as though the ripper murders had stopped, as there were no ripper murders throughout the month of October 1888. Beforehand, the last ripper murders happened on the 30th of September 1888. Mary Jane Kelly's murder happened on the 9th of November 1888.
The last hours of Mary Jane Kelly's life happened on the 8th of November 1888 and in the early morning hours of the 9th of November 1888. The 8th of November 1888 The 8th of November 1888 was a Thursday and the 9th of November 1888 was a Friday. Before November 8th, Mary Jane Kelly was dating a man called Joseph Barnet beforehand. It is said that Kelly and Barrnet had a pleasant relationship, even when they split up, they kept on friendly terms and met each other on a daily basis. βThe pair met in April 1887 on Commerical Road. Although Joseph Barnet was born in London, he also was of Irish heritage, like Mary Jane Kelly was. Although, Mary Jane Kelly was born in Ireland. Barnet worked in Billingsgate Fish Market as a riverside labourer. Barnet was born in 1858 and he died in 1926. Both Barnet and Kelly were said to have been of 'good character.' According to Julia Venturney said that Barnet treated Mary Kelly well and gave her money. In 1887 Kelly and Barnet lived in lodgings in George Street, off Commercial Street. They then moved to Little Paternoster Row, off Dorset Street. β
Soon after they moved to Little Paternoster Row, they were evicted from the place for being drunk and not paying the rent. They then moved to Brick Lane, after they were evicted from Little Paternoster Row, sometime in either February 1888 or March 1888. They lived for a few months here.
By August or September 1888, Mary Jane Kelly and Joseph Barnet split up. At this time, Mary returned to prostitution. Although they had split up, they kept in touch and met each other on a daily basis. Kelly had moved to 13 Miller's Court, where Barnet would meet her regularly. However, Barnet left her again on the 30th of October 1888. Elizabeth Prater, a neighbour of Mary Jane Kelly's, said that the couple had a fight that day between 5 PM and 6 PM and that Barnet left her. He went to live at the Buller's Boarding House at 24-25 New Street, Bishopsgate. At Mary Jane Kelly's inquest, Barnet reaffirmed what Elizabeth Prater had said he had left Mary Jane Kelly because she was allowing other prostitutes to live at 13 Miller's Court. He went on to say that he would not have left Mary if it wasn't for the other prostitutes that she was allowed into their house. His words were that ''I shouldn't have left her if it had not been for the prostitutes stopping at the house.'' On November the 7th, Mary bought a half penny candle from McCarthey's Shop. Later that evening, Mary Jane Kelly is spotted with a man who resembles the appearance of a man seen with Elizabeth Stride, just before Elizabeth Stride's death. Kelly is seen with this man on the Wednesday night of the 7th of November 1888. Throughout the day of the 8th of November, it is unclear what Mary Jane Kelly was doing that day, her last day. As there aren't any sources to provide information about what she was doing. However, the evening of the 8th of November is well documented. The 8th of November 1888, was the last evening of Mary Jane Kelly's life. The first hour that is documented is between around 7 PM and 8 PM that evening. β
Mary Jane Kelly and Joseph Barnet spent the early evening together, it was the last time he saw her alive. He left around 7 PM to 8 PM. They were also with a friend of Mary's, Maria Harvey, who had left Miller's Court around the same time as Joseph Barnet did.
At 8 PM on the hour, Mary Jane Kelly's neighbour, Julia Venturney, who lived at 1 Miller's Court, went to sleep. Barnett arrived at Buller's Boarding House, where he was staying, at around the same time, after he had left Mary Jane Kelly. Although Barnett is and has been named a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case, he went back to his boarding house, played cards for a few hours and went to bed at around 12.30 AM on the 9th of November 1888. It's unclear where Mary Jane Kelly was between these hours, between 8 PM and 11.00 PM on the 8th of November 1888. There were two reported sightings of Mary between 11 PM and 11.45 PM. The first sighting was at the Ten Bells pub, a woman called Elizabeth Foster claims that she had seen Mary Jane Kelly drinking in the Ten Bells during that evening. Whereas another sighting of Mary was in the Britannia, this unconfirmed source said Mary was drunk and talking with a man who had a moustache. By 11.45 PM that night, Mary was making her way back to her house, with another man. She was spotted by a neighbour at this time, Mary Ann Cox who lived at 5 Miller's Court. Mary Ann Cox parted ways with Mary Jane Kelly saying 'Goodnight' to her, to which Mary replied ''Goodnight, I'm going to sing'' now. Kelly was then heard singing 'A violet from my mothers grave', a few minutes after she left Mrs Cox. And again at midnight. Between midnight and 12.30 AM, Mary sat down to eat potatoes and fish, we know this because of the autopsy report which found them in her stomach, and they were thought to have been consumed at between midnight and 12.30 AM. November 9th, 1888 Kelly was singing again by around 12.30 AM. At this time, one of Mary Jane Kelly's neighbours, Catherine Picket, couldn't sleep because of Kelly's singing. She was about to go and see Mary before her husband interrupted her, ''You leave the poor woman alone,'' he said. Mary Ann Kelly was singing again at 1 AM, according to Mary Ann Cox, who was going in and out of her home when she heard Mary. It started to rain at 1 AM, as noticed by Mary Ann Cox. Elizabeth Prater was standing outside Miller's Court between 1 AM and 1.30 AM. She went to bed at around 1.30 AM and said that Mary Jane Kelly's singing had stopped. By 2.00 AM, Kelly meets George Hutchinson, who lives at Victoria Working Men's Home, they meet at Commercial Street. Kelly asks him, 'Mr Hutchinson, can you lend me sixpence?' To which he replies, 'I can't. I spent all my money going down to Romford.' The conversation ended with Kelly replying to him, 'Good morning. I must go and find some money,'' as she set off walking towards Thrawl Street. Hutchinson noticed Mary meeting another man not too far from where they were talking. He overheard them talking. Kelly greeted the man with ''All right.'' To which he replied ''You will be alright for what I have told you.'' They then walked off towards Dorset Street. Hutchinson followed the pair as they walked down Commercial Street and Dorset Street and then off to Miller's Court, where Mary Jane Kelly lived. Hutchinson saw the pair stand outside Miller's Court talking for a few minutes before they started to walk again. Hutchinson heard Kelly say to the man, ''All right, my dear. Come along. You will be comfortable.'' Mary continued and said to the man, ''I've lost my handkerchief.'' To which the man gave her a red handkerchief. The pair then went off to Miller's Court, this was at 2 AM. Hutchinson waited outside Miller's Court until 3 AM. His behaviour in those early morning hours was strange, strange because he was stalking Kelly and this man that night. His strange behaviour that night is why he has been named a suspect. That, and he was the last person to see Mary Kelly alive that night, besides Jack the Ripper (if Hutchinson wasn't Jack the Ripper). Or, could he have been assisting Jack the Ripper that night? He said to Inspector Abberline that he was watching Kelly because the man she was with, was well dressed and that is not the type of customer Kelly was used to surrounding herself with. Hutchinson left Miller's Court at three o'clock when the clock struck the hour. At the same time, Kelly's neighbour Mrs Cox returned home yet again. She didn't go to sleep and heard men frequently coming in and out of Miller's Court in that hour. It was also heavily raining by that point. By 4 AM that morning, another neighbour, Elizabeth Prater, heard a cry of 'Oh murder'. Such cries of 'Oh murder' were common at the time, and she thought nothing of it. Another woman who was staying at Miller's Court, Sarah Lewis, also heard the cry. Mary Jane Kelly's body was found murdered hours later, when Thomas Bower visited Kelly's place at 10.45 AM on the morning of the 9th of November 1888. He was there to collect overdue rent from Kelly. He knocked on the door, to no response. When he didn't receive a response, he went to the side of the house and pulled back the curtain, to witness Kelly's mutilated body. Several hours later, the police arrived at the scene and broke down the door, to enter the house. Mary Jane Kelly died on the 9th of November 1888.β
1 Comment
16/4/2018 16:52:16
Mary Jane Kelly commented - "I've lost my handkerchief"- was this some kind of code between a lady of services to a client?
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2023
Categories
All
← Resize me
|