Did She Know Her Murderer? The police finds Catherine Eddowes, the Ripper’s fourth victim, in September 1888. Image by Wikimedia Commons

The names of Jack the Ripper’s victims would have certainly been long forgotten had they not been murdered by the same hand.

Mary Ann Nichols

The mother of five was an alcoholic whose husband had left her seven years before her death in her early 30s. Nichols walked the streets the last night of her life to get money to stay in a lodging house.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Annie Chapman

Forty-seven years old when she was killed, Chapman is the only Ripper victim for whom a photograph from life remains. Even though she had a steady relationship, she was short on her rent money the morning she was street walking and encountered the Ripper.

Elizabeth Stride

Living with a violent laborer, Stride was a prostitute for almost half of her 45 years. A doctor who ran a home for destitute boys recalled seeing Stride shortly before her death, when she allegedly commented: “No one cares what becomes of us. Perhaps some of us will be killed next.”

Catherine Eddowes

Eddowes, who died at age 46, was in police custody for drunkenness, but released less than an hour before her murder. Legend has it that Eddowes knew the Ripper’s identity and hoped to collect the reward money Samuel Montagu had put forward.

Mary Jane Kelly

The youngest victim, who was 25, warned a friend against becoming a prostitute: “Whatever you do, don’t you do wrong and turn out as I did.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re in the middle of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount