Murder & homicide · 1888 · Victorian

The Whitechapel Murders (Jack the Ripper)

In the autumn of 1888 a series of brutal murders of women in Whitechapel, east London, terrified Victorian Britain and gave rise to the enduring Jack the Ripper legend. The canonical five victims were killed between August and November 1888. Despite a huge investigation and countless theories since, the killer was never identified.

This summary is written in our own words from published historical sources. Map locations are approximate. Every case in the archive is at least ten years old.