Lesson Title: Who were the victims of Jack the Ripper? Know who victims of Jack the Ripper were Understand what the Jack the Ripper victims have in common Skills: making decisions, selecting information, inference

Starter Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they won’t fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I can’t use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do I shall clip the lady's ears off and send to the Police officers just for jolly, wouldn't you? Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good luck Yours truly, Jack the Ripper 1.What can you tell about Jack the Ripper from his “Dear Boss” letter to the police? 2.Many believed that this letter may have been a hoax written by a journalist to make the case more interesting. Do you think the letter was a hoax or was it written by the ripper himself?

Victims of Jack the Ripper Between August and November, 1888, the Whitechapel area of London played kit witness to a series of horrific murders, which remain to this day unsolved The unknown criminal, formerly known as “Leather Apron”, later to be referred to as “Jack the Ripper”, stalked the dimly lit, fog blanketed streets of the East End with a single, brutal ambition…..MURDER Undercover of darkness he lurked within the shadows, awaiting his prey… “the street women” of Old London Town It is unclear just how many women the Ripper killed. It is accepted that he killed five; some say four while others say seven or more The public, press and even many junior police officers believed that the Ripper was responsible for nine slayings There is no evidence to suggest that any of Jack’s victims knew each other. They varied in both age and appearance. Most were drunk or thought to be drunk when they were brutally murdered by the Ripper

Who was Jack the Ripper? The five murders that are generally accepted as work of Jack the Ripper are: Polly Nichols, murdered Friday 31 st August 1888 Annie Chapman, murdered Saturday 8 th September 1888 Elizabeth Stride, murdered Sunday 30 th September 1888 Catherine Eddowes, murdered Sunday 30 th September 1888 Mary Jane Kelly, murdered Friday 9 th November 1888 On top of the five accepted victims, there are good reasons to believe that the first victim was Martha Tabram who was murdered Tuesday 7 th August 1888 All five of the victims and Tabram were prostitutes and killed between early August and early November 1888

Task One Read through the information about the victims from the information sheet Create a brief fact file for each of the victims Include: who? what? where? when? occupation?

Task Two Make a list of all the things that most of the victims have in common You should have at least five items in your list

Task Three Fill in the gaps in the table on the A5 worksheet about the Ripper victims The information sheet will help

Plenary – Class Discussion As a police constable investigating the Ripper case what are your initial ideas?

Homework Activity For homework you must complete the tasks from the homework task sheet entitled: Were the police to blame for being unable to solve the murders of Jack the Ripper? Before completing the tasks, read through all of the information on the homework sheet Then answer questions 1-3 from the bottom of the sheet, write down your answers in your exercise book using full sentences where needed Due in ________ (next lesson)