Watney Street market once had more than 100 shops selling cheese, meat, fruit, shoes and clothing at the heart of the East End. One of those businesses was distinguished by a cast iron sign reading ‘J Sainsbury Ltd’, part of a growing enterprise which would become the largest grocery retailer… You must be a paid …
Category archives: Historical Murders
Year of the Ripper: James Langley
A local guide book for 1888 described the horse-driven omnibus as “the most convenient and cheapest form of travelling from one London street to another”. Many of the services passed through Piccadilly every few minutes from early morning until midnight on the way to Hammersmith, the Strand, Liverpool Street, London… You must be a paid …
Year of the Ripper: James Williamson
James Williamson was a 53-year-old ‘rigger’ who was employed to look after the horses and cabs on the rank in Charing Cross Road not far from Leicester Square. On 22 September 1888, he was on duty when one of the drivers claimed that the paintwork on his vehicle had been… You must be a paid …
Year of the Ripper: Jane Healey
The working class area of Rotherhithe, south London, was described by Dickens as a place where the ‘accumulated scum of humanity seemed to be washed from higher grounds, like so much moral sewage.’ It was a community based around the docks and shipyards, warehouses and factories. Two of the local… You must be a paid …
Year of the Ripper: John Kellar
On Christmas Eve, 1888, a large group of friends were drinking at the Queen’s Head in Tanner Street, Bermondsey. As the name of the road suggests, the leather trade was important for the parish. Bermondsey was a working class area, populated by casual labourers, dockers and street sellers, many of… You must be a paid …