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Hi All,
Into part of the evidence from Eddowes' Inquest I have annotated [in blue] facts taken from a February 1891 report into "The Homeless Poor of London".
[Coroner] Where did you sleep?
[John Kelly]—"On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were down at the hop-picking, and came back to London on Thursday. We had been unfortunate at the hop-picking, and had no money. On Thursday night we both slept in the [Shoe Lane] casual ward . . ."
[“Shoe Lane Casual Ward”—City of London Union Casual Ward, Robin Hood Court, Shoe Lane, St. Andrew Holborn, City of London. Casuals were released the following day].
[John Kelly]—"On the Friday I earned 6d at a job, and I said, "Here, Kate, you take 4d and go to the lodging-house and I will go to Mile End," but she said, "No, you go and have a bed and I will go to the casual ward," and she went. I saw her again on Saturday morning early."
[Coroner]—"At what time did you quit one another on Friday? - I cannot tell, but I think it would be about three or four in the afternoon.
[Coroner]—"What did she leave you for?"
[John Kelly]—"To go to Mile-end."
[Coroner]—"What for?"
[John Kelly]—"To get a night's shelter in the casual ward."
The doors of the casual ward are usually opened in winter at about five, and in summer about six o'clock, and at most of these places, some time before the appointed hour, the casuals will be seen collected at the door waiting for admission.
Admitted within the doors, each applicant for relief is in turn questioned as to his name, his age, occupation, where he slept the previous night and where he is going on departure. The particulars are recorded, and any further questions bearing on the fact of destitution may, if the superintendent thinks fit, be asked. Next the casual undergoes the ordeal of a search, and any money or other property found upon him is taken away. Articles other than money are restored to the casual on his departure; money may by order of the guardians be retained, but is in practice usually returned. If however the casual has as much as fourpence, admission is refused. When the search is completed the applicant is conducted to the bath. Here he strips, and his clothes are taken away to be 'baked' for the purpose of disinfecting them and destroying vermin. They are returned to him the following morning; in the meantime a clean night-shirt is given him.
[Coroner]—"When did you see her next morning?"
[John Kelly]—"About eight o'clock. I was surprised to see her so early . . ."
[Juryman]—"Is not eight o'clock a very early hour to be discharged from a casual ward?"
[John Kelly]—"I do not know."
[Juryman] There is some tasks - picking oakum - before you can be discharged."
[John Kelly]—"I know it was very early."
On each day of his detention (Sundays excepted) the casual, unless in case of illness, does a task of work, which consists, in the case of men, of picking not more than four pounds of unbeaten or eight pounds of beaten oakum, or breaking not more than 13 cwt. [one hundredweight=112 pounds] of stones, while women usually pick two pounds of oakum, or else are employed in washing or scrubbing. The task of work is in no case an excessive one, and may usually be finished early in the afternoon, though the casual frequently dawdles over his work and makes it last on till five or six o'clock. In 1871 The Pauper Inmates Discharge and Regulation Act (34 and 35 Vic., cap. 108) provided that a casual pauper, who is defined to be a destitute wayfarer or wanderer, applying for relief, should not be entitled to discharge himself before 11 o'clock on the morning following his admission, nor before performing the task of work prescribed for him.
1889 details for Mile End Casual Ward—
Cellular = Everyone sleeps in a separate space.
M = Males, W = Women, C = Children.
If Detained: Yes = the casual is detained, except if seeking work.
The documented facts tell us that the earliest Eddowes could have left the Mile End Casual Ward was 11.00 am, and then only if she had finished her washing, scrubbing or picking two pounds of oakum.
[Frederick Wilkinson]—"Kelly slept there [at the lodging house] on Friday and Saturday, but not Kate. I did not make any inquiry about her not being there on Friday. I could not say whether Kate went out with Kelly on Saturday, but I saw them having their breakfast together.
If Wilkinson's story was true, Eddowes could not have stayed at the Mile End Casual Ward on the night of Friday 28th September. But why would she have needed to stay there?
[John Kelly]—"I think it was on Saturday morning that we pawned the boots."
[Mr. Crawford]—"Is it not the fact that the pawning took place on the Friday night?"
[John Kelly]—"I do not know. It was either Friday night or Saturday morning. I am all muddled up. (The tickets were produced, and were dated the 28th, Friday.)
THE STAR, 1st October 1888—
The articles pledged at [Joseph] Jones's, the pawnbroker, in [31] Church-street, have been taken away by Detective-Inspector McWilliams, who has charge of the case. The pawnbroker states that the articles must have been pledged by a woman, as it is against the rule to receive goods from a man pledged in a woman's name.
On Friday night Eddowes and Kelly had 2/6d [30 pennies], more than enough to pay for their lodgings in Flower and Dean Street [8 pennies].
There are two further flaws in John Kelly's story—
Firstly, if on Friday 28th September Eddowes set off at "about three or four in the afternoon" to reach the Mile End Casual Ward, how could she have pawned Kelly's boots in Church Street, Whitechapel, that same night?
Secondly, the Casual Poor Act 1882 amended the 1871 Pauper Inmates Discharge and Regulation Act—
"A casual pauper shall not be entitled to discharge himself from a casual ward before nine o'clock in the morning of the second day following his admission."
If Eddowes had stayed at the Mile End Casual Ward on the night of Friday 28th September, she wouldn't have been discharged until 9.00 am on Sunday, 30th September, eight-and-a-quarter hours after her murder.
Regards,
Simon
Into part of the evidence from Eddowes' Inquest I have annotated [in blue] facts taken from a February 1891 report into "The Homeless Poor of London".
[Coroner] Where did you sleep?
[John Kelly]—"On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were down at the hop-picking, and came back to London on Thursday. We had been unfortunate at the hop-picking, and had no money. On Thursday night we both slept in the [Shoe Lane] casual ward . . ."
[“Shoe Lane Casual Ward”—City of London Union Casual Ward, Robin Hood Court, Shoe Lane, St. Andrew Holborn, City of London. Casuals were released the following day].
[John Kelly]—"On the Friday I earned 6d at a job, and I said, "Here, Kate, you take 4d and go to the lodging-house and I will go to Mile End," but she said, "No, you go and have a bed and I will go to the casual ward," and she went. I saw her again on Saturday morning early."
[Coroner]—"At what time did you quit one another on Friday? - I cannot tell, but I think it would be about three or four in the afternoon.
[Coroner]—"What did she leave you for?"
[John Kelly]—"To go to Mile-end."
[Coroner]—"What for?"
[John Kelly]—"To get a night's shelter in the casual ward."
The doors of the casual ward are usually opened in winter at about five, and in summer about six o'clock, and at most of these places, some time before the appointed hour, the casuals will be seen collected at the door waiting for admission.
Admitted within the doors, each applicant for relief is in turn questioned as to his name, his age, occupation, where he slept the previous night and where he is going on departure. The particulars are recorded, and any further questions bearing on the fact of destitution may, if the superintendent thinks fit, be asked. Next the casual undergoes the ordeal of a search, and any money or other property found upon him is taken away. Articles other than money are restored to the casual on his departure; money may by order of the guardians be retained, but is in practice usually returned. If however the casual has as much as fourpence, admission is refused. When the search is completed the applicant is conducted to the bath. Here he strips, and his clothes are taken away to be 'baked' for the purpose of disinfecting them and destroying vermin. They are returned to him the following morning; in the meantime a clean night-shirt is given him.
[Coroner]—"When did you see her next morning?"
[John Kelly]—"About eight o'clock. I was surprised to see her so early . . ."
[Juryman]—"Is not eight o'clock a very early hour to be discharged from a casual ward?"
[John Kelly]—"I do not know."
[Juryman] There is some tasks - picking oakum - before you can be discharged."
[John Kelly]—"I know it was very early."
On each day of his detention (Sundays excepted) the casual, unless in case of illness, does a task of work, which consists, in the case of men, of picking not more than four pounds of unbeaten or eight pounds of beaten oakum, or breaking not more than 13 cwt. [one hundredweight=112 pounds] of stones, while women usually pick two pounds of oakum, or else are employed in washing or scrubbing. The task of work is in no case an excessive one, and may usually be finished early in the afternoon, though the casual frequently dawdles over his work and makes it last on till five or six o'clock. In 1871 The Pauper Inmates Discharge and Regulation Act (34 and 35 Vic., cap. 108) provided that a casual pauper, who is defined to be a destitute wayfarer or wanderer, applying for relief, should not be entitled to discharge himself before 11 o'clock on the morning following his admission, nor before performing the task of work prescribed for him.
1889 details for Mile End Casual Ward—
Cellular = Everyone sleeps in a separate space.
M = Males, W = Women, C = Children.
If Detained: Yes = the casual is detained, except if seeking work.
The documented facts tell us that the earliest Eddowes could have left the Mile End Casual Ward was 11.00 am, and then only if she had finished her washing, scrubbing or picking two pounds of oakum.
[Frederick Wilkinson]—"Kelly slept there [at the lodging house] on Friday and Saturday, but not Kate. I did not make any inquiry about her not being there on Friday. I could not say whether Kate went out with Kelly on Saturday, but I saw them having their breakfast together.
If Wilkinson's story was true, Eddowes could not have stayed at the Mile End Casual Ward on the night of Friday 28th September. But why would she have needed to stay there?
[John Kelly]—"I think it was on Saturday morning that we pawned the boots."
[Mr. Crawford]—"Is it not the fact that the pawning took place on the Friday night?"
[John Kelly]—"I do not know. It was either Friday night or Saturday morning. I am all muddled up. (The tickets were produced, and were dated the 28th, Friday.)
THE STAR, 1st October 1888—
The articles pledged at [Joseph] Jones's, the pawnbroker, in [31] Church-street, have been taken away by Detective-Inspector McWilliams, who has charge of the case. The pawnbroker states that the articles must have been pledged by a woman, as it is against the rule to receive goods from a man pledged in a woman's name.
On Friday night Eddowes and Kelly had 2/6d [30 pennies], more than enough to pay for their lodgings in Flower and Dean Street [8 pennies].
There are two further flaws in John Kelly's story—
Firstly, if on Friday 28th September Eddowes set off at "about three or four in the afternoon" to reach the Mile End Casual Ward, how could she have pawned Kelly's boots in Church Street, Whitechapel, that same night?
Secondly, the Casual Poor Act 1882 amended the 1871 Pauper Inmates Discharge and Regulation Act—
"A casual pauper shall not be entitled to discharge himself from a casual ward before nine o'clock in the morning of the second day following his admission."
If Eddowes had stayed at the Mile End Casual Ward on the night of Friday 28th September, she wouldn't have been discharged until 9.00 am on Sunday, 30th September, eight-and-a-quarter hours after her murder.
Regards,
Simon
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