In 1888 Whitechapel and Spitalfields in London were gripped in horror and fear when five women were brutally slaughtered, all within just over two months.  Much has been speculated about the identity of the elusive killer dubbed Jack the Ripper, but not so much is written about the real lives of those women who were the victims of this notorious serial killer. 

The so-called “canonical five” victims were Mary Ann Nichols (whose body was found on August 31), Annie Chapman (found September 8), Elizabeth Stride (found September 30), Catherine (Kate) Eddowes (found September 30), and Mary Jane Kelly (found November 9). It has been assumed that all these women were prostitutes, soliciting on the streets of Whitechapel. All, but Mary Jane Kelly, were butchered on the street and Kelly was killed in her room. 

Curiously, recent research reveals that Nichols, Chapman, and Eddowes were not full-time prostitutes; that Stride had resorted to soliciting only occasionally, during periods of desperate poverty, and that the only verifiable prostitute among the five was Kelly. 

Were these women also victims of class-based Victorian prejudice and moral self-righteousness?

Author Jonathon Perrin introduces us to each of these unique women, telling the stories of their lives, how they unravelled, and their deaths - all set against the backdrop of East End London during the Victorian Age. It was a horrific period for the lower classes, when judgment ran high, addiction help was non-existent, and a bed for the night in a workhouse lodging could be had for 4d – a British fourpence coin, valued at about a third of a shilling.  

Based on the Sunday Times Bestseller, “The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper” by Hallie Rubenhold, the webinar will also include an exclusive look inside London’s own “Jack the Ripper Museum”, which the author recently visited.

Copyright 2025 Jonathon A Perrin