Explore JTR - Time Lines Elizabeth Stride The Third Canonical Victim

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[Nov 1843-1888] [Jul-29 Sep 1888] [29-30 Sep 1888] [1-23 Oct 1888] [Discovery of Body] [Body in Situ] [Description of Liz] [Possessions] [Autopsy] [Funeral] [Death Certificate] [Inquest - Day 1] [Inquest - Day 2] [Inquest - Day 3] [Inquest - Day 4] [Inquest - last Day] [Princess Alice] [Berner St] [References]

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NOV 27, 1843

Elizabeth was born as Elizabeth Gustafsdotter to Gustaf Ericsson and Beata Carlsdotter at Stora Tumelhed farm, Torslanda, Sweden, near Gothenburg.¹

DEC 5, 1843

Elizabeth was baptized.²

1859

Elizabeth was confirmed in the church of Torslanda.³

OCT 14, 1860

Elizabeth moved to Carl Johan Parish, Gothenburg as a domestic servant to a workman, Lars Frederick Olofson.⁴

FEB 2, 1862

Elizabeth moved to Cathedral Parish, Gothenburg, still claiming to be a domestic servant.⁵

MAR 1865

The Gothenburg Police registered Elizabeth as a prostitute.⁶

APR 21, 1865

Elizabeth gave birth to a still-born girl.⁷

BY OCT 1865

Elizabeth was living in Philgaten in Ostra Haga, a suburb of Gothenburg.⁸

OCT 17, 1865

Elizabeth was hospitalized at Kurhuset for venereal ulcer.⁹

NOV 3, 1865

Elizabeth hospitalized, again, for venereal disease.¹⁰

NOV 14, 1865

Elizabeth was listed as "healthy" in the hospital entries; she was no longer required to report to the police. (This was the date of the fourth hospital entry with the first three being written on the 3rd, 7th, and 10th of November.)¹¹

FEB 7, 1866

Elizabeth submitted a new certificate of altered residence, changing from Cathedral parish to the Swedish parish in London.¹²

JUL 10, 1866

Elizabeth was entered in the London register as unmarried at the Swedish Church in Prince's Sq, St. George's-in-the-East.¹³

MAR 7, 1869

Elizabeth married John Thomas Stride at St. Giles in the Fields Church. Reverend Will Powell conducted the service, which was witnessed by Daniel H. Wyatt and N. Taylor. (At this time, Elizabeth gave her maiden name as Gustifson, living at 67 Gower St.)¹⁴

1869

Elizabeth and Stride lived in East India Dock Rd, Poplar. Stride kept a coffee shop at Chrisp St, Poplar.¹⁵

1870-1871

Stride moved his coffee shop to Upper North St, Poplar.¹⁶

APR 2, 1871

Stride's coffee shop was next located at 178 Poplar High St, (Elizabeth told friends that the coffee shop was at Chrisp St, Poplar).¹⁷

1874

Stride's coffee shop was taken over by John Dale.¹⁸

MAR 1877

Elizabeth was briefly an inmate of Poplar Workhouse.¹⁹

FALL 1878

Elizabeth claimed that Stride and two of her children died in the Princess Alice disaster of Sep 3, 1878. (John Stride died in 1884. No known record exists showing that any of her children were involved in the disaster. Despite her false claims, no known record exists showing Elizabeth attempting to obtain funds from the publicly offered financial assistance for such victims.)²⁰

DEC 28, 1881

Elizabeth was admitted to the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary for bronchitis.²¹

JAN 4, 1882

Elizabeth was moved from the infirmary to the Whitechapel Workhouse.²²

1882

Stride's and Elizabeth's marriage broke down. Elizabeth began living, off and on, at 32 Flower and Dean St.²³

PRIOR OCT 1884

Elizabeth recieved assistance from the Swedish Church.²⁴

OCT 24, 1884

Stride died in Poplar Sick Asylum from heart failure. His address was listed as Poplar Workhouse.²⁵

BY 1885

Elizabeth moved in with Michael Kidney at 35 Dorset St.²⁶

1886

Elizabeth received financial assistance, twice, from the Swedish Church off of the Ratcliff Highway, giving an address of Devonshire St, Commercial Rd.²⁷

MAR 21, 1887

Elizabeth was registered as an inmate at the Poplar Workhouse.²⁸

c.APR 1887

Elizabeth and Kidney moved to 36 Devonshire St.²⁹

APR 6, 1887

Elizabeth turned Kidney over to Police Constable 357H for assault. She did not appear in court against him.³⁰

1887-1888

Elizabeth was convicted eight times for drunkenness at the Thames Magistrate Court under her own name. (She might have had another conviction on 10 June 1887, under the name of Annie Fitzgerald.)³¹

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Berner St is a residential street located in the Northern area of St. George's-in-the-East parish, near Whitechapel. It ran North-South from Commercial Rd to Ellen St, (two blocks south of Boyd St). Berner St ended at the London, Tilbury and Southern railway. It is crossed by Fairclough St at its midpoint. Beyond Ellen St lay the Swedish Church.
click [here] for area map.
click [here] for descriptive tour.
click [here] for historical development.
On Berner St's Western-side, heading North of Fairclough St, lay a public house, The Nelson, (#46, North-West corner of Fairclough & Berner St); Matthew Packer's greengrocer's shop (#44); a cottage (#42); a double-gated entry, leading to Dutfield's Yard; The International Workingmen's Educational Club (#40); residence of Barnett Kentorrich (#38), residence of Mrs Fanny Mortimer (#36)and more cottages, including Charles Letchford's residence (#30) and Edwin Sumner's greengrocer shop (#2).
On Berner St's Eastern-side (North of Fairclough), stood several houses with a board school (#25-41) at the North-East corner of Fairclough & Berner St. on the South-East corner of the junction was a dwelling house (#43).
On the South-West Corner of this junction was Henry Norris's chandler shop (#48, opposite The Nelson). On the Western-side of Berner St heading South from Fairclough St was William Marshall's residence (#64). On the Northern corner of Boyd & Berner St was the George IV public house (#68, owned by Edmund Farrow). Continuing South on the Western-side there was Louis Friedman's baker shop (#70), Jacob Lubin's greengrocer shop (#74), and a chemist, John Simkin (#82). (There were 82 numbers listed on Berner St at the time.)⁴⁶

The International Workingmen's Educational Club (IWEC or the club) sat north of and adjacent to Dutfield's Yard. It was an old wooden house converted for use as a social club capable of holding over 200 people. A stone office, consisting of 2 rooms, was added onto the rear of the club. One of those rooms was used by the editor of Der Arberter Fraint, and the other was used as a composing room. The front of the ground floor sported one window and door. The street entrance opened to a hallway which ran the length of the house. One door in the hallway led to the front room, used as dining room. A staircase leading to the first floor was in the middle of the hallway. Past the stairs, a door lead to the kitchen, (a rear ground floor room). Beyond that door, another door lead to a passage which ran along side the house. The first floor contained a room used for entertainment. The front of the room held a small stage. The only windows, three, looked out at the rear of the house. The room was decorated with plain benches, and several portraits hung on the walls. To the left of the IWEC's front entrance was Dutfield's Yard.⁴⁷

The yard was named after Arthur Dutfield, a manufacturer of vans and carts whose business lay to the west of the yard. Entrance into the yard from Berner St was gained via a 9'-2" wide gateway, supporting 2 wooden gates which swung into the yard. A small man-door was set within one of the gates. Inside the gateway, a passage ran along the IWEC, leading to its rear entrance. Opposite of which were 2 lavatories. To the south of the yard was a house occupied by several tenants. Opposite the gateway was Walter Hindley's workshop for manufacturing sacks. Next to the workshop was an unused stable, which was next to the rear of the club. The yard had no light of its own. The light which emanated from the club's first floor fell more on the opposite cottages than into the yard. Light from the club's open kitchen door and from Der Arberter Fraint's offices fell further up the yard. For about 18' inside the gateway, there was typically no light after sunset; yet, this area was not unfrequented.⁴⁸

The man was 5'-5", black moustache, weak sandy eyelashes. He wore a morning suit and a billycock hat.⁵¹

The man was 5'-6", stout, middle-aged, had an English accent, mild speech, wore dark pants, peaked sailor-like cap, short black cutaway coat, was probably clean shaven, decent appearance.⁵⁶

The man was 5'-7", 28 years old, clean shaven, had dark pants, a dark over coat, dark hard felt deerstalker. Had a respectable appearance, and carried a newspaper parcel about 18" in length and 66"-8" wide.⁶⁵

Schwartz's first-man was 5'-5", 30 years old, broad shoulder, fair complexion, small brown moustache, dark pants, black cap with a peak, dark jacket, brown hair.⁷²

Schwartz's second-man was 5'-11", 35 years old, fresh complexion, light brown hair, dark overcoat, old black hard felt hat with a wide brim, and clay pipe in his hand.⁷³

The man was 5'-7", average build ("not so very stout") and wore a long coat, almost down to his heels.⁷⁶

The body was "all warm except the hands, which were quite cold." Blood had stopped flowing from Elizabeth's throat wound. Further up the yard, a stream of blood had clotted, and there was very little blood left by the neck.⁹³

"The deceased was lying on her left side obliquely across the passage, her face looking towards the right wall. Her legs were drawn up, her feet close against the wall of the right side of the passage. Her head was resting beyond the carriage-wheel rut, the neck lying over the rut. Her feet were 3 yards from the gateway. Her dress was unfastened at the neck. The neck and chest were quite warm, as were also the legs, and the face was slightly warm. The hands were cold. The right hand was open and on the chest, and was smeared with blood. The left hand, lying on the ground, was partially closed, and contained a small packet of cachous wrapped in tissue paper. There were no rings, nor marks of rings, on her hands. The appearance of the face was quite placid. The mouth was slightly open. The deceased had round her neck a check silk scarf, the bow of which was turned to the left and pulled very tight.

"In the neck was a long incision which exactly corresponded with the lower border of the scarf. The border was slightly frayed, as if by a sharp knife. The incision in the neck commenced on the left side, 2 1/2" below the angle of the jaw, and almost in a direct line with it, nearly severing the vessels on that side, cutting the windpipe completely in two, and terminating on the opposite side 1 1/2" below the angle of the right jaw, but without severing the vessels on that side...The blood was running down the gutter into the drain in the opposite direction of the feet. there was about 1 lb. of clotted blood close by the body, and a stream all the way from there to the back door of the club."⁹⁶

"The body was lying on its left side, face turned toward the wall, head toward the yard, feet toward the street, left arm extended from elbow, which held a packet of cachous in her hand. Similar ones were in the gutter...The right arm was lying over the body, and the back of the hand and wrist had on them clotted blood. The legs were drawn up, the feet close to the wall, the body still warm, the hands cold, the legs quite warm, a silk handkerchief round the throat, slightly torn...This corresponded to the right angle of the jaw; the throat was deeply gashed, and an abrasion of the skin about 1 1/4" diameter, apparently slightly stained with blood, was under the right clavicle."¹⁰⁰

On Elizabeth's left, by her neck on the ground, was a patch of blood. A stream of blood had flowed in a gutter from the neck to the club's side door. There were no spots of blood on Elizabeth's clothes or on the club's wall. There were other traces of blood on the ground, but these had probably come from the bystanders walking about the scene.¹⁰²

She was 42-44 years old and 5'-2" to -5" tall; lean with a "slightly built body." She had curly, dark-brown hair, attractive features, a straight nose, an oval face with light-grey or blue eyes and pale complexion. Her upper front teeth were missing.

She wore a black crape bonnet and a long black jacket trimmed with black coney fur; a single red rose amidst maidenhair fern was pinned to her jacket. Elizabeth also wore an old long black skirt, a dark-brown velvet bodice, 2 light-serge petticoats, a white chemise, a pair of white stockings, and a pair of side-spring boots, and a checked silk neckershief.

She had in possession cachous wrapped in tissue paper (previously removed), a padlock key, 2 pocket handkerchiefs, a small piece of lead pencil, a comb, a broken piece of comb, a metal spoon, six large and one small button, a dress hook, a piece of muslin, some wool on card, one or two small pieces of paper, and a thimble.¹¹²

Sgt White: When did you close up shop?

Packer: "Half past twelve, in consequence of the rain it was no good for me to keep open."

Sgt White: Did you see a man or woman go into Dutfield's Yard or stand about the street when you closed up shop?

Packer: "I saw no one standing about neither did I see anyone go up the yard. I never saw anything suspicious or heard the slightest noise. And knew 'nothing about the murder until I heard of it this morning."

"12.45 a.m. 30th Israel Schwartz of 22 Helen St [sc. Ellen St], Backchurch Lane, stated that at this hour, turning into Berner St from Commercial Rd, and having gotten as far as the gateway where the murder was committed, he saw a man stop and speak to a woman, who was standing in the gateway. He tried to pull the woman into the street, but he turned her round and threw her down on the footway and the woman screamed three times, but not very loudly. On crossing to the opposite side of the street, he saw a second man lighting his pipe. The man who threw the woman down called out, apparently to the man on the opposite side of the road, "Lipski", and then Schwartz walked away, but finding that he was followed by the second man, he ran as far as the railway arch, but the man did not follow so far.

"Schwartz cannot say whether the two men were together or known to each other. Upon being taken to the mortuary Schwartz identified the body as that of the woman he had seen. He thus describes the first man who threw the woman down:- age, about 30; ht, 5ft 5in[s]; comp., fair; hair, dark; small brown moustache, full face, broad shouldered; dress, dark jacket and trousers, black cap with peak, and nothing in his hands.

"Second man: age, 35; ht., 5ft 11 in[s]; comp., fresh; hair, light brown; dress, dark overcoat, old black hard felt hat, wide brim; had a clay pipe in his hand.¹¹⁴

"Information which may be important was given to the Leman Street police yesterday by an Hungarian concerning this murder. The foreigner [Schwartz] was well dressed, and had the appearance of being in the theatrical line. He could not speak a word of English, but came to the police station accompanied by a friend, who acted as interpreter. He gave his name and address, but the police have not disclosed them. A Star man, however, got wind of his call, and ran him to earth in Backchurch Ln. The reporter's Hungarian was quite as imperfect as the foreigner's English, but an interpreter was at hand, and the man's story was retold as he had given it to the police. It is, in fact, to the effect that he saw the whole thing.

"It seems that he had gone out for the day, and his wife had expected to move, during his absence, from their lodgings in Berner St to others in Backchurch Lane. When he first came homewards about a quarter before one he first walked down erner St to see if his wife had moved. As he turned the corner from Commercial Rd he noticed some distance in front of him a man walking as if partially intoxicated. He [Schwartz] walked on behind him, and presently he noticed a woman standing in the entrance to the alleyway where the body was found. The half-tipsy man halted and spoke to her. The Hungarian saw him put his hand on her shoulder and push her back into the passage, but feeling rather timid of getting mixed up in quarrels, he crossed to the other side of the street. Before he had gone many yards, however, he heard the sound of a quarrel, and turned back to learn what was the matter, but just as he stepped from the kerb a second man came out of the doorway of a public house a few yards off, and shouting some sort of warning to the man who was with the woman, rushed forward as if to attack the intruder. The Hungarian states positively that he saw a knife in the second man's hand, but he waited to see no more. He fled incontinently to his new lodgings.

"He described the man with the woman as about 30 years of age, rather stoutly built, and wearing a brown moustache. He was dressed respectably in dark clothes and felt hat. The man who came at him with a knife he also describes, but not in details. He says he was taller than the other but not so stout, and that his moustaches were red. Both men seemed to belong to the same grade of society. The police have arrested one man answering the description the Hungarian furnishes. The prisoner has not been charged, but is held for inquiries to be made. The truth of the man's statement is not wholly accepted."¹¹⁷

After being empanelled, a jury of 24 proceeded to view the body at the St. George's Mortuary.¹²⁴

Insp Reid watched the case on behalf of the police.¹²⁵

Witnesses:

William West¹²⁶

Morris Eagle¹²⁷

Louis Diemschutz¹²⁸

Rigor mortis was still thoroughly marked. there was a small amount [mud] on the right side [jacket], the left side was well plastered with mud. There was mud on the left side of the face and it was matted in her head...The body was fairly nourished. Over both shoulders, especially the right, and under the collar bone and in front of the chest there was a blueish discoloration... Decomposition had commenced in the skin. Dark brown spots were on the anterior surface of the left chin. There was a deformity in the bones of the right leg, which was not straight but bowed forwards. There was no recent external injury save to the neck...healing sores. The lobe of the left ear was torn as if from the removal or wearing through of an earring, but it was thoroughly healed.¹³¹

On removing the scalp there was no sign of brusing or extravasation of blood...The heart was small, the left ventricle firmly contracted, the right one slightly so. There was no clot in the pulmonary artery, but the right ventricle was full of dark clot. The left was firmly contracted so as to be absolutely empty. The stomach was large, and the mucous membrane only congested. It contained partly digested food, apparently consisting of cheese, potato and farinaceous powder. All the teeth on the left lower jaw were absent. ¹³²

Cut on neck; taking it from left to right there is a clean cut incision 6 inches in length, incision commencing two and a half inches in a straight line below the angle of the jaw. Three-quarters of an inch over undivided muscle then becoming deeper, about an inch dividing sheath and the vessels, ascending a little, and then grazing the muscle outside the cartilages on the left side of the neck, the cut being very clean, but indicating a slight direction downwards through reistance of the denser tissue and cartilages. The carotid artery on the left side, and the other vessels contained in the sheath were all cut through save the posterior portion of the carotid to about a line...1-12th of an inch in extent, which prevented the separation of the upper and lower portion of the artery. The cut through the tissues on the right side of the 'cartilages are more superficially cut, and the cut tails off to about two inches below the angle of the right jaw. It is evident that the haemorrhage, which probably will be found to be the cause of death, was caused through the partial severance of the left carotid artery.¹³³

Witnesses:

PC Lamb¹³⁷

Edward Spooner¹³⁸

Mary Malcolm¹³⁹

Dr Blackwell¹⁴⁰

Packer told the detectives that at about 11:45pm, on Saturday, 29 September, he sold a man and a woman a half-pound of black grapes. Afterwards, the couple stood about the street for more than a half-hour. The man was middle-aged, perhaps 35 years; about 5'-7" in height; was stout, square-built; wore a wideawake hat and dark clothes; had the appearance of a clerk; had a rough voice and a quick, sharp way of talking.¹⁴²

Witnesses:

Elizabeth Tanner¹⁴⁶

Catherine Lane¹⁴⁷

Charles Preston¹⁴⁸

Michael Kidney¹⁴⁹

Mr Johnson¹⁵⁰

Thomas Coram¹⁵¹

PC Drage¹⁵²

Dr Phillips¹⁵³

On Tuesday, Sep 3, 1878, the collier, Bywell Castle, collided with a large saloon steamer, Princess Alice, on the Thames, (the result of negligence on the part of both ships' captains). The steamer sank, taking with it 600-700 lives.

Elizabeth claimed that she and her husband [John Stride] were employed on the vessel - she as a stewardess and he as a seaman. She also claimed that Stride and several of their children were killed, and that her hard palate was accidentally broken by the heel of a passenger, escaping up the companion-way.¹⁵⁵

"Packer was out with his barrow, Saturday, not doing much business. 'As the night came on wet,' Packer went home to take his wife's place serving in the shop. Between 11:30pm and midnight, a man and woman walked up Berner St, coming from the Ellen St area. They stopped outside of his shop and looked at some fruit. The man was about 30-35 years old, of medium height, and had a rather dark complexion. He wore a black coat and a black soft felt hat. 'He looked to me like a clerk or something of that sort. I am certain he wasn't what I should call a working man or anything like us folks that 'live around here.' The woman was middle-aged, wore dark clothes, and carried a white flower in her hand.

"The man eventually stepped forward and asked, 'I say, old man, how do you sell your grapes?' 'Sixpence a pound the black 'uns, sir, and fourpence a pound the white 'uns, ' responded Packer. Turning to the woman, the man asked, 'Which will you have, my dear, black or white? You shall have whichever you 'like best.' The woman choose the black ones. The man said to Packer, 'Give us half a pound of the black ones, then.' Packer thought the man was educated. He had 'a loud, sharp sort of voice, and a quick commanding way with him.'

"The couple did not come into the shop. In the front, there was a half-window through which Packer conducted most of his business. Packer placed the grapes in a paper bag and passed them through the window to the man. The couple then briefly stood near the entrance to Dutfield's Yard. Seeing this, Packer told his wife, 'Why, them people must be a couple o' fools to stand out there in the rain eating grapes they bought here, when they might just as well have had shelter!' The couple was still there when the Packers went to bed, which 'must have been past midnight a little bit, for the public houses were shut up.'

'Where have you been?'

'This detective asked me to go see if I could identify the woman,' Packer told Sgt White.

'Have you done so?'

'Yes. I believe she bought some grapes at my shop about 12 o'clock on Saturday.'

"On Sat. night [29 September] about 11:00pm, a young man from 25-30, about 5'-7", with long black coat buttoned up, soft felt hat, kind of Yankee hat, rather broad shoulders, rather quick in speaking, rough voice. I sold him 1/2 pound black grapes, 3d. A woman came up with 'him from Back Church end (the lower end of street). She was dressed in black frock & jacket, fur round bottom of jacket, a black crepe bonnet, she was playing with a flower like a geranium white outside & red inside. I identify the woman at the St. George's Mortuary as the one I saw that night.

"They passed by as though they were going up [to] Commercial Rd, but instead of going up they crossed to the other side of the road to the Board School, & were there for about 1/2 an hour till I should say 11:30, talking to one another. I then shut up my shutters. before they passed over opposite to my shop, they went near to the club for a few minutes apparently listening to the music. I saw no more of them after I shut my shutters.

"I put the man down as a young clerk. he had a frock coat on - no gloves. He was about 1 1/2" or 2" or 3" - a little bit higher than she was."¹⁵⁸

Witnesses:

Dr Phillips (recalled)¹⁶⁰

Dr Blackwell (recalled)¹⁶¹

Mr Sven Ollsen¹⁶²

William Marshall¹⁶³

James Brown¹⁶⁴

PC Smith¹⁶⁵

Michael Kidney¹⁶⁶

Philip Krantz¹⁶⁷

RPC Collins¹⁶⁸

Insp Reid¹⁶⁹

Insp Reid watched the case on behalf of the Criminal Investigation Department.¹⁷³

Witnesses:

Insp Reid (recalled)¹⁷⁴

PC Stride¹⁷⁵

Elizabeth Stokes [aka Mrs Watts]¹⁷⁶

The Coroner presented his summation.¹⁷⁷

References

The following abbreviations apply:
MEPO=Scotland Yard files, HO=Home Officie files
DT=The Daily Telegraph, T=The Times, MG=The Manchester Guardian, DN=The Daily News
A-Z=The Jack the Rippper A to Z, 2nd ed, (Begg, Fido, Skinner),
JTRUF=Jack the Ripper: The Uncensored Facts (Begg),
CHJTR=The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (Sudgen),
JTRCC=Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook, US ed (Rumbelow),
CBJTR=Casebook: Jack the Ripper, web site (Ryder)

Many THANKS to the people who have contributed to this page:
Stride image - Courtesy of Stewart P. Evans.
Geographical assistance - Courtesy of The Viper.
1871 census information - Courtesy of The Viper.
Kelly's Directory sources - Courtesy of The Viper.

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