First, I must explain I've always had a real fascination with criminology, and some of the world's most infamous serial killers, how they think and their M.Os...not that I'm crazy or a psycho...but I was especially interested in Jack the Ripper, the serial killer who terrorized London in the Victorian times and was never caught.
So, you must understand that I was instantly strucked when I spotted the headline on MSN UK, that there are some new info on the infamous case of Jack the Ripper, which might give more clues as to who is Jack the Ripper.
Here's the full article...
Historians have shed new light on one of Britain's biggest mysteries of the last century - Jack the Ripper.
Studies of the 1881 census have unearthed new information about the Ripper's victims and what their background might have been.
Four of his so-called 'Canonical' five victims had been married, some with children. The census indicates these victims had lived with their husbands and may have turned to prostitution after the break-up of their marriages.
First of the five, Mary Ann Nichols, does not appear in the 1881 census, but in 1871 she was recorded as being married with three children. She was 43 at the time of her murder.
Next was Annie Chapman who is listed as a 'stud groom's wife' and as living at her parents. It is believed she moved in with her husband shortly after the census was taken. Annie's life changed following the death of her daughter, when she turned to drink and was divorced in 1884. This forced her onto the streets, working as a prostitute, until her murder in August 1888.
Elizabeth Stride was killed just a few weeks after Annie Chapman and is listed as living with her husband in 1881. Elizabeth, who was from Sweden, had registered with police in Gothenburg as a prostitute aged 22. She was 37 when she was murdered and newspaper reports at the time indicated she was not living with her husband.
In fact, according to newspaper reports, none of the victims were living with their husbands at the time of their deaths.
The Ripper's fourth victim, Catherine Eddowes, is shown as living with her Irish husband, John Conway, at the time of the 1881 census. Catherine was murdered on the same night as Elizabeth Stride.
The census has no information regarding the Ripper's fifth victim, Mary Jane Kelly, who died in November 1888 and was the youngest to be slain.
Images of the 1881 census are available from findmypast.com, who carried out this Ripper research.
Debra Chatfield, marketing manager at findmypast.com, said: "The 1881 census records give us a small window into the past to help us shed new light on the lives of people of historical interest, as well as to build up a picture of our own ancestors' lives."
So what have we learned about the Ripper in the last 100 years? MSN takes a look at some of the information that has come to light about this ever-intriguing mystery.
