The Secrets of Mary Jane Kelly, Jack the Ripper’s Last Victim
A mournful funeral procession made its way to St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone on Nov. 19th, 1888. Thousands lined the streets to say farewell to the woman in the coffin, some of them weeping.
“God forgive her,” some called out as the procession lumbered past.
Forgive her for what?
The tragedy began the morning of Nov. 9th, ten days before. James Whitehead, a 54-year-old merchant who’d made a successful second career in politics, was the star of the Lord Mayor’s Show, a London tradition that was always held on this date. As the city’s new mayor, Whitehead, a champion of reform, had desired a more stately event than the circus-like Mayor’s parade famous since the 16th century. But, heedless of Whitehead’s embarrassment, crowds gathered along the Gresham Street to Guildhall route, with many police called upon to patrol and control.
It was perhaps a welcome distraction from the horror.
For the past six months, London had been transfixed and terrorized by the murders of a series of women in the Whitechapel District of the East End. The last of the horrific slayings — dubbed the “Double Event” as two prostitutes, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, had their throats cut within two hours of each other — was on Sunday, September 30th.
