Catherine Eddowes — Remembering the Victims of the Whitechapel Killer

Murdered the same night as Elisabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes was the 4th canonical victim of Jack the Ripper

CW: Domestic violence

Mary’s murder caught London’s attention. Annie’s murder brought London to its knees. Elisabeth Stride’s brought them back to their feet. And Catherine’s murder brought outrage and action.

You will notice that a lot of my details come straight from Haley Rubenhold’s brilliant The Five. And if you’ve enjoyed my series, I highly highly recommend it. But I also want to dive more into the changes that occurred due to the Jack the Ripper cases.

There was justice in the Jack the Ripper case, even if it doesn’t seem like it. I’m not saying “these women died to bring change.” No. They shouldn’t have been murdered at all. But to ignore the effects this case had on society makes it seem entirely bleak and like their lives amounted to nothing and their murders brought no change.

And the impact we see today is in conspiracy theories and movies and comic books. But there was none of that in 1888. Okay, maybe conspiracy theories. But then, the pain was raw.