Whitechapel Vigilance Committee

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George Lusk, President of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.
George Lusk, President of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.

The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee was a group of local volunteers who patrolled the streets of London's Whitechapel district during the period of the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888. The volunteers patrolled mainly at night in the search for the murderer. The Committee was set up by local businessmen who were concerned that the killings were affecting trade in the area. It was led by George Lusk, a local builder who was elected Chairman during the Committee's first meeting on September 10, 1888.

Other Committee members included Mr. Joseph Aarons, the landlord of The Crown public house on Mile End Road (Treasurer), Mr. B. Harris (Secretary), and Messrs. Cohen, H. A. Harris, Laughton, Houghton, Lord, Isaacs, Rogers, Mitchell, Barnett, Hodgkins, Lindsay, Reeves, and Jacobs. The Daily Telegraph reported on October 5, 1888 that the leading members of the Committee were "drawn principally from the trading class, and include a builder, a cigar-manufacturer, a tailor, a picture-frame maker, a licensed victualler, and 'an actor.' The latter was probably the entertainer Charles Reeves.

As Chairman of the Committee, Lusk's name appeared in the national newspapers and on posters in Whitechapel appealing for information concerning the identity of Jack the Ripper and complaining about the lack of a reward for such information from the government. Because of this publicity, Lusk received threatening letters through the post, allegedly from the murderer. Lusk was also mentioned in the September 17, 1888 "Dear Boss" letter, but most experts dismiss this as a modern hoax.[1]

Members of the Vigilance Committee examine the contents of the box sent to Lusk
Members of the Vigilance Committee examine the contents of the box sent to Lusk

The Committee members attempted to persuade the government under Lord Salisbury to offer a reward for information leading to the apprehension of the killer. When the Home Secretary Henry Matthews refused, the Committee offered its own reward. The Committee also employed two private detectives, Mr. Le Grand (or Grand) and Mr. J. H. Batchelor, to investigate the murders without the involvement of the local police.

The Committee was unhappy with the level of protection that the community was receiving from the police, so it introduced its own system of local patrols, using hand-picked unemployed men to patrol the streets of the East End every evening from midnight to between four and five the next morning. Each of these men received a small wage from the Committee, and patrolled a particular beat, being armed with a police whistle, a pair of galoshes and a strong stick. The first patrol was at midnight on Wednesday April 3 1888. The Committee itself met each evening at nine in the The Crown, and once the public house closed at 12.30 a.m. the Committee members would inspect and join the patrols. These patrols were shortly to be joined by those of the Working Men's Vigilance Committee.[1]

The "From Hell" letter, which was wrapped around half of a human kidney, was posted to the Committee's Chairman George Lusk, who received it on October 16, 1888. Many scholars of the Jack the Ripper murders regard this letter as being the communication most likely have to been sent by the killer. [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sugden Philip 'The Complete History of Jack the Ripper' Robinson, London (1995)
  2. ^ Casebook dissertation on the "From Hell" letter

[edit] External links

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