The Five: the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper

Though they never met, five women – Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane – are bound together in history and fate.

All brutally murdered in 1888, their killer was never officially identified. But the character created by the press in the absence of conviction – ‘Jack the Ripper’ – has long overshadowed any of the victims. They died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but what if virtually everything we’d ever come to assume about these five women were largely untrue?

Author Hallie Rubenhold will discuss her fascinating new research, alongside a display of original documents which reflect womens’ lives, the context of their murders and late 19th-century Whitechapel.

Our café remains open to the public when there are evening events taking place, serving a range of speciality coffees and teas, cakes, pastries, snacks, sandwiches, beer and wine.

Auditorium doors will open 15 mins before the advertised start time. The talk is expected to last 1 hour (including a Q&A), followed by a document display.