a single cry of "Murder!" It echoed through the building, but did not emanate from there. "But," explained Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt in a breath, "the district round here is rather rough, and cries of "Murder!" are of frequent, if not nightly, occurrence in the district.
The Echo 13. August 1888
THE OCCUPANTS OF THE DWELLINGS.
The model dwellings at George-yard-buildings were erected about thirteen years ago, and Princess Alice, but a short time before her death, visited the poor residents there, and extolled the ingenious method of housing them. The structure was erected more as a philanthropic than as a commercial venture by Mr. Crowther, a gentleman well known in the district. The occupants are of the poorest class - described by the superintendent's wife as "the poorest of the poor, but very honest."
ANN MORRIS, Witness at Martha Tabram's inquest. Widowed sister-in-law of Martha Tabram and resident of 23 Lisbon Street, Mile End. She stated in her testimony that she saw Tabram about to enter the White Swan public house on Whitechapel High Street at 11.00pm, 6th August 1888. Tabram appeared to be sober at this time. Further information was given in the local press: The next evidence was that of Mrs. Ann Morris, a very respectable woman, dressed quietly in black. She lived at 23, Fisher-street [sic], Mile End, and said she was a widow, and the sister of Mr. Tabram, the husband of deceased. She last saw deceased alive at 11 o'clock on Bank Holiday. She was then going into a public-house, the sign of which witness thought was the White Swan in the Whitechapel-road. Nothing more was seen of her after that. Deceased drank very heavily. As far as witness' judgment went she considered deceased was on the streets. They were only on speaking terms, and she had seen very little of her lately. Witness had heard she was a hawker, but had never seen her doing anything for a living. Witness knew nothing of the circumstances of her death. It was also discovered at the inquest that Martha Tabram had been charged several times with 'annoying' Mrs. Morris and was sent before the magistrate where she "was sentenced to seven days".
ELIZABETH MAHONEY, Witness at Martha Tabram's inquest. dweller of 47 George Yard Buildings with her husband Joseph. Described as "a young woman of some 25 or 26 years, plainly clad in a rusty-black dress, with a black woolen shawl pinned round her shoulders. Her evidence was neither very much to the point or distinctly uttered - indeed, so low was her voice as to elicit a complaint from the jurymen which was remedied by the witness being made to stand immediately next to the jury". I live at 37 [sic] George-yard-buildings, Whitechapel - a block of model dwellings - and am a married woman, my husband, Joseph, being a Carmen, while I work at a match factory at Stratford, where I work from nine in the morning, usually, till about seven o'clock at night. So far as I can remember, I have occupied rooms in the present house for about eight months. Monday was Bank Holiday, and my husband and I were out all day, and did not return until twenty minutes to two on Tuesday morning. We went straight up to our room, and after taking off my hat and cloak, I came down again and went to a chandler's shop in Thrawl-street to buy some provisions for supper. I came back having been gone about five minutes; and after having supper we went to bed. On neither occasion, either in coming up or going down the stairs, did I see the body of a woman lying there. It is quite possible that a body might have been there, and that I did not notice it, because the stairs are very wide and were completely dark, all the lights having, as usual, been turned out at eleven o'clock. I did not get up till half-past eight in the morning, and during the night my attention was not attracted by a noise or disturbance of any kind. I did not know of the body of the deceased having been found on the stairs till about ten o'clock on Tuesday morning.
JOHN REEVES, Witness at Martha Tabram's inquest. Born John Saunders Reeves, 1855, Whitechapel. Married Louisa Parsons, father of 6 children.
A waterside worker residing at 37 George Yard Buildings, described as having a slight dark beard and moustache and wearing earrings. He left home at 4.45am on the morning of 7th August 1888 to seek work at the docks and discovered Tabram's body on the first floor landing, lying in a pool of blood. Alarmed by what he saw, he did not examine the body, but ran to fetch a policeman and returned to the scene with PC Thomas Barrett. He stated that Tabram's clothes were disarranged, as though a struggle had taken place, though there were no footprints on the stairs or any weapon lying nearby. Later press reports mentioned that Reeves and his wife had heard disturbances during the night: ...as a result of persistent inquiries a Mr. and Mrs. Reeves now state that on the evening and towards midnight on Bank Holiday a NUMBER OF FIGHTS TOOK PLACE in Wentworth Street and George Street, which thoroughfares can be seen from George Yard Buildings. These streets contain a number of common lodging-houses, and are not far from a house which the woman "Pearly Poll" states that she and the deceased visited that night. Both Mr. and Mrs. Reeves have pointed out the spot where they allege these disturbances commenced, which they state to be the dead wall of Leterworth Buildings, in George Street. The first row commenced about 11:30, followed by another at 12:20 when both Mr. and Mrs. Reeves assert they heard cries of "Police!" "Help!" and terrible screaming. Shortly after one o'clock in the morning they were again disturbed with terrible screams, apparently coming from the same neighborhood. They went on to the balcony of their dwelling, and found that there was not only one, but two separate rows going on. That in George Street this time was not many doors from the house where the murdered woman and her companion, "Pearly Poll," sometimes lodged, whilst the row in Wentworth Street was not from a house in Angel Alley, which the woman "Pearly Poll" is said to have admitted that she visited that evening. These two rows, Mr. and Mrs. Reeves say, were of a very noisy and querulous character. The crowds round surged backwards and forwards a great deal. At last the police came and dispersed the crowd. This did not conclude the riotous proceedings of the night. About 2 o'clock Mr. and Mrs. Reeves heard more screams, they were this time very piercing. Only a few roughs seemed to constitute this crowd, which seemed to be moving in the direction of George Yard. However, the noise soon lessened in volume, and Mr. and Mrs. Reeves then retired for the night.
A woman giving the name of Connolly - known amongst her class as "Pearly Poll" - has come forward stating that she and deceased were in company with soldiers on the night of Bank Holiday, but it appears she has failed to identify any individual soldier to the satisfaction of the authorities. Other residents, strange to say, have now offered testimony to the effect that they heard screams from George-street about the time it is supposed the crime must have been committed, and this would support the belief that the woman was not murdered where she was found lying dead. The position of the matter now is this, that the police have no one in custody but they are very reticent upon the matter generally, and are not disposed to assist in the publication of details. The police state that they should not be at all surprised to find that the murder was not entirely the work of soldiers, or that soldiers had a hand in the crime at all. George-street is one of the most dangerous streets in the locality, and that street, together with others, has for years been a regular rendezvous and hiding place for deserters. Old bayonets, they assert, can at any time be bought in Petticoat-lane, and at the old iron stalls there, for about a penny each, and they have frequently been seen as playthings in the hands of the children. No conclusion can be come to at present as to the ultimate success of the detective force in elucidating the truth about this terrible deed, but it is sincerely to be hoped that justice will be meted out to the inhuman villain who could so foully maltreat a fellow creature - let alone a woman - and we trust that this Whitechapel murder will not have be placed upon the records of the police as one of those undiscovered crimes of which there have been far too many within the last decade.
MARY BOUSFIELD, Witness at Martha Tabram's inquest. Also known as Mary Luckhurst. Born c.1856 in St George in the East. Martha's former landlady at 4 Star Place, off Star Street, Commercial Road. Mrs. Bousfield lived with her husband, William Bousfield, a woodcutter and their six children. She stated that Martha sold matches for a living, but suspected that she may also have been earning by prostitution. She testified that Martha and Henry Turner left her establishment three weeks prior to her death, owing a considerable sum in unpaid rent, although Martha apparently crept back later to return her key. She also described Martha as a person who would "rather have a glass of ale than a cup of tea." She also said, however, that she was not a perpetual drunk. Mrs Bousfield died in St George in the East in 1902.
MARY ANN CONNELLY, Witness at Martha Tabram's inquest. aka 'Pearly