Mickey

Any tours of Jack the Ripper's haunts around Whitechapel. Though I'm not quite a Ripperologist, I have read some books on the matter (I think Joseph Barnett, ex-boyfriend of the last murdered, was "Saucy Jack"). What kind of neighborhood is Whitechapel today?

grasshopper

Absolutely! www.walks.com will take you to London Walks and you can look at the schedule for the Ripper walks. It might sound hokey but it was a highlight of my first trip to London. The drizzly streets and the tale of horror..... Definately do this before you see "From Hell" which was released a couple of weeks ago.

Julie

If you're even remotely interested in Jack the Ripper you should take London Walks. Donald Rumblow (sp?) was our guide and was fantastic. I just had friends who did this for the second time and even though they had a different guide they said they enjoyed it just as much!

Mickey

Julie, who do you or your guide think was Jack the Ripper?

sylvia

Just a word of warning. It seems that all sorts of people are jumping on the Ripper bandwagon and the local residents are getting very annoyed. At times there can be parties of up to 200 tramping about, you can imagine how annoyed you would be in 200 people came down your road at home. It seems that tourists have been damaging people's shutters and blinds trying to peer into their houses and have even walked into people's homes.

ron

I returned from London yesterday. There was an article in Saturday's Independent about how residents are responding to Ripper tours through their neighbourhood: http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=101743

Julie

Mickey: Not sure if I should divulge too much about what the guides have come up with re: Jack the Ripper suspects. But one theory that always seemed to make a lot of sense was the relative to Queen Victoria... <BR> <BR>Syliva & Ron: I had heard about the residents being unhappy with the tours. In fact the guide mentioned it before we set out and everyone was kept in check - no bad behavior was allowed or even attempted. It's too bad, it's a great tour, but maybe the residents have a point. It is their neighborhood afterall and if the tour isn't managed well it could easily get out of hand. My experience(s) were quite different.

Walter

Mickey: My guide in Feb97 believed it was Dr. Francis Tumblety who was written about in a book called "The Lodger" by Stewart Evans & Paul Gainey. When I returned home I found that the book wasn't available in the US. I ordered it from the UK @ www.bookshop.co.uk (in '97). I wish I could give you an opinion on the book but I still haven't read it, now I will though, it's off the shelf. Regards, Walter <BR>

Philip

I have taken the London Walks with Donald Rumbelow and thought it was an excellent tour. Mr. Rumbelow is an expert on the subject. <BR> <BR>The people who don't like tourists traipsing through their neighborhood are rich Yuppies who paid too much for their housing. They wouldn't be caught dead in that area of town ten years ago. They should have been smart enough to check out the area before they bought/rented. If they want peace and quiet, they should move to the country.

Mickey

Tumblety is my second choice as the Ripper. A flaw I have with Tumblety is this- he was surely a homosexual and it is my belief that generally homosexuals do not have a violent hatred for women but only choose not to have intimate relations with them.