1 00:00:15,316 --> 00:00:23,676 Speaker 1: Pushkin. This episode discusses death by suicide. If you're suffering 2 00:00:23,716 --> 00:00:28,956 Speaker 1: emotional distress or having suicidal thoughts. Support is available, for example, 3 00:00:29,036 --> 00:00:43,796 Speaker 1: from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Annie Chapman watches her 4 00:00:43,836 --> 00:00:47,276 Speaker 1: husband John get ready for work. Watches him down the 5 00:00:47,356 --> 00:00:50,116 Speaker 1: tall hat and shining boots. He wears to drive his 6 00:00:50,196 --> 00:00:53,916 Speaker 1: master's grand carriage. He has a cold and the weather 7 00:00:54,156 --> 00:00:57,716 Speaker 1: is miserable. He's reluctant to leave the little cottage he 8 00:00:57,796 --> 00:01:01,196 Speaker 1: shares with Annie and their two children. He takes a 9 00:01:01,316 --> 00:01:05,276 Speaker 1: nip of hot whiskey to fortify himself and then kisses 10 00:01:05,316 --> 00:01:11,676 Speaker 1: Annie goodbye. That kiss is Annie Chapman's undoing. It sets 11 00:01:11,676 --> 00:01:14,596 Speaker 1: in motion a sequence of events that ends in her 12 00:01:14,716 --> 00:01:21,956 Speaker 1: vicious murder on the streets of Whitechapel. I'm Hallie, Rubin 13 00:01:21,996 --> 00:01:27,236 Speaker 1: hold you're listening to Bad Women. The Ripper retold, a 14 00:01:27,396 --> 00:01:30,316 Speaker 1: series about the real lives of the women killed by 15 00:01:30,396 --> 00:01:34,716 Speaker 1: Jack the Ripper and how we got their stories so wrong. 16 00:01:35,836 --> 00:01:43,836 Speaker 1: One side, money plenty and friends too by the score. 17 00:01:45,316 --> 00:01:59,436 Speaker 1: Then fortune smilder upon me, No one pass my almy, 18 00:02:00,516 --> 00:02:24,356 Speaker 1: and not we sees to lie. Annie Eliza Smith was 19 00:02:24,396 --> 00:02:28,076 Speaker 1: born in September eighteen forty one, the one which day 20 00:02:28,356 --> 00:02:32,316 Speaker 1: we don't know. She was illegitimate, and so perhaps her 21 00:02:32,316 --> 00:02:35,036 Speaker 1: mother Ruth, attempted to hide the facts of her birth. 22 00:02:35,676 --> 00:02:39,396 Speaker 1: Once Ruth's pregnancy became known, she likely lost her position 23 00:02:39,436 --> 00:02:43,276 Speaker 1: as a servant. After all, no employer could keep such 24 00:02:43,276 --> 00:02:46,356 Speaker 1: a woman. She was now dependent on the baby's father, 25 00:02:46,596 --> 00:02:52,996 Speaker 1: George Smith, for meager and irregular handouts. George was a 26 00:02:53,036 --> 00:02:56,356 Speaker 1: trooper in the Lifeguards, one of the most prestigious cavalry 27 00:02:56,396 --> 00:02:59,676 Speaker 1: regiments in the land. They were bodyguards to the royal 28 00:02:59,716 --> 00:03:04,076 Speaker 1: household and were never far from Queen Victoria herself. Still, 29 00:03:04,476 --> 00:03:08,756 Speaker 1: his wages were poor. The Army encouraged its soldiers to 30 00:03:08,796 --> 00:03:13,716 Speaker 1: pursue monogamous relationships with good working class girls, but oddly 31 00:03:14,036 --> 00:03:18,236 Speaker 1: it discouraged actual marriage, permitting only six and every hundred 32 00:03:18,236 --> 00:03:21,716 Speaker 1: men to wed. The army therefore consigned a raft of 33 00:03:21,796 --> 00:03:26,076 Speaker 1: women to the status of dollymop, a soldier's girl who 34 00:03:26,076 --> 00:03:30,356 Speaker 1: could never hope to be a soldier's wife. Annie's mother 35 00:03:30,476 --> 00:03:33,836 Speaker 1: was now in a most precarious position. If George were 36 00:03:33,876 --> 00:03:37,516 Speaker 1: transferred abroad, she would be left with no money, children 37 00:03:37,516 --> 00:03:44,036 Speaker 1: to support, and a sullied reputation. Fortunately, even miraculously George 38 00:03:44,116 --> 00:03:48,156 Speaker 1: received permission to marry Ruth. Their nuptials were even helpfully 39 00:03:48,236 --> 00:03:52,756 Speaker 1: backdated in the military records should anyone inquire, They were 40 00:03:52,796 --> 00:03:57,556 Speaker 1: wed before the birth of their first child. At first, 41 00:03:57,596 --> 00:04:00,596 Speaker 1: the young family lived in the army barracks, but this 42 00:04:00,676 --> 00:04:04,036 Speaker 1: was neither healthy nor pleasant for them. Annie spent the 43 00:04:04,036 --> 00:04:06,396 Speaker 1: first part of her childhood living in a corner of 44 00:04:06,396 --> 00:04:09,556 Speaker 1: a communal room that was screened off with hanging sheets 45 00:04:09,556 --> 00:04:14,516 Speaker 1: and blankets. Women here were afforded little dignity. She was 46 00:04:14,556 --> 00:04:17,356 Speaker 1: as common as a barber's chair, in which how parish 47 00:04:17,436 --> 00:04:22,276 Speaker 1: seek to be trained. Regimental wives dressed and undressed, lay 48 00:04:22,276 --> 00:04:26,596 Speaker 1: in bed, washed, gave birth and breastfed, surrounded by single 49 00:04:26,716 --> 00:04:31,676 Speaker 1: men who strode about half naked, swearing, jeering, and singing 50 00:04:31,756 --> 00:04:38,476 Speaker 1: glued songs. Sanitation was not much better. Many barracks dormitories 51 00:04:38,516 --> 00:04:43,836 Speaker 1: were damp, poorly lit, and unhygienic. In some large barrels 52 00:04:43,876 --> 00:04:48,036 Speaker 1: were used as communal chamber plots. These were then emptied 53 00:04:48,076 --> 00:04:54,036 Speaker 1: and reused for bathing. Over the years, Annie was joined 54 00:04:54,076 --> 00:04:57,396 Speaker 1: by five more siblings. The Smith children were able to 55 00:04:57,436 --> 00:05:00,796 Speaker 1: make use of the regimental school, a luxury for working 56 00:05:00,836 --> 00:05:04,436 Speaker 1: class children. The cost of being a trooper was a 57 00:05:04,516 --> 00:05:09,396 Speaker 1: life full of disruption. Regiments were rotated between barracks, often 58 00:05:09,436 --> 00:05:12,916 Speaker 1: at short notice. The Smith family lived at no fewer 59 00:05:12,916 --> 00:05:16,116 Speaker 1: than twelve addresses in London and in the town of Windsor, 60 00:05:16,356 --> 00:05:19,756 Speaker 1: in the shadow of the royal family's residence, a huge 61 00:05:19,836 --> 00:05:23,596 Speaker 1: castle just west of the city. In each of these 62 00:05:23,596 --> 00:05:28,396 Speaker 1: dozen homes, Annie snatched glimpses of another world. She witnessed 63 00:05:28,436 --> 00:05:33,636 Speaker 1: from afar, an existence of status, privilege, and extraordinary wealth. 64 00:05:34,116 --> 00:05:37,716 Speaker 1: The sight of carriages filled with ladies in expensive silk 65 00:05:37,796 --> 00:05:42,156 Speaker 1: bonnets and titled gentlemen, their uniforms clanking with medals were 66 00:05:42,156 --> 00:05:46,476 Speaker 1: an ordinary occurrence. Occasionally she might even have caught a 67 00:05:46,476 --> 00:05:49,836 Speaker 1: glimpse of Queen Victoria or a royal prince trotting by 68 00:05:49,876 --> 00:05:55,476 Speaker 1: an horseback. Though she orbited the outermost edges of this world, 69 00:05:56,036 --> 00:05:59,116 Speaker 1: any actual privilege was tempered by the meagerness of her 70 00:05:59,116 --> 00:06:03,756 Speaker 1: father's salary. Annie's daily realities were that of a working 71 00:06:03,796 --> 00:06:08,396 Speaker 1: class child in London. The Smith's living quarters were dismal 72 00:06:09,196 --> 00:06:11,916 Speaker 1: on down at Hill Raphael Street. They lived in a 73 00:06:11,996 --> 00:06:14,996 Speaker 1: cramped house that had been carved up and portioned out 74 00:06:15,036 --> 00:06:20,196 Speaker 1: to accommodate two other families. A child down the street 75 00:06:20,276 --> 00:06:24,236 Speaker 1: the palm. The child got sick first. He was not 76 00:06:24,356 --> 00:06:27,836 Speaker 1: quite eighteen months old when scarlet fever claimed his life. 77 00:06:28,636 --> 00:06:33,556 Speaker 1: Easily treated today, this bacterial infection was deadly to young Victorians. 78 00:06:34,476 --> 00:06:37,796 Speaker 1: The disease crept through the poorous plaster walls and crowded 79 00:06:37,836 --> 00:06:41,156 Speaker 1: rooms of Raphael Street and soon came to settle in 80 00:06:41,196 --> 00:06:46,436 Speaker 1: the Smith family home. Miriam Smith sickened first. The two 81 00:06:46,516 --> 00:06:50,476 Speaker 1: year olds giggling and prattling gave way to fever and crying, 82 00:06:51,116 --> 00:07:00,036 Speaker 1: and then silence. The baby, William succumbed next. Scarlet fever 83 00:07:00,156 --> 00:07:03,356 Speaker 1: then claimed the life of Ely, just five years old. 84 00:07:05,356 --> 00:07:09,916 Speaker 1: And then a new epidemic arrived, Typhus bread among young 85 00:07:09,956 --> 00:07:13,556 Speaker 1: and old without distinction. It was transmitted through the bites 86 00:07:13,556 --> 00:07:16,596 Speaker 1: of the fleas and light that infested the clothes, blankets, 87 00:07:16,636 --> 00:07:20,276 Speaker 1: and bedding shared by people living in close quarters. What 88 00:07:20,436 --> 00:07:23,356 Speaker 1: George and Root thought when their eldest son began to 89 00:07:23,436 --> 00:07:28,356 Speaker 1: sicken cannot even be imagined. The Smiths summoned a doctor 90 00:07:28,716 --> 00:07:32,036 Speaker 1: whose fees they could not afford, and the boy was 91 00:07:32,076 --> 00:07:37,796 Speaker 1: diagnosed with typhus and died. In the span of just 92 00:07:38,036 --> 00:07:42,956 Speaker 1: three weeks. Disease had carried away four of the six children. 93 00:07:44,476 --> 00:07:47,316 Speaker 1: This calamity cast deep shadows over the lives of the 94 00:07:47,396 --> 00:07:51,436 Speaker 1: remaining Smiths. The death of children was an unavoidable aspect 95 00:07:51,436 --> 00:07:54,516 Speaker 1: of Victorian working class life, but this did not render 96 00:07:54,516 --> 00:07:59,636 Speaker 1: the experience any easier. Somehow, though, the family managed to 97 00:07:59,676 --> 00:08:05,396 Speaker 1: move forward. Annie grew into an adult with wavy, dark 98 00:08:05,436 --> 00:08:09,916 Speaker 1: brown hair and an intense blue eyed gaze. In eighteen 99 00:08:09,956 --> 00:08:12,796 Speaker 1: sixty one, she gained a position as a housemaid for 100 00:08:12,836 --> 00:08:16,476 Speaker 1: a successful architect in the affluent London district of Westminster, 101 00:08:16,836 --> 00:08:20,716 Speaker 1: the political heart of the vast British Empire. This was 102 00:08:20,876 --> 00:08:25,676 Speaker 1: grueling labor. She cleaned, dishes, made the beds, hauled buckets 103 00:08:25,676 --> 00:08:29,956 Speaker 1: of coal up flights of stairs, lit fires, dusted, scrubbed, 104 00:08:30,316 --> 00:08:35,756 Speaker 1: drew water for baths, polished boots, mended clothing for her 105 00:08:35,796 --> 00:08:39,716 Speaker 1: owls are toiling. Annie was poorly paid, and as a 106 00:08:39,756 --> 00:08:44,396 Speaker 1: living domestic, she was also isolated. She had few opportunities 107 00:08:44,396 --> 00:08:49,756 Speaker 1: to see her family. Meanwhile, George Smith's fortunes took a turn. 108 00:08:50,396 --> 00:08:53,396 Speaker 1: He became a valet to one of his officers. In 109 00:08:53,436 --> 00:08:57,276 Speaker 1: this role, he maintained the clothes that Captain Thomas nayler leyland. 110 00:08:57,796 --> 00:09:00,116 Speaker 1: The position placed him in the top rank of the 111 00:09:00,196 --> 00:09:05,556 Speaker 1: servant hierarchy alongside the butler and the cook. Much like Annie, 112 00:09:05,916 --> 00:09:08,756 Speaker 1: working in domestic service meant that George saw little of 113 00:09:08,756 --> 00:09:12,556 Speaker 1: his emily. This estrangement from his wife and children, as 114 00:09:12,596 --> 00:09:14,596 Speaker 1: well as all that he had known in the cavalry, 115 00:09:15,116 --> 00:09:18,956 Speaker 1: began to bear down on him. For roughly twenty one years, 116 00:09:19,236 --> 00:09:21,516 Speaker 1: the army had beaten out the march to which the 117 00:09:21,556 --> 00:09:25,836 Speaker 1: Smith family moved. The regiment had formed a unique, closed 118 00:09:26,116 --> 00:09:29,476 Speaker 1: clan like community. But now that George was a valet, 119 00:09:29,876 --> 00:09:33,356 Speaker 1: he was adrift. He also had more time to himself 120 00:09:33,396 --> 00:09:36,796 Speaker 1: than ever when not tending to his master. He could 121 00:09:36,796 --> 00:09:40,476 Speaker 1: read and think without the immediate distractions of his family 122 00:09:40,596 --> 00:09:44,116 Speaker 1: or other soldiers. And there were surely many subjects he 123 00:09:44,196 --> 00:09:48,556 Speaker 1: did not wish to ponder. Undoubtedly the deaths of his 124 00:09:48,636 --> 00:09:55,396 Speaker 1: four children were among them. He started drinking. In June 125 00:09:55,396 --> 00:09:59,436 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three, matters came to a head. Leyland was 126 00:09:59,516 --> 00:10:03,276 Speaker 1: attending the cavalry races in Wales, and George was accompanying him. 127 00:10:03,956 --> 00:10:07,156 Speaker 1: George was said to be quite cheerful when he retired 128 00:10:07,196 --> 00:10:11,996 Speaker 1: to his room at their lodgings. The next morning. When 129 00:10:11,996 --> 00:10:15,436 Speaker 1: George did not appear at breakfast, the landlady of the inn, 130 00:10:15,476 --> 00:10:20,236 Speaker 1: went upstairs and knocked on his door. He did not answer. 131 00:10:21,076 --> 00:10:24,596 Speaker 1: She pushed it open and found George's body on the floor, 132 00:10:25,356 --> 00:10:32,916 Speaker 1: covered in blood. Following the discovery of George Smith's body, 133 00:10:33,196 --> 00:10:37,716 Speaker 1: an official investigation into his death was swiftly launched, swift 134 00:10:37,876 --> 00:10:40,956 Speaker 1: so as not to interrupt the horse races George's master 135 00:10:41,076 --> 00:10:44,716 Speaker 1: had come to enjoy. The inquiry found that Annie's father 136 00:10:44,876 --> 00:10:48,956 Speaker 1: had cut his own throat while laboring under temporary insanity. 137 00:10:49,356 --> 00:10:53,276 Speaker 1: Drink was also thought to be a contributing factor. Captain 138 00:10:53,396 --> 00:10:56,796 Speaker 1: Leyland paid the funeral expenses and headed back to the 139 00:10:56,916 --> 00:11:02,596 Speaker 1: race track overnight. The Smith family lost George's income. His 140 00:11:02,796 --> 00:11:06,636 Speaker 1: army pension also expired with his death, and yet the 141 00:11:06,756 --> 00:11:09,796 Speaker 1: situation did not end in ruin for Ruther her children. 142 00:11:10,556 --> 00:11:13,996 Speaker 1: Perhaps Captain Dayland made a donation to Ruth because by 143 00:11:13,996 --> 00:11:16,476 Speaker 1: the following year she had taken the lease on an 144 00:11:16,516 --> 00:11:19,396 Speaker 1: adequately sized home in a nice part of London and 145 00:11:19,556 --> 00:11:23,276 Speaker 1: was letting out rooms to lodgers. One day, a coach 146 00:11:23,316 --> 00:11:26,116 Speaker 1: driver named John Chapman arrived at the door and inquired 147 00:11:26,156 --> 00:11:30,196 Speaker 1: about lodgings. Perhaps Annie met John in the kitchen of 148 00:11:30,236 --> 00:11:34,316 Speaker 1: her mother's home and something blossomed between them. When John 149 00:11:34,396 --> 00:11:38,356 Speaker 1: proposed to Annie, it was her great moment, a chance 150 00:11:38,436 --> 00:11:41,236 Speaker 1: to make a success of her own life, to become 151 00:11:41,356 --> 00:11:44,756 Speaker 1: all that society had intended for her, a wife and 152 00:11:44,876 --> 00:11:48,916 Speaker 1: a mother who just hold still now. Like many Victorian newlyweds, 153 00:11:49,036 --> 00:11:51,996 Speaker 1: the Chapman's arranged to have a photograph taken dressed in 154 00:11:52,036 --> 00:11:56,876 Speaker 1: their Sunday best. In the photograph, John leans with casual 155 00:11:56,916 --> 00:12:01,036 Speaker 1: authority against a wood and plaster plymph. Annie wears a 156 00:12:01,116 --> 00:12:05,556 Speaker 1: checkered gown. Her dark hair is fashionably braided, and her 157 00:12:05,636 --> 00:12:10,236 Speaker 1: large blue eyes staring intently at the camera. Both wear 158 00:12:10,396 --> 00:12:15,436 Speaker 1: stern expressions. The Chapmans had two daughters who were photographed too, 159 00:12:15,916 --> 00:12:19,716 Speaker 1: clad in tart and dresses and striped stockings, their hair 160 00:12:19,876 --> 00:12:23,636 Speaker 1: and ribbons. John and Annie's desire to own such an 161 00:12:23,636 --> 00:12:27,556 Speaker 1: expensive photograph speaks to their hopes for a more prosperous life. 162 00:12:27,956 --> 00:12:30,756 Speaker 1: Annie had done well to marry a gentleman's coachman, and 163 00:12:30,836 --> 00:12:33,596 Speaker 1: his salary enabled the couple to set aside money that, 164 00:12:33,836 --> 00:12:38,356 Speaker 1: in turn fan the flames of their aspirations. Annie likely 165 00:12:38,436 --> 00:12:43,076 Speaker 1: enjoyed certain middle class pleasures and privileges. Daily walks passed 166 00:12:43,076 --> 00:12:46,836 Speaker 1: the twinkling gas lit shop windows with their colorful displays 167 00:12:46,876 --> 00:12:51,036 Speaker 1: of the latest hats, shoes and jewelry. She strolled busy 168 00:12:51,116 --> 00:12:54,796 Speaker 1: London thoroughfares that rattled with the carriages of statesmen and 169 00:12:54,916 --> 00:13:00,036 Speaker 1: society beauties. She may even have bought herself an occasional trinket. 170 00:13:03,556 --> 00:13:07,396 Speaker 1: John now accepted a position as the coachman to Francis Tressberry, 171 00:13:07,716 --> 00:13:11,596 Speaker 1: a gentleman of considerable wealth with a grand country estate 172 00:13:11,716 --> 00:13:15,396 Speaker 1: called Saint Leonard's Hill. The Chapman's could not have hoped 173 00:13:15,476 --> 00:13:19,876 Speaker 1: for a more promising opportunity, aspiration was not limited to 174 00:13:19,916 --> 00:13:23,356 Speaker 1: those on the cusp of the middle class industrialist. Berry 175 00:13:23,636 --> 00:13:26,396 Speaker 1: had made his fortune in mining, and now he sought 176 00:13:26,396 --> 00:13:30,716 Speaker 1: society's recognition too. His move to Saint Leonard's Hill, which 177 00:13:30,756 --> 00:13:33,876 Speaker 1: was adjacent to the royal residence of Windsor Castle, was 178 00:13:33,916 --> 00:13:38,116 Speaker 1: an obvious strategy to place himself under the Queen's nose. 179 00:13:39,156 --> 00:13:42,156 Speaker 1: Chapman had been hired not only to drive Berry's coach, 180 00:13:42,716 --> 00:13:45,916 Speaker 1: but also to supervise the running of his stable block, 181 00:13:46,276 --> 00:13:49,916 Speaker 1: which was home to no fewer than thirty horses. The 182 00:13:50,036 --> 00:13:53,876 Speaker 1: position came with a house, too. Annie had been accustomed 183 00:13:53,876 --> 00:13:57,756 Speaker 1: to cramped dwellings the Coachman's three bedroomed cottage was a 184 00:13:57,836 --> 00:14:02,076 Speaker 1: home of an entirely different scale. Annie even hired a 185 00:14:02,156 --> 00:14:04,716 Speaker 1: day servant to help with some of the more laborious 186 00:14:04,716 --> 00:14:08,636 Speaker 1: homemaking tasks. The Chapman's elder daughter was placed in a 187 00:14:08,796 --> 00:14:13,556 Speaker 1: high respectable school for young ladies. They had officially entered 188 00:14:13,676 --> 00:14:19,796 Speaker 1: the middle class. When the census was recorded in spring 189 00:14:19,876 --> 00:14:23,396 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty one, Annie was visiting her mother in London. 190 00:14:24,196 --> 00:14:26,916 Speaker 1: John was still at Saint Leonard's Hill, and he listed 191 00:14:26,956 --> 00:14:32,356 Speaker 1: his profession as coachman or domestic servant. Annie Chapman, on 192 00:14:32,396 --> 00:14:36,076 Speaker 1: the other hand, described herself as the wife of a 193 00:14:36,236 --> 00:14:41,556 Speaker 1: stud groom, a significant step up from coachman. Possibly John's 194 00:14:41,556 --> 00:14:45,356 Speaker 1: responsibilities now included the purchase of breeding and racing stock 195 00:14:45,396 --> 00:14:50,796 Speaker 1: for Barry, but Annie's grand self identification also speaks volumes. 196 00:14:51,436 --> 00:14:54,836 Speaker 1: The landed gentry venerated the stud groom who had his 197 00:14:54,916 --> 00:14:58,956 Speaker 1: master's ear in respect, and with this might breach the 198 00:14:59,036 --> 00:15:03,396 Speaker 1: class divide. At the same time, Barry was making leaps 199 00:15:03,396 --> 00:15:06,476 Speaker 1: and bounds in his own social assent. In eighteen eighty 200 00:15:06,516 --> 00:15:11,036 Speaker 1: one he entertained a royal party dukes, earls and the 201 00:15:11,076 --> 00:15:15,276 Speaker 1: Prince of Wales, the future King descended on Saint Leonard's Hill. 202 00:15:16,036 --> 00:15:20,716 Speaker 1: Annie would have watched this magnificent spectacle unfold, the ladies 203 00:15:20,756 --> 00:15:25,116 Speaker 1: in their frilled, feathered bonnets and veils, the rotund Prince 204 00:15:25,156 --> 00:15:29,796 Speaker 1: of Wales beneath his hat and triangular beard. Barry was 205 00:15:29,916 --> 00:15:34,076 Speaker 1: firmly in the Prince's circle now, and the sounds of merrymaking, 206 00:15:34,356 --> 00:15:37,556 Speaker 1: music and laughter would have blown down from the grand 207 00:15:37,636 --> 00:15:41,956 Speaker 1: house to the Chapman's little home. Were Annie's children slumbered 208 00:15:42,036 --> 00:15:45,716 Speaker 1: in their own bedrooms. This might have been Annie's story 209 00:15:45,796 --> 00:15:50,236 Speaker 1: in its entirety. It might have ended in quiet, middle 210 00:15:50,276 --> 00:15:54,676 Speaker 1: class comfort on a gentleman's estate. Her daughters may have 211 00:15:54,756 --> 00:15:59,476 Speaker 1: grown up and married middle class men. Constancy and contentment 212 00:15:59,916 --> 00:16:02,556 Speaker 1: might have defined the courses of all of their lives. 213 00:16:03,716 --> 00:16:09,836 Speaker 1: Had Annie Chapman not been an alcoholic, the ripper be 214 00:16:09,956 --> 00:16:20,036 Speaker 1: told we'll be back in just a moment, Just like today, 215 00:16:20,476 --> 00:16:26,356 Speaker 1: Alcoholism addiction is universalizing, right. It's not just lower class people. 216 00:16:26,436 --> 00:16:29,476 Speaker 1: It wasn't just the poor. It isn't just the poor 217 00:16:29,596 --> 00:16:33,596 Speaker 1: and the working class now, people of all classes suffer 218 00:16:33,676 --> 00:16:37,796 Speaker 1: from addiction. Julia Skelly teaches art history at McGill University 219 00:16:37,796 --> 00:16:41,996 Speaker 1: in Montreal and studies addiction in Victorian culture. I came 220 00:16:42,076 --> 00:16:45,516 Speaker 1: to the topic as a recovering alcoholic. I got sober 221 00:16:45,556 --> 00:16:47,316 Speaker 1: in two thousand and six, when I was twenty three, 222 00:16:47,556 --> 00:16:51,156 Speaker 1: just before I started my PhD. We can't say for sure, 223 00:16:51,556 --> 00:16:54,676 Speaker 1: but it's likely that Annie's discovery of the pacifying effects 224 00:16:54,716 --> 00:16:57,316 Speaker 1: of the bottle began with the devastating loss of her 225 00:16:57,356 --> 00:17:00,796 Speaker 1: siblings to scarlet fever and typhus, and her placement in 226 00:17:00,836 --> 00:17:05,516 Speaker 1: domestic service shortly afterwards. For a time, Annie was successful 227 00:17:05,556 --> 00:17:08,756 Speaker 1: in hiding her alcoholism within the confines of her own home, 228 00:17:09,636 --> 00:17:13,396 Speaker 1: but she couldn't hide it from her family. Again and again, 229 00:17:13,836 --> 00:17:17,436 Speaker 1: they tried to persuade Annie to give up drinking. Again 230 00:17:17,636 --> 00:17:22,236 Speaker 1: and again, she returned to alcohol. In Annie Chapman's day, 231 00:17:22,596 --> 00:17:26,636 Speaker 1: alcohol was almost impossible to avoid a household like Annie's 232 00:17:26,756 --> 00:17:31,276 Speaker 1: stopped wines and spirits as a treatment for headaches, colds, fevers, toothaches, 233 00:17:31,476 --> 00:17:34,796 Speaker 1: or to rub on the gums of teething children. Most 234 00:17:34,796 --> 00:17:38,796 Speaker 1: shot bought curatives were principally based in alcohol, and medicines 235 00:17:38,876 --> 00:17:43,156 Speaker 1: also tended to contain addictive substances like laudanum, a solution 236 00:17:43,156 --> 00:17:48,516 Speaker 1: of opium, or even cocaine. Their frequent usage ended in dependency. 237 00:17:49,116 --> 00:17:52,916 Speaker 1: One of the challenges of recovering from addiction at this 238 00:17:52,996 --> 00:17:56,396 Speaker 1: time was, of course, the mixed messages that in order 239 00:17:56,436 --> 00:18:00,236 Speaker 1: to cure alcoholism you could take a little cocaine, or 240 00:18:00,276 --> 00:18:03,596 Speaker 1: to cure addiction to cocaine, you could take a little 241 00:18:03,716 --> 00:18:08,876 Speaker 1: something else. One addictive substance was bad, another addictive substance 242 00:18:08,916 --> 00:18:13,076 Speaker 1: could help you with your other addiction. Often, the tendency 243 00:18:13,116 --> 00:18:16,316 Speaker 1: for Victorian wives to drink was precipitated by a sense 244 00:18:16,316 --> 00:18:20,436 Speaker 1: of loneliness. This was the paradox of upwards social mobility. 245 00:18:20,756 --> 00:18:23,036 Speaker 1: With the children away at school and a maid to 246 00:18:23,076 --> 00:18:26,076 Speaker 1: do the housework, Annie spent a lot of time alone 247 00:18:26,196 --> 00:18:29,676 Speaker 1: at home unoccupied. She was also far from her mother 248 00:18:29,756 --> 00:18:33,796 Speaker 1: and sisters, which only increased her isolation and boredom, and 249 00:18:34,156 --> 00:18:37,476 Speaker 1: in turn her itch to self medicate with alcohol. In 250 00:18:37,516 --> 00:18:43,876 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, various physicians began to argue that addiction 251 00:18:44,236 --> 00:18:49,116 Speaker 1: alcoholism was a disease, and one of the reasons physicians 252 00:18:49,116 --> 00:18:53,596 Speaker 1: were attempting to do that was too empty addiction of 253 00:18:53,636 --> 00:18:57,276 Speaker 1: the shame associated with sin and moral failing. At the 254 00:18:57,316 --> 00:19:02,636 Speaker 1: same time, though alcoholism and drunkenness was being criminalized, despite 255 00:19:02,676 --> 00:19:05,716 Speaker 1: attempts to categorize it as a disease. In the eighteen 256 00:19:05,756 --> 00:19:11,116 Speaker 1: seventies and eighties, addiction had sinister implications. Drunkenness was seen 257 00:19:11,196 --> 00:19:15,316 Speaker 1: as a reflection of a person's degenerate character, their poor judgment, 258 00:19:15,596 --> 00:19:19,876 Speaker 1: their moral weakness, their idleness. Women were held in particular 259 00:19:19,916 --> 00:19:23,276 Speaker 1: contempt for their alcoholism. This is apparent and how they 260 00:19:23,276 --> 00:19:26,596 Speaker 1: were depicted in the era's artwork. Audiences at the time 261 00:19:26,636 --> 00:19:29,916 Speaker 1: would have recognized all these tropes, the haggard physiognomy, the 262 00:19:29,996 --> 00:19:34,236 Speaker 1: messy hair, the dirty skin as indicators that this is 263 00:19:34,596 --> 00:19:38,916 Speaker 1: a female subject addicted to alcohol. This idea that a 264 00:19:39,036 --> 00:19:43,356 Speaker 1: woman who is an alcoholic or addict is so out 265 00:19:43,396 --> 00:19:46,796 Speaker 1: of it is so unfeminine that she doesn't even wash 266 00:19:46,836 --> 00:19:50,276 Speaker 1: her face, that she doesn't even do her hair. She's unnatural. 267 00:19:50,916 --> 00:19:55,116 Speaker 1: Female alcoholics, female drinkers, female addicts have long been, if 268 00:19:55,156 --> 00:19:58,996 Speaker 1: not have always been perceived as a much greater threat 269 00:19:59,076 --> 00:20:03,556 Speaker 1: than male addicts and alcoholics because of those gender discourses 270 00:20:03,596 --> 00:20:06,956 Speaker 1: around what is expected of a good woman, and that 271 00:20:07,116 --> 00:20:11,516 Speaker 1: is of course being obedient, being quiet, being well behaved, 272 00:20:11,556 --> 00:20:14,836 Speaker 1: and being a good wife and mother. Annie would have 273 00:20:14,876 --> 00:20:20,276 Speaker 1: experienced devastating shame as a woman deemed unnatural. That story 274 00:20:20,556 --> 00:20:23,756 Speaker 1: was so sad reading about Anny Chapman, because that life 275 00:20:24,036 --> 00:20:27,196 Speaker 1: trajectory still happens, right. A woman who wants to stop, 276 00:20:27,396 --> 00:20:31,196 Speaker 1: who has many reasons to stop, and who cannot stop 277 00:20:31,236 --> 00:20:35,156 Speaker 1: and stay stopped in terms of alcohol consumption, experiences shame 278 00:20:35,516 --> 00:20:40,276 Speaker 1: that isolates her. And then there's that affective emotional suffering 279 00:20:40,356 --> 00:20:45,156 Speaker 1: on top of the suffering induced by alcoholism. Mister and 280 00:20:45,156 --> 00:20:49,516 Speaker 1: missus Chapman faced other tragedies. Two. Annie gave birth to 281 00:20:49,556 --> 00:20:54,076 Speaker 1: eight children. According to Annie's sister, six of these were 282 00:20:54,156 --> 00:20:59,716 Speaker 1: victims to the curse of alcohol. Annie's eldest daughter initially 283 00:20:59,716 --> 00:21:03,076 Speaker 1: appeared healthy, but by the time she was eight she 284 00:21:03,156 --> 00:21:07,116 Speaker 1: was suffering from epileptic teasures. A second daughter lived no 285 00:21:07,196 --> 00:21:10,836 Speaker 1: more than a day, was born with what is now 286 00:21:10,876 --> 00:21:14,676 Speaker 1: known as fetal alcohol syndrome. Its hallmarks are apparent in 287 00:21:14,716 --> 00:21:20,516 Speaker 1: that childhood photograph. Two other children died young. The Chapman's 288 00:21:20,596 --> 00:21:26,916 Speaker 1: last child, John Alfred, suffered from paralysis. It was obvious 289 00:21:26,916 --> 00:21:30,116 Speaker 1: to Annie's family, and perhaps also to Annie, that her 290 00:21:30,236 --> 00:21:32,916 Speaker 1: drinking was at the heart of this series of tragedies. 291 00:21:33,356 --> 00:21:37,756 Speaker 1: This realization surely pushed Annie deeper into despair and furthered 292 00:21:37,756 --> 00:21:42,196 Speaker 1: her inability to control her impulses. For their part, Annie's 293 00:21:42,236 --> 00:21:46,676 Speaker 1: sisters repeatedly tried to get her to embrace teetotalism. They 294 00:21:46,836 --> 00:21:51,076 Speaker 1: were proponents of the temperance movement. So the temperance movement 295 00:21:51,236 --> 00:21:56,756 Speaker 1: began around eighteen thirty, so it's already sixty odd years 296 00:21:56,796 --> 00:22:01,196 Speaker 1: old when Jack the Ripper was killing women again, very 297 00:22:01,276 --> 00:22:05,516 Speaker 1: much a religious model right where in temperance was a sin, 298 00:22:05,876 --> 00:22:08,676 Speaker 1: was a moral failing. So one had to sign a 299 00:22:08,796 --> 00:22:12,036 Speaker 1: temper prince pledge or an abstinence pledge saying I will 300 00:22:12,116 --> 00:22:17,076 Speaker 1: not drink. Annie's sisters convinced her several times to sign 301 00:22:17,116 --> 00:22:19,796 Speaker 1: this pledge, but they could not get her to adhere 302 00:22:19,836 --> 00:22:23,516 Speaker 1: to it. There was this expectation that once you signed 303 00:22:23,556 --> 00:22:26,156 Speaker 1: the pledge, that should be enough, that should be enough 304 00:22:26,196 --> 00:22:28,996 Speaker 1: to keep you from drinking again. And as we saw 305 00:22:29,036 --> 00:22:33,036 Speaker 1: with Eddie Chapman, that is not the case. Alcoholism addiction 306 00:22:33,116 --> 00:22:36,596 Speaker 1: does not just go away if you sign a piece 307 00:22:36,596 --> 00:22:40,196 Speaker 1: of paper. If only it were so simple. In some ways, 308 00:22:40,356 --> 00:22:43,956 Speaker 1: the movement just served to exacerbate the humiliation of alcoholics. 309 00:22:44,196 --> 00:22:46,956 Speaker 1: It went hand in hand with the popular philosophy of 310 00:22:46,996 --> 00:22:50,916 Speaker 1: self help, which blame poverty on an individual's own behavior 311 00:22:51,116 --> 00:22:54,276 Speaker 1: and lack of responsibility for their choices in life. A 312 00:22:54,356 --> 00:22:57,636 Speaker 1: solemn promised to adhere to restriction of one's impulses was 313 00:22:57,636 --> 00:23:01,636 Speaker 1: supposed to equate to conscious effort at moral improvement. The 314 00:23:01,636 --> 00:23:04,876 Speaker 1: temperance movement did kind of function along the lines of 315 00:23:04,996 --> 00:23:09,276 Speaker 1: shaming alcoholics and addicts, and again, this idea of what 316 00:23:09,276 --> 00:23:13,836 Speaker 1: a woman should be doing right morally upright duly bound 317 00:23:14,156 --> 00:23:21,716 Speaker 1: women attending to gendered expectations. It got worse when Annie's 318 00:23:21,716 --> 00:23:25,876 Speaker 1: elder daughter, Emily, began to sicken with meningitis. She turned 319 00:23:25,876 --> 00:23:29,636 Speaker 1: to her usual source of comfort, the bottle, and she 320 00:23:29,756 --> 00:23:32,836 Speaker 1: was not present at her daughter's bedside when she died. 321 00:23:33,796 --> 00:23:38,916 Speaker 1: Annie's pain at this time was surely unbearable. By this point, 322 00:23:38,956 --> 00:23:42,836 Speaker 1: she also had a reputation among the local police. Several 323 00:23:42,876 --> 00:23:46,276 Speaker 1: times she was found drunk wandering between the surrounding villages. 324 00:23:47,196 --> 00:23:50,236 Speaker 1: By all accounts, she was not an angry drunk, but 325 00:23:50,436 --> 00:23:55,116 Speaker 1: rather sad, sullen and quiet, weighed down by her heartache. 326 00:23:56,076 --> 00:23:59,476 Speaker 1: We don't know where Annie was eventually found when Emily died, 327 00:24:00,036 --> 00:24:03,236 Speaker 1: whether she was ensconced in a pub or perhaps swaying 328 00:24:03,276 --> 00:24:06,236 Speaker 1: down the street, but her behavior was enough to raise 329 00:24:06,396 --> 00:24:12,476 Speaker 1: serious alarm. Her family gained her admission to spell Town Sanatorium, 330 00:24:12,516 --> 00:24:18,036 Speaker 1: an alcoholism treatment facility for middle class women. Those sanatoria 331 00:24:18,116 --> 00:24:22,956 Speaker 1: were very much designed as homes, so they were decorated 332 00:24:22,996 --> 00:24:27,916 Speaker 1: as domestic spaces, and the idea was these women were 333 00:24:27,956 --> 00:24:34,276 Speaker 1: expected to do feminine activities to get fresh air, exercise, 334 00:24:34,756 --> 00:24:39,236 Speaker 1: to embroider. That was the treatment developed for women of 335 00:24:39,236 --> 00:24:42,596 Speaker 1: this class, with the idea that they would return to 336 00:24:42,796 --> 00:24:46,276 Speaker 1: again this kind of natural femininity. There wasn't kind of 337 00:24:46,276 --> 00:24:51,236 Speaker 1: a dealing with the actual problem of addiction or indeed 338 00:24:51,276 --> 00:24:55,316 Speaker 1: what may have been causing the consumption of alcohol. Chapman 339 00:24:55,476 --> 00:25:00,716 Speaker 1: clearly suffered trauma. Right now a day's there's much more 340 00:25:00,716 --> 00:25:03,596 Speaker 1: attention to the root problem, whereas in the nineteenth century, 341 00:25:03,716 --> 00:25:07,396 Speaker 1: middle of upper class women who were identified as alcoholics 342 00:25:07,516 --> 00:25:11,036 Speaker 1: just needed to be reminded of their duties. Annie spent 343 00:25:11,076 --> 00:25:13,996 Speaker 1: a year at Spelthorne. Her name is not recorded in 344 00:25:13,996 --> 00:25:17,436 Speaker 1: the log books. Among the occasional troublemakers, the women who 345 00:25:17,516 --> 00:25:21,436 Speaker 1: found giving up alcohol nearly impossible, who tore up their clothing, 346 00:25:21,716 --> 00:25:25,276 Speaker 1: destroyed furniture, or lashed out in violence, it seemed that 347 00:25:25,316 --> 00:25:29,236 Speaker 1: Annie's time at the sanatorium was relatively quiet. She was 348 00:25:29,276 --> 00:25:33,036 Speaker 1: released in December eighteen eighty three and able to return home. 349 00:25:33,956 --> 00:25:37,476 Speaker 1: According to Annie's sister, she was at this point a 350 00:25:37,596 --> 00:25:42,476 Speaker 1: changed woman, a sober wife and mother. Life rolled along 351 00:25:42,556 --> 00:25:47,276 Speaker 1: for a few months, but what happened next sounds almost apocryphal, 352 00:25:47,796 --> 00:25:52,196 Speaker 1: like a cautionary tale from a teetotalless handbook. One bit 353 00:25:52,236 --> 00:25:55,916 Speaker 1: a day, Annie's husband, John, who was stricken with a cold, 354 00:25:56,436 --> 00:25:59,996 Speaker 1: was getting ready for work. Duty compelled him to go out, 355 00:26:00,316 --> 00:26:03,996 Speaker 1: so he took a fortifying glass of hot whiskey. When 356 00:26:03,996 --> 00:26:07,396 Speaker 1: he kissed Annie goodbye, his lips carried the taste of 357 00:26:07,396 --> 00:26:15,956 Speaker 1: the alcohol, and all her cravings returned. Perhaps she turned 358 00:26:15,996 --> 00:26:19,036 Speaker 1: over every room in the house looking for that bottle. 359 00:26:19,836 --> 00:26:23,476 Speaker 1: In the end, she went out within an hour. She 360 00:26:23,556 --> 00:26:28,516 Speaker 1: was drunk. Later, in words, redolent with the profound suffering 361 00:26:28,556 --> 00:26:32,036 Speaker 1: of the chronic alcoholic, she told her sister, it is 362 00:26:32,076 --> 00:26:36,236 Speaker 1: of no use. No one knows the fearful struggle. Unless 363 00:26:36,276 --> 00:26:39,156 Speaker 1: I can keep out of sight and smell, I could 364 00:26:39,156 --> 00:26:43,876 Speaker 1: never be free. Spelthorne had been intended to cure Annie, 365 00:26:44,436 --> 00:26:48,596 Speaker 1: and this was the last straw John's employer could indulge. 366 00:26:48,596 --> 00:26:52,236 Speaker 1: Missus Chapman no longer. The berries now moved in the 367 00:26:52,396 --> 00:26:56,116 Speaker 1: highest circles, and they could not afford the embarrassment of 368 00:26:56,236 --> 00:27:01,796 Speaker 1: harboring a notorious and unpredictable inebriate on their grounds. Either 369 00:27:01,836 --> 00:27:04,756 Speaker 1: Annie had to leave or John would be fired, and 370 00:27:04,836 --> 00:27:07,716 Speaker 1: it was unlikely that he would find another job nearly 371 00:27:07,836 --> 00:27:11,636 Speaker 1: as well paid. When John and Annie decided to part ways, 372 00:27:12,116 --> 00:27:18,436 Speaker 1: the decision was apparently an amicable one, though not without heartbreak. John, 373 00:27:18,836 --> 00:27:22,316 Speaker 1: who was devoted to his wife, made arrangements to pay 374 00:27:22,356 --> 00:27:25,276 Speaker 1: her ten shillings a week, a sum higher than a 375 00:27:25,316 --> 00:27:29,796 Speaker 1: female factory worker might expect. He almost certainly intended for 376 00:27:29,836 --> 00:27:33,356 Speaker 1: her to return to her mother's home. That sum would 377 00:27:33,356 --> 00:27:36,156 Speaker 1: not only assist Annie's mother with the upkeep of the house, 378 00:27:36,636 --> 00:27:38,916 Speaker 1: it would afford his wife a few of the middle 379 00:27:38,956 --> 00:27:42,756 Speaker 1: class luxuries to which she was accustomed perfumed soaps and 380 00:27:43,196 --> 00:27:47,956 Speaker 1: inexpensive jewelry. Perhaps John believed that with the support of 381 00:27:47,956 --> 00:27:51,276 Speaker 1: her mother and her devoted sisters, Annie might just be 382 00:27:51,356 --> 00:27:56,156 Speaker 1: all right. But John's well intentioned scheme did not last long. 383 00:28:04,076 --> 00:28:13,356 Speaker 1: The ripper retold were returned shortly. It was almost impossible 384 00:28:13,396 --> 00:28:16,556 Speaker 1: for Annie to live in her mother's home. Her family 385 00:28:16,636 --> 00:28:20,276 Speaker 1: didn't tolerate her drinking, and her shame made a relationship 386 00:28:20,276 --> 00:28:24,436 Speaker 1: with them almost impossible to bear. Ultimately, Annie chose a 387 00:28:24,476 --> 00:28:28,156 Speaker 1: life without those she loved rather than one without the 388 00:28:28,236 --> 00:28:33,476 Speaker 1: substance she craved. Shame is an incredibly powerful affect right. 389 00:28:33,516 --> 00:28:39,716 Speaker 1: It controls people, It isolates people, It is incredibly destructive 390 00:28:40,076 --> 00:28:43,796 Speaker 1: as an emotion, and it is contagious. It wouldn't have 391 00:28:43,796 --> 00:28:47,796 Speaker 1: just been Annie Chapman who felt ashamed of her alcoholism. 392 00:28:48,036 --> 00:28:52,756 Speaker 1: Her sisters, her mother felt ashamed by proxy, because the 393 00:28:52,996 --> 00:28:57,556 Speaker 1: society culture told all of them that they should be 394 00:28:57,596 --> 00:29:01,276 Speaker 1: ashamed of Annie, that Annie should be ashamed of herself. 395 00:29:01,396 --> 00:29:05,956 Speaker 1: The shame discourse, which is absolutely still circulating today around addiction, 396 00:29:06,396 --> 00:29:10,796 Speaker 1: keeps people from saying to someone I struggle with addiction 397 00:29:10,836 --> 00:29:14,396 Speaker 1: and I need help. For historian Julia Skelly, this stigma 398 00:29:14,476 --> 00:29:18,756 Speaker 1: sealed Annie's fate. In isolating her, it all but delivered 399 00:29:18,756 --> 00:29:21,836 Speaker 1: her into the hands of the ripper. If the shaming 400 00:29:21,876 --> 00:29:24,676 Speaker 1: discourse had not existed at the time, she would have 401 00:29:24,676 --> 00:29:27,116 Speaker 1: been able to stay with her husband, right. She wouldn't 402 00:29:27,116 --> 00:29:31,876 Speaker 1: have been told you have to leave. The employers found 403 00:29:31,916 --> 00:29:36,516 Speaker 1: her offensive, and so she was exiled right and thus 404 00:29:37,036 --> 00:29:43,876 Speaker 1: became incredibly, incredibly vulnerable to violence. It's difficult to fathom 405 00:29:43,916 --> 00:29:47,556 Speaker 1: the emotional despair that Annie must now have felt she 406 00:29:47,596 --> 00:29:51,076 Speaker 1: had proven her inability to mother her children, to maintain 407 00:29:51,116 --> 00:29:54,436 Speaker 1: a home for her husband, even to care for herself. 408 00:29:55,636 --> 00:29:59,916 Speaker 1: Eventually Annie left her mother's home. She was now a 409 00:29:59,956 --> 00:30:03,396 Speaker 1: lone woman, a precarious position that demanded that she find 410 00:30:03,396 --> 00:30:07,196 Speaker 1: a male partner. Because she was still legally married to John. 411 00:30:07,796 --> 00:30:12,596 Speaker 1: This meant adultery, but it hardly mattered. She was already 412 00:30:12,636 --> 00:30:18,996 Speaker 1: considered to be morally ruined. Annie probably met Jack Siveey 413 00:30:19,036 --> 00:30:22,236 Speaker 1: in a pub, his name reflecting his occupation as a 414 00:30:22,276 --> 00:30:26,156 Speaker 1: sid maker. They became a pair, bonding over their shared 415 00:30:26,196 --> 00:30:29,436 Speaker 1: love of drink, and moved to Whitechapel together in search 416 00:30:29,476 --> 00:30:34,356 Speaker 1: of work. All that remained of Annie's former identity, the 417 00:30:34,436 --> 00:30:37,796 Speaker 1: wife of a gentleman's coachman, the mother of two children, 418 00:30:38,436 --> 00:30:42,796 Speaker 1: was left behind in Whitechapel. She was only ever known 419 00:30:42,836 --> 00:30:48,636 Speaker 1: as Annie Sivvey, Missus Sivee, or occasionally Dark Annie. On 420 00:30:48,676 --> 00:30:52,236 Speaker 1: account of her wavy brown hair now streaked with gray, 421 00:30:53,156 --> 00:30:57,156 Speaker 1: she spoke little of her past. Mister and Missus Sivee 422 00:30:57,236 --> 00:31:01,156 Speaker 1: found lodgings at number thirty Dorset Street, where Amelia Palmer 423 00:31:01,196 --> 00:31:05,596 Speaker 1: and her husband also lived. Amelia remarked that in spite 424 00:31:05,636 --> 00:31:10,596 Speaker 1: of her circumstances. Annie remained a very spectable woman. She 425 00:31:10,756 --> 00:31:15,756 Speaker 1: was straightforward, clever and industrious when she was sober. When 426 00:31:15,756 --> 00:31:18,596 Speaker 1: she could, she sold her embroidery and crochet work at 427 00:31:18,636 --> 00:31:23,476 Speaker 1: a local market. She never used bad language. Jack Sivie 428 00:31:23,516 --> 00:31:26,516 Speaker 1: brought in an income, and failing that, Annie had her 429 00:31:26,556 --> 00:31:30,076 Speaker 1: allowance from John to fall back on. This might have 430 00:31:30,116 --> 00:31:32,756 Speaker 1: paid for a better room elsewhere, as well as for 431 00:31:32,836 --> 00:31:37,956 Speaker 1: food and coal. Instead, it paid for alcohol, at least 432 00:31:38,036 --> 00:31:43,396 Speaker 1: until December eighteen eighty six. That month, without warning, Annie's 433 00:31:43,396 --> 00:31:49,116 Speaker 1: weekly payments stopped. She was alarmed. John, she soon learned, 434 00:31:49,596 --> 00:31:54,356 Speaker 1: was gravely unwell. This news shook Annie and she was 435 00:31:54,396 --> 00:31:57,876 Speaker 1: determined to see her husband again. In the midst of winter, 436 00:31:58,036 --> 00:32:00,516 Speaker 1: she set off on a thirty mile journey on foot, 437 00:32:00,956 --> 00:32:05,196 Speaker 1: trekking across London and into the frozen countryside. She didn't 438 00:32:05,196 --> 00:32:08,036 Speaker 1: know John's precise new address, and so she called in 439 00:32:08,076 --> 00:32:11,676 Speaker 1: at a pub, the Mary Wives of Windsor. The manager 440 00:32:11,756 --> 00:32:14,996 Speaker 1: later described her as a wretched looking woman, having the 441 00:32:15,036 --> 00:32:18,556 Speaker 1: appearance of a tramp. But he knew where John lived 442 00:32:18,756 --> 00:32:23,196 Speaker 1: and he pointed Annie in the right direction. Their reunion 443 00:32:23,396 --> 00:32:27,676 Speaker 1: was surely a bitter one. Annie's addiction and the collapse 444 00:32:27,716 --> 00:32:32,516 Speaker 1: of their marriage had felled John completely shortly before his 445 00:32:32,636 --> 00:32:37,516 Speaker 1: death at just forty five. He was white haired and brokenhearted. 446 00:32:38,396 --> 00:32:42,556 Speaker 1: He seems to have taken to drinking two. Annie did 447 00:32:42,556 --> 00:32:46,156 Speaker 1: not linger long enough to witness John's death. Upon her 448 00:32:46,196 --> 00:32:50,916 Speaker 1: return to Whitechapel, Annie said Amelia was never the same again. 449 00:32:51,756 --> 00:32:56,396 Speaker 1: Jack Sivey soon left her. She was also increasing the 450 00:32:56,556 --> 00:33:01,636 Speaker 1: unwell and becoming a pitiful case. Her life was marked 451 00:33:01,636 --> 00:33:06,556 Speaker 1: by drink and despondency, by hunger and sickness, and she 452 00:33:06,636 --> 00:33:10,556 Speaker 1: appeared to be suffering from tuberculosis, which eventually began to 453 00:33:10,676 --> 00:33:15,236 Speaker 1: ravage her brain tissue. Annie's mother and siblings gave her 454 00:33:15,276 --> 00:33:18,716 Speaker 1: small amounts of money. She also began a relationship with 455 00:33:18,756 --> 00:33:21,116 Speaker 1: a new man who paid for her to spend a 456 00:33:21,156 --> 00:33:24,596 Speaker 1: few nights a week at a lodging house. She likely 457 00:33:24,596 --> 00:33:29,556 Speaker 1: spent the other nights sleeping on the street. On September seventh, 458 00:33:29,716 --> 00:33:34,396 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty eight, Amelia Palmer encountered Annie Lingering on Dorset 459 00:33:34,476 --> 00:33:37,156 Speaker 1: Street and asked if she would be selling her crochet 460 00:33:37,196 --> 00:33:41,276 Speaker 1: work at a local market that weekend. Annie answered, wearily, 461 00:33:41,716 --> 00:33:46,596 Speaker 1: I am too ill to do anything. She recognized the 462 00:33:46,596 --> 00:33:50,236 Speaker 1: gravity of her own situation, though and told Amelia that 463 00:33:50,276 --> 00:33:53,116 Speaker 1: she had to pull herself together and get some money 464 00:33:53,116 --> 00:33:56,356 Speaker 1: for a bed in a lodging house, But by nightfall 465 00:33:56,436 --> 00:33:59,556 Speaker 1: she was still short. At one forty five a m. 466 00:34:00,036 --> 00:34:03,236 Speaker 1: She pleaded with the deputy manager of her usual lodging 467 00:34:03,276 --> 00:34:07,036 Speaker 1: house for a bed. He declined to extend her any credit. 468 00:34:07,956 --> 00:34:11,596 Speaker 1: Annie was not quite willing to admit defeat. Keep my 469 00:34:11,676 --> 00:34:15,716 Speaker 1: bed for me A shan't be long. Perhaps this was 470 00:34:15,756 --> 00:34:20,476 Speaker 1: simply a show of pride. Ill and drunk, She lingered 471 00:34:20,476 --> 00:34:24,276 Speaker 1: in the lodging house doorway, considering her options. Before stepping 472 00:34:24,276 --> 00:34:27,356 Speaker 1: out into the night. She wove her way through the 473 00:34:27,436 --> 00:34:31,116 Speaker 1: black whitechapel streets and found that the gate to twenty 474 00:34:31,156 --> 00:34:35,116 Speaker 1: nine Hanbury Street was unlocked. She would have been familiar 475 00:34:35,116 --> 00:34:37,796 Speaker 1: with this yard and known that the gap between the 476 00:34:37,876 --> 00:34:40,996 Speaker 1: steps and the fence was an ideal spot in which 477 00:34:41,036 --> 00:34:43,996 Speaker 1: to curl up. She would have been relieved to find 478 00:34:44,076 --> 00:34:48,796 Speaker 1: it vacant. It offered solitude and some semblance of shelter. 479 00:34:52,956 --> 00:34:55,796 Speaker 1: Annie Chapman needn't have been on the street that night. 480 00:34:56,596 --> 00:35:00,836 Speaker 1: This is part of the tragedy of her story. She 481 00:35:00,916 --> 00:35:03,356 Speaker 1: might have stayed at her mother's house or rested in 482 00:35:03,436 --> 00:35:06,836 Speaker 1: her sister's care on the other side of London. She 483 00:35:06,916 --> 00:35:11,196 Speaker 1: might have lain in hospital receiving treatment for tuberculosis. She 484 00:35:11,316 --> 00:35:14,476 Speaker 1: might have even been comforted by the embrace of her children. 485 00:35:15,756 --> 00:35:19,236 Speaker 1: At every turn a hand had reached to pull her 486 00:35:19,276 --> 00:35:23,316 Speaker 1: from the abyss, but the counter tug of addiction had 487 00:35:23,316 --> 00:35:27,676 Speaker 1: been more forceful, and the isolating grip of shame just 488 00:35:27,756 --> 00:35:31,996 Speaker 1: as strong. It was this that had severed her ties 489 00:35:32,036 --> 00:35:37,756 Speaker 1: with her family and pulled her under. Annie Chapman, curled 490 00:35:37,836 --> 00:35:41,516 Speaker 1: up in that yard, had led a miserable and blighted life. 491 00:35:42,796 --> 00:36:02,436 Speaker 1: That life was about to be snuffed out. Bad Women, 492 00:36:02,476 --> 00:36:04,596 Speaker 1: The Ripper Were Told is brought to you by Pushkin 493 00:36:04,676 --> 00:36:07,756 Speaker 1: Industries and me Hallie Rubbinhold, and is based on my 494 00:36:07,796 --> 00:36:11,156 Speaker 1: book The Five. It was produced and co written by 495 00:36:11,236 --> 00:36:14,116 Speaker 1: Ryan Dilley and Alice Fines, with help from Pete Norton. 496 00:36:14,916 --> 00:36:18,316 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise Sound designed and mixed the show and composed 497 00:36:18,316 --> 00:36:21,596 Speaker 1: all the original music. You also heard the voice talents 498 00:36:21,636 --> 00:36:25,756 Speaker 1: of Soul Boyer, Melanie Gutridge, Gemma Saunders and rufus Wright. 499 00:36:26,476 --> 00:36:28,996 Speaker 1: The show also wouldn't have been possible without the work 500 00:36:29,036 --> 00:36:33,436 Speaker 1: of mil La Belle, Jacob Weisberg, Jen Guerra, Heather Fane, 501 00:36:33,796 --> 00:36:39,516 Speaker 1: Carlie Migliori, Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano, and Daniella Lacane were 502 00:36:39,596 --> 00:36:43,076 Speaker 1: special thanks to my agents Sarah Ballard and Ellie Karn