1 00:00:15,316 --> 00:00:25,036 Speaker 1: Pushkin, bundled up in scarves and shawls against the bitter 2 00:00:25,116 --> 00:00:29,516 Speaker 1: January morning, Spectators by the thousand gather in the jail 3 00:00:29,596 --> 00:00:37,276 Speaker 1: yard beneath the gallows. Charles Christopher Robinson is about to 4 00:00:37,356 --> 00:00:41,636 Speaker 1: hang for murder, and the excited crowd has risen early 5 00:00:41,676 --> 00:00:44,316 Speaker 1: to watch him wriggle and writhe at the end of 6 00:00:44,356 --> 00:00:51,356 Speaker 1: a rope. Kate Edos is likely among those jostling and 7 00:00:51,436 --> 00:00:55,116 Speaker 1: elbowing for a view of the drop. She earns her 8 00:00:55,116 --> 00:00:58,796 Speaker 1: living writing songs and singing them on the streets, and 9 00:00:58,956 --> 00:01:01,916 Speaker 1: she's seen many a new snap tight around a villain's neck. 10 00:01:02,436 --> 00:01:06,436 Speaker 1: Because nothing sells quite as well as ballads about murderers 11 00:01:07,676 --> 00:01:13,796 Speaker 1: and Hali. Kate's wandering itinerant ways will eventually take her 12 00:01:13,796 --> 00:01:17,436 Speaker 1: to a neighborhood gripped by fear of a shadowy serial killer, 13 00:01:18,636 --> 00:01:23,636 Speaker 1: but she will not turn his deeds into a profitable song. Instead, 14 00:01:24,236 --> 00:01:33,196 Speaker 1: her voice will be among those silenced forever. I'm Hallie Rubbin. 15 00:01:33,236 --> 00:01:39,116 Speaker 1: Hold you're listening to Bad Women. The Ripper retold, a 16 00:01:39,276 --> 00:01:42,236 Speaker 1: series about the real lives of the women killed by 17 00:01:42,316 --> 00:01:46,676 Speaker 1: Jack the Ripper and how we got their stories so wrong. 18 00:01:49,556 --> 00:01:57,396 Speaker 1: One side, Money Plenty and friends too by the sky. 19 00:01:59,036 --> 00:02:21,476 Speaker 1: Then fortune smilder. Upon me I naw One passmder Sees 20 00:02:21,676 --> 00:02:39,556 Speaker 1: to lime con Rock, the Eddows family crowded onto an 21 00:02:39,556 --> 00:02:43,516 Speaker 1: open topped canal boat, burdened with baskets and bundles and 22 00:02:43,556 --> 00:02:47,716 Speaker 1: whimpering little ones. They were heading a hundred miles south 23 00:02:48,036 --> 00:02:51,716 Speaker 1: from Wolverhampton to London, and though a journey by train 24 00:02:51,796 --> 00:02:54,876 Speaker 1: would have been far quicker and more comfortable, such a 25 00:02:54,876 --> 00:02:59,876 Speaker 1: convenience was beyond their means, so instead they piled into 26 00:02:59,916 --> 00:03:03,876 Speaker 1: the narrow vessel among other passengers and an awkward cargo 27 00:03:03,996 --> 00:03:09,836 Speaker 1: of barrels and boxes. Slowly, the familiar industrial landscape of 28 00:03:09,876 --> 00:03:14,596 Speaker 1: their hometown, the smoking furnace, chimneys and heaps of mining waste, 29 00:03:15,076 --> 00:03:19,516 Speaker 1: would have transformed into the strange new scenery of rural England, 30 00:03:21,356 --> 00:03:26,716 Speaker 1: green and yellow fields, bright with wild flowers, ancient churches 31 00:03:26,996 --> 00:03:31,116 Speaker 1: and country estates. These novel sights would have kept the 32 00:03:31,156 --> 00:03:36,516 Speaker 1: five eldest Eddo's children occupied, but the youngest child, Kate, 33 00:03:37,356 --> 00:03:41,276 Speaker 1: was scarcely nine months old, far too young to comprehend 34 00:03:41,316 --> 00:03:44,876 Speaker 1: the change of scenery or the circumstances that had forced 35 00:03:44,876 --> 00:03:47,756 Speaker 1: the family to leave their hometown in the first place. 36 00:03:49,036 --> 00:03:52,796 Speaker 1: Kate's father, George had run into some trouble. A skilled 37 00:03:52,916 --> 00:03:56,396 Speaker 1: tin plate worker, George had been active in his local union. 38 00:03:57,196 --> 00:04:00,476 Speaker 1: After he led a strike, his employer had him prosecuted 39 00:04:00,476 --> 00:04:05,196 Speaker 1: for agitating among his fellow workers. For his offenses, George 40 00:04:05,236 --> 00:04:09,196 Speaker 1: did two months hard labor, and upon his release he 41 00:04:09,236 --> 00:04:11,876 Speaker 1: would have realized that he was blacklisted from working in 42 00:04:11,916 --> 00:04:17,836 Speaker 1: his hometown, so he sought employment in London. George settled 43 00:04:17,836 --> 00:04:21,196 Speaker 1: his wife, Katherine and their six children not far from 44 00:04:21,196 --> 00:04:25,796 Speaker 1: the Stinking Thames waterfront, were the canal both docked. If 45 00:04:25,836 --> 00:04:28,196 Speaker 1: George had been the father of a more modest collection 46 00:04:28,236 --> 00:04:30,836 Speaker 1: of children, this move to London might have brought the 47 00:04:30,916 --> 00:04:34,236 Speaker 1: family a degree of comfort and the opportunity for his 48 00:04:34,316 --> 00:04:38,316 Speaker 1: sons and daughters to rise in society. As a skilled 49 00:04:38,356 --> 00:04:41,876 Speaker 1: tinplate worker, George could earn well in the capital city, 50 00:04:42,556 --> 00:04:44,636 Speaker 1: and he was entitled to a better rate of pay 51 00:04:44,716 --> 00:04:47,956 Speaker 1: than many of the general laborers who populated his neighborhood. 52 00:04:48,836 --> 00:04:52,956 Speaker 1: But for working class families like his household, income ebbed 53 00:04:52,996 --> 00:04:56,196 Speaker 1: and flowed according to the number of earners under a roof, 54 00:04:56,956 --> 00:05:00,716 Speaker 1: and the burden of six children soon blocked any route 55 00:05:00,716 --> 00:05:06,116 Speaker 1: to improvement for the working class woman, in particular, earning 56 00:05:06,156 --> 00:05:09,236 Speaker 1: potential would be crippled by the onset of childbearing and 57 00:05:09,316 --> 00:05:13,996 Speaker 1: domestic obligation, and women from large families were often trapped 58 00:05:14,036 --> 00:05:19,396 Speaker 1: in inescapable cycles of poverty. Women and girls were significantly 59 00:05:19,556 --> 00:05:23,716 Speaker 1: less likely to be able to obtain the level of 60 00:05:23,876 --> 00:05:27,836 Speaker 1: skill at which working class wages start to be good. 61 00:05:28,276 --> 00:05:30,636 Speaker 1: A working class girl would be pulled out of school 62 00:05:30,716 --> 00:05:32,836 Speaker 1: as soon as she was old enough to look after 63 00:05:32,876 --> 00:05:37,156 Speaker 1: her younger siblings, says social historian Sarah Wise, passing these 64 00:05:37,236 --> 00:05:39,836 Speaker 1: duties on to the next child in line. She might 65 00:05:39,876 --> 00:05:42,596 Speaker 1: then have taken up a job at the very bottom 66 00:05:42,596 --> 00:05:44,876 Speaker 1: of the pile. She may be able to do things 67 00:05:44,876 --> 00:05:47,876 Speaker 1: like work in a factory, or perhaps be a domestic servant. 68 00:05:48,116 --> 00:05:52,796 Speaker 1: Upon marriage, she will almost immediately become a mother, and 69 00:05:52,836 --> 00:05:55,796 Speaker 1: then she will be reliant on a male wage. But 70 00:05:55,956 --> 00:05:59,476 Speaker 1: until the eldest child is in its turn old enough 71 00:05:59,476 --> 00:06:01,516 Speaker 1: to start going out to work to contribute to the 72 00:06:01,516 --> 00:06:04,636 Speaker 1: family budget, that's the point at which a family is 73 00:06:04,676 --> 00:06:08,636 Speaker 1: really struggling. Sometimes women combined work with the noise and 74 00:06:08,756 --> 00:06:13,156 Speaker 1: chaos of childcare. Mothers might perform low skilled assembly work 75 00:06:13,196 --> 00:06:17,396 Speaker 1: at home, making matchboxes or sewing together clothing, for example, 76 00:06:17,916 --> 00:06:21,276 Speaker 1: but their earnings would be small. This was the bleak 77 00:06:21,356 --> 00:06:25,116 Speaker 1: future that lay before Kate and her sisters, just as 78 00:06:25,116 --> 00:06:29,876 Speaker 1: it described the life of their mother. Access to contraception 79 00:06:30,156 --> 00:06:32,876 Speaker 1: might have transformed the lives of these women, who were 80 00:06:32,916 --> 00:06:37,036 Speaker 1: starved of any opportunities beyond mind numbing chores and nursing 81 00:06:37,076 --> 00:06:41,516 Speaker 1: their wailing offspring. By the nineteenth century, social reformers had 82 00:06:41,516 --> 00:06:45,956 Speaker 1: published works on methods for restricting family size. These varied 83 00:06:45,996 --> 00:06:50,636 Speaker 1: from reusable condoms known as French letters constructed from sheep's gut, 84 00:06:50,916 --> 00:06:55,596 Speaker 1: to contraceptive wards pieces of wool or sponge, perhaps soaked 85 00:06:55,596 --> 00:07:00,356 Speaker 1: in vinegar, that were inserted before sex. While basic contraceptive 86 00:07:00,356 --> 00:07:04,276 Speaker 1: information was discreetly conveyed to the literate middle classes, the 87 00:07:04,396 --> 00:07:09,436 Speaker 1: working classes were left in the dark, perpetual childbearing, plead, 88 00:07:09,476 --> 00:07:13,676 Speaker 1: the lot of being a working class wife. All this 89 00:07:13,996 --> 00:07:16,396 Speaker 1: took its toll on the well being of women like 90 00:07:16,596 --> 00:07:20,316 Speaker 1: Kate's mother. The ranks of the Eddo's family continued to 91 00:07:20,396 --> 00:07:24,436 Speaker 1: swell even after the move to London. By eighteen fifty four, 92 00:07:25,076 --> 00:07:30,516 Speaker 1: Kate's mother had given birth an exhausting twelve times. Every 93 00:07:30,636 --> 00:07:33,996 Speaker 1: new arrival meant less food on the table for everyone, 94 00:07:34,756 --> 00:07:39,276 Speaker 1: thinner soup, smaller chunks of bread and evermore water down milk. 95 00:07:39,996 --> 00:07:44,476 Speaker 1: Surely our heartbreaking process of rationing for a mother, As 96 00:07:44,556 --> 00:07:47,756 Speaker 1: one maternal rights campaigner of the era noted, if there 97 00:07:47,876 --> 00:07:50,196 Speaker 1: is saving to be done, it is not the husband 98 00:07:50,236 --> 00:07:52,836 Speaker 1: and children, but the mother who makes her meal off 99 00:07:52,876 --> 00:07:56,156 Speaker 1: the scraps which remain or plays with the meatless bones. 100 00:07:57,076 --> 00:07:59,396 Speaker 1: Kate's mother would have been expected to be the first 101 00:07:59,516 --> 00:08:03,036 Speaker 1: to go hungry, even if she was pregnant or breastfeeding. 102 00:08:03,836 --> 00:08:06,836 Speaker 1: She would also have been engaged in domestic labor into 103 00:08:06,876 --> 00:08:10,516 Speaker 1: the moment of each child's birth, and was probably back 104 00:08:10,556 --> 00:08:13,716 Speaker 1: at the scrubbing, cooking, and heavy lifting within days of 105 00:08:13,796 --> 00:08:18,916 Speaker 1: her delivery. This could have serious health repercussions, including hemorrhages, 106 00:08:19,396 --> 00:08:25,156 Speaker 1: severe vericos veins, and crippling back problems. Managing an army 107 00:08:25,236 --> 00:08:29,276 Speaker 1: of offspring presented practical hardships, but it also seems that 108 00:08:29,396 --> 00:08:32,836 Speaker 1: Kate's parents wanted better for their children, and they chose Kate, 109 00:08:33,196 --> 00:08:36,756 Speaker 1: possibly aged as young as six, to attend the esteemed 110 00:08:37,036 --> 00:08:41,196 Speaker 1: Dowgate School. This institution was run by a charity, and 111 00:08:41,356 --> 00:08:44,436 Speaker 1: it offered a rigorous and focused education to the area's 112 00:08:44,476 --> 00:08:48,836 Speaker 1: poor children. Kate would also have learned music and singing here. 113 00:08:49,796 --> 00:08:51,676 Speaker 1: It would have been an honor to have a child 114 00:08:51,756 --> 00:08:55,436 Speaker 1: at this school, though why precisely her parents selected Kate 115 00:08:55,476 --> 00:08:59,396 Speaker 1: for this privilege is unknown. Perhaps she demonstrated a particular 116 00:08:59,476 --> 00:09:02,516 Speaker 1: spark and intelligence which set her apart from her brothers 117 00:09:02,596 --> 00:09:06,436 Speaker 1: and sisters. The intention of the Dowgate School was to 118 00:09:06,556 --> 00:09:09,916 Speaker 1: create a better sort of working class person, one who 119 00:09:09,956 --> 00:09:13,996 Speaker 1: would go forth into the labor force, dignified, clean, thoughtful, 120 00:09:14,036 --> 00:09:17,876 Speaker 1: and obedient or the same. It did not offer its 121 00:09:17,956 --> 00:09:22,276 Speaker 1: girls the same kind of opportunities as its boys. Boys 122 00:09:22,316 --> 00:09:27,676 Speaker 1: were groomed for placements in engineering, architecture and in banks. Girls, meanwhile, 123 00:09:27,956 --> 00:09:32,676 Speaker 1: were prepared for roles in, of course, domestic service. The 124 00:09:32,796 --> 00:09:35,676 Speaker 1: boys are being taught to be future breadwinners, on the 125 00:09:35,836 --> 00:09:39,756 Speaker 1: understanding that they will have families and they will be 126 00:09:39,996 --> 00:09:43,836 Speaker 1: looking after their wives and their children. Even the Delgate 127 00:09:43,876 --> 00:09:46,956 Speaker 1: School's pathway to betterment was part of a structure that 128 00:09:47,076 --> 00:09:50,756 Speaker 1: intended women to be dependent upon a male wage earner 129 00:09:50,996 --> 00:09:55,156 Speaker 1: and to endure all the accompanying insecurity. The problem with 130 00:09:55,316 --> 00:09:58,356 Speaker 1: the ideal is that so often it didn't work out. 131 00:09:58,716 --> 00:10:03,556 Speaker 1: Marriages fail, breadwinners die, breadwinners scarpa, breadwinners get put into prison, 132 00:10:03,996 --> 00:10:07,436 Speaker 1: leaving single women either on their own or with children. 133 00:10:09,316 --> 00:10:12,716 Speaker 1: Childhood for the sons and daughters of the Victorian laboring 134 00:10:12,796 --> 00:10:19,076 Speaker 1: classes was fleeting, often curtailed abruptly by family circumstances. When 135 00:10:19,196 --> 00:10:23,476 Speaker 1: Kate entered her early teens, she lost her mother to tuberculosis. 136 00:10:24,116 --> 00:10:27,876 Speaker 1: Death at just forty two was hardly unusual for a 137 00:10:27,956 --> 00:10:33,236 Speaker 1: woman of her class. Less than two years later, George 138 00:10:33,396 --> 00:10:37,596 Speaker 1: followed his wife to the grave. The ten Eddo's children 139 00:10:37,676 --> 00:10:42,276 Speaker 1: were now without parents. While Kate's elder sisters were able 140 00:10:42,316 --> 00:10:46,116 Speaker 1: to either marry or find employment, the youngest children had 141 00:10:46,156 --> 00:10:51,076 Speaker 1: to be dispatched to the dreaded Workhouse as orphans. But 142 00:10:51,316 --> 00:10:54,716 Speaker 1: what to do with fifteen year old Kate. This was 143 00:10:54,796 --> 00:10:58,436 Speaker 1: a source of anxiety for her eldest siblings. Her sister 144 00:10:58,556 --> 00:11:03,556 Speaker 1: Emma recalled, we wished especially to get her away. Kate's 145 00:11:03,556 --> 00:11:06,796 Speaker 1: aunt and uncle, who lived back in Wolverhampton, agreed to 146 00:11:06,916 --> 00:11:10,036 Speaker 1: take her in, and she soon found herself on a train, 147 00:11:10,716 --> 00:11:13,716 Speaker 1: leaving behind all she had ever known for a place 148 00:11:13,836 --> 00:11:17,476 Speaker 1: she did not remember, to live among strangers with whom 149 00:11:17,716 --> 00:11:22,756 Speaker 1: she shared nothing but a surname. Whether Kate had any 150 00:11:22,956 --> 00:11:26,756 Speaker 1: say in this move was doubtful, but it would ultimately 151 00:11:26,916 --> 00:11:33,516 Speaker 1: determine the course of the rest of her life. The 152 00:11:33,636 --> 00:11:47,436 Speaker 1: rippery told will be back in a moment. Kate's train 153 00:11:47,796 --> 00:11:53,196 Speaker 1: sped away from London and into the deadened, scorched landscape 154 00:11:53,356 --> 00:11:55,836 Speaker 1: of a region that had recently come to be called 155 00:11:56,436 --> 00:12:01,316 Speaker 1: the Black Country. An industry of chain making, brick baking, 156 00:12:01,476 --> 00:12:05,276 Speaker 1: and steel forging had risen from this land, fed by 157 00:12:05,316 --> 00:12:08,636 Speaker 1: a thirty foot thick vein of coal which ran through 158 00:12:08,676 --> 00:12:11,676 Speaker 1: the country side. Those who did not graft in the 159 00:12:11,796 --> 00:12:15,796 Speaker 1: factories or before the furnaces dug at the seam itself, 160 00:12:16,316 --> 00:12:21,276 Speaker 1: drawing forth the lifeblood that sustained the engines. By day, 161 00:12:21,756 --> 00:12:24,796 Speaker 1: the chimneys blotted out the sun with a rain of soot. 162 00:12:25,556 --> 00:12:31,076 Speaker 1: By night, the forges glowed demonoically through the darkness. Even 163 00:12:31,196 --> 00:12:34,796 Speaker 1: for those accustomed to horrific scenes of misery, the Black 164 00:12:34,876 --> 00:12:38,716 Speaker 1: Country was a hellish vision. On every side, as far 165 00:12:38,836 --> 00:12:41,836 Speaker 1: as the eye could see, tall chimneys crowding on each other, 166 00:12:42,236 --> 00:12:46,076 Speaker 1: wrote Charles Dickens. The horror of oppressive dreams poured out 167 00:12:46,116 --> 00:12:49,756 Speaker 1: their plague of smoke, obscured the light, and made foul 168 00:12:49,876 --> 00:12:54,276 Speaker 1: the melancholy air. Although Kate had grown up in the 169 00:12:54,316 --> 00:12:58,076 Speaker 1: shadow of London's leather tanneries and workshops. This new environment, 170 00:12:58,356 --> 00:13:01,356 Speaker 1: shaped by heavy industry, would have seemed as foreign and 171 00:13:01,516 --> 00:13:05,756 Speaker 1: strange to her, as did her new family. Kate settled 172 00:13:05,796 --> 00:13:09,796 Speaker 1: with her uncle William and her aunt Elizabeth. Although sad, 173 00:13:10,116 --> 00:13:12,716 Speaker 1: the loss of parents was too commonplace to be an 174 00:13:12,756 --> 00:13:17,116 Speaker 1: excuse for not pulling one's weight, and at fifteen, Kate 175 00:13:17,276 --> 00:13:19,956 Speaker 1: was able to earn her own keep, so she would 176 00:13:19,956 --> 00:13:23,276 Speaker 1: have been put out to work without delay. Her aunt 177 00:13:23,356 --> 00:13:26,476 Speaker 1: and uncle found her a job as a scourer at 178 00:13:26,556 --> 00:13:30,396 Speaker 1: a local factory, a good position, they would have lectured her. 179 00:13:31,916 --> 00:13:36,476 Speaker 1: Kate worked alongside other women amid furnaces and machinery. She 180 00:13:36,556 --> 00:13:40,076 Speaker 1: would have used long handled tongs or pickling forks. Did 181 00:13:40,116 --> 00:13:44,476 Speaker 1: it recently forge tinware into a vat of acid, preparing 182 00:13:44,516 --> 00:13:47,516 Speaker 1: it to be she lacked, then she would have dried 183 00:13:47,556 --> 00:13:51,716 Speaker 1: the piece of tinware and sawdust, repeating this entire process 184 00:13:52,036 --> 00:13:56,596 Speaker 1: again and again from dawn until dusk, six days a week. 185 00:13:58,396 --> 00:14:02,076 Speaker 1: There were benefits to this work. The advantages are that 186 00:14:02,596 --> 00:14:05,876 Speaker 1: it's a wage of any kind, it can be very convivial, 187 00:14:06,116 --> 00:14:09,876 Speaker 1: and you're independent, unlike her domestic servant, are your own 188 00:14:09,996 --> 00:14:12,636 Speaker 1: free agent. It's not quite the same as doing the 189 00:14:12,756 --> 00:14:16,076 Speaker 1: dirty work for another couple in a social class above you. 190 00:14:16,956 --> 00:14:19,996 Speaker 1: At the same time, the pay was poor, the hours 191 00:14:20,036 --> 00:14:24,116 Speaker 1: were long, and the work was often dangerous. Burning eyes, 192 00:14:24,596 --> 00:14:28,556 Speaker 1: raw throats, and the occasional industrial accident were all par 193 00:14:28,796 --> 00:14:33,636 Speaker 1: for the course. So horrible jobs for horrible wages, things 194 00:14:33,716 --> 00:14:37,836 Speaker 1: involving awful chemicals or dangerous bits of machinery, lots of 195 00:14:38,036 --> 00:14:41,716 Speaker 1: really deadly trades that wouldn't be allowed these days. I 196 00:14:41,876 --> 00:14:46,916 Speaker 1: think factory life kind of ground down both men and women. 197 00:14:47,476 --> 00:14:49,836 Speaker 1: This was not the kind of work that the Dowgate 198 00:14:49,916 --> 00:14:53,036 Speaker 1: School or Kate's elder sisters had intended for her, but 199 00:14:53,156 --> 00:14:56,676 Speaker 1: it was a wage or the same. After working long hours, 200 00:14:56,956 --> 00:15:00,036 Speaker 1: Kate would have assisted with domestic duties at home two, 201 00:15:00,836 --> 00:15:04,396 Speaker 1: cooking and cleaning, and looking after her young cousin. It 202 00:15:04,596 --> 00:15:07,316 Speaker 1: was probably also around this time that she acquired a 203 00:15:07,676 --> 00:15:11,596 Speaker 1: jolly disposition and a fondness for drink. The local pub 204 00:15:11,756 --> 00:15:13,836 Speaker 1: just a few doors down the road from Kate's new 205 00:15:13,916 --> 00:15:17,836 Speaker 1: home would have offered her an escape. Eventually, Kate grew 206 00:15:17,876 --> 00:15:22,276 Speaker 1: both restless and reckless. According to members of her family, 207 00:15:22,636 --> 00:15:26,236 Speaker 1: she was caught stealing from work. She was scolded and 208 00:15:26,356 --> 00:15:30,196 Speaker 1: dismissed from her position. No criminal charges were brought, but 209 00:15:30,316 --> 00:15:33,316 Speaker 1: the words and recriminations of her aunt and uncle at 210 00:15:33,436 --> 00:15:37,836 Speaker 1: home would have been fundrous. They were said to neither 211 00:15:37,956 --> 00:15:41,636 Speaker 1: forgive nor forget this infraction, and it came to define 212 00:15:41,836 --> 00:15:46,716 Speaker 1: nineteen year old Kate's future. She packed her belongings, planning 213 00:15:46,836 --> 00:15:50,716 Speaker 1: once more to start her life afresh. This time she 214 00:15:50,876 --> 00:15:54,556 Speaker 1: set out on foot, walking fourteen miles to this city 215 00:15:54,596 --> 00:15:57,516 Speaker 1: of Birmingham, where she hoped to find refuge with another 216 00:15:57,636 --> 00:16:04,076 Speaker 1: family member. Kate's uncle, Tom was a shoemaker, but he 217 00:16:04,236 --> 00:16:08,956 Speaker 1: supplemented his income with brute strength as a bare knuckle boxer. 218 00:16:10,036 --> 00:16:12,796 Speaker 1: British men of all classes were hooked on the sport, 219 00:16:13,116 --> 00:16:17,796 Speaker 1: but fighters generally came from working class backgrounds. While respectable 220 00:16:17,876 --> 00:16:20,476 Speaker 1: ladies were not supposed to be present at such matches, 221 00:16:20,956 --> 00:16:24,756 Speaker 1: it was just about permissible for working class women to attend. 222 00:16:25,596 --> 00:16:28,236 Speaker 1: It is likely that Kate watched her uncle from amid 223 00:16:28,356 --> 00:16:32,156 Speaker 1: the crowds, slightly star struck, and came to believe that 224 00:16:32,276 --> 00:16:34,756 Speaker 1: he could offer the sort of sympathetic home she had 225 00:16:34,836 --> 00:16:38,236 Speaker 1: not found in Wolverhampton. But if Kate had hoped to 226 00:16:38,316 --> 00:16:42,676 Speaker 1: avoid a life of factory drudgery, she was sorely disappointed. 227 00:16:43,436 --> 00:16:46,396 Speaker 1: She knew tin work, and there were plenty of jobs 228 00:16:46,436 --> 00:16:50,236 Speaker 1: to be had here for young women. No longer a scourer, 229 00:16:50,836 --> 00:16:54,036 Speaker 1: Kate now sat at a long table with polishing cloths, 230 00:16:54,516 --> 00:16:58,036 Speaker 1: working the surfaces of decorative trays into a high sheen, 231 00:16:58,596 --> 00:17:01,836 Speaker 1: so that somewhere in a house what a parlor, a 232 00:17:02,036 --> 00:17:05,116 Speaker 1: serving maid could deliver tea to her mistress on an 233 00:17:05,156 --> 00:17:10,276 Speaker 1: object pretty enough to make her visitors envious. Kate fell 234 00:17:10,316 --> 00:17:14,276 Speaker 1: back into the old routine, rising at dawn or in darkness, 235 00:17:14,636 --> 00:17:17,716 Speaker 1: home for supper, and climbing into a bed shared with 236 00:17:17,836 --> 00:17:21,316 Speaker 1: her cousin. It did not matter where she fled, to 237 00:17:21,396 --> 00:17:24,396 Speaker 1: the house of a bare knuckle boxer or a tinplate worker. 238 00:17:24,876 --> 00:17:28,036 Speaker 1: The rhythm of her life would be this until she married. 239 00:17:28,596 --> 00:17:31,756 Speaker 1: Then it would be her mother's life, the pain of 240 00:17:31,876 --> 00:17:37,156 Speaker 1: child bearing, the weariness of childrearing, worry, hunger and exhaustion, 241 00:17:37,756 --> 00:17:45,116 Speaker 1: and eventually sickness and death. The stories as to how 242 00:17:45,276 --> 00:17:48,876 Speaker 1: Kate Edoes met Thomas Conway differ. By one account, the 243 00:17:48,996 --> 00:17:52,356 Speaker 1: twenty year old Kate was nice looking and warm hearted, 244 00:17:52,956 --> 00:17:56,516 Speaker 1: and Conway was a gray eyed irishman with light brown 245 00:17:56,636 --> 00:18:00,756 Speaker 1: hair and a talent for telling tales. A former soldier 246 00:18:00,916 --> 00:18:04,156 Speaker 1: who had journeyed to India with his regiment. Conway had 247 00:18:04,196 --> 00:18:07,756 Speaker 1: been discharged from the army because of physical disability and 248 00:18:07,916 --> 00:18:13,916 Speaker 1: continual infirm principally rheumatism and chronic bronchitis. He had become 249 00:18:13,956 --> 00:18:18,796 Speaker 1: a chat bookseller, moving from village to village, peddling short 250 00:18:18,876 --> 00:18:24,156 Speaker 1: pamphlets decorated with woodcut engravings. These chat books recounted everything 251 00:18:24,276 --> 00:18:29,156 Speaker 1: from fairy tales to biographies, poems and short stories. At 252 00:18:29,196 --> 00:18:32,236 Speaker 1: taverns and pubs, he might also pull out a collection 253 00:18:32,316 --> 00:18:36,356 Speaker 1: of broadside ballads, songs printed on a single large sheet, 254 00:18:36,596 --> 00:18:39,556 Speaker 1: which told of the loss of love or set forth 255 00:18:39,676 --> 00:18:43,556 Speaker 1: the story of a bloody crime. The lyrics were usually 256 00:18:43,636 --> 00:18:46,716 Speaker 1: set to a well known tune, so that purchasers could 257 00:18:46,836 --> 00:18:49,716 Speaker 1: throw down their penny, grab a sheet, and launch into 258 00:18:49,796 --> 00:18:53,596 Speaker 1: a new song over a pint of ale. Thomas Conway 259 00:18:53,716 --> 00:18:56,836 Speaker 1: would certainly have cut a romantic figure with his tales 260 00:18:56,916 --> 00:19:01,076 Speaker 1: of tigers and fragrant jungles. He was footloose and had 261 00:19:01,156 --> 00:19:05,156 Speaker 1: slipped the ties that held conventional nineteenth century existence together. 262 00:19:06,076 --> 00:19:09,956 Speaker 1: It was understandable then that Kate Jolly going in open 263 00:19:10,316 --> 00:19:13,716 Speaker 1: would find him, in his lifestyle, an attractive alternative to 264 00:19:13,796 --> 00:19:18,516 Speaker 1: the drudgery of her own. Kate's family, on the other hand, 265 00:19:18,716 --> 00:19:22,796 Speaker 1: took an instant dislike to Conway, with no real occupation, 266 00:19:23,036 --> 00:19:26,076 Speaker 1: as well as no home, no family, and no reliable 267 00:19:26,156 --> 00:19:29,956 Speaker 1: income beyond his poultry army pension. This Irish drifter was 268 00:19:29,996 --> 00:19:33,796 Speaker 1: like a figure in a Victorian cautionary tale. Any layers 269 00:19:33,876 --> 00:19:36,476 Speaker 1: on with his kind was seen as a one way 270 00:19:36,556 --> 00:19:41,076 Speaker 1: ticket to poverty, starvation, and the workhouse. But Kate was 271 00:19:41,156 --> 00:19:44,516 Speaker 1: said to be infatuated with Conway, and she would not 272 00:19:44,676 --> 00:19:48,716 Speaker 1: be discouraged when her aunt issued her with an ultimatum. 273 00:19:49,236 --> 00:19:53,036 Speaker 1: She chose the penny ballad salesman and left their house. 274 00:19:54,196 --> 00:19:59,196 Speaker 1: By July of that year, Kate was pregnant. While Kate's 275 00:19:59,276 --> 00:20:02,676 Speaker 1: behavior would have brought shame on the Eddo's family, unmarried 276 00:20:02,716 --> 00:20:07,756 Speaker 1: pregnancy was not so unusual. Among the privileged classes, female 277 00:20:07,836 --> 00:20:11,036 Speaker 1: chastity was taken as a measure of a young woman's character. 278 00:20:11,556 --> 00:20:15,556 Speaker 1: By contrast, for the working classes, virginity did not hold 279 00:20:15,596 --> 00:20:20,236 Speaker 1: the same significance. Working class lives were governed by practicalities. 280 00:20:21,076 --> 00:20:25,036 Speaker 1: Commentators express concern that, on account of cramped living conditions, 281 00:20:25,236 --> 00:20:28,956 Speaker 1: the sexualization of the laboring classes occurred at a very 282 00:20:29,116 --> 00:20:32,756 Speaker 1: young age. With space and short supply, and many family 283 00:20:32,836 --> 00:20:36,236 Speaker 1: members often sharing a single room. The notion of bodily 284 00:20:36,316 --> 00:20:40,596 Speaker 1: privacy and modesty were luxuries that the working classes simply 285 00:20:40,796 --> 00:20:45,596 Speaker 1: could not afford. When social reformer Henry Mayhew interviewed girls 286 00:20:45,676 --> 00:20:49,276 Speaker 1: involved in slop work, the manufacture of cheap clothing, one 287 00:20:49,436 --> 00:20:52,716 Speaker 1: told him, I am satisfied that there is not one 288 00:20:52,796 --> 00:20:55,556 Speaker 1: young girl that works at slop work that is virtuous. 289 00:20:56,236 --> 00:21:01,836 Speaker 1: There are some thousands in the trade among the laboring classes. 290 00:21:02,036 --> 00:21:05,916 Speaker 1: Many also chose to cohabit rather than mary. Working class 291 00:21:05,956 --> 00:21:09,396 Speaker 1: communities lived by a simple rule. If a couple said 292 00:21:09,396 --> 00:21:14,036 Speaker 1: they were married and behaved accordingly, then they were. At 293 00:21:14,116 --> 00:21:17,556 Speaker 1: the same time, attitudes towards cohabiting couples were full of 294 00:21:17,676 --> 00:21:21,676 Speaker 1: contradiction and nuance. Landlords and employers could be quick to 295 00:21:21,796 --> 00:21:25,276 Speaker 1: turf out those whom they discovered were not legally wed, 296 00:21:25,756 --> 00:21:30,076 Speaker 1: and women naturally bore the brunt of any persecution, especially 297 00:21:30,156 --> 00:21:33,996 Speaker 1: if illegitimate children were involved. When Kate threw in her 298 00:21:34,076 --> 00:21:36,996 Speaker 1: lot with Thomas Conway, she would been fully aware of 299 00:21:37,076 --> 00:21:40,516 Speaker 1: the risks she was taking, yet they seemed preferable to 300 00:21:40,556 --> 00:21:45,556 Speaker 1: the life she already knew. Joining forces with Kate would 301 00:21:45,556 --> 00:21:48,876 Speaker 1: have had its advantages for Conway too. She proved herself 302 00:21:48,956 --> 00:21:52,956 Speaker 1: to be a useful, even masterful, business partner. She could 303 00:21:52,956 --> 00:21:56,076 Speaker 1: assist Conway by singing the ballads that he flogged her 304 00:21:56,076 --> 00:22:00,276 Speaker 1: passers by. Together, the couple might also perform duets or 305 00:22:00,356 --> 00:22:04,036 Speaker 1: engage in a theatrical repartee. As an extrovert who had 306 00:22:04,076 --> 00:22:07,396 Speaker 1: been taught music at school and who loved singing, street 307 00:22:07,436 --> 00:22:11,276 Speaker 1: performance would have suited Kate's inclinations far better than laboring 308 00:22:11,316 --> 00:22:15,996 Speaker 1: in a factory. Conway himself was illiterate, so Kate could 309 00:22:15,996 --> 00:22:19,076 Speaker 1: have transcribed his stories, those about his adventures with the 310 00:22:19,236 --> 00:22:22,476 Speaker 1: army in India, for example, to be sold on as ballads. 311 00:22:23,356 --> 00:22:26,956 Speaker 1: Perhaps the couple hunched over pub tables together, Kate with 312 00:22:27,156 --> 00:22:33,956 Speaker 1: inky fingers, acting the scribe to Conway's poet, curiously scratching outlines, arguing, recomposing, 313 00:22:34,116 --> 00:22:39,236 Speaker 1: and singing. Kate had made her escape from conventional existence, 314 00:22:39,956 --> 00:22:43,036 Speaker 1: but the one she had chosen was not as happy 315 00:22:43,196 --> 00:22:46,916 Speaker 1: or carefree as she might have imagined. The miseries of 316 00:22:46,996 --> 00:22:51,916 Speaker 1: itinerant life, of sodden, frozen, filthy clothing and a rumbling 317 00:22:51,996 --> 00:22:56,476 Speaker 1: belly with no shelter in sight could not be underestimated. 318 00:22:58,196 --> 00:23:01,236 Speaker 1: Kate would have had limited opportunities to enjoy a bath 319 00:23:01,756 --> 00:23:05,076 Speaker 1: or londer. Her clothes, and what little the couple possessed 320 00:23:05,196 --> 00:23:08,396 Speaker 1: they carried with them, which made them prey to robbers 321 00:23:08,436 --> 00:23:12,676 Speaker 1: and tricks. It's hardly a wonder, then, that in her 322 00:23:12,876 --> 00:23:16,676 Speaker 1: ninth month of pregnancy, Kate found herself knocking on the 323 00:23:16,796 --> 00:23:22,276 Speaker 1: door of a workhouse infirmary. The workhouse accommodated expectant and 324 00:23:22,436 --> 00:23:26,516 Speaker 1: destitute mothers, but in many cases the guardian sought to 325 00:23:26,636 --> 00:23:32,156 Speaker 1: distinguish between deserving married women and the fallen who had 326 00:23:32,236 --> 00:23:35,916 Speaker 1: arrived to bear children out of wedlock. So when Kate 327 00:23:35,956 --> 00:23:40,236 Speaker 1: appeared at the workhouse, she gave her name as Catherine 328 00:23:40,556 --> 00:23:45,276 Speaker 1: Conway and claimed that she was married to a laborer. 329 00:23:46,276 --> 00:23:48,756 Speaker 1: Kate now had a roof over her head, but this 330 00:23:49,076 --> 00:23:52,276 Speaker 1: was by no means a safe haven for childbirth. In 331 00:23:52,396 --> 00:23:55,636 Speaker 1: the eighteen sixties, pregnant women might lie next to patients 332 00:23:55,636 --> 00:24:00,636 Speaker 1: suffering from tuberculosis, smallpox and syphilis, and infants were delivered 333 00:24:00,716 --> 00:24:04,956 Speaker 1: without the use of soap and water. After their baby 334 00:24:05,116 --> 00:24:08,636 Speaker 1: was born, Kate and Conway returned to tramping up and 335 00:24:08,796 --> 00:24:12,636 Speaker 1: down the country. In the course of their wandering, Kate 336 00:24:12,716 --> 00:24:17,236 Speaker 1: would have laid the infant down to sleep in stable stores, churchyards, 337 00:24:17,476 --> 00:24:22,196 Speaker 1: against walls, or under trees, all as the rain lashed down. 338 00:24:25,516 --> 00:24:29,116 Speaker 1: This mode of life could never have felt entirely satisfying, 339 00:24:29,756 --> 00:24:32,596 Speaker 1: though Kate must have found something that sustained her the 340 00:24:32,756 --> 00:24:36,796 Speaker 1: joy of performance. Perhaps the singing and storytelling and composing 341 00:24:36,836 --> 00:24:40,476 Speaker 1: of tales, and just as it had for Polly Annie 342 00:24:40,596 --> 00:24:44,876 Speaker 1: and Elizabeth drink two, would have helped dull the discomfort 343 00:24:44,956 --> 00:24:52,156 Speaker 1: and sorrow. Always on the lookout for a payday, it 344 00:24:52,316 --> 00:24:55,396 Speaker 1: seems unlikely that Kate and Conway would have missed the 345 00:24:55,516 --> 00:25:01,036 Speaker 1: hanging of murderer Charles Christopher Robinson. Hanging days were big 346 00:25:01,156 --> 00:25:04,916 Speaker 1: business for ballad and chat booksellers who belted out rhyming 347 00:25:05,036 --> 00:25:09,676 Speaker 1: lamentations on the murderer. Executions would have been Kate Conway's 348 00:25:09,676 --> 00:25:13,516 Speaker 1: bread and butter, and the Robinson case was a salacious one. 349 00:25:15,036 --> 00:25:17,836 Speaker 1: The atmosphere at the jail that January day would have 350 00:25:17,876 --> 00:25:20,796 Speaker 1: been comparable with the kind of excitement of a county fair. 351 00:25:21,436 --> 00:25:24,516 Speaker 1: Vendors of tea, coffee, and hot milk set up stalls, 352 00:25:24,876 --> 00:25:28,436 Speaker 1: and the crowds filled their stomachs with currant buns, boiled eggs, 353 00:25:28,716 --> 00:25:37,956 Speaker 1: sheep's trotters, and cakes. Being Christians give beer unto my tail. 354 00:25:39,276 --> 00:25:48,116 Speaker 1: It's horror room. I was at staffer, Jeff. The horrid 355 00:25:48,476 --> 00:26:01,076 Speaker 1: crime I had done, Shine, I murdered love Barrant Figer. 356 00:26:01,476 --> 00:26:07,076 Speaker 1: Dear Robinson had cut his young fiance's throat during an argument, 357 00:26:07,836 --> 00:26:12,636 Speaker 1: and then attempted and failed to shoot himself. The killer 358 00:26:12,756 --> 00:26:16,156 Speaker 1: was a distant cousin of Kate's, leading some to argue 359 00:26:16,316 --> 00:26:19,476 Speaker 1: that it was she who penned this musical account of 360 00:26:19,556 --> 00:26:24,916 Speaker 1: the killing. I well deserve my wretched fate. No one 361 00:26:25,116 --> 00:26:31,956 Speaker 1: can pity me to think that I, in my code blood, 362 00:26:32,276 --> 00:26:38,116 Speaker 1: could take her life away. She no harm to me 363 00:26:38,556 --> 00:26:44,756 Speaker 1: have done. How could I serve her so? No one 364 00:26:45,076 --> 00:26:50,756 Speaker 1: my feelings now can tell. My heart was full of 365 00:26:51,676 --> 00:27:06,836 Speaker 1: wa Not long after Robinson's execution, Kate and Conway decided 366 00:27:06,876 --> 00:27:10,316 Speaker 1: to settle in London. This the home of Kate's youth 367 00:27:10,756 --> 00:27:15,396 Speaker 1: and of her sisters. After years of roving, it was 368 00:27:15,556 --> 00:27:19,076 Speaker 1: now time for the prodigal child to make her return. 369 00:27:22,196 --> 00:27:34,516 Speaker 1: The Rippery told, will be back in a moment. Back 370 00:27:34,556 --> 00:27:38,516 Speaker 1: in London, Kate was careful about revealing too many details 371 00:27:38,556 --> 00:27:41,316 Speaker 1: of her life to her sisters, though her lack of 372 00:27:41,396 --> 00:27:44,836 Speaker 1: a wedding ring was likely to have raised questions, as 373 00:27:44,916 --> 00:27:49,716 Speaker 1: would the tattoo of Thomas Conway's initials inked crudely onto 374 00:27:49,836 --> 00:27:54,316 Speaker 1: her forearm. It's likely that Conway had Kate's initials marked 375 00:27:54,356 --> 00:27:57,076 Speaker 1: on his arm too. It was by the exchange of 376 00:27:57,196 --> 00:28:00,596 Speaker 1: such gestures, rather than with wedding bands and a church service, 377 00:28:00,956 --> 00:28:04,236 Speaker 1: that many working class couples solemnized their commitment to each other. 378 00:28:04,676 --> 00:28:09,996 Speaker 1: Their bond was sealed on their own terms. But, like 379 00:28:10,196 --> 00:28:13,436 Speaker 1: many of the decisions Kate had made, acquiring a tattoo 380 00:28:13,676 --> 00:28:17,436 Speaker 1: was deeply subversive. On a man's body, a tattoo was 381 00:28:17,476 --> 00:28:20,676 Speaker 1: a mark of his manliness and spirit of adventure. On 382 00:28:20,796 --> 00:28:24,796 Speaker 1: a woman's body, however, a tattoo flouted the conventions of 383 00:28:24,956 --> 00:28:28,796 Speaker 1: feminine purity and beauty. But what if a Kate's sisters 384 00:28:28,916 --> 00:28:33,036 Speaker 1: whispered amongst themselves. Her appearance in London seems to have 385 00:28:33,156 --> 00:28:36,836 Speaker 1: signified a desire to make changes to her life. Kate 386 00:28:36,916 --> 00:28:40,236 Speaker 1: and Conway were soon settled in a clean and comfortable house, 387 00:28:40,716 --> 00:28:45,396 Speaker 1: and they had two more children. Conway, however, struggled to 388 00:28:45,556 --> 00:28:48,596 Speaker 1: establish himself in London as a seller of books and ballads. 389 00:28:48,836 --> 00:28:53,196 Speaker 1: The competition was intense, and so with young children to feed, 390 00:28:53,676 --> 00:28:57,396 Speaker 1: he went to work as a laborer. The couple found 391 00:28:57,436 --> 00:29:01,396 Speaker 1: themselves struggling to make ends meet, and sustenance ran thin. 392 00:29:03,316 --> 00:29:07,076 Speaker 1: Kate was soon reporting her youngest infant's death from malnutrition, 393 00:29:07,756 --> 00:29:10,636 Speaker 1: the final convulsions of which she would have felt in 394 00:29:10,756 --> 00:29:17,236 Speaker 1: her arms. Perhaps it was this incident that prompted Conway 395 00:29:17,356 --> 00:29:20,556 Speaker 1: to head north in search of work. Kate now found 396 00:29:20,596 --> 00:29:24,156 Speaker 1: herself caught in a vicious circle. Conway had to leave 397 00:29:24,236 --> 00:29:28,036 Speaker 1: London to find work, but in doing so, he abandoned 398 00:29:28,116 --> 00:29:32,156 Speaker 1: his partner and their children without any support, and no 399 00:29:32,316 --> 00:29:35,276 Speaker 1: amount of women's labor could ever bring in the sum 400 00:29:35,356 --> 00:29:40,436 Speaker 1: adequate to cover the family's needs. Single unwed mothers were 401 00:29:40,556 --> 00:29:44,876 Speaker 1: not entitled to receive parish handouts either. The authorities were 402 00:29:44,916 --> 00:29:48,756 Speaker 1: concerned that providing financial support to women with illegitimate children 403 00:29:48,996 --> 00:29:53,196 Speaker 1: would be tantamount to a state subsidy of prostitution, and 404 00:29:53,316 --> 00:29:56,476 Speaker 1: so to receive help, Kate had to surrender herself to 405 00:29:56,596 --> 00:30:00,796 Speaker 1: the cruel regime of the workhouse. Over the years, she 406 00:30:00,916 --> 00:30:04,676 Speaker 1: would be in and out of this institution, often accompanied 407 00:30:04,756 --> 00:30:07,356 Speaker 1: by one or more of her children as she passed 408 00:30:07,436 --> 00:30:13,556 Speaker 1: through the so called archway of tears. Once Kate was 409 00:30:13,636 --> 00:30:16,836 Speaker 1: inside the workhouse, doors. The board of guardians was at 410 00:30:16,916 --> 00:30:22,876 Speaker 1: liberty to label her either decent or damned. At many workhouses, 411 00:30:23,516 --> 00:30:26,236 Speaker 1: mothers who had given birth the illegitimates were fed a 412 00:30:26,316 --> 00:30:30,156 Speaker 1: punishment diet of water down skilly, a type of broth 413 00:30:30,396 --> 00:30:35,516 Speaker 1: made from oats and water and little else. Worse still, 414 00:30:36,036 --> 00:30:40,636 Speaker 1: when Conway did return, he was often violent. He began 415 00:30:40,716 --> 00:30:45,196 Speaker 1: to beat Kate, whose sisters were shocked by her disfigured appearance. 416 00:30:45,756 --> 00:30:49,396 Speaker 1: Both her eyes had been blackened. But as was in 417 00:30:49,556 --> 00:30:53,956 Speaker 1: keeping with Victorian attitudes, they held Kate responsible for her 418 00:30:54,076 --> 00:30:58,356 Speaker 1: partner's violence. They believed that she provoked Conway with her 419 00:30:58,436 --> 00:31:02,116 Speaker 1: excessive drinking. People believed men had the right to correct 420 00:31:02,196 --> 00:31:06,396 Speaker 1: their wives. Ginger Frost is an expert on Victorian domestic violence. 421 00:31:06,876 --> 00:31:11,236 Speaker 1: There's basic belief is undergirding almost all of this acceptance 422 00:31:11,276 --> 00:31:14,196 Speaker 1: of domestic violence, of his right to control her, to 423 00:31:14,276 --> 00:31:15,996 Speaker 1: tell her where she can go and what she can do. 424 00:31:16,956 --> 00:31:19,636 Speaker 1: A degree of violence within the home was thought to 425 00:31:19,756 --> 00:31:24,996 Speaker 1: serve a disciplinary function. Husbands felt no remorse for administering 426 00:31:25,076 --> 00:31:28,996 Speaker 1: a chastising slab, while wives were often made to feel 427 00:31:29,076 --> 00:31:31,996 Speaker 1: but they had asked for it. We still do that. 428 00:31:32,516 --> 00:31:34,916 Speaker 1: We don't put the focus on the violent mail. We 429 00:31:34,996 --> 00:31:37,276 Speaker 1: put the focus on the woman. What did you do 430 00:31:37,396 --> 00:31:40,236 Speaker 1: to provoke this? Why didn't you leave when you could, 431 00:31:40,716 --> 00:31:42,276 Speaker 1: Why did you say what you did, Why did you 432 00:31:42,316 --> 00:31:45,116 Speaker 1: wear what you did. It's endlessly about the woman who's 433 00:31:45,156 --> 00:31:47,116 Speaker 1: getting hid, and not the man who's doing the hitting. 434 00:31:47,636 --> 00:31:50,076 Speaker 1: In Kate's time, a beating at the hands of one's 435 00:31:50,156 --> 00:31:53,476 Speaker 1: husband might be prompted by any number of supposed infractions, 436 00:31:53,716 --> 00:31:59,756 Speaker 1: the use of foul language, the rejection of his sexual advances, drinking, disobedience, impertinence, 437 00:32:00,116 --> 00:32:03,316 Speaker 1: or simply offering a challenge to his superior role within 438 00:32:03,396 --> 00:32:06,516 Speaker 1: the family. There were other reasons. The Edo's Klan did 439 00:32:06,596 --> 00:32:10,156 Speaker 1: little to intervene in Conway's violence, too. There's not a 440 00:32:10,276 --> 00:32:13,796 Speaker 1: lot of family can do unless she leaves him. There 441 00:32:13,916 --> 00:32:17,276 Speaker 1: was little legal support available for victims of domestic violence. 442 00:32:17,716 --> 00:32:21,636 Speaker 1: In fact, a legal textbook from the time, Principles of Punishment, 443 00:32:22,196 --> 00:32:26,316 Speaker 1: described wife beating as a crime that varies infinitely in 444 00:32:26,556 --> 00:32:31,116 Speaker 1: degree of criminality. A wife's perpetual drunkenness was often used 445 00:32:31,156 --> 00:32:34,836 Speaker 1: as a successful defense by spouses in assault trials, and 446 00:32:34,956 --> 00:32:39,156 Speaker 1: where conviction did occur, punishment would be minimal. If you 447 00:32:39,396 --> 00:32:41,956 Speaker 1: bring a case against him, say an assault case, he 448 00:32:42,076 --> 00:32:45,236 Speaker 1: may get three months, and most women who are dependent 449 00:32:45,316 --> 00:32:48,556 Speaker 1: financially on men do not want the police involved because 450 00:32:48,636 --> 00:32:51,276 Speaker 1: if he goes away for three to six months, she 451 00:32:51,436 --> 00:32:54,916 Speaker 1: has no income. For this reason, many wives would not 452 00:32:55,076 --> 00:32:59,476 Speaker 1: testify against their husbands before a magistrate. Conway and Kate, however, 453 00:32:59,996 --> 00:33:04,076 Speaker 1: faced a different set of circumstances. The real question for 454 00:33:04,196 --> 00:33:07,276 Speaker 1: me with couples like this, if they're not married and 455 00:33:07,476 --> 00:33:11,316 Speaker 1: they're not happy, why don't they leave? That's the question, 456 00:33:11,436 --> 00:33:14,196 Speaker 1: not just her, but him too. You're not legally married. 457 00:33:14,356 --> 00:33:16,716 Speaker 1: You could walk away from each other, no harm, no foul. 458 00:33:17,036 --> 00:33:19,796 Speaker 1: Were they to separate, Conway would not be required to 459 00:33:19,836 --> 00:33:23,476 Speaker 1: be Kate any alimony. Still, in spite of their apparent 460 00:33:23,596 --> 00:33:28,036 Speaker 1: misery together, they're destructive and abusive relationship limped on for 461 00:33:28,116 --> 00:33:31,596 Speaker 1: a number of years. Gina recognizes this pattern in her 462 00:33:31,636 --> 00:33:34,356 Speaker 1: own research. I think the reason is that they do 463 00:33:34,556 --> 00:33:36,836 Speaker 1: think they're married in every important way, and it's a 464 00:33:36,876 --> 00:33:40,316 Speaker 1: committed relationship. On the men's part, I think it's possessiveness. 465 00:33:40,436 --> 00:33:42,956 Speaker 1: I think it's not just I love her, it's nobody 466 00:33:42,996 --> 00:33:44,636 Speaker 1: else can have her. A kind of attitude that you 467 00:33:44,676 --> 00:33:46,316 Speaker 1: see in a lot of violent men, that they're trying 468 00:33:46,316 --> 00:33:48,716 Speaker 1: to control the woman in every way they can. It's 469 00:33:48,756 --> 00:33:50,956 Speaker 1: also very dangerous for women to leave. I can't tell 470 00:33:50,996 --> 00:33:52,796 Speaker 1: you how many violence cases I have in the nineteenth 471 00:33:52,836 --> 00:33:54,436 Speaker 1: century where she gets killed as soon as she tells 472 00:33:54,476 --> 00:33:57,276 Speaker 1: him I'm leaving, or she's left, and a month later 473 00:33:57,356 --> 00:33:59,436 Speaker 1: he catches up with her and cuts her throat. So 474 00:33:59,556 --> 00:34:02,196 Speaker 1: it is dangerous to stay, but it is also dangerous 475 00:34:02,276 --> 00:34:05,236 Speaker 1: to leave. And once a woman has lived with a man, 476 00:34:05,356 --> 00:34:09,756 Speaker 1: her reputation is very low. She's unlikely to find a 477 00:34:09,836 --> 00:34:13,836 Speaker 1: good provider or someone to marry her. After that, Conway 478 00:34:14,156 --> 00:34:17,916 Speaker 1: exhibited no shame at all for his actions and was 479 00:34:18,036 --> 00:34:22,476 Speaker 1: said to warn openly Kate, I shall be hung for 480 00:34:22,676 --> 00:34:26,516 Speaker 1: you one of these days. Clearly the execution of Charles 481 00:34:26,636 --> 00:34:32,356 Speaker 1: Christopher Robinson had not left a lasting impression. Kate became 482 00:34:32,436 --> 00:34:36,676 Speaker 1: ever more distant from her siblings, and more worryingly, began 483 00:34:36,756 --> 00:34:40,196 Speaker 1: to abandon her children for weeks on end. To where 484 00:34:40,276 --> 00:34:43,956 Speaker 1: she disappeared on these occasions is anyone's guess, but her 485 00:34:43,996 --> 00:34:46,876 Speaker 1: behavior begs many questions about her state of mind and 486 00:34:46,996 --> 00:34:51,076 Speaker 1: her use of alcohol. Earlier that year, another one of 487 00:34:51,116 --> 00:34:55,196 Speaker 1: her children had died, a circumstance that may have exacerbated 488 00:34:55,316 --> 00:35:00,716 Speaker 1: her existing problems. Eventually, in eighteen eighty one, Kate and 489 00:35:00,836 --> 00:35:05,396 Speaker 1: Conway separated for good. He painted himself as the victim, 490 00:35:06,156 --> 00:35:08,636 Speaker 1: stating that he had found it necessary to leave Kate 491 00:35:08,676 --> 00:35:12,956 Speaker 1: on account for drinking. But Kate's sisters disputed this narrative, 492 00:35:13,556 --> 00:35:17,356 Speaker 1: stating that Kate had left Conway because he treated her badly. 493 00:35:18,516 --> 00:35:22,436 Speaker 1: Kate's behavior began to spiral further. She was charged with 494 00:35:22,556 --> 00:35:26,076 Speaker 1: drunken disorderliness and dragged off the streets as she spewed 495 00:35:26,156 --> 00:35:31,116 Speaker 1: obscenities at passers by. On two occasions, she spent a 496 00:35:31,196 --> 00:35:35,876 Speaker 1: short spell in prison for her behavior. By this point, 497 00:35:36,236 --> 00:35:39,356 Speaker 1: all but one of Kate's siblings had distanced themselves from her, 498 00:35:40,196 --> 00:35:43,236 Speaker 1: but she still maintained a good bond with her sister Eliza, 499 00:35:43,676 --> 00:35:48,676 Speaker 1: whom she followed to the district of Whitechapel whenever she could. 500 00:35:49,236 --> 00:35:51,716 Speaker 1: Kate rented a bed at a lodging house around the 501 00:35:51,796 --> 00:35:55,636 Speaker 1: corner from the little garret where Eliza lived. It was 502 00:35:55,756 --> 00:35:58,636 Speaker 1: here that she met John Kelly, the man who would 503 00:35:58,676 --> 00:36:02,756 Speaker 1: fill Conway's empty boots. But if the Edo's women had 504 00:36:02,796 --> 00:36:06,516 Speaker 1: taken a disliking to Thomas Conway, their disdain for John 505 00:36:06,636 --> 00:36:11,316 Speaker 1: Kelly seems to have been even greater. Although Kelly was 506 00:36:11,396 --> 00:36:14,676 Speaker 1: described as quiet and inoffensive, which was more than could 507 00:36:14,676 --> 00:36:17,436 Speaker 1: be said for Conway. In the eyes of Kate's family, 508 00:36:17,956 --> 00:36:21,916 Speaker 1: he possessed one major failing that Conway did not. He 509 00:36:22,156 --> 00:36:27,876 Speaker 1: drank and heavily. Kate's eldest child, Annie, was unequivocal about 510 00:36:27,916 --> 00:36:30,996 Speaker 1: her feelings on him. I've never spoken to him, and 511 00:36:31,156 --> 00:36:35,156 Speaker 1: I don't like him. Ginger Frost thinks that Kelly wasn't 512 00:36:35,196 --> 00:36:38,476 Speaker 1: a good provider and that the edo's sister's marginal preference 513 00:36:38,516 --> 00:36:41,476 Speaker 1: for Conway tells us something about what was expected of 514 00:36:41,516 --> 00:36:44,836 Speaker 1: a partner in the nineteenth century, which as you provide, 515 00:36:44,916 --> 00:36:47,756 Speaker 1: that's the number one thing, and if you provide, then 516 00:36:47,836 --> 00:36:49,156 Speaker 1: the woman has to put up with the rest of 517 00:36:49,236 --> 00:36:53,996 Speaker 1: your crap. Irrespective of her family's sentiments with Kelly, Kate 518 00:36:54,076 --> 00:36:57,956 Speaker 1: seemed to settle into a happier, though no less erratic pattern. 519 00:36:58,516 --> 00:37:01,076 Speaker 1: The pair shared a love of the bottle, and the 520 00:37:01,236 --> 00:37:05,396 Speaker 1: conviviality made them popular with their fellow lodgers. Kate was 521 00:37:05,476 --> 00:37:08,756 Speaker 1: said to always be ready with the song and didn't hesitate, 522 00:37:09,116 --> 00:37:11,676 Speaker 1: and her last fourpence for someone who hadn't made their 523 00:37:11,716 --> 00:37:15,876 Speaker 1: doss money For a time, both she and John worked. 524 00:37:16,916 --> 00:37:19,956 Speaker 1: Kate became a cleaning lady for Jewish families in the area, 525 00:37:20,596 --> 00:37:23,796 Speaker 1: while Kelly labored at the market. Though this income was 526 00:37:23,876 --> 00:37:29,716 Speaker 1: always disappointing and never reliable. Their handmouth existence didn't permit 527 00:37:29,796 --> 00:37:32,276 Speaker 1: them to linger for too long in any one place, 528 00:37:32,796 --> 00:37:35,556 Speaker 1: and they roam between London and the neighboring county of 529 00:37:35,676 --> 00:37:43,236 Speaker 1: Kent in search of work. After twenty or more years 530 00:37:43,316 --> 00:37:47,476 Speaker 1: of wandering, this existence may have seemed to Kate more 531 00:37:47,596 --> 00:37:51,596 Speaker 1: comfortable than a settled life. Ever could a peddler was 532 00:37:51,676 --> 00:37:57,156 Speaker 1: beholden to no one, not even family. Perhaps what most 533 00:37:57,196 --> 00:38:00,516 Speaker 1: suited Kate about her association with John Kelly was that 534 00:38:00,636 --> 00:38:04,276 Speaker 1: he appeared to make very few demands of her. Their 535 00:38:04,356 --> 00:38:08,076 Speaker 1: connections seems to have been based on practicality rather than 536 00:38:08,156 --> 00:38:13,396 Speaker 1: an emotional messy. First and foremost, Kate and Kelly appeared 537 00:38:13,436 --> 00:38:18,156 Speaker 1: to have been committed to each other's daily survival. By 538 00:38:18,196 --> 00:38:20,876 Speaker 1: the time they found each other, Kate had lost the 539 00:38:20,916 --> 00:38:24,196 Speaker 1: goodwill of most of her family, She had suffered domestic 540 00:38:24,356 --> 00:38:28,356 Speaker 1: violence and bereavement, and she had experienced the degradation of 541 00:38:28,436 --> 00:38:33,236 Speaker 1: the workhouse as well as nearest ovation. Under such circumstances, 542 00:38:33,596 --> 00:38:37,436 Speaker 1: What mattered most was the here and now, acquiring the 543 00:38:37,596 --> 00:38:40,956 Speaker 1: drink that dulled the pain and the food that stopped 544 00:38:40,996 --> 00:38:45,916 Speaker 1: the hunger. Kelly's company, his protection on the street, and 545 00:38:46,076 --> 00:38:53,396 Speaker 1: his occasional income made survival simpler. In September eighteen eighty eight, 546 00:38:53,756 --> 00:38:57,036 Speaker 1: Kate and Kelly left London to go hot picking. They 547 00:38:57,076 --> 00:38:59,836 Speaker 1: were among the thousands of city dwellers who poured into 548 00:38:59,876 --> 00:39:02,276 Speaker 1: the rural county of Kent to help bring in the 549 00:39:02,356 --> 00:39:06,516 Speaker 1: hot harvest, a vital ingredient and beer. But that year 550 00:39:06,636 --> 00:39:11,076 Speaker 1: the crop was especially poor, and many laborers were forced 551 00:39:11,156 --> 00:39:15,596 Speaker 1: to walk back to London having earned nothing. Kate and 552 00:39:15,796 --> 00:39:20,396 Speaker 1: Kelly were among them. When they arrived back in town, 553 00:39:21,076 --> 00:39:24,836 Speaker 1: they raised a little money by pawning Kelly's boots. By 554 00:39:24,876 --> 00:39:28,396 Speaker 1: the end of the evening they had only fourpence left. 555 00:39:29,476 --> 00:39:32,276 Speaker 1: It was decided that Kelly should have this money for 556 00:39:32,396 --> 00:39:36,756 Speaker 1: a bed at a lodging house. Kate likely slept rough 557 00:39:36,876 --> 00:39:41,076 Speaker 1: that night. The next morning, the pair were back at 558 00:39:41,116 --> 00:39:44,916 Speaker 1: their usual doss house, making themselves comfortable in the communal 559 00:39:44,996 --> 00:39:48,636 Speaker 1: kitchen and turning their minds once again to how they 560 00:39:48,676 --> 00:39:52,916 Speaker 1: would find that night's money for lodgings. As they parted 561 00:39:52,996 --> 00:39:56,516 Speaker 1: ways on the street outside. Kate assured Kelly that she 562 00:39:56,556 --> 00:39:59,876 Speaker 1: would return to him by four o'clock that afternoon. She 563 00:40:00,036 --> 00:40:02,236 Speaker 1: was hoping to get a few coins from a family 564 00:40:02,316 --> 00:40:05,996 Speaker 1: member she intended to visit. He watched the woman in 565 00:40:06,076 --> 00:40:09,956 Speaker 1: the black velvet and straw bonnet, his drinking hanyon, his 566 00:40:10,196 --> 00:40:16,636 Speaker 1: partner bob down the crowded street, slowly disappearing from his view, and, 567 00:40:17,116 --> 00:40:21,076 Speaker 1: although he did not know it yet, from his life. 568 00:40:23,596 --> 00:40:26,796 Speaker 1: The next time John Kelly was to encounter Kate Edo's, 569 00:40:27,716 --> 00:40:51,396 Speaker 1: it would be under the most terrible circumstances imaginable bad women. 570 00:40:51,436 --> 00:40:53,556 Speaker 1: The Ripper Were Told. Is brought to you by Pushkin 571 00:40:53,636 --> 00:40:56,516 Speaker 1: Industries and me Hallie rubbin Hold, and is based on 572 00:40:56,636 --> 00:40:59,716 Speaker 1: my book The Five. It was produced and co written 573 00:40:59,756 --> 00:41:02,796 Speaker 1: by Ryan Dilley and Alice Fines, with help from Pete Norton. 574 00:41:03,356 --> 00:41:06,716 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise Sound designed and mixed the show and composed 575 00:41:06,756 --> 00:41:10,076 Speaker 1: all the original music. You also the voice talents of 576 00:41:10,196 --> 00:41:14,956 Speaker 1: Soul Boyer, Melanie Gutridge, Gemma Saunders and rufus Wright. The 577 00:41:15,076 --> 00:41:17,476 Speaker 1: show also wouldn't have been possible without the work of 578 00:41:17,636 --> 00:41:23,116 Speaker 1: mil LaBelle, Jacob Weisberg, Jen Guerra, Heather Fane, Carlie Migliori, 579 00:41:23,556 --> 00:41:28,676 Speaker 1: Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano, and Daniella Lacarne were special thanks 580 00:41:28,756 --> 00:41:31,396 Speaker 1: to my agents Sarah Ballard and Ellie Kron