Thames Torso Mysteries: London in the Shadow of the Ripper

Dark Histories

Ben Cutmore

History

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2023

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For over a century, 19th century criminal history has been dominated by a single name. With his murders so violent, his acts so senseless, his victims so vulnerable and his legacy so profound, Jack the Ripper is as synonymous with Victorian London as the Queen herself. But whilst Jack was busy ripping, there was another series of murders being carried out that were equally as gruesome, executed by a killer equally as mysterious and whose story shared all the same traits of the Ripper, though despite it all, it is a story that has forever remained in the shadow of Jack, whose reign of terror consumed everything in its path, relegating all other mysteries to the back pages, for well over a hundred years.SOURCES Hebbert, Charles A. (1889) An Exercise in Forensic Medicine. Trow, M. J. (2011) The Thames Torso Murders. Pen & Sword Books, LTD. Yorkshire, UK. Stubley, Peter (2012) 1888: London Murders in the Year of the Ripper. The History Press, Gloucestershire, UK. The London Evening Standard (1887) To-Days Telegrams. The London Evening Standard, Wed 11 May 1887, p4. London, UK. Bradford Daily Telegraph (1887) The Rainham Mystery. Bradford Daily Telegraph, Mon 16 May 1887, p3. Bradford, UK. Essex Newsman (1887) Horrible Discovery At Rainham. Essex Newsman, Sat 21 May 1887, London, UK. Essex Standard (1887) The Rainham Mystery. Essex Newsman, Sat 13 Aug 1887, London, UK. Tavistock Gazette (1888) A Thames Mystery. Tavistock Gazette, Fri 14 Sep 1888, Tavistock, UK. Daily Telegraph & Courier (1888) The Whitehall Murder. Daily Telegraph & Courier, Wed 3 Oct 1888, London, UK. Newcastle Daily Chronicle (1888) More Remains Discovered. Newcastle Daily Chronicle, Sat 6 Oct 1888, Newcastle, UK. Birmingham Mail (1888) The Whitehall Mystery. Birmingham Mail, Tues 9 Oct 1888, Birmingham, UK. Tamworth Herald (1888) The Whitehall Mystery. Tamworth Herald, Sat 27 Oct 1888, Tamworth, UK. Dundee Courier (1889) The Victim Identified. Dundee Courier, Wed 26 June 1889, Dundee, UK. Derbyshire Courier (1889) The Battersea Mystery. Derbyshire Courier, Sat 29 June 1889, Dundee, UK. Illustrated Police News (1889) The Latest Thames Horror. Illustrated Police News, Sat 15 June 1889, London, UK. Northern Daily Telegraph (1889) The Inquest. Northern Daily Telegraph, Wed 11 Sep 1889, Lancashire, UK. Glasgow Evening Post (1889) Whitechapel In Panic. Glasgow Evening Post, Tues 10 Sep 1889, Glasgow, UK. Shields Daily Gazette (1889) The Pinchin Street Mystery. Shields Daily Gazette, Tues 24 Sep 1889, London, UK. ------- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at [email protected] or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.

Transcript

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0:00.0	For over a century, 19th century criminal history has been dominated by a single name.
0:09.1	With his murders so violent, his acts so senseless, his victims so vulnerable, and his legacy
0:14.6	so profound, Jack the Ripper is as synonymous with Victorian London as the Queen herself.
0:21.3	But whilst Jack was busy ripping, there was another series of murders being carried out
0:25.3	that were equally as gruesome, executed by a killer, equally as mysterious, and whose
0:30.4	story shed all the same traits of the Ripper.
0:33.5	Though despite it all, it's a story that has forever remained in the shadow of Jack,
0:38.1	whose reign of terror consumed everything in its path, renegating all other mysteries
0:43.3	to the back pages for well over a hundred years.
0:47.2	This is Darkest Streets, where the facts are worse than fiction.
0:56.3	Hello and welcome to Dark History, Season 7, Episode 22.
1:01.3	It's good to be back on the microphone.
1:02.8	I hope this episode finds you well.
1:04.7	Before we start, I want to give a quick shout out because it's getting to be that time again.
1:09.1	For me to open the gates for the annual Christmas campfire, which is my favourite episode of the year.
1:17.0	I love the communal aspect of it, you know, making an episode with you.
1:23.0	It's just a good, great fun.
1:24.4	So if you want to be involved, definitely start sending your stories in from now.
1:29.6	If you can, the email is contact at dot cashfreeze.com.
1:34.3	If you did want to put something in the subject to let me know that it's there for the Christmas
1:37.4	campfire, that does make things a little bit easier, but it's whatever, you know, so I read
1:41.8	all my emails anyway.
	...

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