The Jack the Ripper murders occurred in the East End of London in 1888, and, although the Whitechapel Murderer was only a threat to a very small section of the community in London, the crimes had a huge impact on society as a whole. Indeed, by focusing the attention of the press and the public on the streets and people of one of London’s poorest and most crime-ridden quarters, Jack the Ripper managed to expose the sordid underbelly of Victorian society. In doing so, he helped spread awareness amongst the wealthier citizens of London about the appalling social conditions. The conditions had been allowed to develop on the doorstep of the city of London, the wealthiest square mile on earth.

One of the problems with ascertaining the exact number of victims Jack the Ripper had is the fact that he was never caught. The generic Whitechapel Murders File—the official name for the police investigation into the crimes—contains eleven victims. It is generally believed that five of these were the work of the killer now known as “Jack the Ripper.”

However, the idea of there being so-called “canonical five” victims is by no means certain. Indeed, many experts will tell you that there may have been as few as four victims or as many as eight victims of the ripper. The list below is broken down into the “canonical five” Jack the Ripper victims, the generic Whitechapel murder victims, and other murders that took place in the area at the time.

The murders and attacks may or may not have been the work of Jack the Ripper. The Whitechapel Murders were the focus of a huge criminal investigation where the Victorian police pitted their wits against a lone assassin. The assassin was perpetrating his crimes in one of 19th century London’s most densely populated and crime-ridden quarters, despite the fact that no one was ever brought to justice or charged with the crimes.

Over the years, there have been more than a hundred suspects named who may or may not have been Jack the Ripper. The number of letters that have been sent to the authorities were either alleged to have come from the killer or else offered suggestions on how the perpetrator of the atrocities might be brought to justice.