Claim A royal physician or a Masonic plot is the official solution.
Timeline beat 31 Aug 1888 — Mary Ann Nichols
No 1888 charging paper says so. Those stories are later fiction. Macnaghten’s named men were not princes.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Notoriety97
Mystery95
Scale40
Evidence32
Legal impact45
Culture98
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Quick answers
Who was Jack the Ripper?
An unidentified murderer of adult women in Whitechapel in 1888. The name comes from press letters, not from a charging document. No one was convicted. Status is unsolved.
Who were the canonical five?
Mary Ann Nichols (31 August), Annie Chapman (8 September), Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes (30 September) and Mary Jane Kelly (9 November), all 1888. Macnaghten’s 1894 memorandum fixed the five-victim claim that later historians call canonical. Other Whitechapel murders in 1888–91 are in the wider police file.
Were the victims adult women?
Yes. The canonical five were adult women living in East End poverty. Several sold sex to survive. This page does not sexualise them or describe their bodies. They are named because the inquests named them.
Why was the case never solved?
No suspect was charged with the series. Forensic tools of 1888 could not individualise a stranger. Witness descriptions conflicted. Letters confused the public file. Later memoirs named names without producing trial evidence.
Are the Jack the Ripper letters genuine?
Some may be. Many are not. The “Dear Boss” letter that supplied the name is often judged a possible journalist’s hoax. The “From Hell” letter to George Lusk is debated separately. Hundreds of other letters are treated as copycat or crank mail.
Did DNA identify the killer?
No court has accepted such an identification. A 2014 mitochondrial-DNA claim tied to a disputed shawl and to Aaron Kosminski was criticised for chain of custody and for the limits of that DNA type. It did not close the case.
Police time is autumn 1888. Historians’ time is still going.
Dates below prefer inquests and official paper over folklore birthdays.
Timeline
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
- Mary Ann Nichols
The first of the later canonical five. An inquest opens the public file on an unidentified killer of an adult woman in Whitechapel.
- Annie Chapman
A second inquest in the same district. Press intensity and the “Leather Apron” scare rise.
- “Dear Boss” letter dated
A letter to the Central News Agency, published days later, supplies the name Jack the Ripper. Authenticity remains disputed.
- Stride and Eddowes
Two murders on one date. Eddowes, killed in the City, brings the City of London Police into a shared investigation.
- Lusk letter
The “From Hell” letter reaches George Lusk of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee. Its status is separately debated.
- Warren resigns
The Metropolitan Police commissioner leaves office amid political and press pressure, the day before the last canonical murder.
- Mary Jane Kelly
The last of Macnaghten’s five. Extra patrols do not produce an arrest that holds.
- Wider Whitechapel file
Further murders are recorded in the district. Officers disagreed then, and historians disagree now, about which belong with 1888.
- Macnaghten memorandum
An internal memo names three men as likelier than Thomas Cutbush and fixes the five-victim claim.
- Disputed DNA claim
A mitochondrial-DNA argument around a shawl and Aaron Kosminski is published and widely challenged. No court reopens.
Claim versus timeline
Each public-record claim on this dossier sits beside the timeline chapter already on the page.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
Claim DNA has solved the case.
Timeline beat 8 Sep 1888 — Annie Chapman
A 2014 claim was disputed and never became a verdict. Status remains unsolved.
Claim The killer’s name was Jack as a given name.
Timeline beat 27 Sep 1888 — “Dear Boss” letter dated
Jack the Ripper is a press signature. It is not a birth record.
Claim The victims were nameless or not adults.
Timeline beat 30 Sep 1888 — Stride and Eddowes
Inquests named adult women. This page uses those names and does not treat them as a chorus or as children.
Beat weight marks
Mark each timeline beat already on this dossier as supported, contested or unknown, using the public-record claims already filed here. Not a verdict.
Editorial marks on this device only. Public-record encyclopedia — not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
| Timeline beat | Supported / Contested / Unknown |
|---|---|
| 31 Aug 1888 — Mary Ann Nichols Claim already on file: A royal physician or a Masonic plot is the official solution. | |
| 8 Sep 1888 — Annie Chapman Claim already on file: DNA has solved the case. | |
| 27 Sep 1888 — “Dear Boss” letter dated Claim already on file: The killer’s name was Jack as a given name. | |
| 30 Sep 1888 — Stride and Eddowes Claim already on file: The victims were nameless or not adults. | |
| 16 Oct 1888 — Lusk letter Claim already on file: The victims were nameless or not adults. | |
| 8 Nov 1888 — Warren resigns Claim already on file: The victims were nameless or not adults. | |
| 9 Nov 1888 — Mary Jane Kelly Claim already on file: The victims were nameless or not adults. | |
| 1889–91 — Wider Whitechapel file Claim already on file: The victims were nameless or not adults. | |
| Feb 1894 — Macnaghten memorandum Claim already on file: The victims were nameless or not adults. | |
| 2014 — Disputed DNA claim Claim already on file: The victims were nameless or not adults. |
After 1894 the official paper thins and the bookshop thickens.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.