‘Whitechapel, 1888’ by John Tenniel

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Whitechapel, 1888

John Tenniel

1888

Wood engraving by Swain

Punch (13 October 1888): 175.

Tenniel revisits his earlier commentaries on police incompetence by showing a couple of criminals cheerfully reflecting on the fact that there are so few officers on patrol that it is easy for them to commit their crimes. [Commentary continues below.]

Image scan and text by Simon Cooke

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Tenniel endows his villains with the physiognomies of the criminal class, showing them as heavy-jawed and snaggle-toothed. The policeman’s turned back is powerfully evocative of the Force’s lack of engagement and completes its critique by quoting Sir Charles Warren’s claim that he could only staff the alleyways of Whitechapel if he withdrew his officers from elsewhere: an unsympathetic comment at a time when women in Jack the Ripper’s hinterland were terrified for their lives. It does, however, reveal the class-bias: those in the wealthier parts of London would have their areas policed, those living in degradation were openly downgraded, as not worth the bother of protecting.

Link to Related Material

Visualizing Horror: Illustrations of Jack the Ripper and his Victims

Created 29 May 2025