At noon on the 9th of November 1888, the day that Mary Kelly was murdered in Miller's Court, off Dorset Street in Spitalfields, Mrs. Annie Paumier was selling chestnuts on the corner of Widegate Street and Sandy's Row, when a man came up to her and asked her if she had heard about the murder.
He then went on to make several strange statements, before staring at her and heading off along Sandy's Row.
Mrs. Paumier told the story to a journalist from one of the news agencies, and the next day her description of the mysterious stranger appeared in newspapers across the country.
The description she gave of the man lodged in the imagination of the public at large, and helped foster an image of Jack the Ripper that is still with us today.
In this video, we take you through Mrs. Paumier's encounter and also look at a statement made by another girl who may have seen the same man on the day before Mary Kelly's murder.
1 окт 2024