2A00:23CC:E806:E01:2211:D41B:884A:3EC5 at 11:26, 17 May 2025

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{{Short description|Civilian patrol group on the streets of London after the Whitechapel murders}}
{{use British English|date=April 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
[[File:JacktheRipper1888.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sketch from the 13 October 1888 ''[[Illustrated London News]]'' depicting members of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee observing a suspicious character]]
{{Jack the Ripper series}}
The '''Whitechapel Vigilance Committee''' was a group of local civilian volunteers who patrolled the streets of [[Whitechapel]] in [[London]] during the period of several [[Whitechapel murders|murders]] of 1888. The volunteers were active mainly at night, assisting the [[Metropolitan Police]] in the search of the unknown murderer known as the "Whitechapel Murderer", "Leather Apron" and, latterly, "[[Jack the Ripper]]".

==Formation==
[[File:George Lusk, President of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.jpg|150px|left|thumb|[[George Lusk]], President of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.]]
The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee was founded by sixteen tradesmen from the [[Whitechapel]] and [[Spitalfields]] districts, who were concerned that the killings were affecting businesses in the area.<ref>Begg, ''Jack the Ripper: The Facts'', p. 119</ref><ref>''Jack the Ripper – Through the Mists of Time'' {{ISBN|978-1-782-28168-9}} p. 22</ref> The committee was led by a local builder named [[George Lusk]], who was elected chairman during its first meeting on 10 September 1888.<ref name=timeline>{{cite web |url=http://www.casebook.org/timeline.html | title=Jack the Ripper Timeline |publisher=[[Casebook: Jack the Ripper]]}}</ref>

Other committee members included [[publican]] Joseph Aarons (treasurer), Mr. B. Harris (secretary),<ref name=encyc>Eddleston, John J. 'Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopedia' Published by ABC-CLIO (2001) pg 139 {{ISBN|1-57607-414-5}}</ref> and Messrs. Barnett, Cohen, H. A. Harris, Hodgins, Houghton, Isaacs, Jacobs, Laughton, Lindsay, Lord, Mitchell, Reeves, and Rogers. ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' reported on 5 October 1888 that the leading members of the committee were "drawn principally from the trading class, and include a builder, a cigar-manufacturer, a tailor, a picture-frame maker, a licensed [[victualler]], and 'an actor.'"<ref>[[Daily Telegraph]] 5 October 1888</ref> The latter may have been the entertainer Charles Reeves.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.casebook.org/notable_people/charles-reeves.html|title=Charles Reeves|publisher=Casebook: Jack the Ripper}}</ref>

===Civic duties===
Members of the committee were unhappy with the level of protection the local community was receiving from the [[Metropolitan Police]], so it introduced its own system of local patrols, using hand-picked unemployed men to monitor the streets of the [[East End of London|East End]] every evening from midnight to between four and five the next morning. Each of these men received a small wage from the committee, and each patrolled a particular beat, being armed with a [[police whistle]], a pair of [[galoshes]] and a strong stick. The committee itself met each evening at nine in a [[public house]] called The Crown, and once the establishment closed at 12.30am the committee members would inspect and join the patrols. These patrols were shortly to be joined by those of the Working Men's Vigilance Committee.<ref>Sugden Philip 'The Complete History of Jack the Ripper' Robinson, London (1995)</ref>

==Publicity==
As chairman of the committee, Lusk's name appeared in national newspapers and upon posters in and around Whitechapel, appealing for information concerning the identity of [[Jack the Ripper]] and complaining about the lack of a [[bounty (reward)|reward]] for such information from the British government. Due to this publicity, Lusk received threatening letters through the post, allegedly from the killer. He is also mentioned in a letter dated 17 September 1888, reportedly discovered among archive materials in the late 20th century; however, most experts dismiss this as a modern [[hoax]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.casebook.org/ripper_letters/ |title=Ripper Letters |publisher=Casebook: Jack the Ripper}}</ref>

[[File:vigilancecommittee.jpg|thumb|right|190px|Members of the Vigilance Committee examine the contents of the box sent to Lusk.]]
On 30 September 1888, the committee members wrote to the government under [[Lord Salisbury]] in an attempt to persuade them to offer a reward for information leading to the apprehension of the Ripper. When the [[Home Secretary]] [[Henry Matthews, 1st Viscount Llandaff|Henry Matthews]] refused this request, the committee offered its own reward.<ref name=timeline/> The committee also employed two [[private detective]]s, Mr. Le Grand (or Grand) and Mr. J. H. Batchelor,<ref name=encyc/> to investigate the murders without the involvement of the police.

===Correspondence===
The [[From Hell letter|"From Hell" letter]], which was sent with half of a preserved human [[kidney]], was personally addressed to Lusk, who received the parcel on 16 October 1888.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.casebook.org/press_reports/west_ham_guardian/881020.html |title=The East London Horrors. An Extraordinary Parcel |publisher=Casebook: Jack the Ripper}}</ref> The letter was [[postmark]]ed on the previous day.<ref>''Science Images and Popular Images of the Sciences'' {{ISBN|978-1-134-17580-2}} p. 127</ref>

Many scholars<ref>Sugden Philip, Ibid <citation #5>, p. 273</ref> of the Ripper murders regard this letter as being the communication most likely to have been sent by the actual murderer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/dst-fromhellfact.html |title=From Hell: Fact or Fiction? |publisher=Casebook: Jack the Ripper}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of serial killers before 1900]]
* [[Vigilantism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Cited works and further reading==
* Begg, Paul (2006). ''Jack the Ripper: The Facts''. London: Anova Books. {{ISBN|1-86105-687-7}}
* Eddleston, John J. (2002). ''Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopedia''. London: Metro Books. {{ISBN|1-84358-046-2}}
* Evans, Stewart P.; Skinner, Keith (2001). ''Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell''. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7509-2549-3}}
* Lightbody, Bryan (2007). ''Whitechapel''. Milton Keynes: Author House Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-425-96181-7}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Whitechapel Vigilance Committee}}
* [http://www.casebook.org/about_the_casebook/cbindex.html?showindex=Whitechapel%20Vigilance%20Committee The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee] on the [[Casebook: Jack the Ripper]] website
* [http://www.walksoflondon.co.uk/28/jack-the-ripper-history-8.shtml The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee on the London Walks website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113071341/http://www.walksoflondon.co.uk/28/jack-the-ripper-history-8.shtml |date=13 January 2012 }}

{{Jack the Ripper}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitechapel Vigilance Committee}}
[[Category:1888 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1888 in London]]
[[Category:Defunct organisations based in London]]
[[Category:Jack the Ripper]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1888]]
[[Category:Vigilantism]]
[[Category:Whitechapel|Vigilance Committee]]

Whitechapel Vigilance Committee - Revision history

2A00:23CC:E806:E01:2211:D41B:884A:3EC5 at 11:26, 17 May 2025