Editing Mary Ann Nichols (section)

==Witnesses Testimonies==

=== Brittan, Charles ===
Worked with Henry Tomkins on the night of the murder.  Tomkins and Brittan had left the slaughter-house at about 12 midnight and returned about 1 o'clock, and did not leave again after.

=== Colwell, Mrs. Sarah (Sep 2) ===
Mrs. Colwell lived at Honey's Mews, Brady-street, a short distance form the foot of Buck's row.  There is no record of testimony by this witness, but multiple newspapers noted the following: "There are a number of people who early on Friday morning heard the scream of the victim. None of them paid any particular attention to them, however, except Mrs. Colwell, who lives midway between Buck's-row and the next turning. She said, 'I was awakened early on Friday morning by my little girl, who said someone was trying to get into the house. I listened, and heard screams. They were in a woman's voice, and, though frightened, were faint-like, as would be natural if she were running. She was screaming, 'Murder, police! Murder, police! Murder, police!'  She screamed this five or six times, and seemed to be getting further and further away (toward the bottom of Buck's-row) all the time. I heard no other voice and no other steps. She seemed to be all alone. I think I would have heard the steps if anybody had been running after her, unless they were running on tiptoe."

=== Cross, Charles Allen (Sep 3) ===
Charles Crass, carman, in the employ of Messrs. Pickford, said - On Friday morning I left home at half-past three. I went down Parson-street, crossed Brady-street, and through Buck's-row. I was alone. As I got up Buck's-row I saw something lying on the north side in the gateway to a wool warehouse. It looked to me like a man's tarpaulin, but on going into the centre of the road I saw it was the figure of a woman. At the same time I heard a man coming up the street in the same direction as I had done, so I waited for him to come up. When he same up I said, "Come and look over here; there is a woman" We then went over to the body. I bent over her head and touched her hand, which was cold. I said, "She is dead" The other man, after he had felt her heard, said, "Yes, she is." He then suggested that we should shift her, but I said "No, let us go and tell a police-man" I did not notice any blood.

* Coroner: Did you not see that her throat was cut?
* Cross: No; it was very dark at the time. We left together and went up Baker's-row, where we met a constable. I said to him, "There is a woman in Buck's row on the broad of her back. She is dead or else drunk." The constable said he would go, and I left him and went on to work.
* Coroner: Did you see Police-constable Neil about?
* Cross: No; I did not see anyone at all except the constable I spoke to. I don't think I met anybody after I left my house till I got to the body.

=== Green, Mrs Emma (Sep 3) ===
[from the testimony of Inspector Spatling].  Mrs. Green, whose rooms overlook the spot, said she heard nothing during the whole of the night, though she was up from three till half past four o'clock.

=== Green, James ===
Son of Emma Green, he washed the blood from the pavement after her body was taken to the mortuary.

=== Helston, Inspector (Sep 3) ===
Inspector Helson, J Division: "At 6.45 on Friday morning at my house I received information of the affair. I first went to Bethnal-green Police-station and made myself acquainted with the facts, after which I went to the mortuary. The body was fully dressed, except the bonnet. The bodice of the dress was open for about four buttons from the top. They might have been undone by the doctor. The stays were shorter than usual and did not reach the hip. There were no blood marks on either of the petticoats. The back of the dress just about the shoulders was soaked in blood, which had flowed from the wound in the neck. The ulster was also saturated, and between that and the dress the blood was clotted. The other parts of the body were clean, but did not give one the impression that the body had been recently washed. The face was bruised, as if by a blow on the cheek, and the right jaw appeared to have been struck. There were no marks of any ring being torn off her finger, and there were no appearances of any struggle having taken place. All the injuries could have been inflicted while the woman was wearing her clothes. I have examined the spot where the body was found in Buck's row. There were no signs of blood on the large gates where the body was laid, and, as the paint was fresh, they would, had they been there, have been easily visible. I should say that the outrage was committed on the spot."

=== Holland, Ellen "Nelly" (Sep 3) ===
"I live at 18, Thrawl-street, which is a common lodging house for single women. I have known Mary Ann Nichols for six weeks; she slept in the same bed as I. She has not been in the house for the last eight or 10 days. I saw her about half-past two on the morning she was murdered in the Whitechapel-road. I asked her where she was living, and I think she said Flower and Dean-street. I tried to persuade her to stay with me that night, but she was in drink, and refused. I don't think she was a fast woman. I have seen her the worse for drink once or twice. I never saw her have any trouble; she always kept herself to herself, as if she was melancholy. I believe that she had been living in Boundary-street since she left my house.

=== Llewellyn, Dr. Henry (surgeon) (Sep 2) ===
"On Friday morning I was called to Buck's-row at about four o'clock. The constable told me what I was wanted for. On reaching Buck's row I found the deceased woman lying flat on her back in the pathway, her legs extended. I found she was dead, and that she had severe injuries to her throat. Her hands and wrists were cold, but the body and lower extremities were warm. I examined her chest and felt the heart. It was dark at the time. I believe she had not been dead more than half-an-hour. I am quite certain that the injuries to her neck were not self-inflicted. There was very little blood round the neck. There were no marks of any struggle or of blood, as if the body had been dragged.  I told the police to take her to the mortuary, and I would make another examination. About an hour later I was sent for by the inspector to see the injuries he had discovered on the body. I went, and saw that the abdomen was cut very extensively. I have this morning made  a post-mortem examination of the body. I found it to be that of a female about 40 or 45 years. Five of the teeth are missing, and there is a slight laceration of the tongue. On the right side of the face there is a bruise running along the lower part of the jaw. It might have been caused by a blow with the fist or pressure by the thumb. On the left side of the face there was a circular bruise, which also might have been done by the pressure of the fingers. On the left side of the neck, about an inch below the jaw, there was an incision about four inches long and running from a point immediately below the ear. An inch below on the same side, and commencing about an inch in front of it, was a circular incision termination at a point about three inches below the right jaw. This incision completely severs all the tissues down to the vertebrae. The larges vessels of the neck on both sides were severed. The incision is about eight inches long. These cuts must have been cause with a long-bladed knife, moderately sharp, and used with great violence. No blood at all was found on the breast either of the body or clothes. There were no injuries about the body till just about the lower part of the abdomen. Tow or three inches from the left side was a wound running in a jagged manner.  It was a very deep wound, and the tissues were cut through.  There were several incision running across the abdomen. On the right side there were also three or four similar cuts running downwards. All these had been caused by a knife, which had been used violently and been used downwards. The injuries were from left to right, and might have been done by a left-handed person. All the injuries had been done by the same instrument. The injury was adjourned till to-morrow.

=== Maizen, G. (Sep 3) ===
Police-Constable G. Maizen, 55H: "On Friday morning last, at 20 minutes past four, I was at the end of Hanbury-street, Baker's row, when some one who was passing said "You're wanted down there" (later identified as Charles Crass who also testified).  I went up Buck's-row and saw a policeman shining his light on the pavement. He said, "Go for an ambulance," and I at once went to the station and returned with it. I assisted to remove the body. The blood appeared fresh, and was still running from the neck of the woman. There was another man in company with Cross.  I think he was also a carman."

=== Monk, Mary Ann (Sep 3) ===
Deposed that she saw the deceased about seven weeks before in a public-house in Kennington Lane. She knew nothing of the deceased's acquaintances. 

* Mary Ann: "I know the deceased. I last saw her in a public-house in the New Kent-road.
* Coroner: "Had you ever seen her in the workhouse?
* Mary Ann: "Yes; I saw her six or seven years ago in the Lambeth Union

=== Nichols, William (Sep 3) ===
"I am a machinist and live at Coburg-road, Old Kent-road. The deceased is my wife. I separated from her on Easter Monday eight years ago. I have not seen her for over three years, nor do I know what she has been doing.

* By the Jury (reply from Nichols): "I don't know whom she has lived with; but I do know that she was given to drink, and that she left me many times. I took her back, but she would get drunk, so I had to leave her. It is not true that I took up with a nurse girl.

=== Mumford, James ===
Was working with Henry Tompkins the night of the murder.  Was at the slaughter-house the entire night.

=== Neil, John (constable) (Sep 2) ===
"John Neil, police-constable, 97J: Yesterday morning I was proceeding down Buck's row, Whitechapel, going towards Brady-street. There was not a soul about. I had been round there half an hour previously, and I saw no one then. I was on the right-hand side of the street, when I noticed a figure lying in the street. It was dark at the time, though there was a street lamp shining at the end of the row. I went across and found deceased lying outside a gateway, her head towards the east. The gateway was closed. It was about nine or ten feet high, and led to some stables. There were houses from the gateway eastward, and the School Board school occupies the westward. On the opposite side of the road is Essex Wharf. Deceased was lying lengthways along the street, her left hand touching the gate. I examined the body by the aid of my lamp and noticed blood oozing from a wound in the throat. She was lying on her back, with her clothes disarranged. I felt her arm, which was quite warm from the joints upwards. Her eyes were wide open. Her bonnet was off and lying at her side, close to the left hand. I heard a constable passing Brady-street, so I called him. I did not whistle. I said to him, 'Run at once for Dr. Llewellyn.' and seeing another constable in Baker's-row, I sent him for the ambulance. The doctor arrived in a very short time. I had, in the meantime, rung the bell at Essex Wharf, and asked if any disturbance had been heard. The reply was "No".  Sergeant Kirby came after, and he knocked. The doctor looked at the woman, and then said, "Move the woman to the mortuary. She is dead, and i will make a further examination of her"  We then placed her on the ambulance, and moved her there. Inspector Spratley came to the mortuary, and while taking a description of the deceased turned up her clothes, and found that she was disemboweled. This had not been noticed by any of them before. On the body was found a piece of comb and a bit of looking-glass. No money was found, but an unmarked white handkerchief was found in her pocket.

* Coroner: Did you notice any blood where she was found?
* Neil: There was a pool of blood just where her neck was lying. The blood was then running from the wound in her neck.
* Coroner: Did you hear any noise that night?
* Neil: No, I heard nothing. The farthest I had been that night was just through the Whitechapel-road and up Baker's row. I was never far away from the spot.
* Coroner: Whitechapel-road is busy in the early morning, I believe. Could anybody have escaped that way?
* Neil: Oh, yes, sir. I saw a number of women in the main road going home. At that time anyone could have got away.
* Coroner: Someone searched the ground, I believe?
* Neil: Yes, I examined it while the doctor was being sent for.
* Inspector Spratley: I examined the road, sir, in daylight.
* A juryman (to witness): Did you see a trap in the road at all?
* Neil: No
* A juryman: Knowing that the body was warm, did it not strike you that it might just have been laid there, and that the woman was killed elsewhere?
* Neil: I examined the road, but did not see the mark of wheels. The first to arrive on the scene after I had discovered the body were two men who work at a slaughter-house opposite. They said they knew nothing of the affair, and that they had not heard any screams. I had previously seen the men at work. That would be about a quarter past three, or half an hour before I found the body.

(Sep 4) - "The Constable has been severely questioned as to his "working" of his "beat" on that night, and states that he was last on the spot where he found the body not more than half an hour previously - that is to say at 3.15.  The beat is a very short one, and quickly walked over would not occupy more than twelve minutes. He neither heard a cry not saw any one. Moreover, there are three watchmen on duty at night close to the spot, and none of them heard a cry to cause alarm.  It is not true, says Constable Neil, who is a man of nearly twenty years' service, that he was called to the body by two men. He came upon it as he walked, and flashing his lantern to examine it, he was answered by the lights from two other constables at either end of the street.  These officers had seen no man leaving the spot, and the mystery is most complete.

=== Paul, Mr. ===
Mr. Paul is never named in the testimonies, but various sights note that he is the man that Charles Allen Cross came upon and told about the body of Mary Ann Nichols. 

=== Perkins, Mr. (Sep 2) ===
No testimony is noted for this person, but is noted in articles as having lived on the street and, along with Mrs. Green, didn't hear any noise on the night of the murder.

=== Spatling, John (inspector) (Sep 3) ===
Inspector John Spatling of J Division.  "Deposed that at half-past four o'clock on Friday morning he was in the Hackney-road when he received information of the finding of the body of the woman in Buck's row.  He proceeded to spot directly, and there saw Police-constable Thain, who pointed to where the body had been found.  He noticed stains of blood and water between the stones.  They told him that the body had been removed to the mortuary in Old Montague-street, where they went together.  The body at that time was on the ambulance in the yard waiting for the mortuary keeper. While waiting he wrote a description of the body. The mortuary keeper arrived, and the body was placed on the bench. He was about to take a description of the under garments when he discovered the injuries to the abdomen. He at once sent for Dr. Llewellyn. He left the examination to the doctor, who made an examination lasting 10 minutes or a quarter of an hour.

* Coroner: That was an examination of the abdominal injuries only, and not of the whole body?
* Spatling: Yes
* Coroner: Who stripped the body?
* Spatling: Two workhouse people. I don't know who they were, but I gave them no instructions.
* Coroner: It is important that the clothes should be described and the position they were in. 
* Spatling: (after saying he went to the mortuary again about twelve o'clock, the same day) The clothes were lying in a heap in the yard, and consisted of a brown ulster somewhat worn, a new brown winsey dress, grey wool petticoat, flannel petticoat, these last two being marked 'Lambeth Workhouse, P.R.' drab or brown corsets in fair condition, which had no cuts on them.
* Coroner: Were they fastened when you saw them?
* Spatling: Yes, they were fastened at the back.
* Coroner: Were they fastened at the front? This is a most important point. 
* Spatling: I did not remove them from the body, so I could not say.
* Coroner: Well, who can give us this information; or shall we have to examine them for ourselves?
* Spatling: Inspector Helston can tell you more about it. I noticed a bloodstain on the back of the dress.
* Coroner: Did you examine Buck's row?
* Spatling: Yes; between five and six o'clock in the morning, and also the railway and yards abutting on the street. I examined Buck's row and Queen-street, but found no blood stains in either. I subsequently, in company with Sergeant Godley, examined the East London District Railway embankment and the Great Eastern Railway yard for bloodstains and weapons, but found none.
* Coroner: Who wiped up the blood that we have heard of?
* Spatling: One of Mr. Brown's men.
* Coroner: Is there not a constable on duty at the gate of the Great Eastern Railway Company's yard?
* Spatling: Yes, sir; that is about 50 yards away from the spot. I have questioned him, and he heard nothing during the night. A Mrs. Green, whose rooms overlook the spot, said she heard nothing during the whole of the night, though she was up from three till half-past four o'clock.
* Coroner: How far is the slaughter-house away?
* Spatling: About 150 paces, going round by the Board school.
* A juryman: How far away form Buck's-row was the nearest constable except Neil?
* Spatling: There is another constable whose beat takes in the east side of Brady-street, which runs at the top of Buck's-row. 
* (On being questioned further the witness said that when he examined the body he came to the conclusion that the woman had been murdered in her clothes, as there was a large quantity of blood on the neck of the dress just where the head had touched it.  He did not think that the woman had been dressed after the murder.
* (One of the jury complained that the body had been left exposed to the view of the children in the street - this the police denied).

=== Thain, Mr. ===
Police-constable, was passing on Brady-street.  Neil called to him to get Dr. Llewellyn.

===Tomkins, Henry T.  (Sep 3)===
<nowiki>#</nowiki>12 Coventry St, Bethnal Green, horse slaughterer.  "I am employed by Messrs. Barber, and was working all night on Thursday. I started at eight o'clock at the slaughter-house, Winthrope-street, and finished about a quarter-past four. Then I went to look at the murdered woman, which a policeman had told us of a few minutes before. He said there had been a woman murdered in Buck's row.

* Coroner: Who worked with you?
* Tomkins: There are three of us work together, James Mumford, Charles Brittan, and myself.  I and Brittan left the slaughter-house at twelve o'clock, and returned about one o'clock or a little later. We did not leave the place after till we were told of the murder.
* Coroner: Did you go far?
* Tomkins: No, only as far as the court.
* Coroner: The latter part of the night, were you at the door at all?
* Tomkins: No
* Coroner: Was it quiet in the slaughter-house, say from two o'clock?
* Tomkins: Yes, sir; very quiet.
* Coroner: Are your gates and doors open, and could you hear what passed in the street? 
* Tomkins: All our gates were open, but I heard no noise or cry.
* Coroner: Did any one come to the slaughter house that night?
* Tomkins: No, sir; no one but the policeman.
* Coroner: Did you see any women that night?
* Tomkins: Not about there; but there were some in the Whitechapel-road; plenty of all sorts.
* Coroner: Now, supposing any one had called out in Buck's row "Murder! Police! or something like that, should you have heard it? 
* Tomkins: No; our place is too far away for that.
* Coroner: Who went to see the woman first?
* Tomkins: Two of us went first, and my mate came after. There were three or four policemen, a sergeant, and the doctor, and I think there were two men there before us.

=== Walker, Edward (Sep 2) ===
First witness called.  "I live at 15, Maidwell-street, Albany-road, Camberwell, and have no occupation. I was a smith when I was at work, but I am not now. I have seen the body in the mortuary, and to the best of my belief it is my daughter, but I have not seen her for three years. I recognize her by her general appearance and by a little mark she had on her forehead when a child. She also had either one or two teeth out, the same as the woman I have just seen.  My daughter's name was Mary Ann Nichols, and she had been married twenty-two years. Her husband's name was William Nicholls, and he is alive. He is a machinist. They have been living apart for some length of time, about seven or eight years. I last heard of her before Easter. She was forty-two years of age. 

* Coroner: How did you see her?
* Walker: She wrote to me.
* Coroner: Is this letter in her handwriting?
* Walker: Yes, that is her writing
* Coroner: (The letter, which was dated April 17, 1888, was read by the Coroner, and referred to a place which the deceased had gone to at Wandsworth.)  When did you last see her alive?
* Walker: Tow years ago last June
* Coroner: Was she then in a good situation?
* Walker: I don't know. I was not on speaking terms with her. She had been living with me three or four years previously, but thought she could better herself, so I let her go.
* Coroner: What did she do after she left you?
* Walker: I don't know
* Coroner: This letter seem to suggest that she was in a decent situation.
* Walker: She had only just gone there.
* Coroner: Was she a sober woman?
* Walker: Well, at times she drank, and that was why we did not agree.
* Coroner: Was she fast?
* Walker: No; I never heard of anything of that sport. She used to go with some young women and men that she knew, but I never heard of anything improper.
* Coroner: Have you any idea what she has been doing lately?
* Walker: I have not the slightest idea.
* Coroner: She must have drunk heavily for you to turn her out of doors?
* Walker: I never turned her out. She had no need to be like this while I had a home for her.
* Coroner: How is it that she and her husband were not living together?
* Walker: When she was confined her husband took on with the young woman who came to nurse her, and they parted, he living with the nurse, by whom he has another family.
* Coroner: Have you any reasonable doubt that this is your daughter?
* Walker: No, I have not. I know nothing about her acquaintances, or what she had been doing for a living. I had no idea she was over here in this part of the town. She has had five children, the eldest being twenty-one years old and the youngest eight or nine years. One of them lives with me, and the other four are with their father.
* Coroner: Has she ever lived with anybody since she left her husband?
* Walker: I believe she was once stopping with a man in York-street, Walworth.  His name was Drew, and he was a smith by trade. He is living there now, I believe. The parish of Lambeth summoned her husband for the keep of the children, but the summons was dismissed, as it was proved that she was then living with another man. I don't know who that man was.
* Coroner: Was she ever in the workhouse?
* Walker: Yes, sir; Lambeth Workhouse, in April last, and went from there to a situation at Wandsworth.
* By the Jury: (seems to be Walker's response) The husband resides at Coburg-road, Old Kent-road.  I don't know if he know of her death.
* Coroner: Is there anything you know of likely to throw any light upon this affair?
* Walker: No; I don't think she had any enemies, she was too good for that.