Free The Jack the Ripper Location Photographs: Dutfield's Yard and the Whitby Collection by Philip Hutchinson

eating something. Both wear knee-length pinafore dresses. Beyond them, a woman in a dark dress has her hand on the second girl down and is peeking at the camera. A boy in a cap and calf-length trousers, moving at the time of the photograph follows. A woman looks down the yard and, next to her, a girl or short woman in a lace-trimmed skirt or dress. A man with a cap and thick moustache looks at the ground and in front of him a small child (about 5 but gender indeterminate) also looks away from the camera. A very Jewish-looking woman is next down, clear and smiling in the direction of the photographer. A man in a cap and jacket stands alone, completely shaded. Behind him, a woman in a full-length dark skirt and apron stands just beyond the gap at the back of 42 Berner Street. In the far background, two men are seen on the upper level of the cabinet makers. Both appear to be dressed the same in their shirt sleeves and wearing (leather?) aprons. One stands outside in the sun, the other inside the doorway.
    Coming up the centre of the yard, there are two women facing the photographer just this side of the gap behind 42. The one on the left is taller and is wearing a hat. The shorter one on the right (barely visible) appears bare-headed. There are two cats in the doorway of the International Workers’ Educational Club. One is in the yard itself at the bottom of the steps and the other in within the doorway at the top, looking down at the one below. Two children take centre stage. A boy about seven years old (and probably Jewish) stands in calf-length boots, cap and waistcoat with a muffler, his hands in his pockets and defiantly frowning at the photographer with a pout. A little girl about four years of age stands a short way in front of him in a mid-length dress and apron. She appears to have been looking to her right and quickly turned towards the photographer as the photograph was taken.
    On the right-hand side of the picture we see possibly the most striking individual in the photograph. A Jewish-looking man in a cap, elbow-length shirt and full apron smiles at the photographer in the mirror image of the woman opposite. He stands with his back to the end of the open gateway, inches from the spot where Elizabeth Stride’s body had fallen. The actual murder spot, down to the steps of the club, is clear. It is likely these people knew exactly why this photograph was being taken but we don’t know whose idea it was. The photographer is only one option. It could also have been a tour leader, cab driver, fellow tourist or even a local who intercepted her and suggested a quick trip to Berner Street.
    There is then a gap, and the next individual seen is just outside the gateway; a small woman in a full-length dark skirt, moving at the time of the picture being taken. Next is the short man initially mistaken for a child. He wears too-long baggy trousers, shoes with very thin soles, a round-bottomed jacket and a cap. He looks down the yard and his dark short beard is obvious. The next person can only be seen as a few locks of hair. Two individuals away from the camera is the only person in the image who appears affluent. This man’s shoes shine, he wears a waistcoat and jacket and has a brimmed hat. His shirt has an upturned collar and he is looking at the photographer. It is possible he was another tourist on the same trip. The final person is a female, possibly a young woman, looking past the well-dressed man down into the yard and wearing what appears to be a dark shawl and a calf-length white apron.
    Most people in the photograph look curious or bemused, but the Jewish-looking couple standing in front of the opened gates are both smiling at the photographer. The placing of the pair and the children in the middle (certainly the young boy) make it possible that they were the original individuals who were about to be photographed and that other people in the area, fascinated by a rich American tourist with a camera (perhaps akin to a