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

Dutfield’s Yard. This would mean, however, that the little boy is not his son. It is perfectly possible that the smiling couple, the two children, and the man in the shadows consist of members of the Simon and Freedman families.
    These appear to be the only people that may be tentatively identified. There is no obvious connection between any of the other people in the photograph, some of whom may not have lived at that address anyway. The two girls on the far left do not instantly look Jewish and may have just come out of the Board School directly behind where the photographer was standing (indeed, being close to midday, this could explain the two boys in the photograph as well).
    Tom Wescott came up with an alternative theory. He felt the man in the apron by the gate could be Joseph Chaim Cohen-Lask, who rented the premises at the turn of the twentieth century and taught a Jewish ‘Cheder’ at the house. Cohen-Lask was an accomplished writer and his daughter later wrote an account of his life. Her name was Rachel Beth-Zion Lask Abrahams and, until research suggests otherwise, if Tom’s idea is correct then it is even possible that she is the little girl in the middle.
    The murder spot after the removal of a modern flowerbed, April 2009 (Courtesy Tony Brewer)

    The site of Dutfield’s Yard in the Harry Gosling School, 2009 (Courtesy Robert Clack)

Afterword
    Whether or not you believe Elizabeth Stride to have been a victim of Jack the Ripper, she nevertheless remains one of the so-called ‘canonical five’ generally regarded as being a Ripper victim. The Dutfield’s Yard photograph was a major discovery on several levels. Firstly, and most importantly, it is the only photograph of the location known to exist. Secondly, it was the last remaining location of a Ripper murder that had not previously been seen photographically, being limited beforehand to sketches and drawings in period newspapers. Lastly, though her identity remains elusive, our photographer may be classed – at present – as the world’s first known Ripper tourist. The tens of thousands of people who join guided tours each year to view the locations of the atrocities all follow in her wake, and she had no idea.
    Delegates at the biannual Ripper Conference recreate the Dutfield’s Yard photograph on the exact spot, 25 October 2009 (Courtesy Gareth Williams)