Mary Ann Nichols
Mary Ann Nichols
The body in Bucks Row
Charles Cross, a carman, of 22 Doveton Street, Bethnal Green, and Robert Paul, also a carman, of 30 Foster Street, Bethnal Green, were the first people to see Mary Ann Nichols' body laying on the pavement in Bucks Row. Cross is reported to have said to Paul, "Come and look over here, there’s a woman lying on the pavement".
It was 3.40am on Friday 31st August 1888, and with it still being dark they appeared to have missed Mary's horrific injuries. Mary Ann Nichols was lying on the pavement, on her back, with her skirts raised almost to her stomach.
After feeling her hands Cross thought Mary was dead - Paul thought she might still be breathing. Both men are reported to have been running late - so after trying to pull Mary's skirts down they moved on, intending to alert a policeman on the way.
In Baker’s Row, at the junction of Hanbury and Old Montague Street, they met PC Mizen 55H and told him of their discovery.
Unknown to PC Mizen 55H, Cross and Paul, at around 3.45am PC John Neil 97J had discovered the body of Mary Ann Nichols. The body hadn't been there when PC Neil had patrolled 30 minutes earlier.
Nichols was lying outside the gate to Mr Brown’s stables, her head towards the east, her left hand touching the gate. Her hands, which were open, lay by her sides and her legs were extended and a little apart. Blood oozed out of the wounds in her throat. A black straw bonnet trimmed with black velvet was by her side.
PC John Thain 96J was patrolling Brady Street when PC Neil spotted him and called him over. PC John Thain 96J was asked to run for Dr Llewellyn immediately.
PC Mizen was the third constable to arrive at the murder scene. He was sent to fetch an ambulance and further assistance from Bethnal Green Police Station.
Sergeant Kirby also joined the crime scene.
Dr Llewellyn
Dr Rees Ralph Llewellyn of 152 Whitechapel Road, arrived on the scene at around 4am. The severe throat injuries were considered and Dr Llewellyn pronounced life extinct. Dr Llewellyn suggested Nichols had been dead for less than thirty minutes.
But although the woman’s hands and wrists were cold, the doctor discovered that her body and legs were still warm and he did not think that she could have been dead for more than half an hour. By this time early morning sightseers were already beginning to collect, including three horse slaughterers from Barber’s slaughterhouse in nearby Winthrop Street, and Llewellyn decided that the body should be moved. ‘Move her to the mortuary,’ he told the police officers. ‘She is dead and I will make a further examination of her there.’
