Jack the Ripper?: Edward Buckley: East End Thug and Gang Member

Reexamining Jack the Ripper’s crimes through Emma Smith, the overlooked first victim of Whitechapel.

In the early hours of Tuesday, 3 April 1888, just after the Easter Bank Holiday, Emma Elizabeth Smith, a middle-aged woman living in unfortunate circumstances, was brutally attacked in a side street off Whitechapel Road. In the crime-ridden East End of late Victorian London, such violence was tragically common. Yet this particular attack marked the beginning of a mystery that would achieve worldwide notoriety: the Whitechapel murders, otherwise known as the Jack the Ripper murders.

Unlike the other Ripper victims, Emma Elizabeth Smith survived long enough to recount her ordeal, stating that her attack was not at the hands of a lone madman, but of three men, one possibly as young as 19. Her testimony has often been dismissed, as it does not fit the long-held narrative surrounding the Ripper's crimes. Consequently, Emma’s story has been overlooked, her suffering disconnected from the infamous murders that followed.

This book seeks to reconcile all the Whitechapel murders of 1888 and beyond, offering critical context about the streets where these crimes occurred and the shadowy figure who haunted them. Could Edward Buckley, a violent local thug with a history of knife attacks as early as 1884, hold the key to understanding the 'Autumn of Terror'?

It is time to finally listen to the voice of Emma Smith, the first victim of Jack the Ripper.

Jonathan Tye studied Early Medieval History under Professor Alfred P. Smyth at the University of Kent, Canterbury. Although from southeast London, Jonathan has a strong maternal connection to the Whitechapel area. His great grandfather lived in Winthrop Street and Bucks Row during the period of the Whitechapel murders. In recent years he has spent time extensively researching crime – especially its related gang activity – in the area in the period leading up to the Whitechapel murders and beyond. The life of Edward Buckley, first introduced at the East End Conference in 2023, is the result of this intensive study. A passionate historian and genealogist, Jonathan lives with his partner and their three children.