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Cool Find: A Letter from Jack the Ripper Investigator

I thought I'd share this because I found it so fascinating. I discovered this letter in a collection of mainly obscure 19th Century British administrators, lords, etc. It's written by Robert Anderson, who was the Assistant Commissioner, and head of the Criminal Investigation Department, of the London Metropolitan Police Department from 1888 to 1901. He was the highest ranking officer investigating Jack the Ripper, and often quoted in the press about the case. The letter is dated Sept 1, 1888, which was his first day on the job. On top of that, here's a quote from Anderson's autobiography: 'I sometimes think myself an unfortunate man, for between twelve and one on the morning of the day I took up my position here [as Assistant Commissioner] the first Whitechapel murder occurred." So he wrote this letter on the day of the first Jack the Ripper murder. Gave me chills as I was researching it.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on December 25, 2022 at 12:05pm

What a great letter. Thank you for sharing it.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on December 25, 2022 at 12:16pm

Absolutely stunning! Congrats on that piece. Do you belong to any of the Ripper forums online? If you were so disposed, I'm sure many would be excited to see this.