Calls for statue to honour Jack the Ripper victim

A petition has been launched for a statue to be erected in tribute of one of the victims of Jack the Ripper.

Catherine Eddowes, 46, who was born in Wolverhampton, was murdered on 30 September 1888 in the Whitechapel area of London.

She was one of five women who were brutally attacked within three months and their killer was never found, but the person responsible became known as Jack the Ripper.

Now, there are calls for a permanent monument to be installed in her home city as a tribute to victims of violence against women throughout history.

"Catherine Eddowes was more than a victim — she was a woman from our city with her own life, story and connection to Wolverhampton, " Luke Reader, who launched the petition, wrote.

Eddowes, Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride and Mary Kelly were all murdered between August and November of 1888.

A blue plaque has previously been placed on Merridale Street, where she was born, but the petition would see a statue of her placed on Victoria Street in the city centre.

The Change.org petition reads: "Catherine Eddowes was born in Wolverhampton in 1842, making her a Wulfrunian and a woman of the Black Country.

"Too often, the story of Jack the Ripper focuses on the killer rather than the women whose lives were taken. In doing so, the victims are denied their own voice and identity, remembered only through the man who murdered them.

"The memorial could also stand as a tribute to victims of violence against women throughout history - ensuring their stories are remembered, and their voices are not lost."

Eddowes was the fourth victim to be killed and was attacked about an hour after Stride, it was reported.

She was the oldest of 11 siblings and was orphaned when she was a child, being admitted into Bermondsey Workhouse.

She spent time in the West Midlands working as a tray polisher, and in Kent picking hops. She had three children and to pay the rent had undertaken sex work.

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