The Commercial Tavern:
An attractive example of Victorian architecture, this pub is smaller inside than it appears from the outside. Its rounded facade stands on the corner of a small side street called Wheller Street (the same name today, though there's not much left of it!)
A pub never, to my knowledge, connected to the Jack The Ripper case, although it stands directly opposite what was in 1888 the Commercial Street Police Station, and must have been frequebted, I have no doubt, by many local officers involved in the case.
The Golden Heart:
Standing on the Southern corner of Hanbury Street at its intersection with Commerical Street, this Truman's pub is now a caomparatively modern building dating from the 1930s, although it stands not more than 300 yards from the site of Annie Chapman's death is another pub that has never, to my knowledge, been connected to the case of Jack The Ripper, or even mentioned with regard to any of the participants. Its most interesting connection is that just around the corner at 12 Hanbury Street a certain Bud Flanagan was born on 14th October 1896 (see Hanbury Street)
The Red Lion:
This pub at 92 CommercialStreet was a beer house owned in 1888 by Frederick Garner & Co, although they were only landlords for two years. The pub had no known connection to the Ripper murders, although it is more than likely that some of the victims drank here at some time. It ceased to being a pub in 1926 when Simon Cohen moved in with his paperbag manufacturing business. it was on the north corner of the Red Lion Court which became Puma Court on 11th July 1893.
The Ten Bells:
On the north-eastern corner of Church Street (now Fournier Street) and Commercial Street stood the Ten Bells public house, adjacent to Hawksmoor's Christchurch, with its adjoining cemetery known in the 1880s as 'Itchy Park'. There has been a public house on this site since at least 1752 (and possibly since before 1752). In 1976 it was renamed the Jack The Ripper in a bid tocash in on the notorious repuitation of the area. It caused something of a furore amongst the feminist movement who eventually managed to get the name reverted to The Ten Bells. Elizabeth Foster told the press that she had been drinking here with Mary Kelly on 8th November - the evening before she was murdered. She also cast doubt on the testimony of Maria Harvey in a statement published in the Evening News dated 12 November 1888. This pub has recently been bought for an estimated £1 million (Feb 2002) and renovated, cleaned up and generally made more comfortable, and is an essential place to vist for anyone interested in the Whitechapel Murders, or even ony in the history of the East End.
The Britannia:
As this establishment was only entitled to sell beer, it was not entered on the contemporary Ordance Survey maps as a Publis House, but it stood on the north corner of Commercial Street and Dorset Street, and in 188 was run by Matilda Ringer and was consequently popularly known as 'Mrs Ringer's'. The Britannia was demolished in 1928 along with the rest of the north side od Dorset Street, (including Millers Court) when Spitalfields Market was extended. It has sometimes been cponfused by certain researchers with The Horn Of Plenty which stood at the opposite site to Dorset Strteet faing the Provident Row Convent and Night Refuge at 50 Crispin Street - a building which is still standing, although it it at present being renovated and converted, pres3umably for high-quality residential dwellings (Feb 2002). Mary Kelly was known to drink at this establishment.
The Queen's Head:
On the north corner of Fashion Street, where it enters Commercial Street stood the Queen's Head. The building is still there today but it is not open to the public. Charles Preston said in his testimony that Elizabeth Stride had been arrested here about four or five months before her death, and she also drank here with Elizabeth Tanner on the eve of her death. It was outside this pub that Heorge Hutchinson said he'd leaned on a lamppost and watched Mary Kelly being picked up by a stranger, who he later described in such minute detail that one is led to be suspicious of his statement.
The Princess Alice (now the City Darts):
This pub is situated on the south-eastern corner of Wentworth Street where it crosses Commercial Street. It was allegedly frequented by the suspect known as 'Leather Apron'. it was also here that Frances Coles (Carrotty Nell) was picked up by Thomas Sadler who was suspected of her murder on 14th February 1891.