Mary Jane Kelly was the last victim of Jack the Ripper. She was the youngest (25 years old) and allegedly the prettiest of the Ripper victims and has held the rapt attention of many Ripper authors and enthusiasts for well over a century.
She was and still remains the most enigmatic of all the Ripper victims and has become an almost ‘mythic’ figure in the Ripper legend. She was found on the morning of the Lord Mayor’s show 9 November 1888 in her own room (again different to the other victims) at 13 Millers Court by a young man who came round to collect her outstanding rent money.
The extent of the injuries inflicted upon her body defied belief and shocked even the most hardened of experts (policemen, doctors, coroners) dealing with the Ripper case at the time. The unknown killer was named well. She was literally ripped apart!! The contemporary photograph taken proves it. However, ‘despite her body, torn and stained’ . . . the essence of Mary Jane Kelly ‘ still remains’.
This is her song and her story.
Sleep softly Mary You're peaceful in your eternal slumber Sleep softly Mary You're more than just, more than just a number to me. Cobbled streets and run down houses Titled consciences arouses Gin soaked harlots lie in entries Products of a noble gentry Sleep softly Mary (repeat as above) You lived you loved, you laughed you cried Did that matter when you died? Youth and beauty snatched away Just another less to pay Sleep softly Mary (Repeat) Instrumental break / refrain Despite your body torn and stained Fire and passion still remains Defying death and time that's passed Your silent memory will last Why must you have sunk so low Lying in that squalid row You were not one of their kind How could they have been so blind Cobbled streets and run down houses . . . (Fade)
In Manchester, then as now, the unspeakable crimes of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were very much the elephant in the room. ‘The Moors Murders cast a great shadow over the heart of the city, and Manchester would never be the same’ as Dave Haslam put it. In many ways these despicable acts pervade the Manchester atmosphere like the rain.
. . . extract above from ‘Leave The Capital‘ by Paul Hanley