Year 11 Trip to the National Archives in Kew
September 24th, 2009
Eerily, by coincidence, one hundred and twenty one years to the day of the ‘Double Event’ murders in Whitechapel in 1888, on Wednesday 30 September the Year 11 GCSE History groups visited the National Archives in Kew. The aim of the visit was to examine and explore primary and secondary sources of evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of the police force in late Victorian England regarding the case of Jack the Ripper, in order to complete a unit of GCSE coursework.
Students were led by an Education Officer in interpreting and analysing sources including the original census of 1881 and a selection of letters written to the police from people purporting to be the Ripper. After the workshops students visited the museum which displayed the original Domesday Book and the Magna Carta. In addition, a few tried their hand at brass rubbing.
With thanks to Mr Hall for transporting the groups to Kew in the school mini-bus, to Mrs. Hockaday for accompanying us and to Lisa Barber at the Archives for an interesting and truly fascinating day.
Ms S Batty
History Teacher
