29 Aldgate High Street
Demolished, originally on the north side of Aldgate High Street.
Premises in front of which Catherine Eddowes was found drunk by PC Louis Robinson.
According to PC Robinson's inquest testimony, he was on duty in Aldgate High Street at 8.30pm, 29th September 1888 when he saw a crowd outside No.29 - he found Eddowes lying on the pavement. He picked her up and carried her to the side by some shutters and she fell sideways. He got assistance from PC George Simmons and they took her to Bishopsgate Police Station.[1]
Officially, there was no 29 Aldgate High Street in 1888 and it does not appear in any census returns from 1871 to 1901; the numbering, though consecutive on that side, goes from 28 to 30. Research conducted by the late Adrian Phypers in 2001 managed to shed some light on the mystery:
In the late 1860s numbers 28 and 29 were both used by a wine importer. In about 1870 he sold up and the properties were taken on by a Henry Phillips, furniture warehouseman. A year or two later his Kelly’s entry of 28-29 Aldgate High Street becomes plain no. 28. The most likely explanation is that Phillips converted the two properties into one and only needed the one mailing address.[2]
It is therefore likely that PC Robinson looked at the numbering on one of the adjacent premises in order to work out which property he was in front of.
It appears that by 1968, No.29 had been reinstated[3], but the property and others around it were demolished in the early 1970s. The site is now covered by an office block, Aldgate House, the site of No.29 being marked by the illuminated sign for 33 Aldgate High Street.
References
- ↑ Coroner's inquest (L), 1888, No.135, Catherine Eddowes Inquest, 1888 (Corporation of London Record Office)
- ↑ Casebook archived message boards, January 2004
- ↑ Ordnance Survey Map , edition of 1968-70
