Elizabeth Mahoney

Witness at Martha Tabram's inquest.

Resident of 47 George Yard Buildings with her husband Joseph. Described as "a young woman of some 25 or 26 years, plainly clad in a rusty-black dress, with a black woollen shawl pinned round her shoulders. Her evidence was neither very much to the point or distinctly uttered - indeed, so low was her voice as to elicit a complaint from the jurymen which was remedied by the witness being made to stand immediately next to the jury".

At the inquest, she stated:

I live at 37 [sic] George-yard-buildings, Whitechapel - a block of model dwellings - and am a married woman, my husband, Joseph, being a carman, while I work at a match factory at Stratford, where I work from nine in the morning, usually, till about seven o'clock at night. So far as I can remember, I have occupied rooms in the present house for about eight months. Monday was Bank Holiday, and my husband and I were out all day, and did not return until twenty minutes to two on Tuesday morning. We went straight up to our room, and after taking off my hat and cloak, I came down again and went to a chandler's shop in Thrawl-street to buy some provisions for supper. I came back having been gone about five minutes; and after having supper we went to bed. On neither occasion, either in coming up or going down the stairs, did I see the body of a woman lying there. It is quite possible that a body might have been there, and that I did not notice it, because the stairs are very wide and were completely dark, all the lights having, as usual, been turned out at eleven o'clock. I did not get up till half-past eight in the morning, and during the night my attention was not attracted by a noise or disturbance of any kind. I did not know of the body of the deceased having been found on the stairs till about ten o'clock on Tuesday morning.