Mike Covell’s Blogg

September 2^nd 1888

 After the initial press response to the murder of Mary Ann Nichols, the British press showed no sign of letting up, in fact, the flood gates had opened and more and more national newspapers were printing reports regarding the mysterious murder.  Some newspaper titles published numerous reports, including the Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper that published no fewer than 3 articles in their September 2^nd 1888 edition!  These included the following bold headlines,

THE WHITECHAPEL HORROR, page 1

THE WHITECHAPEL MURDER, page 6

ANOTHER AWFUL MURDER IN WHITECHAPEL, page 7

 Surprisingly even at this early stage the press were eager to report on the victim’s antecedents, with a number of reports concentrating on the life of Nichols in the run up to the murder.  Eyewitnesses came forward to discuss the victim at the inquest and the press published the testimony of Henry Llewellyn, who described the gory details of the wounds inflicted on Nichols.   

It has been another busy month of writing and researching and it seems like I have not wrote on my blog for ages, for this I apologise, but when you see what has been achieved in the last few weeks and months I think you will understand the reason for my absence.

Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols

First of all let us remember the significance of today’s date, the 31^st of August 2012, 124 years to the date that Mary Ann Nichols was found murdered at the gated stables on Buck’s Row, now Durward Street. 

I am aware of activities on both Facebook and Twitter to mark the anniversary and remember, what many have now termed, the beginning of the “Autumn of Terror,” including Tweets marking the events as they happened by several Tweeters. 

Current Research

In the past few months my research has been mainly pertaining to the stories that appeared in the Hull press covering Jack the Ripper.  This has included cataloguing hundreds of reports into chronological order by publisher, and transcribing them. 

More recently I was at the Hull History Centre seeking out press reports on the murders of Ada Wilson, Annie Millwood, Emma Elizabeth Smith, and Martha Tabram, to fill in a few gaps.  Whilst it can be argued that there is no evidence that they were victims of Jack the Ripper, the contemporary press featured these victims and I therefore decided to feature them in my research.  Luckily I came away with several reports on the victims, each of which has been transcribed and added to Jack the Ripper – Newspapers From Hell, From Hull. 

The Jack the Ripper Beverley Scares

In recent weeks I have also been exploring the “Beverley Jack the Ripper Scares” that took place in Beverley just after 1888 and as such have made several visits to the area to take photos and visit the locations involved.  Beverley is a small market town approx 10 miles from Hull.  It has previously been associated with such Jack the Ripper Suspects as Frederick Bailey Deeming and Lewis Carroll, but my recent research suggests two other events that transpired in the town that provoked the local and national press into claiming that Jack the Ripper was in the town on two separate occasions. 

The newspaper articles have been uncovered, and transcribed and will be featured in an appendix in Jack the Ripper – Newspapers From Hell, From Hull, there has been, however, calls for me to release this chapter as a separate book for the target audience of Beverley, with the possibility of a series of lectures and walks in the town.  At the minute I am undecided, but who knows.

Current projects with page and word counts:

It has been a busy time of writing in the past few months, and my Kindle has taken a back seat to my laptop to get as much work done as possible.  I even took it camping, but heavy rains prevented me from taking it out and working!  The following is a list of projects that I am currently working on, several of which are finished.

Jack the Ripper – Newspapers From Hell, From Hull. 

A look at the articles published regarding the Whitechapel Murders in the Hull press during the “Autumn of Terror.”  Articles featured also include the 1873 Thames Torso Murders, The Gateshead Murder, The Grimsby Jack the Ripper Scare, The Beverley Jack the Ripper Scares, with previously unpublished material on Frederick Bailey Deeming, Thomas Sadler, Florence Maybrick, The Baccarat Scandal, Robert D’Onston Stephenson and many more people associated with the case.  Also featured are reports from 1889 – 2012 that were featured in the Hull press on the case.  Appendices include material on the Hull Police, Hull Press, and an A – Z of people involved in the case.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

217 Pages, 177,069 words

Jack the Ripper – From Hell, From Hull? Vol I

A look at Robert D’Onston Stephenson, his birth, life, and time spent in Hull, with chapters covering his time at the Hull Customs, his family, his time spent in Brighton, London, and his writing career.  Features a wealth of unpublished material including letters and information gleaned from primary sources.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

351 Pages, 265,919 words

Jack the Ripper – From Hell, From Hull? Vol II

A look at Frederick Bailey Deeming’s links to Hull with never before published material from Hull, London, and Australia, including trial files, correspondence, and press reports.  Popular theories are explored, discussed, and in many cases debunked.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

216 Pages, 179,094 words

Jack the Ripper – From Hell, From Hull? Vol III

A look at 8 other suspects previously named as Jack the Ripper with links to Hull, from the doctor that worked her, to the writer whose family held positions of importance in the City.  Each suspect chapter is filled with previously unseen material, press reports, and primary sources gleaned from archives across the UK.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

68 Pages, 51,268 words

The Preston Murder of Mary Jane Langley

An in depth look at the life and death of Mary Jane Langley, killed between Hull and Preston, and whose death remains unsolved to this day.  Crammed with previously unseen material, including press reports from 1891 – 2012 on the case.  Also included is an A – Z of people involved, filled with primary sources, census returns, BMD information, and material gleaned from Humberside Police.  Appendices include a look at the history of Hull prison, and material on another murder on the same lane 100 years later.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

167 Pages, 132,541 words

Mike Covell’s Haunted Hull

A look at some of the allegedly haunted locations within the Hull boundary, from haunted pubs, to clubs, education centres, shops, theatres, and many more locations.  Each location has a full history gleaned from trade directories, the census, BMD information, newspapers, and firsthand accounts.  Popular myths are explored, discussed, and their origins traced.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

211 Pages, 135,315 words

Mike Covell’s Paranormal Hull

A look at the odder side of Hull’s history, from strange mirages, to appearances of Jesus, superstitions, folklore, falls from the sky, satanic rituals, fortune tellers who get it wrong, and a Hull ships search for Noah’s Ark!  The book uses primary sources, newspapers, and interviews with eyewitnesses to present an open ended presentation of the weird and wonderful in Hull.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

122 Pages, 93,667 words

Mike Covell’s Paranormal Hull – Paranormal Press

A collection of stories in the Hull press covering all manner of ghostly stories and tales of terror in Hull.  Over 30 newspapers were consulted to bring together a large collection of stories dating from 1800 to 2012.  Each story is linked to primary sources on the people, places, and events that are featured.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

86 Pages, 64,048 words

Cryptozoologic-Hull

A look at Hull’s history of weird and unusual creatures, from mermaids, to “Little Doug,” beached whales, sea serpents, big cat sightings, and escaped monkeys!  The book is packed with eyewitness accounts, newspaper stories from 1800 to 2012, maps, and rare photographs of these cryptozoological wonders.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

71 Pages, 55,295 words 

UFOlogic-Hull

A massive collection of UFO reports, eyewitness accounts, press reports, official documentation, and cases across Hull from as early as 1800 to 2012.  Read about the massive moon like structure that hovered over Hull, the Airship Scares in the early 1900’s, the National Archives Files on Hull’s sightings, and the mystery of the “Hull Hum.”  Featuring photographs, maps, and eyewitness accounts.

Fully Referenced, Source List, Bibliography.

54 Pages, 39,750 words

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their messages, texts, emails, tweets, DM’s, PM’s, pokes, and show of support via message boards and social media.  It has been a tough month with not only my wife in hospital, but myself too for heart surgery.  Luckily the surgery went well and I am back home and walking around after a week of bed rest.

I cannot thank everyone enough for their support during this period.

Tomorrow, April 20th, marks the 171st birthday of Robert D’Onston Stephenson.  Stephenson, who was born at 35 Charles-street, Sculcoates, Hull, was suspected of being Jack the Ripper by George Marsh, an unemployed iron monger, in December 1888. 

 Detective Inspector Thomas Roots of the Criminal Investigation Department, Scotland Yard, did not take the claims seriously and Stephenson was, at the time, ruled out as a suspect.  Despite this numerous books have followed citing him as a suspect. 

 Stephenson worked in Hull at the Hull Customs House, which was situated at the Neptune Inn, on Whitefriargate, Hull.  The site today is occupied at street level by “Boots” and “The Works” but once a year, during the Heritage Open Days, the upper floor is open to the public.

 During a recent research trip I was fortunate enough to uncover a photograph of the birthplace of Robert D’Onston Stephenson, a building that is no longer there.  Sadly Charles-street was partially destroyed during the construction of Freetown Way and his birthplace today is occupied by offices and a car park!!!

Thank you to everyone who welcomed me to the Cottingham Local History Society in Cottingham on Wednesday January 11^th 2012 at the Red Hall, Hallgate Primary School, Hallgate.  The lecture started with a bump as the powerpoint, laptop and projector refused to work together and I had to give the lecture without the images and primary sources but it still went really well and was a fantastic evening.  The crowd were fantastic and it was nice to see the room full with so many interesting and enthusiastic people.  I managed to stay behind and speak to a few fellow local historians and picked up some new material and new leads.  All in all it was a wonderful evening.  Thank you.

Every year around this time I always post a Year in Review, showing the books, magazines, articles, TV shows and research that other Ripperologists have done throughout the year, but this past year has seen so many changes and I have been so busy that I have not really kept up with the latest developments.  Plus a major hard-drive explosion and the loss of several files didn’t help.  Luckily much of the material was on pen-drives.  So this year I thought I would write a year in review based on my research, rather than other peoples work, to show what has been done locally and nationally.

January
In January I was cast head first into the world of Frederick Bailey Deeming when it was revealed that a skull had turned up in Australia and was possibly his.  The find caused mush debate and discussion and was covered in blogs, newspaper reports, and even made its way onto TV.  At the time I was fortunate enough to have quiet a large collection of newspaper articles that showed the passage of Deeming’s skull, from the hanging in 1892, it being buried, dug up, allegedly stolen and through various hands of ownership.  It has to be the most talked about skull in Australian history, second only to Ned Kelly, and I am pleased to say that the skull turned out to be that of Ned Kelly’s and not Deeming as previously thought.  The case did mean that several members of the Deeming family came forward, and I certainly got a lot of messages and emails from people wishing to know more.

February
February saw me visiting Hedon and Preston in search of material for a book and articles on the murder of Mary Jane Langley.  Mary Jane was murdered in 1891 and at the time Frederick Bailey Deeming had just been released from Hull Prison.  His name actually came to light in relation to the investigation in 1892 when Deeming’s links to Hull and Yorkshire were explored in both the Hull and Beverley press and so it would only be a matter of time that I explored the case.  What was weird about this, is that some of the descendents of Mary had actually previously been in touch and mentioned the case to me, and asked if I knew anything, so it was lovely to be able to send them material and news every time I researched Mary and her family and to be able to answer some of the question and queries they had regarding the case.

March
March saw a trip to Beverley’s East Riding Archives, where I secured newspaper cuttings on Frederick Bailey Deeming and his frauds in 1890/1891, and the Rainhill and Windsor Murders of 1891/1892.  I also visited several locations associated with Deeming, and Helen Matheson and her family and secured interviews and photos of some of the locations.

April
April saw the discovery of Frederick Bailey Deeming in the Hull Watch Committee Minutes.  These proved invaluable as it put a price on the manhunt for Deeming after his frauds in 1890 in Hull.  Many of the books and publications mention Deeming in relation to Hull in only a passing manner, many of which erroneously state that he was married in Hull, and stayed at the Station Hotel in Beverley.  The Hull Watch Committee Minutes are a great find as they finally reveal how much was spent on following Deeming to Southhampton and Monte Video, and then returning him to Hull.  With this information I was able to find shipping manifests that showed Deeming on board with Detective Grassby of the Hull Police as well as several other documents that were created at the time and show the events that transpired.

May
May was filled with another Deeming related file. The Hull Watch Committee Minutes books also helped me discover the massive Hull Trial File, which is packed with primary sources from his time in Hull, and features letters, telegrams, and eyewitness statements.  It also made me realize that as well as Deeming and his alias Lawson, I should be aware that sometimes the authorities get it wrong and can often misspell names!  It also saw an exciting visit to the Hull Prison Exhibition which was fascinating.

June
June saw some newspaper based research, tackling Frederick Bailey Deeming and Robert D’Onston Stephenson from a different angle and helping me uncover 40 new articles associated with them, their lives in Hull, and the people whose lives they affected.  It also saw me get my hands on another Frederick Bailey Deeming file, the Home Office Files.  These featured 43 pages filled with material on Deeming and his life and the legal wranglings that were going on over his arrest in Monte Video.  This year I visited Whitby with my wife and took in the Lewis Carroll and Bram Stoker/Dracula locations.  I also managed to obtain several books on the duo, including one that links Stoker to the murders!  Stoker, it is claimed, was inspired by the Ripper Murders and stated so in an Icelandic Edition of Dracula.

July
July saw some research trips to the East Riding Archives in Beverley where I uncovered material on Robert D’Onston Stephenson, Frederick Bailey Deeming, and the murder of Mary Jane Langley.  I was also back in the Hull History Centre and found yet another file on Deeming, this time it was in the Hull Watch Files and covered Thomas Reynoldson and his quest for justice against Deeming.  Also at the Hull History Centre I found several reports on Deeming in the Hull Watch Committee Minutes, and Hull Finances Committee Minutes.  At the Hull Reference Library I discovered information pertaining to the ships that Thomas Sadler had sailed on.  This month saw the discovery that Deeming had been discussed in the House of Commons, and that police officers were sent to Australia from Scotland Yard, and asked to help with the Rainhill Murders.  Despite these snippets being mentioned in the local and national press to date there have been no files that cast any light on who went and why.

August
August was the month of Mary Jane Langley, with my article appeared in Ripperologist Magazine, on my blog, and the case attracting attention in the local media.  It also gave me a chance to finally meet Mary Jane’s descendants in a rather touching moment at her graveside.  This month some some material on Annie Deary/Stephenson surface.  I had been researching the events leading up to and surrounding her death and not only traced the location, but several other primary sources from the period.  I also managed to secure a photo of the building in which she died.  David Knott had found Annie Stephenson’s death certificate some years ago, and from the information contained within I was able to search the logs that were written when Annie died.  They proved quiet interesting and showed what she was up to in the latter years of her life in Lincolnshire.  August was also the annual Heritage Open Days and I once again visited the Customs House in Hull, filming and taking photos of the visit.

September
September saw a visit to London for material on both Frederick Bailey Deeming and Robert D’Onston Stephenson.  I had the pleasure of visiting the British Library and searching numerous books, periodicals and correspondence and came away with pages and pages of new material.  These included material on Robert D’Onston Stephenson and Grant Richards, Robert D’Onston Stephenson and Theosophy, Robert D’Onston Stephenson and the Workhouse, Robert D’Onston Stephenson and Betty May’s Tiger Woman, Robert D’Onston Stephenson and Highgate Hill Infirmary, Robert D’Onston Stephenson and the Islington Board of Guardians,   It was a lovely trip and I also had time to visit the British Museum, Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.  This month also saw some fascinating finds on Robert D’Onston Stephenson’s Religion that I posted on jtrforums.com.  Sadly the registers never had him down as a Black Magician!  Despite this numerous books have been released since that still claim he was a black magician!

October
October was devoted to researching some paranormal material that I had been working on for some time. I was able to secure interviews with key witnesses and appeared on West Hull Radio to discuss some of my research.

November
November began with an appearance on BBC Radio Humberside discussing the Central Library Lecture.  The interview went really well, and the lecture at the library was packed out.  I also met and spoke to a number of people that helped with my research, and got more bookings for 2012!

Sadly in early November I was back in hospital with my heart, investigations are ongoing, and hopefully next year the cardiologists will get to the bottom of it.

Other projects:
This year has seen Jack the Blogger, in Ripperologist Magazine, go from strength to strength, sadly the computer outage has stopped me for a while, but the column will be back in 2012 bigger and better than ever.  I cannot thank the gang at Ripperologist enough for their ongoing support.
The year also saw some new lectures at both the Hull History Centre and the Hull Central Library, both of which were well filled with every seat taken and great fun.  I have more lectures booked into 2012 so it should prove to be another good year.  I do not charge for any of my lectures and my time is free.
This year also saw me meeting with a film production crew making a documentary on Frederick Bailey Deeming.  Hopefully the show will air soon so I can discuss the matter in detail.  All that I can say it that it was great fun and the team that I had the pleasure of working with were all a lovely bunch and it was nice to have them in Hull and show them the sights.
I have also been approached about other possible future projects but cannot divulge what they are!!!
The books
This year has seen a number of developments with the writing projects, and a number of fantastic names are on board to write the forewords of some of the titles.  The first quarter of the year was devoted to the writing and research on the Mary Jane Langley project, which was a by product of the work on Frederick Bailey Deeming.  The same occurred with the Deeming newspaper book, and the Dawber history book which was created when editing the Robert D’Onston Stephenson book.
The decision to split the paranormal book into three was made when it was discovered that at its present phase it was just too big, so it was split into three.  Earlier this year a lot of the material was lost when a computer outage took over 100 pages of work, luckily I still had the research so it is being typed up again.

Jack the Ripper - From Hell, From Hull? Vol I Robert D’Onston Stephenson 261,423 words over 362 pages

Jack the Ripper - From Hell, From Hull? Vol II Frederick Bailey Deeming 207,113 words over 259 pages

Jack the Ripper - From Hell, From Hull? Vol III 66,493 words over 101 pages

Jack the Ripper - From Hell, From Hull? - Newspapers From Hull 104,379 words over 133 pages

Frederick Bailey Deeming and the Murder of Mary Jane Langley 101,831 words over 136 pages

Frederick Bailey Deeming in the International Press 175,320 words over 200 pages

Mike Covell’s Haunted Hull 133,521 words over 217 pages

Mike Covell’s Haunted Hull - The Press Perspective 31,256 words over 43 pages

Mike Covell’s Haunted Hull - Paranormal Hull 108,087 words over 155 pages

Emily Dimmock Camden Town Murder Project 37,633 words over 35 pages

The History of the Dawber family in Hull 1700-2000 15,296 words over 31 pages

Untitled Fact vs Fiction Project 161,669 words over 165 pages

Thank you for a great year:
All the staff at Hull City Council’s Hull History Centre, including the Local Studies and Archives.  All the staff at Hull’s Central Library, Reference Library and Holderness road Library for putting up with me.  All the staff at Hull Museums and the staff at the East Riding Archives in Beverley. Rob Nicholson of Her Majesty’s Prison, Hull.  Adam Wood and Chris George at Ripperologist.  Howard and Nina Brown at Jtrforums.com.  Ray from the Hedon Blog, All the staff at the Nags Head, Preston, the staff at the Hedon Museum, All the staff at the British Library, British Museum, Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, for putting up with my emails and requests and for providing a brilliant service.  And a thank you to all my Facebook and Twitter friends that have supported me through what has been a tough year.  Here is to 2012!!

Jack the Ripper: From Hell, From Hull? Vol I is coming along nicely.  I have spent many hours editing and moving chapters around so that the book has a chronological timeline running throughout.  I had some really amazing material come this week regarding Robert D’Onston Stephenson in Bridlington, so have been spending time reading the information and inserting it in the relavent places. 

Jack the Ripper: From Hell, From Hull? Vol II is almost finished. 

Jack the Ripper: From Hell, From Hull? Vol III is still being typed, I was sent some material on some of the suspects this week, I am just deciding on where to insert it, and whether or not it is pertinent to their life stories to be included.  One article is often mention but has never been published since it appeared in the 1970’s so that was of great interest.

Frederick Bailey Deeming and the Preston Murder of Mary Jane Langley is almost finished.  I found several reports on Deeming and the case that were published when Thomas Reynoldson passed away, and later when Harry Webster passed away.  I also found several retrospective looks at the case from the 1940’s and 1950’s which were of interest.  It is interesting to note that most people in Preston claim that only one murder has ever occured in their parish, I discovered this to be false, another female was found almost 80 years after Mary Jane Langley was discovered.  In almost the same spot!  A man was brought to trial and is currently serving a sentance for the murder. 

Jack the Ripper- Newspapers From Hull is on the back burner, the research has been done, but the newspaper reports are filed away awaiting typing up at a later date.

I recently made the decision, after some discussion with a publisher, and have decided to split “Mike Covell’s Haunted Hull” into three books.  The overall page count was over 1,000 so by splitting it into three I can feature more cases and still come in at around the 350 page mark for each book.  The first in the series will cover the “Haunted” side of things, the second will cover “The Paranormal in the Press” and the third will cover “The Paranormal in Hull“.  I have aquired every newspaper article ever published in the Hull Press from 1801 until 2011 that covers ghosts, hauntings, SHC, UFO’s, Aliens, Crop Circles, Wildcats, Airship Scares, and other weird phenomena such as A local church with the face of christ on the wall, and a Hull ship that went in search of Noah’s Ark!  All three are fully referenced with an extensive source list, bibliography, and illustrations throughout. 

This Saturday I have the pleasure of appearing on West Hull Radio talking about West Hull’s Ghosts and the darker side to West Hull’s history. 

On November 10th I have the pleasure of lecturing at Hull’s Central Library at the Food for Thought cafe with my Mike Covell’s Hull’s Ghostly Myths and Legends Lecture.  The lecture, first presented at the Ghost Club in London in 2010 has had a succesful run at Carnegie Heritage Centre and more recently at the Hull History Centre.  I have bookings for this lecture up until September 2012.

All lectures are free of charge, and bookings can be made via contacting me direct at mcebe@hotmail.co.uk

I have the pleasure to announce that more lectures are on the way for both Hull and locations within the East Riding until early 2012!  Locations, organisations and dates are still being confirmed and I will be posting details here as and when I get them.

My lectures cover all aspects of local crime, history, and the unexplained, and my services are free.

In the past I have been blessed with speaking at the Carnegie Heritage Centre, Hull History Centre, Hull’s Central Library, the Ghost Club, the 2010 Ripper Conference, and at several Hull schools and enjoy meeting people and discussing various aspects of my research.

On Thursday 12^th May 2011 I was fortunate enough to visit the Hull Prison exhibition, “Within these Walls.”  I had thought that the exhibition was just about Hull Prison, so was quiet surprised to see that the exhibition covered the long history of prisons in Hull, their creation and the people they catered for.  Former prisons, including the Castle-street Gaol, the House of Correction, and a number of other pertinent sites are included, along with sketches and maps illustrating their locations around Hull.

 Moving along the wall we see the creation of Hull Prison, a location that has housed in the past Charles Bronson, Frankie Fraser, Frank “The Mad Axe Man” Mitchell, Ian Brady, and members of the Kray firm and Richardson gang.  The prison has also served as a fire station, prisoner of war camp, and borstal, and during the War suffered when several bombs hit the prison.   

The exhibition, set up by Rob Nicholson, is amazing, and whilst the room in which it is contained is only a small room, there is enough information present to please everyone from the historian, to people with a curiosity for what goes on at the prison.  

 A selection of weapons created by the prisoners are also on display including toothbrush knives, knuckle dusters and many other imaginative weapons.  There is also a collection of weapons created using the bones from various meals which was fascinating.  Also on display is the lock mechanism from the condemned cell!  

 Among the most interesting items was a burial map of the 10 prisoners who were executed at the prison.  For some years I was always informed that the ghost of Ethel Major is restless because the prison authorities had forgotten where she was buried, but this document, along with a list of graves, proves this local historical legend.   

 The 10 executions include, Arthur Richardson, William James Bolton, Charles William Aston, Thomas Siddle, John Freeman, William George Smith, Hubert Ernest Dalton, George Emanuel Michael, Roy Gregory and Ethel Lillie Major.  

 I visited the museum with a view to donating some of my historical research to the exhibition and hope to send material along regarding the first governor Henry Webster, the man responsible for Frederick Bailey Deeming whilst he was locked up in 1890, and who subsequently identified Deeming in Australia in 1892.  

Whilst the exhibition is only taking up one room it is hoped, and I hope so too, that it will eventually take up more space and feature more information and exhibits.

 All in all it was a wonderful trip, eye opening, thought provoking, and an opportunity for a rare glimpse within the walls of one of Hull’s most notorious buildings.

 Thank you for the invite Rob, and good luck with the exhibition.

Rupert Penry-Jones has admitted that he is making a third series of the popular ITV 1 drama series.  The first series covered the murders of Jack the Ripper, and I read on one website that the idea was one stolen from John Eddleston!  Series 2 covered the Krays, so who knows what series 3 will cover.  There has been no official announcement from ITV yet, but watch this space.

To read more,

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a304722/penry-jones-confirms-more-whitechapel.html