Bilston Kate or to give her her full name, Kate Eddows is known for the tragic fact of her bloody death at the hands of Jack the Ripper on 30th September 1888 in Whitechapel. However, born in 1842 and growing up in the workhouse and then in Wolverhampton she became famous and, briefly, wealthy, as a composer and performer of Hanging Ballads (bloody versicles) she moved to public executions all over the country.
The play follows the course of her abrupt fall and her descent into poverty and drunkenness, that led to her being in Whitechapel in 1888. Her life is a tale that needs to be rescued and this play attempts a celebration of her fascinating story. There is so much to Bilston Kate; her life is a reflection of attitudes and practices in late Victorian England.
David Morris
Writer/ Director
Our production
April 2022:
Bilston Kate
victim of
Jack the Ripper
November 2022
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by Shaun McKenna
April 2023
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by John Godber
