Annie Chapman (born Eliza Ann Smith; 25 September 1840 – 8 September 1888) was the second canonical victim of the unidentified serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper", who murdered and mutilated at least five women in the Whitechapel and Spitalfields districts of London between late August and early November 1888.
Although earlier murders attributed to the Ripper, then referred to as the "Whitechapel murderer", had already attracted considerable press and public attention, Chapman's killing provoked widespread alarm in the East End, and intensified pressure upon the police to apprehend the culprit.
Chapman was born Eliza Ann Smith on 25 September 1840 in Paddington. She was the first of five children born to George Smith and Ruth Chapman. George was a soldier, having enlisted in the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards in December 1834. The family's movements during Annie's earliest years reportedly followed her father's military service in London and Windsor.
Annie's parents were not married at the time of her birth, although they married on 22 February 1842 in Paddington. Following the birth of their second child in 1844, the family relocated to Knightsbridge, where George Smith became a valet. They later moved to Berkshire in 1856.
According to her brother, Fountain, Annie had "first took a drink when she was quite young", quickly developing a weakness for alcohol. Although both he and two of her sisters had persuaded her to sign a pledge to refrain from drinking, she "was tempted and fell" despite their "over and over" efforts to dissuade her.
Census records from 1861 indicate that all members of the Smith family, except Annie, had relocated to the parish of Clewer. She is believed to have remained in London, possibly due to employment commitments as a domestic servant. Her father, George (also known as William Smith), was by this time the valet to Captain Thomas Naylor Leland of the Denbighshire Yeomanry Cavalry. On 13 June 1863, George accompanied his employer to a horse racing event. He lodged with his employer that evening at the Elephant and Castle, Wrexham. That night, George committed suicide.
Contemporary accounts describe Annie as an intelligent and sociable woman with a weakness for alcohol, particularly rum. An acquaintance told the inquest into her murder that she was "very civil and industrious when sober", before adding, "I have often seen her the worse for drink." She was 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m) in height and had blue eyes and wavy, dark brown hair, leading acquaintances to give her the nickname "Dark Annie".
On 1 May 1869, Annie married John James Chapman, who was related to her mother. The ceremony was conducted at All Saints Church in the Knightsbridge district of London, and was witnessed by one of her sisters, Emily Laticia, and a colleague of her husband named George White. The couple's residence on their marriage certificate is listed as 29 Montpelier Place, Brompton, although they are believed to have briefly lived with White and his wife in Bayswater.
In the years following their marriage, the Chapmans lived at various addresses in West London. In the early 1870s, John obtained employment in the service of a nobleman in Bond Street.
The couple had three children: Emily Ruth (b. 25 June 1870), Annie Georgina (b. 5 June 1873), and John Alfred (b. 21 November 1880). Emily Ruth was born at Chapman's mother's home in Montpelier Place, Knightsbridge; Annie Georgina was born at South Bruton Mews, Mayfair; and John Alfred was born in the Berkshire village of Bray. John was born crippled. The Chapmans sought medical help for him at a London hospital before later placing him in the care of an institution for the physically disabled near Windsor.
Although Annie had struggled with alcoholism as an adult, she had reportedly weaned herself off drink by 1880. Her son's disability is believed to have contributed to her gradual return to alcohol dependency.
In 1881, the Chapman family relocated from West London to Windsor, where John took a job as a coachman to a farm bailiff named Josiah Weeks, and the family lived in the attic rooms of St. Leonard Hill Farm Cottage. The following year, Emily Ruth died of meningitis on her brother's second birthday, at the age of twelve.
Following their daughter's death, both Annie and her husband turned to heavy drinking. Over the next several years, she was arrested on several occasions for public intoxication in both Clewer and Windsor, although no records exist of her ever being brought before a magistrates court for these arrests.
Annie and her husband separated by mutual consent in 1884. John retained custody of their surviving daughter, while Annie relocated to London. He was obliged to pay her a weekly allowance of ten shillings via Post Office Order. The precise reason for the couple's separation is unknown, although a later police report lists the reason for their separation as Annie's "drunken and immoral ways".
Two years later, in 1886, John resigned from his job due to his declining health and relocated to New Windsor. He died of liver cirrhosis and edema on 25 December, bringing an end to the weekly payments. Annie learned of her husband's death through her brother-in-law. Her surviving daughter, Annie Georgina (then aged thirteen), is believed either to have been placed in a French institution or to have joined a performing troupe that travelled with a circus in France. Census records from 1891 reveal both of Annie's surviving children were living with their grandmother in Knightsbridge.
Following her separation from her husband, Annie relocated to Whitechapel, primarily living on the weekly allowance of 10s he provided. Over the following years, she resided in common lodging-houses in both Whitechapel and Spitalfields. By 1886, she was living with a man who made wire sieves for a living, and consequently became known to some acquaintances as "Annie Sievey" or "Siffey". At the end of that year, her weekly allowance abruptly ceased. When she enquired why these weekly payments had stopped, Annie learned that her husband had died of alcohol-related causes.
Shortly after John's death, this sieve-maker left her, possibly due to the loss of her allowance, and relocated to Notting Hill. One of Annie's friends said she became depressed after this separation and appeared to lose her will to live.
By May or June 1888, Chapman was residing at Crossingham's Lodging House at 35 Dorset Street, paying 8d a night for a double bed. According to the lodging-house deputy, Timothy Donovan, a 47-year-old bricklayer's labourer named Edward "The Pensioner" Stanley would typically stay with Chapman between Saturday and Monday, occasionally paying for her bed. She earned her income from crochet work, making antimacassars, and selling flowers, supplemented by casual prostitution.