In the early hours of August 31, 1888, the body of Mary Ann Nichols was discovered in a stable entrance on Buck's Row (now Durward Street). Nichols was the first Whitechapel murder victim of the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.
On the morning of her death, she returned to her lodgings from a local pub called The Frying Pan on Thrawl Street sometime after 12:30 a.m. However, lacking the four pence needed for a bed, she went back onto the street, stating she would soon earn the money. She intended to sell her body, believing her new bonnet would help attract a customer.
Around 3:40 a.m., carter Charles Cross found her lying on her back in Buck's Row, legs straight out and skirts raised to her waist. Another carter, Robert Paul, arrived shortly after. Unsure if she was dead, they decided to return to work and inform a policeman when they saw one.
The carters did not raise the alarm. That task fell to Constable John Neil, who discovered Mary and her horrific wounds. Her throat had been slashed from ear to ear, deep to the vertebrae. Her windpipe and gullet were severely cut, and there was extensive slashing and ripping of her abdomen.
Little remains of Buck's Row today. Yet, on dark nights, the area seems trapped in a time warp. Over the past century, there have been numerous sightings of a huddled figure lying on the ground, emitting a ghostly green light. This apparition appears on the very spot where Mary Ann Nichols's body was discovered.