In this video, we join the people of Victorian Britain on New year's Eve,188, as they prepare to usher in 1889.
The year that was now drawing to its close had seen the horrors of the Whitechapel murders blight the autumn, and, in addition, two horrific child murders had taken place in the closing months of the year.
Several newspapers were speculating that the country was now in the grip of an outbreak of murder mania, and people were unsure of what the year ahead would bring.
Their trepidation was increased by the fact that the year ended with a thick fog descending on London, and this, coupled with the fact that Jack the Ripper was still at large, ensured that a collective feeling of extreme unease was sweeping across the country.
However, several newspapers were also reporting that a Scotland Yard detective was in New York making inquiries about a particular suspect who had fled there two or three weeks previous. There was a hope that the perpetrator of the Whitechapel murders would soon be in custody.