The name "Jack the Ripper" originated in a letter written by an individual claiming to be the murderer that was later disseminated in the media. However, the letter is widely believed to have been a hoax and may have been written by journalists in an attempt to heighten interest in the story and increase their newspapers' circulation. After more than a century of speculation, rumour and legend about the killer, ten years ago historians ploughed through census records to gain insight into the lives of the women he targeted. Studies of the 1881 census showed that far from being the young, lifelong prostitutes that modern cinema portrays, the victims were actually often older and married with children.