Handcuffs, whistle and truncheon belonging to policeman who found Jack the Ripper's fourth victim are revealed ahead of auctionÂ The handcuffs, whistle and truncheon belonged to PC Edward Watkins He made the grim discovery of Catherine Eddowes on September 29 1888 Items owned by the family of a private collector for over three generations AuctioneersÂ expect the rare lots to fetch between Â£500 and Â£800 each Extremely rare handcuffs, truncheon and whistle carried by a police officer who found Jack the Ripper's fourth victim are to be auctioned. The unusual items, along with a notebook cover, were carried by PC Edward Watkins when he discovered the mutilated body of Catherine Eddowes. Jack the Ripper wasÂ blamed for a string of murders during a three-month period in 1888, when five women were killed on the streets of London's Whitechapel. Under the hammer: The handcuffs, truncheon, whistle and note book cover belonging to PC Edward Watkins are expected to fetch between Â£500 and Â£800 each PC Watkins discovered the body ofÂ Catherine Eddowes (pictured left), who was Jack the Ripper's fourth victim in Mitre Square. Elizabeth Stride (right) was killed a few hours later All the women murdered by Jack the Ripper between August and November 1888 were prostitutes.Â The body of Mary Nichols was found at around 3.40am on August 31 1888, in a gateway in Buck's Row, Whitechapel. She is generally believed to have been the first of Jack the Ripper's so-called 'canonical' five victims. She had been disemboweled. The mutilated corpse of Annie Chapman was found in the backyard of number 29 Hanbury Street at 6am. The killer, who struck on September 8 1888, had made off with her womb. Elizabeth Stride was found dead on September 30 1888, at 1am in Dutfield's Yard, off Berner Street. It is believed the ripper may have been interrupted as her throat had been cut, but the rest of her body was untouched.Â Â The body of Catherine Eddowes, was found in Mitre Square in the City of London at 1.45am on September 30 1888. Her uterus and kidney were removed and her cheeks torn.Â . Many experts believe Mary Kelly was Jack the Ripper's finals victim.Â She was found in her room in Miller's Court, off Dorset Street at 10.45am on November 9 1888.Â PC Watkins, who started his patrols of Mitre Street, London, on Saturday September 29 1888 around 10pm, discovered the Ms Eddowes corpse around 1.44am. Catherine, who was discovered in the south-west corner of Mitre Square, was the Ripper's fourth horrific killing. The notorious serial killer also murdered Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride and Mary Jane Kelly in London's East End. Earlier this month criminologist Dr Gareth Norris fromÂ Aberystwyth University claimed that Jack the Ripper was meat cart driver, Charles Allen Lechmere.Â He believes that his legitimately blood-spattered appearance helped him to evade justice. Lechmere was found leaning over victim Mary Ann Nichols' body on Buck's Row in Whitechapel on August 31, 1888 and told police he had only been there a few minutes.Â It is a theory that joins many others in relation to the murders. All four lots belonging to PC Watkins are to be sold separately and are expected to fetch between Â£500 and Â£800 each.Â The leather notebook City of London Police notebook cover is stamped with Watkin's number, '881City'. The items have come from a private collector who has had them in family possession for over three generations. The vendor's grandfather purchased the items directly from the Watkins family and this is the first time these items have been offered for sale.Â Auctioneer Jonathan Humbert said: 'It's chilling to think these very items may have physically been only yards from Jack the Ripper and played such an integral role in one of the most fascinating unresolved crimes of all time. 'Ripper items are rarer than rare and I have no doubt these items will really capture the public's imagination around the world. 'The fact that the items have provenance, are of the correct age and have been privately owned for so long really helps to give them added value.'Â The auction takes place on Wednesday December 10 at JP Humbert Auctioneers in Towcester, Northants. An image of police discovering one the Jack the Ripper victims in 1888