True crime tales from this ancient British city and tourist spot—photos included. Take a journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy, meeting villains of all sorts along the way—cut-throats and poisoners, murderous lovers, assassins, prostitutes and suicides. Among the many tales of wickedness and despair the author records in this fascinating book are: Robbery and revenge in Roman times The brutal uncertainties of Bath in the dark ages The highwaymen, gamblers, and duelists of the Georgian period The Victorian underworld and its notorious cases of prostitution, infanticide, and murder Outbreaks of mob violence Political corruption Kirsten Elliott’s chronicle of the history the town would prefer to forget is compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.
The stormy past of England’s south coast city is vividly depicted in these true crime tales from the author of Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopedia. The criminal cases vividly described by John J. Eddleston in this gripping book take the reader on a journey into the dark secret side of Southampton’s past. The city has been the setting for a series of horrific, bloody, sometimes bizarre incidents. There is the story of Augustus John Penny, who shot his mother to death while she was lying in her bed after discovering that she had come into money and refused to pass any on to him. There is James Camb, who was convicted of murder even though the body of his victim, an actress, was never found. And there is the case of Michael George Tatum, the only British killer of the twentieth century to use an African club as his chosen weapon of murder. But perhaps the most intriguing case is the Southampton garage murder of Vivian Messiter in October 1928. In spite of masterful police work, there was an eighteen-month delay before the killer, William Henry Podmore, finally paid the price on the gallows for that brutal crime. Eddleston’s selection of cases from Southampton’s criminal history will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature.
More than five hundred years of British true crime stories—from mutinies and murders to duels and executions. This collection of historical true crime tales includes more than twenty notorious episodes that range from medieval times to the modern era, and offers a fascinating insight into criminal acts and the criminal mind. Set in the vicinity of Portsmouth, England, these intriguing and shocking cases cover an extraordinary variety of misdeeds, some motivated by brutal impulse or despair, others by malice. Most involve ill-fated individuals who are only known to us because they were caught up in crime, but more famous episodes appear as well, such as the murder of the Duke of Buckingham and the disappearance of the Cold War frogman Buster Crabb. Includes illustrations
True tales of betrayal, robbery, and murder across Worcestershire, from Redditch to Upton-on-Severn—includes illustrations and photographs! Though the Battle of Worcester brought an end to the English Civil War in 1651, it was not the end of the bloodshed for the West Midland county of Worcestershire. Known for its rolling hills and abundant farmland, it has also been fertile ground for thieves, murderers, and scoundrals of all sorts. Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths Around Worcester takes readers on a journey through centuries of sinister crimes, from the infamous to the stuff of local legend. Worcester’s dark past goes back to the seventeenth century, when highwaymen haunted the surrounding forests. In this chilling volume, crime historian and Worcestershire resident Anne Bradford chronicles the county’s history of forgery and betrayal, highway robbery and murder, riots and public executions. She also uncovers instances of domestic cruelty that resulted in death. From premediated crimes to desperate acts of passion, a range of human drama is covered in stories such as “The Gentleman who Murdered his Mother,” “The Lovers’ Pact,” and “Death of a Hop-picker,” among others.
The author of A History of London’s Prisons reveals the ugly criminal past of one of England’s most beautiful cities. It hardly seems surprising that what has become England’s fourth city has within its rich history a sinister and darker side. Take a journey to discover cases of petty crime, riots, burglary, robbery, assault, suicide, unlawful killing, manslaughter, and murder, as well as a host of quirky and quizzical crimes from the early Victorian period to modern times. One sensational case covered is that of Sheffield-born Charles Peace, considered by some criminologists to be England’s most notorious murderer. He was hanged at Leeds on February 25, 1879, for the killing of Arthur Dyson at Darnall in 1876. Peace’s criminality seemed to know no bounds. Several other sensational and forgotten murders are featured and a range of cases mentioned refer to many former landmarks in and around old Sheffield, from public houses and hotels to factories, shops, and steelworks. This book is sure to be an absorbing read for anyone interested in our local social history.
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in the Cotswolds explores the dark history of this famously picturesque region of England. Behind the picture-postcard idyll, everyday life in this largely rural area saw murders, beatings, jealousy and alcohol-fuelled crimes. Nell Darby's book examines a selection of these shocking events in vivid detail. Drawing on contemporary sources, newspapers and prison records, she gives a fascinating insight into life and death in the surprisingly turbulent past of the Cotswolds. The cases she reconstructs come from all over the region—the towns, the villages, the countryside. They show how Cotswold people carried out violent crimes regardless of their location and upbringing—from unemployed farmers' sons to educated surgeons, dark deeds were committed by individuals from all walks of life. They also reveal the criminal consequences of greed, madness, malice, carelessness and drink. Women were involved almost as often as men, as victims and as perpetrators.Nell Darby's thoroughly researched and sympathetically written anthology of Cotswold cases be compelling reading for anyone who lives in the area or is interested in its history.
A historic account of the Northern England city’s crimes, including misdeeds that shed light on past ways of life—from death by neglect to police killings. How the body of a Wakefield murder victim was exhibited for a fee in 1853, the odd story of a Normanton miner attacked by a prosperous Crofton gentleman in 1875, the tragic death of a twenty-one-year old woman on what should have been her wedding day in 1909, and the case of the Sandal dental lecturer who killed his adopted daughter in 1966 are among the many foul deeds recounted in More Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Wakefield. In a companion volume to Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Wakefield (2001), Kate Taylor has assembled more than fifty further accounts of horrific deaths in or near Wakefield. Some killings reflect the tensions and resentment of domestic life but there are mysteries too like the case of a man found dead in 1860 in a shallow beck with no marks of violence on him. In an incident in Horbury involving the death of a baby in 1849 it was the assistant constable pursuing the inquiries who died. The book shows something of the cultural context that can promote murder—the stigma of illegitimacy in the past and the more recent risks of glue sniffing and the appalling bullying of immigrants. Take a journey into the darker and unknown side of your area as you read More Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Wakefield.
True-life tales of bloody killings and brutal crimes wind through the dark past of this historic town on the Thames. John J. Eddleston’s latest selection of notorious criminal cases takes the reader through a sequence of sensational episodes that have marred the history of Reading. His book, based on original research, recalls many grisly events and sad or unsavory individuals whose fate has hitherto been forgotten. Among the shocking crimes he reconstructs are those of the baby-farmer Amelia Dyer, the unsolved murder of Alfred Oliver, the suffocation of Beatrice Cox, the red Mini murder of June Cook, and the attempted murder of a family of five. This chronicle of the dark side of Reading’s long history will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in the town’s rich—and sometimes gruesome—past.
The criminal cases vividly described by Nicholas Corder in this gripping book take the reader on a journey into the dark secret side of Cumbria's long history. The hills, villages and market towns of this famous landscape have been the setting for a series of horrific, bloody, sometimes bizarre incidents over the centuries. From crimes of brutal premeditation to crimes born of passion or despair, the whole range of human weakness and wickedness is represented here. Swindlers, conmen, smugglers, pirates, child killers, deserters, fraudsters, robbers and common murderers people these pages, along with their victims. There are descriptions of public executions and instances of extraordinary domestic cruelty and malice that ended in death. Unforgettable local cases are reconstructed—the extraordinary career of the imposter John Hatfield, the Whitehaven raid of John Paul Jones, the unsolved murder of poor Lucy Sands, and many more. Nicholas Corder's chronicle of Cumbria's hidden history will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature.
Sixteen true crime cases with a connection to two West Midlands English towns from the Middle Ages to the early decades of the twentieth century. Criminal cases give us a fascinating, often harrowing insight into crime and the criminal mind, into policing methods and the justice system. They also tell us much about social conditions and attitudes in the past. And such cases make absorbing reading. David Cox’s graphic account of 16 notorious cases in Shrewsbury and around Shropshire is a particularly strong and revealing study of this kind. Using newspaper reports, census returns, and court records, he reconstructs each case in vivid detail. At the same time, he looks into the background of the crimes and into the lives of the criminals, and he describes the methods of detection and the punishments that were imposed. The cases he’s chosen range in date from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Included are the case of the forger who had his ear nailed to a post, the father who killed his infant son with vitriol, the transportation of a seventy-year-old woman, the murder of an inmate in a lunatic asylum, a twentieth-century highway robber and a VC winner involved in bigamy. The personal dramas David Cox explores in this book will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature and human weakness.Criminal cases give us a fascinating, often harrowing insight into crime and the criminal mind, into policing methods and the justice system. They also tell us much about social conditions and attitudes in the past. And such cases make absorbing reading. David Cox's graphic account of 16 notorious cases in Shrewsbury and around Shropshire is a particularly strong and revealing study of this kind. Using newspaper reports, census returns and court records, he reconstructs each case in vivid detail. At the same time he looks into the background of the crimes and into the lives of the criminals, and he describes the methods of detection and the punishments that were imposed. The cases he's chosen range in date from the medieval period to the twentieth century. Included are the case of the forger who had his ear nailed to a post, the father who killed his infant son with vitriol, the transportation of a 70-year-old woman, the murder of an inmate in a lunatic asylum, a twentieth-century highway robber and a VC winner involved in bigamy. The personal dramas David Cox explores in this book will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature and human weakness.
