This is the first of a series of blog posts about the notorious Newgate Prison that once stood on the site of the Old Bailey You might assume that hanging people in public had died out in England after the 18th century but in fact, these gruesome events continued right up until 1868. The authors…
There will be many mythbuster moments on this blog and here comes one now! Once upon a time there was a beautiful but delicate lady called Jane. She was the daughter of a Cheapside merchant and married a goldsmith called William Shore when she was just sixteen. He ran his business in Lombard Street and…
In 1660, King Charles II was acclaimed king bringing to an end over a decade of no monarchy in Britain. The experiment of Oliver Cromwell in government with no king came to an end. Contrary to royalist propaganda – not everybody welcomed this. Many people in England for different reasons had no love for the…
Theft was endemic in Victorian London. Going through court records, one encounters a constant flood of petty stealing. And it wasn’t just precious items like gold watches and jewellery but clothes, bed covers, trousers and even underwear! You have to think of a world where many people had next to nothing. Such was the miserable…
Solomon Eagle was a preacher who claimed to predict great events. Just in case nobody was paying attention, he stormed around London with a flaming brazier on his head. During the great plague of 1665, he added to the general misery by screaming at his fellow Londoners that a great fire was about to consume…
If you visited Vauxhall now – dominated by its big bus terminal and a railway that ploughs through its centre – you might find it hard to believe that this was once the site of vast public gardens where eighteenth century high society socialised. In fact, the gardens got going during the Restoration of the…
This was a prayer added to the church litany during the so-called “Dark Ages” as Viking marauders raided monasteries and farmsteads along the coasts of England in the 800s and 900s CE. In 834, Londoners witnessed Danish longboats heading up the Thames. These were pirates, looking for booty. But by 1003 CE, the Vikings were…
Leicester Square is at the heart of London’s theatres and clubs. It’s not my favourite London square by any stretch and seems to have permanent building work going on. At present, there are plans to demolish the art deco Odeon cinema. So it seems a good moment to point out what was there before the…
Where flappers went to dance in 1920s London – the Cecil Hotel on the Strand
