1862 saw a new crime trend hit the streets of London. The city was terrified of alleged garrotters – strangling and stealing from victims. One thief grabbed a victim from behind, garrotting them, while the other relieved the breathless person of their belongings. This outbreak of “garrotting” horrified the great and the powerful – especially…
Another blog post in my current series on Newgate prison – demolished over a hundred years ago and replaced by the Old Bailey court building By the end of the nineteenth century, if you committed a murder north of the Thames – you would face the hangman at Newgate. If you committed it south of…
This is one of a series of blog posts about the once notorious Newgate prison that stood on the site of today’s Old Bailey George Cruikshank was a caricaturist who drew the illustrations for the books of Charles Dickens. He was also vehemently opposed to the death penalty, following something he saw outside Newgate prison….
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…
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…
A woman who made a living stealing clothes from children in 17th century London
Crimes commmitted by drunks could have massive consequences hundreds of years ago – even carrying a death sentence as Tony McMahon discovers
Up until and including the 19th century, teenagers were hanged in London for all kinds of crimes including theft and counterfeiting
