In 1820, a group of English radical activists plotted to kill the entire British government while they were sat down to dinner in central London. The Cato Street Conspiracy – so-called from the place where they met to plot – was uncovered and the ringleaders executed in a public and grisly manner. One of those…
LGBT life in London during the Bridgerton era was surprisingly open but dangerous as a court case from the time reveals
Tony McMahon investigates the disappearance of the head of Oliver Cromwell and the various places it appears to have turned up
The London mob has a deserved reputation for violence and has lynched several politicians over the centuries
London hangings and other forms of execution took place in different parts of London as Tony McMahon discovers looking back over the centuries
Dick Hughes is mentioned in the Newgate Calendar as a robber who came to London at the start of the eighteenth century to make money the dishonest way. He’d already been arrested and tried in Worcester for theft. On that occasion he’d been whipped at the cart’s tail “crying carrots and turnips” as he was…
The Tower of London still possesses the axe and “heading block” used for executions right up to the mid-18th century. There’s also a mask that was worn by the executioner. The block is chipped and dented as a result of some considerable use. On this block, the heads of three Scottish rebels – Lords Lovat,…
How could somebody come to be executed not once – but twice? Such is the tale of one poor, unfortunate Londoner at a time of great cruelty and savagery. Thomas Savage – appropriately named – was born in the parish of St Giles in the Fields and as a youth, became an apprentice to a…
The prince who wanted an execution in front of his own house
In 1743 two LGBT men were hanged in London for the crime of sodomy and as Tony McMahon discovers, being outwardly gay was a very dangerous business
