A Dark History of ... – serie

Birmingham is England’s second-largest city and it was the Industrial Revolution that kick-started its growth. The city grew rapidly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as the area became home to a host of factories and workshops. Working conditions were hard and the population crowded in back-to-back houses with little sanitation. Disease ran alongside deprivation, and despite the city’s efforts at sanitation the canals became foul dumping grounds. Crime was harshly punished and prison conditions were fearful.In A Dark History of Birmingham author Anthony Poulton-Smith delves into the often lesser-known but darker stories from Birmingham’s past. This fascinating insight into Birmingham will be of interest to all those who want to know more about the city’s remarkable history.

As Barrow was a ‘new’ town which developed very abruptly in the nineteenth century, living conditions were extremely primitive. Sanitation was non-existent, housing piecemeal and temporary, and public services absent. It was essentially a frontier town and with that came poverty, crime and disease. Jobs, particularly mining, were often dangerous or poorly paid. Political movements agitated and caused violence and the harbour at Piel was the site of many incidents of smuggling and even piracy. Poverty was rife and workhouse buildings are still in existence. Public health in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was problematic, with outbreaks of disease dealt with in isolation hospital and by closing schools. More recently a dreadful breakout of Legionnaires' disease killed numerous people. Further back in time Furness Abbey witnessed plague, murder, violence and debauchery, superstition abounded in the area and supernatural encounters bear witness to this history.In A Dark History of Barrow-in-Furness author Gill Jepson delves into the often lesser known but darker stories from Barrow-in-Furness’s past. This fascinating insight into Barrow-in-Furness will be of interest to all those who want to know more about the town’s remarkable history.

The dark and murky history of Jarrow still haunts the streets of a town once dubbed the ‘Wild West of the North East’. The Victorian and Edwardian eras were a time of notoriety, with townsfolk revelling, quarrelling and committing crimes. The local police force, a constant and vigilant presence, stalked the cobbled streets, struggling to maintain order as deprivation and the frayed edges of poverty jeopardised families and endangered livelihoods in a time without the safety net of the modern welfare state. In A Dark History of Jarrow author Natasha Windham explores the crimes committed and their punishment in that era, the presence of the workhouses and suicides, strikes, riots, assaults, alcoholism, domestic violence and preventable deaths in the workplace. Behind these catastrophes, readers will uncover the perseverance of those who suffered through the heartaches in these tough times.In A Dark History of Jarrow author Natasha Windham delves into the often lesser known but darker stories from Jarrow’s past. This fascinating insight into Jarrow will be of interest to all those who want to know more about the town’s remarkable history.

Founded as a garrison town by the Romans, taken over by the Anglo-Saxons then captured by the Vikings, York’s early history was a mixture of turbulence and prosperity. Local uprisings against Norman invaders led to the building of York Castle but during the Middle Ages the city become a wealthy centre for the North of England. Despite the prosperity that continued through later centuries, crime and deprivation were constant presences in the city. Many criminals ended up in Clifford’s Tower and a debtors’ prison and women’s prison were built in the castle grounds in the eighteenth century. Highwayman Dick Turpin was tried and executed in York, the notorious Guy Fawkes was a native of the city and York Assizes held numerous witchcraft trials.In A Dark History of York author Stephen Wade delves into the often lesser known but darker stories from York’s past. This fascinating insight into York will be of interest to all those who want to know more about the city’s remarkable history.

Aberdeen has been an important city in Scotland since the Middle Ages, with its university founded in 1495. Traditional industries including fishing were supplanted more recently by oil production and new energy and technological businesses. Alongside Aberdeen’s growth and prosperity is a darker side, from the massacre at the medieval castle and the violence of Royalist soldiers in the Civil War, to witch trials, the infamous Tolbooth, connections to slavery and child kidnapping, grave robbing, the River Dee Ferry Boat Disaster, and much more.In A Dark History of Aberdeen author Gregor Stewart delves into the often lesser known but darker stories from Aberdeen’s past. This fascinating insight into Aberdeen will be of interest to all those who want to know more about the city’s remarkable history.

Cardiff’s history isn’t all modern development and gleaming waterfronts. Beneath its bustling streets lies a darker past, filled with tales of crime, punishment, superstition, and suffering. A Dark History Cardiff uncovers the city’s more sinister side, from the horrors of Victorian workhouses to the grim legacy of the city’s prisons and the Bute family’s haunted buildings. The rise of Cardiff as a coal and steel powerhouse came at a great cost, with miners enduring brutal conditions and untold tragedies. Plague and disease ravaged the city, leaving a legacy of fear and desperation. But it’s not just the old industries that cast a shadow over Cardiff – it’s the eerie stories that still haunt its streets.This book is a journey through the city’s dark past, exploring its criminal underworld, mysterious disappearances, and the chilling tales of those who lived – and died – in its darkest corners. Along the way, you’ll find places where the past is still very much alive, from its notorious asylums to its crumbling castles. Step into Cardiff’s shadowy history and discover a side of the city you may never have imagined.