Murders & Misdemeanours – serie

Monmouthshire may have a reputation as a quaint, idyllic, rural county but scratch the surface and you’ll find a past riddled with scandal, strife and murder most foul. In Monmouthshire Murders and Misdemeanours Tim Butters digs up and throws new light on criminal cases long since buried, but still capable of making our modern minds recoil in horror.Among these tales of terror and woe you’ll find the wretched account of a child who callously murdered other children with the calculated ease of a born psychopath, a penniless and alcoholic prostitute butchered by the hand of a disease-riddled madman, a wandering vagabond with a penchant for opportunistic butchery, and a Spanish sailor who killed an entire family on a whim.This hellish history also contains tragic tales from those condemned to the desolate confines of the workhouse, the delirium of the asylum, the despair of the prison cell, and the unforgiving grasp of the hangman’s noose. So step right this way for a chilling tour of Monmouthshire’s brutal and bloody past. Dare you take a walk on the dark side of this fair county?

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Cheshire was a thriving part of the north-west of England. Bordered by Liverpool and Manchester to the north, much of the county was rural and agricultural, centred on the historic county city of Chester, the market towns of Macclesfield, Winsford and Northwich and also the industrial towns of Warrington, Crewe, Widnes, Runcorn and Ellesmere Port.It was a period of great social change as people from all walks of life moved with their families in search of work. Deprivation and poverty could often be found cheek by jowl with more affluent sections of society, and crime, as always, knew no boundaries. The stories were often chronicled in detail in local press at the time and in this book authors Paul and Rose Hurley have delved into the historical records to reveal the dark side of life of everyday people of Cheshire, which could turn to murder and death by execution.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Cheshire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime, as well as those who want to know more about the history of this area of the North West.

The ancient city of Bath has always attracted visitors, flourishing in the Georgian era and becoming home for the fashionable and wealthy. The city was rebuilt to reflect its new status and although areas were devastated by aerial attacks in the Second World War and the misguided destruction of the 1960s, Bath today is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.In Bath Murders and Misdemeanours author Mick Davis has delved into local records to reveal the dark side of life in the golden city. From highwaymen to grave robbers and murderers, poisoners to suicides, psychopaths to major disasters, the author has researched and examined a number of little-known crimes that rocked the city in days gone by.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Bath in previous centuries. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of Bath and the south-west of England.

Manchester in the century between 1850 and 1950 witnessed extraordinary growth and changes. In the mid-nineteenth century, Manchester was the world’s first industrialised city, home of the Industrial Revolution and known as ‘Cottonopolis’. It was a city of immigrants from the countryside, Ireland, Scotland and further afield, where slums and poverty existed in close proximity to great wealth. The unique conditions in the city made it a breeding ground for crimes of all kinds, from the ‘high crimes’ of murder and large-scale robberies, frauds and theft, to ‘low-level’ crimes such as pickpocketing, mugging and other street crimes. ‘Snoozer’ gangs robbed hotels in Victorian Manchester and the city was home to numerous jewel thieves over the years including ‘Lucky Edgar’. Some crimes were even politically motivated, such as the suffragette law breaking, while others such as youth crime, which is often portrayed as a recent phenomenon, actually has a long history stretching back to the teenage scuttler gangs of the late nineteenth century.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Manchester in years gone by. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime, as well as those who want to know more about the history of Manchester.

Kent is the largest and most heavily populated of the home counties. It is a county of contrasts: in the north and west it borders London and its population there has moved to and from the metropolis for centuries, but it is also known for agricultural produce and heavy industries including coal mining, as well as historic towns and cities such as Canterbury. Kent’s history has been shaped by its extensive coastline and today people and goods still transit through the county from its chief port of Dover.Kent was famous for the number of smuggling gangs who plied their trade on its coastline in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries including the Hawkhurst Gang and the Romney Marsh Gang. Other crimes included the Train Robbery of 1855 and an attack on Charles Dickens by two rogues in 1862. There are a number of infamous murders linked to the county, such as Alphege, Becket and Arden of Faversham, the latter made famous in the play of the same name. The nineteenth century saw the unsolved murder of the Bonars in Chislehurst, the cruel murder by neglect of a wife and child in the Cudham of 1877, the death of a soldier in Bossenden Woods by Mad Thom and the death by opium of Dr Lyddon in Faversham in 1890. The murder of Ightham’s Caroline Luard in 1908 remains unsolved and the 1946 Wrotham Hill murder still resonates today. In more recent times, the Krays spent time in Canterbury Prison and the notorious criminal and murderer Kenneth Noye lived in the county. Kent was also briefly the home of serial killer Peter Tobin.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Kent through the centuries to the present. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of this county in the south-east of England.

In the century between 1850 and 1950 Bradford witnessed extraordinary growth and changes. Its wealth was based on the textile industry, and the city became known as the ‘wool capital of the world’. It was a city of migrants, many from Ireland, and despite the efforts of philanthropic industrialists such as Titus Salt, wealth and poverty often lived close to each other. The city was a breeding ground for crime and Bradford Borough Police Force was formed in the 1840s, dealing with both the ‘high crimes’ of murder, large-scale robberies and frauds and ‘low-level’ crimes such as petty theft, vagrancy and loitering. Delving into original sources, court reports and newspaper archives, the authors also look at the effects of illegal gambling before the 1960 Betting & Gaming Act and the involvement of young people and their punishments.This collection of true-life crime stories from the mid-nineteenth century the mid-twentieth century gives a vivid insight into life in Bradford in the past. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of Bradford.

Southport’s history goes back to its development as a seaside resort on the Lancashire coast in late Georgian England. Visitors arrived by the newly built Leeds and Liverpool Canal nearby, later by railway, and the town’s population grew rapidly in the nineteenth century. In Southport Murders and Misdemeanours local historian Geoff Wright reveals stories of serious crime in Southport from this period into the twentieth century. Throughout, this period the town was one of the most popular resorts in the country, drawing in day-trippers as more longer-term visitors, but also catering for its resident population. Crime was part of the story, and all layers of society could be touched by crime, sometimes with shocking and violent results.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Southport in the past. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of Southport.

Although areas of Warwickshire became industrialised in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, much of the county remains rural. The history of crime in the county encompasses small towns and villages in the countryside, historic market towns such as Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon, and larger settlements such as Rugby, Bedworth and Nuneaton which attracted more industries. In this book author Graham Sutherland explores how historical crimes were investigated and punished in Warwickshire, including areas of the historic county such as Sutton Coldfield, Solihull and Aston which are now within the West Midlands conurbation. Cases range from highway robbery and a rebellion by pupils at Rugby School, murder, arson, fraud and bigamy to deaths through prize-fighting, and food hoarding during the First World War, poison pen letters and a workhouse resident prosecuted for refusing to work.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Warwickshire through the centuries to the present. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of this county in the heart of England.

Stoke-on-Trent in the century between 1850 and 1950 witnessed huge changes. During the Victorian period the population in the area grew rapidly, attracted by employment opportunities in the pottery industry, and in 1910 a new borough of Stoke-on-Trent was formed from a confederation of the Six Towns. Vast numbers of local people worked in coal mining, manufacturing and other heavy industries, as well as in ceramics, and wealth and poverty often lived close together.The local police force dealt with the ‘high crimes’ of murder, manslaughter, major robberies and frauds, sometimes with the assistance of Scotland Yard. ‘Low level’ crimes such as burglary and housebreaking also had to be tackled, as did ever-evolving criminal tactics and techniques. Delving into a range of court reports, newspaper archives and other original sources, the authors also assess the consequences of crime and its punishment, as well as cases where defendants were adjudged insane.This collection of true-life stories gives a vivid insight into aspects of life in Stoke-on-Trent during the past, and will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime, as well as those who want to know more about the history of the area.

For much of Eastbourne’s history it was a collection of small settlements on the Sussex coast. In the eighteenth century select visitors came to enjoy the sea air and the coast became fortified against the threat of invasion by Napoleon. The arrival of the railways in the Victorian era brought large numbers of people to the area and the town of Eastbourne grew rapidly. Despite its reputation as a sedate and somewhat classy seaside resort, Eastbourne has had its fair share of murders and other criminal activity. A strict Victorian schoolteacher beat one of his pupils to death, a bigamist tried to murder his two families and in 1912 Police Inspector Arthur Walls was shot dead as he tried to arrest a burglar. In the 1920s there were two shocking crimes committed on the Crumbles, a lonely stretch of beach. The subsequent sensational trial of Patrick Mahon made headlines around the world and was described by Alfred Hitchcock as ‘his favourite crime’. In the 1950s the trial of local doctor Bodkin Adams shocked the country when he was accused of murdering his rich elderly patients. Perhaps the strangest story is why the local constabulary was established. This was a result of a series of riots in the town caused by the Salvation Army!This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Eastbourne in the past. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of Eastbourne.

Worcester’s history goes back to a Roman settlement beside the River Severn later occupied by the Anglo-Saxons and murders and other serious crimes have been committed in the city since its beginnings although the types and methods of these crimes varied through time, from highway robbery to poisoning. Punishment of these crimes was very different in past centuries and even in the last two hundred years police procedures and legal sentences have changed markedly. Reporting of the crimes over this rapid growth of population and overcrowding in the Industrial Revolution evolved too and through delving into archives, parish registers and censuses the author is able to tell the story of the victims’ and criminals’ lives involved in often shocking criminal events.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Worcester in the past. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of Worcester.

Weymouth has been a major sea port on England’s south coast since the Middle Ages and although it became a popular resort through King George III’s patronage and later when the railways arrived, the area also developed a strong military presence in the nineteenth century with barracks being built in Weymouth and a new naval dockyard developed on the nearby Isle of Portland. A convict prison was opened on Portland and is still a prison today. In this book author Mick Davis explores some of the most notorious crimes associated with Weymouth and Portland through the ages, including a gang of children running wild who terrorised Victorian Weymouth, the tragic shooting of a barmaid by a deluded admirer, the murder of a sailor pushed off a cliff on Portland by a fellow sailor, and many more.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Weymouth and Portland in the past. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of Weymouth and Portland.

Before its present-day affluence, the Notting Hill area of London once had a second-to-none reputation for its criminality. Victorian developers sought to bring in wealthy Londoners to the large villas, but in the twentieth century the houses became multi-occupancy and the area synonymous with cheap lodging and crimes of every hue. In Notting Hill and North Kensington Murders and Misdemeanours author Mick Davis explores some of the most notorious crimes associated with Notting Hill and adjoining North Kensington from the Victorian era onwards, including some of the less publicised but equally sensational crimes and infamous characters of this fascinating area.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Notting Hill and North Kensington in the past. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime, as well as those who want to know more about the history of this corner of West London.

This book brings to life a selection of the most notorious, and grimmest, murders and other crimes in and around Liverpool from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries.The tales include ‘Fire in the Menagerie’, ‘Murderous Propaganda Against Prostitution’, ‘HMS Thetis - A Floating Tomb’, and ‘The Mass Graves of Old Swan’. Alongside these the author examines lesser-known cases such as ‘The Hope Street Bodysnatchers’, ‘The Telltale Brooch’ (the Liverpool pub landlady who was the main catalyst for the capture of Dr Crippen) and ‘The Prime Minister’s Assassin’ - when Spencer Percival was murdered in the House of Commons by a disgruntled Liverpudlian civil servant. Unusual crimes also feature including ‘The Man in the Iron Coffin’, ‘The Cheapside Vampire’, and the family of extremely violent Victorian muggers, ‘The Murderous Mulveys’. The story continues into the early twentieth century with the Edwardian gangs of Liverpool (the original Teddy boys) and the ‘Tithebarn Street Outrage’.The author also describes methods of punishing criminals in Liverpool through the ages and the role of the grisly Castle and Tower of Liverpool, where public hangings took place outside its walls and which became the disease-ridden town gaol in the nineteenth century. When the last hangings took place in Britain in the 1960s, one of them was carried out in Liverpool prison. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime, as well as those who want to know more about the story of Liverpool.

A Preston Chronicle newspaper headline in 1866 of ‘Thievery, Knavery & Harlotry in Preston’ described a town struggling with crime and its consequences. Justice had been swift from the days of horse thieves and highwaymen, when the gloom of the gallows or transportation brought fear to the less fortunate who lived among poverty and pestilence. Some would earn notoriety for their dreadful deeds, while others received pity for their plight.In Preston Murders and Misdemeanours, local author Keith Johnson brings together a collection of tales from the court archives to chronicle the events that occupied the courts and brought criminals to justice. Judges and justices, coroners and court clerks, barristers and briefs all played their part in a time when justice was swift and often delivered harshly with unflinching retribution. The poacher, the pickpocket, the prostitute and the pilfering thief were all punished for their crimes – whether petty or paramount.Keith Johnson tells of those who were murdered, poisoned, mistreated or cheated. He reveals the killers, thieves, swindlers and fraudsters who faced the glare of the courtroom and felt the long arm of the law. This journey through the justice system in this Lancashire city exposes the harsh realities of life and the curiosities of the past that are both compelling and thought-provoking.