News of the Times - Unlocking the vaults of historical crime

In October 1892, a young woman arrived quietly at a respectable house in Putney.Within four days she was dead.The death certificate appeared entirely straightforward — embolism, thrombosis, and chronic kidney disease. Natural causes. The body was buried, and the matter might easily have ended there.But suspicion soon began to grow.Within weeks the Home Secretary ordered the grave to be opened, and what Victorian forensic surgeons discovered during the post-mortem revealed that the medical certificate had told a very different story.A doctor and his wife were arrested.An undertaker was accused of helping conceal the truth.And the man believed to have carried out the fatal operation — Dr Richard Freeman — had already vanished.The newspapers soon gave the case a name:The Putney Mystery.Tonight we explore the strange death of Ellen Matilda Franklin — the hurried burial, the evidence hidden inside the coffin, and the sensational Old Bailey trial that followed when Victorian forensic science began to expose what had really happened in a quiet house in Chelverton Road.

Today we travel to Cambridge in the summer of 1871, where a young labourer collapsed after his morning meal and died within hours.The symptoms pointed unmistakably to poison.The chemistry insisted there was none.And between the two, a newly married wife found herself facing the full weight of public suspicion.This is the story of Henry Day — a sudden death that baffled doctors, divided neighbours, and revealed just how uncertain early forensic science could be.A case of meat pudding, mixed evidence, and a courtroom struggling to make sense of answers that simply refused to align.If you enjoy these deeper Victorian mysteries, we’d be delighted to have you join us over on Patreon, where we keep our longer investigations, early releases, and a great deal more from the archives.Settle in — Cambridge awaits.

Tonight we travel to Brighton in the summer of 1866, where the sudden illness of a newly married woman set in motion one of the most troubling Victorian inquests of the decade.Ellen Warder’s decline was abrupt, her symptoms baffling, and every doctor who attended her agreed on one unsettling point: nothing about her illness could be explained by natural causes.But it was only when investigators began looking more closely at her husband’s past that the real unease began. For Ellen was not his first wife to die suddenly. Nor his second.As the evidence gathered pace — and as the era’s leading toxicologist was called to examine her organs — the case widened into a far darker question:How many tragic “misfortunes” can surround a single man before coincidence becomes impossible?If you enjoy our Victorian true-crime investigations and would like access to our full archive, plus early ad-free episodes and bonus material, you can find all of that on Patreon, where we post additional stories that never appear elsewhere.Settle in, and let’s step back to Brighton, 1866.

A quiet Surrey hotel. A routine morning remedy. And within minutes, a respected publican is dead on the floor in violent convulsions. When the doctor arrives, nothing makes sense: the salts taste bitter, the bottle has been mysteriously rinsed clean, and strange white crystals are scattered across the bar parlour.This is the Byfleet Poisoning of 1924 — a case that led detectives from a village inn to a French chemist’s shop, a Biarritz hotel, and finally to one of the most dramatic murder trials of the decade. Was Alfred Jones the victim of accident, jealousy, desperation… or a calculated plan carried out under his own roof?Tonight we follow the forensic trail, the conflicting testimonies, and the sudden appearance of a charming stranger whose arrival in England would change everything.If you enjoy deep-dive historical true crime, you’ll find many more extended investigations and archive-only stories in our growing library over on Patreon — you’re very welcome to join us there for exclusive series, early releases, and long-form episodes.

A quiet summer evening in 1919.A country lane in Leicestershire.A young woman found beside her bicycle… and a mystery that would grip Britain for the next year.In this episode, we unravel the Green Bicycle Mystery — a case that began as a presumed cycling accident but quickly deepened into one of the most perplexing investigations of the early 20th century. A bullet overlooked for nearly a day, a vanished cyclist on a distinctive green B.S.A., and a courtroom battle led by the formidable Sir Edward Marshall Hall all combine to create one of the era’s most enduring puzzles.Join us as we follow the investigation step by step: the forensic misjudgements, the conflicting witness accounts, the disappearance and dramatic recovery of the bicycle, and the question that still divides historians more than a century later — what truly happened on that quiet Leicestershire lane?If you enjoy immersive historical true crime, you’ll find a great deal more waiting in our archive.You’re warmly invited to join us on Patreon, where members receive early episodes, hundreds of additional investigations, and our full Victorian–Edwardian true-crime library — a quiet corner of the internet where curiosity is very much encouraged.Settle in.The lane is quiet, the evidence is troubling, and the mystery remains unsolved.A young woman found beside her bicycle in 1919, a missing cyclist on a green B.S.A., and a bullet no one noticed for nearly a day — we unravel one of Britain’s most perplexing early forensic mysteries.

Today, we travel to Paris in the spring of 1887, where an elegant apartment off the Rue Montaigne became the centre of one of the most sensational investigations of the Belle Époque.A courtesan of considerable means, her trusted housekeeper, and a twelve-year-old girl were found murdered behind locked doors — no struggle, no intruder seen, and only the faintest collection of clues left behind.What followed was a case that gripped Europe: a chase across France, a courtroom overflowing with spectators, and a man whose shifting identity and charm made him both captivating and deeply suspect.This is the story of Henri Pranzini, and the triple murder that shocked Paris to its foundations.And in our Further Particulars, we lighten the mood just a little with a gastronomic scandal from the Boulevard Haussmann, involving a pâté, an unexpected pigeon, and a delicatessen owner whose confidence exceeded his culinary accuracy.If you enjoy these atmospheric journeys into historical true crime, we’d love to welcome you to our Patreon community, where we share exclusive series, early ad-free episodes, and a vast archive of documentaries. Your support helps us continue researching and producing these stories each week.Settle in — Paris awaits.

Today we travel back to Boston in 1849, to one of the most unsettling disappearances of the Victorian age.Dr George Parkman — a man known for his precision, his routine, and his unshakeable punctuality — leaves home one afternoon and never returns. The last place he was seen? The quiet, red-brick halls of Harvard Medical College.What follows is a mystery that gripped Boston, unsettled Harvard, and pushed the courts into the earliest days of forensic science. Locked rooms, burning furnaces, shifting statements, and a breakthrough that would change criminal investigation forever.Settle in as we explore the disappearance — and the murder — that became known as the Harvard Mystery.And for listeners who enjoy diving deeper into Victorian true crime, we also have an archive of more than 500 ad-free episodes, exclusive series, and early releases over on Patreon. Now — let’s step into 1849.

n 1844, the quiet town of Crewe was shaken by a crime that startled even seasoned Victorian magistrates. When Richard Gallop fell suddenly and violently ill, suspicion soon turned to the person closest to him: his young daughter, Mary.What began as a family dispute over a forbidden romance spiralled into one of the era’s most unsettling arsenic cases. Drawing entirely from surviving inquest testimony, courtroom reporting, and contemporary medical evidence, this episode traces the final days of Richard Gallop, the repeated poison purchases, and the investigation that revealed a carefully executed plan inside an ordinary household.We also close with a remarkable Further Particulars tale from Northumberland — involving two burglars, a fearless servant girl, an elderly woman armed with a scythe, and the sort of Victorian resourcefulness that belongs in a novel rather than a police report.If you enjoy exploring historical true crime through original sources, you can find more weekly episodes, extended archive access, and advert-free listening on our Patreon:👉 https://www.patreon.com/newsofthetimes

London, October 1880.A quiet walk in Finsbury Park ends in horror when three gunshots echo across the lake and a young woman collapses to her knees. Her name was Jane Messenger, twenty-nine years old, respectably dressed, navigating a troubled marriage and an increasingly fraught entanglement with her brother-in-law, William Herbert.What followed was one of the Victorian era’s most startling public murders — a broad-daylight shooting witnessed by families, park-goers, and off-duty officers. In this episode, we trace the tangled domestic history behind the crime, Herbert’s delusional hopes of an Australian inheritance, and the months of emotional turmoil that led to a fatal confrontation on a cold October afternoon.We explore the police response, the medical findings, the inquest before Dr Hardwicke, and Herbert’s chilling admissions that revealed his intentions long before he walked Jane into the park. The case would grip London, dominate the papers, and end at Newgate with a crowd waiting for the black flag.And in Further Particulars, we lighten the mood with the story of a gentleman who believed the most effective way to critique the House of Lords was to break a window and demand a publishing contract. As one does.If you enjoy archival Victorian true crime, forensic history, and carefully reconstructed storytelling, this episode brings together jealousy, delusion, and the darker side of respectability in 1880s London.If you’d like to explore our full archive — including exclusive series and early releases — you’re warmly invited to join us on Patreon at patreon.com/newsofthetimes.

In the spring of 1881, a quiet butcher’s shop in Slough became the centre of one of Victorian England’s most baffling crimes. Mrs Reville, the butcher’s wife, was found murdered in her own back room — no struggle, no witness, and barely a minute in which her killer could have acted.The shop layout offered no hidden corners. The doors were visible from her desk. Anyone entering would have been immediately seen. And yet, within this impossibly narrow window of time, an assailant struck four blows, removed the money from her pocket, and vanished without leaving a trace.Suspicion soon fell on the young apprentice, Augustus Payne, whose movements, handwriting, and prior disputes raised troubling questions… but whose innocence the jury ultimately upheld.Tonight, we walk through the original testimony, the strange timings, the “H. Collins” letter, and the unanswered questions that left Victorian investigators — and later generations — utterly at a loss.A quiet evening. A familiar shop. An impossible crime.And still, after more than a century, no one can say how it was done.In our Further Particulars: a lighter tale from 1881 involving missing cabbages, a suspiciously woolly sheep-dog, and a gardener whose evening surveillance took a most unexpected turn.If you enjoy these deep dives into Victorian crime and curiosities, you’ll find many more investigations — including exclusive episodes — available on our Patreon.

A young wife collapses in agony inside her Warminster cottage, and within minutes she is gone. Arsenic in the house, strychnine in the chemist’s shop, and whispers of fear and family tension stirred a scandal that gripped Victorian England. In this episode, we follow the final hours of Elizabeth Pearce, a 25-year-old newlywed whose sudden death in 1886 set off one of the era’s most troubling poisoning investigations.With conflicting witness accounts, uncertain forensic evidence, and a household divided by suspicion, the question remains:Was this a deliberate poisoning, a tragic accident, or a catastrophic failure of Victorian justice?Join us as we trace the case from Elizabeth’s last meal to the inquest room, examining the powders, testimonies, and courtroom drama that still raise questions nearly a century and a half later.If you enjoy these deep dives into Victorian and Edwardian true crime, you can find bonus episodes, early releases, and our full archive on Patreon — a lovely way to explore more cases with us at your own pace.

The spring of 1911 brought one of Britain’s most disturbing domestic mysteries into the ancient walls of Lancaster Castle. Three members of the Bingham family died suddenly, each showing the same violent gastric symptoms. As whispers of arsenic poisoning spread, suspicion fell upon the last surviving daughter, Edith Agnes Bingham — a quiet woman already viewed by neighbours as “simple” and vulnerable.In this episode, we return to the original Edwardian newspaper reports to follow the case exactly as it unfolded: the baffling medical testimony, the exhumations at dawn, and the courtroom drama that gripped the country. Was this truly a triple poisoning, or a tragic sequence of illnesses misinterpreted by early forensic science?We also look at what became of Edith after the verdict — a fate far quieter, and far sadder, than the headlines suggested.Plus: today’s Further Particulars brings a musical disturbance from Leamington Spa, where The Blue Danube echoed through a street in the middle of the night… despite no one owning a piano.If you enjoy these deep dives into Britain’s historical true crime, you’re warmly invited to join us on Patreon, where you’ll find weekly exclusive episodes, early ad-free releases, and our full archive of members-only content.Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/newsofthetimeshistoricalcrime

A quiet Sunday in the Liverpool suburbs took a shocking turn in 1882 when a young maid, Mary Cremen, was found shot in the scullery of a respectable Crosby home. Her employer, Arthur Golding, immediately presented himself at the police station, insisting the death was a tragic accident. But as investigators examined the revolver, questioned the household, and uncovered a tangle of jealousies and clandestine relationships, the tidy façade of middle-class respectability began to crumble.Was this truly a mishap with a six-shooter? Or was someone in the Golding household hiding far more than they revealed?In this episode, we explore the forensic puzzle that troubled Victorian investigators, the shifting testimonies, and the domestic tensions that set the stage for one of Crosby’s most perplexing inquests.And in this week’s Further Particulars, we turn to an extraordinary 1880s insurance tale involving a widow, a policy form, and a husband who managed to exit the world before completing the paperwork.If you enjoy these historical deep dives, you can find additional episodes, bonus stories, and early access posts over on our Patreon — a cosy corner for those who like a little extra Victorian intrigue.

Step back into Victorian Wales, where quiet lanes and morning mist concealed one of the era’s most disturbing disappearances. In 1874, Susan Gibbs — a hardworking Cardiff housekeeper — travelled to St Mellons to meet her young husband, James, a butler with ambition and secrets to protect. Three weeks later, her body was discovered beneath a tangle of briars, so hidden and decomposed that even the cause of death was uncertain.What followed was a landmark investigation built not on forensics, but on behaviour: unanswered letters, midnight movements, missing belongings, and a chain of lies that revealed far more than any single piece of evidence.Tonight we explore the life Susan hoped for, the double life James was living, and the extraordinary inquiry that led to one of Wales’s most chilling convictions. And in our Further Particulars, we lighten the gaslamps for a brief detour into Victorian chaos—this time involving a hotel, a missing parrot, and entirely too much commotion in Bath.If you enjoy our work and would like access to exclusive documentary series, extended archives, and bonus Victorian oddities, you’re warmly invited to join us on Patreon — it helps us keep these stories alive.

In the winter of 1879, the quiet Somerset parish of Knowle St Giles was shaken by a death that seemed, at first glance, to be nothing more than a tragic household accident. Eighty-three-year-old Samuel Churchill was found burned beside his hearth, his wife insisting he had fallen into the fire during a fit.But the scene told a different story.There was blood on the walls.Defensive wounds on Samuel’s hand.A bill-hook hidden beneath a chair.And the very morning he died, Samuel had dressed in his best clothes to change his will.In this episode, we trace the investigation from the first suspicious observations to the Taunton trial that followed. Using contemporary newspaper accounts and inquest testimony, we explore the forensic limitations of the 1870s, the conflicting statements that defined the case, and the chilling question at the heart of it all:Was this truly an accident—or a murder carefully staged by fire?If you enjoy more in-depth Victorian true-crime storytelling, you can find additional exclusive episodes and extended content on our Patreon page at:patreon.com/newsofthetimes

In 1927 County Durham, a miner calmly declared that his wife had taken her own life.But from the moment police stepped inside the cramped kitchen of 2 Lumsden Buildings, nothing about his story made sense.A rope that didn’t fit.A noose too small to pass over the victim’s head.A bed he claimed to have slept in—yet had never been touched.And the quiet, devastating testimony of a child who heard far more than any child ever should.This episode unravels the forensic evidence, contradictions, and courtroom drama that ultimately exposed the truth behind Ada Dunn’s death. Drawing entirely from period newspaper coverage, we reconstruct how investigators dismantled Thomas Dunn’s account piece by piece—culminating in one of the era’s most striking murder trials.In Further Particulars, we travel far from County Durham to 1959 Papua New Guinea, where a remarkably sensible priest documented one of the most politely perplexing UFO encounters ever recorded.If you enjoy historically grounded true crime with strong investigative detail, this is an especially gripping case.For listeners who’d like to explore more deeply researched episodes and exclusive historical series, you can find our growing archive on Patreon.

The Meader Case (1922) is one of those rare British true-crime stories where everything feels uncertain: a troubled marriage, a blind ex-soldier, a fatal struggle behind a closed door — and a courtroom battle led by the legendary Sir Edward Marshall Hall.Was Mabel Meader the victim of murder?A tragic accident?Or did early 20th-century medical science misunderstand a death that hinged on a single, extraordinary detail?In this episode, we explore:• The Meaders’ strained post-war marriage• Alfred Meader’s blindness, trauma, and desperate decisions• A dramatic suicide attempt that exposed a far deeper tragedy• The inquest that shocked the public• Medical testimony that changed the course of the trial• And the Old Bailey verdict that continues to raise questions todayThis is a story of post-WWI Britain: shifting gender roles, silent trauma, legal assumptions, and a nation still learning how to understand domestic tragedies.✨ Further ParticularsStay with us to the end for two wonderfully eccentric pieces of British legislative history — including why Parliament once became preoccupied with girls' hairstyles, and how London nearly went to war with its own pigs. Truly.On our Patreon, we share six uploads each week, including deep-dive historical cases, early ad-free releases, and our full back catalogue of over 850 episodes.If you'd like more stories like this — and to help us continue producing them — you’re warmly invited to join us there.true crime 1922, British true crime, Edwardian crime, Marshall Hall, Old Bailey trials, historical crime podcast, post-war Britain, vintage crime stories, strangulation cases, London history

In 1829, English law allowed for a remarkable—and troubling—possibility: a person could be condemned for murder even when the victim survived.This week we explore the case later known as The One-Penny Wife, a story in which domestic hardship, early forensic science, and a deeply unusual legal statute entwined to produce one of the strangest verdicts of the late Georgian era.Mary Jardine lived on a starvation allowance of a single penny a day. When she collapsed after drinking her morning tea, her symptoms were unmistakable. Proving arsenic poisoning, however, was far from straightforward. Investigators had only the earliest forms of the stomach pump, inconsistent chemical tests, and a medical profession still decades away from reliable toxicology.The result is a case that sits at the uneasy intersection of intent, law, survival, and the limits of early forensic practice—a case in which the courts treated an attempted poisoning as if it were wilful murder.In Further Particulars, we leave the dangers of arsenic behind for a very different peril of Victorian life: a breach-of-promise scandal that shows how even a broken engagement could spiral into a courtroom drama.If you’d like early ad-free episodes and access to the full NOTT archive, you can join us on Patreon at your convenience:patreon.com/newsofthetimeshistoricalcrime

A quiet Victorian street. Three sudden deaths. One woman at the centre of them all.In the spring of 1886, Turner Lane in Ashton-under-Lyne was the sort of place where neighbours knew everything — or believed they did. But when a daughter, a husband, and finally a well-liked young wife died in violent, agonising circumstances, the small community began to sense a pattern too troubling to ignore.Their suspicions would spark one of the most striking poisoning cases of the Victorian age.In this episode, we follow the chain of events that haunted the neighbourhood:• the mysterious “mouse powder,”• the late-night spasms and clenched hands,• the uneasy intimacy between households,• the neighbours who noticed what the doctors missed,• and the forensic discovery that dragged the entire affair into the courts.Was this a tragic series of coincidences — or a deliberate dismantling of every obstacle in one woman’s path?We also travel to 1887 Croydon in Further Particulars, where runaway horses, broken reins, and unrepeatable language in a country pub raise the eternal question: have youths improved at all? (Spoiler: absolutely not.)If you enjoy deep-dive historical true crime with a forensic edge, you’re warmly invited to explore the full NOTT archive, bonus episodes, early releases, and more on Patreon:👉 https://www.patreon.com/yourlinkhereYour support helps keep these long-form Victorian investigations alive — and is always deeply appreciated.

On a cold November night in 1930, a small saloon car was found blazing on a quiet Northamptonshire lane. Inside lay the charred body of a man, burned beyond recognition. But when police traced the registration number, the supposed victim walked into a London police station — very much alive.So began one of the most extraordinary investigations of the early 20th century.Tonight, we follow the case of Alfred Rouse, the travelling salesman with a tangled private life, mounting financial pressures, and a so-called “harem” of women who believed themselves promised marriage. As detectives pieced together witness accounts, petrol traces, and forensic testimony from Sir Bernard Spilsbury himself, a grim picture emerged — one that shocked the nation.But at the heart of the story lies a question that has haunted true-crime historians ever since:Who was the man in the car?Join us as we explore the investigation, the trial, and the final confession, delivered only when the gallows were being prepared.If you’d like ad-free listening, early access, and full access to our growing archive of more than 850 documentary-style episodes, you’re warmly invited to join us on Patreon.Members also enjoy exclusive series including Mysterious Britain, The Victorian Parlour, The Scandal Room, Ye Olde Newsroom, and our weekly downloadable PDF magazines — all created for those who love their history with a forensic and narrative edge.You can find us here:👉 patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesYour support helps us bring more forgotten cases, archival investigations, and meticulously researched storytelling to life.

In March 1872, a quiet domestic tragedy in Boston, Lincolnshire became one of the most consequential moments in British criminal justice. When William Horry shot his estranged wife, Jane, the case was tragic enough — but what followed would transform the future of capital punishment in Britain.This episode explores how Horry’s crime became the first test of William Marwood’s new “long drop” method, a calculated attempt to make executions swift, scientific, and far less agonising than the old short-drop approach. It was a turning point that reshaped British practice for more than a century. We trace:• the collapse of William and Jane’s marriage and the jealousies that spiralled out of control• the inquest, trial, and evidence that left the jury with little doubt• Marwood’s debut on the gallows — and why officials were desperate for change• how a private tragedy became a national moment of reform• and the Victorian press reaction that helped cement this case in history Our Further Particulars this week takes us to Cambridge, where a particularly delicate publican refuses to serve lady cyclists in “rational dress” — proving that in 1898, nothing caused moral panic faster than women in trousers. Settle in for a story where domestic heartbreak meets legal transformation, and where a single moment on the scaffold marked the beginning of Britain’s modern execution era.

A landmark case that reshaped Victorian justiceIn the spring of 1868, Britain crossed a threshold it could never uncross. For centuries, executions had been public events — spectacles that drew tens of thousands, shaped moral debates, and filled the columns of Victorian newspapers. But with the passing of the Capital Punishment Amendment Act, everything changed. For the first time, a condemned prisoner would die behind the closed gates of a prison, witnessed only by officials.The case that carried Britain into this new era began not in London or a notorious criminal underworld, but at Dover Priory Station, where an unsettled young railway worker would commit a murder that shocked the country.When 18-year-old carriage cleaner Thomas Wells shot his stationmaster, Edward Adolphus Walshe, the crime seemed at first merely tragic. But the circumstances were so stark, the evidence so immediate, and the public sentiment so charged that the case quickly became the test through which the new law would be judged.This episode follows the story step by step: Wells’s growing resentment, the tense confrontation in the cramped station office, and the moments leading to a single violent act that ended a respected man’s life. We explore the swift investigation that followed, the testimony from railway workers and townspeople, the courtroom atmosphere thick with expectation, and the public’s uneasy fascination with the new manner in which justice was to be carried out.As Wells faced the gallows inside Maidstone Gaol, the nation confronted something larger than the crime itself:What does justice look like when removed from the public gaze?Is a hidden execution more humane — or simply more palatable?And what does it mean when the first man to be hanged privately is barely out of boyhood?⭐ This episode includes:• A railway dispute that spiralled into an unprecedented murder case• A remarkably airtight chain of evidence from witnesses at the station• Wells’s unsettling calmness — and how Victorians interpreted it• How the press framed Britain’s first private execution• What officials behind the prison walls actually saw• And in Further Particulars: a Norfolk ferret incident so chaotic and so darkly comic that even Dickens would have raised an eyebrowThrough archival detail, atmospheric reconstruction, and careful historical context, we trace how one violent moment on a railway platform reshaped the entire future of British executions.This is more than a true crime story — it is the moment Victorian Britain stepped into a new age of justice, reluctantly, awkwardly, and under the shadow of a single gunshot at Dover Priory.Settle in for a vivid journey into a pivotal turning point in British legal history.

In 1845, Britain witnessed a murder investigation unlike anything seen before.When Sarah Hart died suddenly in the quiet village of Salt Hill, suspicion fell upon a seemingly respectable Quaker gentleman, John Tawell. What followed became the first manhunt in history conducted through the electric telegraph, racing ahead of a fleeing suspect along the Great Western Railway line.In this episode, we explore the extraordinary case that blended poison, secrecy, telegraph wires, and Victorian morality, uncovering how a single message sent from Slough changed the future of policing.You’ll hear about:• The hidden life behind Tawell’s quiet exterior• Prussic acid and the Victorian obsession with poisons• How the telegraph outpaced a murderer for the first time• The dramatic arrest in a London coffee house• A sensational trial that gripped the nation• Tawell’s final confession — and the truth it revealedAnd in Further Particulars, we close with a chaotic vignette from the 1880s involving a German labourer, a lover’s quarrel, and an improvised breakfast melee.If you enjoy Victorian crime, forensic history, and archival storytelling, you’ll find many more episodes — including weekly exclusives — on our Patreon.Join us on Patreon for the full archive and all bonus content:patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime

London, 1829.A city of industry, elegance, poverty, and hidden brutality.In this episode, we uncover the shocking case of Frances Colpit, a ten-year-old parish apprentice sent to learn tambour embroidery — and instead drawn into a household where overwork, starvation, and violence were woven into everyday life. When the child’s suffering finally came to light, the courts uncovered a pattern of cruelty that stunned the nation.At the centre of the scandal stood Esther Hibner, whose trial at the Old Bailey revealed not only the tragic fate of Frances, but the wider exploitation of impoverished children across early-19th-century London. Her conviction led to one of the most discussed executions of the decade — and marked William Calcraft’s first execution of a woman, a moment that would shape the reputation of Britain’s most notorious hangman.Using contemporary court testimony, medical reports, and Victorian press accounts, we explore:• the hidden world of parish apprenticeships• the booming demand for tambour embroidery and the children who powered it• the conditions uncovered at Platt Terrace• the forensic evidence presented at trial• the public response to Hibner’s execution• and the lingering questions the case forced Victorian Britain to confrontThis is a story of poverty, exploitation, legal theatre, and the beginning of a national reckoning with child protection.If you enjoy historical true-crime storytelling, you can find more episodes, early releases, and exclusive series on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/newsofthetimes

In 1868, a cramped labourer’s cottage in the village of Stickney, Lincolnshire became the centre of one of Victorian Britain’s most dramatic murder cases. When farm labourer Richard Biggadike suddenly fell violently ill after tea and shortcake prepared by his wife Priscilla, suspicion spread through the community with astonishing speed. What followed was a tangle of marital resentment, rumours of impropriety, forensic certainty — and a legal outcome that made national history.This episode explores the poisoned marriage of Richard and Priscilla Biggadike, the presence of arsenic in overwhelming quantities, and the inquest that relied heavily on the findings of leading forensic toxicologist Dr Alfred Swaine Taylor. His analysis, combined with Priscilla’s own contradictory statements, led to one of the most significant executions of the century: the first private execution carried out in the city of Lincoln, following Britain’s newly passed legislation ending public hangings.Along the way, we examine Victorian forensic science, rural domestic life, legal practice, and the intense social pressures inside a one-room household shared by a husband, wife, three children, and two lodgers. Was the verdict secure? Was justice served? And how did this case shape the early years of private execution in Britain?Further Particulars:We also travel to County Mayo for a remarkable 1867 discovery — a forgotten subterranean chamber, bricked up for nearly a century, containing two mysterious skeletons dressed in the fashions of George II. A true Victorian gothic moment that captured the imagination of readers across the UK.If you enjoy educational, archival true crime from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, this is an episode rich in atmosphere, forensic detail, and historical insight.News of the TimesVictorian and Edwardian true crime, brought to life through original archival research and historical storytelling.

The Parcel of Death: How a Handwriting Clue Solved a Victorian Murder (1873)Horfield, near Bristol, 1873 — a small parcel arrives at a cottage, addressed in a neat feminine hand. Inside: a polite note, a shilling’s worth of stamps, and three teething powders marked Steedman’s. Within minutes of taking one, a healthy ten-month-old child is dead.What followed became one of Victorian Britain’s most unsettling murder investigations: a case of postal deception, disputed toxicology, forged identities, and a deadly plan undone by the smallest of human details — the choice of stationery, a familiar turn of phrase, and a handwriting expert who spotted what others had missed.This is the story of how an ordinary envelope unravelled the lives of a Bristol shoemaker and the woman who aided him, ending in one of the last double executions in British history.If you enjoy these deep dives into Victorian crime, social history, and forensic firsts, you can join us on Patreon for hundreds of extra episodes, early releases, and the full NOTT archive — all while helping keep the research kettle boiling.

The Clerkenwell Explosion: The Outrage That Shocked Victorian Britain (1867)A quiet December afternoon in 1867 — and then a blast so powerful it shattered windows for half a mile, reduced homes to rubble, and sent shockwaves through Victorian London. What unfolded at Clerkenwell was far more than an attempted prison rescue. It became one of the most notorious tragedies of the era, triggering public panic, political fury, and the final public execution in British history.In today’s episode, we explore:• What really happened outside Clerkenwell Prison• How a rescue attempt by Fenians spiralled into catastrophe• Why the investigation became frantic, emotional — and deeply flawed• The trial of Michael Barrett, and the lingering question: was the right man convicted?We trace the explosion, the crowded neighbourhood it destroyed, the conflicting witness accounts, and the extraordinary political pressure that shaped the outcome.And in Further Particulars, we leap back to 1814 for the unforgettable tale of a woman who somehow accumulated three husbands simultaneously, leaving a magistrate — and all three gentlemen — thoroughly bewildered.If you enjoy thoughtful, atmospheric Victorian true crime, you’ll find more episodes, bonus stories, and exclusive content by searching for “News of the Times Patreon” wherever you normally browse online.Settle in, take a steadying breath… and step with us into the streets of 1867.

The Doctor, The Brothers, And the First Great Failure of Forensic ScienceNews of the Times | Episode 603| 1823 Paris, 1823: Two wealthy brothers die months apart. A respected young doctor attends both deaths. Symptoms point to poison — but toxicology finds nothing at all.In today’s episode, we uncover one of the most unsettling cases in early forensic history — the story of Dr Edmé Castaing and the Ballet brothers, a case that forced Europe to confront a chilling truth:👉 Science, in 1823, was simply not good enough to catch a clever poisoner.Before the era of Marsh tests, Reinsch tests, Victorian toxicologists, and forensic certainty, courts still had to reach verdicts — even when chemistry returned empty-handed. This case became the first major crisis in forensic toxicology, shaping British and French legal thinking for decades.🔍 In this episode we explore:• How two sudden deaths exposed the limits of Georgian forensic science• The rise of arsenic panic across Britain• Why morphine (“morphia”) terrified early toxicologists• The puzzle of a will, missing money, late-night letters, and locked rooms• Orfila’s cautious testimony — and why it shocked British experts• How a man was executed for poisoning with no poison ever found• The legal turning point: Can you convict on circumstances alone?And in Further Particulars, we detour to 1888 for a marvellously absurd tale from the American West — as reported in an East Kent newspaper — featuring:a Pullman carriage, a polite stranger, and a horse thief whose reputation travelled rather farther than he did.🔬Hosted by Robin Coles📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: 1824: Murder by Exorcism | EP443 https://www.patreon.com/posts/shocking-1824-120965771?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link 1828: Deadly Betrayal: The 1828 Mother’s Assassination Conspiracy | EP457 https://www.patreon.com/posts/deadly-betrayal-123227277?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link 1827: Sisters, Poison, and Betrayal: The Forfar Murder Case of 1827 | EP540 https://www.patreon.com/posts/sisters-poison-136840522?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link ❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #HistoricalTrueCrime #ForensicHistory #VictorianCrime #GeorgianEra #Toxicology #EdmeCastaing #BalletBrothers #PoisoningCase #FirstForensicFailure #CrimeHistory #BritishHistory #FrenchHistory #EarlyForensics #NewsOfTheTimes #TrueCrimeDocumentary

The Office Murder That Shocked Edwardian Britain — And the Detective Who Died Investigating It | True Crime 1911News of the Times | Episode 602 | 1911On a quiet September afternoon in 1911, a respected Hastings building society manager sat down to continue his paperwork. Minutes later, gunshots echoed through the office — and one of the town’s most trusted citizens lay dying on the floor. What followed was one of the most baffling cases in Edwardian true crime history: a double tragedy involving financial ruin, contested testimony, early forensic science… and a detective who died while examining the very same revolver used in the killing. Today we uncover a murder that refused to resolve itself, leaving behind shocked witnesses, contradictory accounts, and a police force shaken by the sudden death of their own investigator.• The shooting inside a quiet Hastings office that stunned 1911 Britain• The troubled chemist whose life collapsed under financial strain and hereditary mental illness• Conflicting witness accounts and forensic evidence that transformed the case• The inquest that wrestled with accident vs. intent• The extraordinary twist: the detective found dead while preparing evidence• How uncertainty, stigma, and early-20th-century justice shaped the verdict📰 Further ParticularsWe finish with a remarkable Edwardian society lawsuit involving Lady Dean Paul — a woman for whom the courtroom was practically a hobby. Expect family quarrels, Cairo gossip, theatrical denials, and a damages award so small the judge had to squint at it.🔎Hosted by Robin Coles📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: 1911: The Kidsgrove Tragedy: Murder, Madness, and the Man Who Vanished Into Himself” | EP582 https://www.patreon.com/posts/kidsgrove-murder-144289983?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1875 - 1911: The Poison Files: Britain's Most Chilling Victorian Murder Cases | EP583 https://www.patreon.com/posts/poison-files-144027249?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1911: Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911 | EP589 https://www.patreon.com/posts/two-killers-one-145441104?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1918: Stalked by Her Brother-in-Law: The Christmas Murder That Shook Post-War Britain | 1918 | EP595https://www.patreon.com/posts/stalked-by-her-146402625?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #TrueCrimeDocumentary #HistoricalCrime #BritishHistory #VictorianCrime #CrimeHistory #CourtroomDrama #Education #NewsoftheTimes

What happens when privilege, violence, and the full weight of Georgian justice collide?In today’s episode, we uncover one of the most extraordinary moments in British criminal history: the 1760 execution of Laurence, Earl Ferrers — the last aristocrat ever hanged at TyburnThis astonishing case has everything that captivates lovers of historical true crime:• a nobleman whose violent temper shook his household,• a murder that shocked Georgian society,• a sensational trial before the House of Lords, and• the rare spectacle of a peer of the realm facing the gallows alongside common felons.We follow Ferrers from the oak-panelled rooms of his Leicestershire estate to the packed streets of London, where thousands gathered to witness a moment the country had never seen before — and would never see again. His downfall reveals the tensions of class, power, madness, and justice in 18th-century Britain.And to finish, we lighten the mood with a rollicking trip to Hyde Park’s Speakers’ Corner, 1894 — where Victorian democracy meets spirited heckling and public oratory at its most colourful.If you enjoy:• Georgian & Victorian true crime• forensic and legal history• executions at Tyburn• scandals among Britain’s elite• stories where society’s “untouchable” finally meets the law……this is an episode we think you'll like.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: 1718 - 1767: Remarkable executions | EP388https://www.patreon.com/posts/remarkable-1718-113160724?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link 1729 & 1768: The Dark Side of Aristocracy in 1700's | Ep290https://www.patreon.com/posts/dark-side-of-in-112156703?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1761: Terrible Theodore Gardelle | Ep208 https://www.patreon.com/posts/terrible-artist-116300250?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #HistoricalTrueCrime #BritishHistory #TrueCrimeCommunity #GeorgianHistory #18thCenturyCrime #Tyburn #ExecutionHistory #EarlFerrers #CrimeDocumentary #HistoryDocumentary #HistoryChannel #VictorianEra #OldBailey #HouseOfLords #JusticeHistory#UKTrueCrime #DarkHistory #HistoricalCrimes #ClassicCrimeCases #BritishTrueCrime #EducationalHistory #ArchiveStories #ForgottenHistory #HistoryNerd #DidYouKnow #BasedOnTrueEvents

Catherine Wilson: Britain’s Female Borgia — The Last Woman Publicly Hanged in LondonNews of the Times | Episode 600 | 1862A quiet lodger. A trail of unexplained deaths. And the last woman ever publicly hanged in London.In this episode, we investigate Catherine Wilson — the Victorian poisoner newspapers called “Britain’s Female Borgia.” Her story begins with a near-fatal “soothing draught” in a Kennington sickroom and unfolds into one of the most disturbing murder investigations of the 19th century.What seemed at first like a single attempted poisoning soon revealed a far darker truth. As police traced Wilson’s movements through London and Lincolnshire, they uncovered a pattern of sudden illnesses, vanished savings, altered wills, and victims who died in unmistakable agony.And behind each death stood the same gentle, soft-spoken woman.Join us as we explore:🕯️ The failed poisoning that finally exposed her🕯️ The lodging-house world of mid-century Britain — where killers could hide in plain sight🕯️ The suspicious deaths of Mrs Jackson, Peter Mawer, James Dixon, Mrs Soames, Mrs Atkinson, and others🕯️ The Victorian forensic limits that allowed her to evade justice for years🕯️ The Old Bailey trial that shocked the public🕯️ And the execution at Newgate that ended an era of female public hangingsAtmospheric, unsettling, and drawn entirely from the historical record, this is the chilling true story of a woman who moved unnoticed through the sickrooms of Victorian England — leaving devastation in her wake.✨ Further Particulars — A New Year’s Collection of Curious ProverbsTo open 2026 on a suitably elevated note, this week’s Further Particulars turns to that most scholarly of Victorian institutions… The Illustrated Police News.We’ve gathered a handful of wonderfully odd foreign proverbs from 1890 — sayings that range from the poetic to the practical to the frankly unhinged.Expect buffaloes, bears, burnt children, and at least one pig with questionable table manners.A light New Year’s reminder that across time and continents, human wisdom has always been a very mixed bag.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles ❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #TrueCrimeDocumentary #HistoricalCrime #BritishHistory #VictorianCrime #CrimeHistory #CourtroomDrama #Education #NewsoftheTimes

The Wheelbarrow Murder: The Case That Led to Hereford’s Last Execution (1903)News of the Times | Episode 599 | 1903#HistoricalTrueCrime #VictorianCrime #EdwardianHistory #TrueCrimeUK #NewsOfTheTimesTonight’s episode opens our Firsts and Lasts of January series with a case that shook rural Herefordshire — and ended with the final execution ever carried out at Hereford Gaol.In July 1903, a quiet quarry near Aymestrey became the scene of one of the most unsettling crimes in Edwardian England. A wheelbarrow… a body… and a husband insisting it had all been a terrible accident. But as investigators examined the quarry, the path to Mortimer’s Cross, and William Haywood’s shifting story, a far darker truth emerged.This is The Wheelbarrow Murder — the brutal killing of Jane Haywood, the sensational trial that followed, and the historic execution that marked the end of an era in British justice.A story of poverty, exhaustion, domestic tension, forensic evidence, and a community forced to confront the thin line between accident and intention.We explore:🔸 Quarry life and the harsh world of rural labourers in 1903🔸 The discovery of Jane Haywood’s injuries — and why the “accident” story never held🔸 Witness testimony that unravelled the defence🔸 The inquest, the shocking medical findings, and the national press response🔸 The Hereford Assizes, the judge’s reasoning, and the final death sentence🔸 The last execution ever carried out at Hereford GaolFurther ParticularsBecause Victorian Britain could make even a funeral dangerous. Tonight’s final tale involves a coffin, a narrow pathway, six bearers, and one very unfortunate bystander — proving once again that the 19th century was not for the faint of heart.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: 1902: Scotland Yard Casebook: Jealousy on Judd Street - crime of passion | Kitty Byron | Ep545 https://www.patreon.com/posts/jealousy-on-judd-141707777?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1903: The Scampston Murder | The Riverbank Crime That Shocked Edwardian England (1903) | EP568 https://www.patreon.com/posts/scampston-murder-142037739?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1909: Too Drunk to Hang? The Brutal 1909 Murder That Changed British Law | EP572 https://www.patreon.com/posts/too-drunk-to-law-142667895?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #HerefordshireHistory #WheelbarrowMurder #LastExecution#HerefordGaol #1903 #TrueCrimeCommunity #BritishHistory #ColdCaseHistory #TrueCrimeStories #CrimeHistory #VictorianEngland #EdwardianEra #HistoricalMystery #OldBailey #UKCrimeCases #DarkHistory #ArchiveCrime #TrueCrimeDocumentary

The Arsenic Exhumation: How Mary Bailey’s Body Exposed a Killer | True Crime 1863News of the Times | Episode 598 1863In 1863, a quiet Stockport household became the centre of one of Victorian Britain’s most chilling poisoning investigations.When Mary Bailey died after days of violent sickness, her daughter insisted it was illness… but a newly taken life-insurance policy, two purchases of arsenic, and growing neighbourhood whispers told a very different story.What followed was extraordinary:a rare Victorian exhumation,a body preserved almost intact 74 days after burial,and early forensic toxicology revealing arsenic in every tissue.In today’s episode, we explore how a suspected insurance fraud spiralled into a full murder inquiry — and how Victorian science uncovered the truth when no living witness could.Featuring:• the “penny policies” that targeted the Victorian poor• arsenic bought “for killing vermin” — in deadly quantities• doctors whose overlapping visits hid a much darker pattern• forensic tests that transformed suspicion into certainty• a confession that revealed coercion, poverty, and fear• and the chilling final hours of one of Britain’s forgotten murderessesThis is the Mary Bailey arsenic case — a story of deception, desperation, and the forensic breakthrough that exposed a killer.Stay to the end for Further Particulars, where Victorian jealousy, a runaway lover, and a very unfortunate shop mannequin collide in spectacular fashion.Settle in with a warm drink and join us as we step back into the streets of 1863 Stockport.👤 Hostedby Robin Coles 📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: •1869: Arsenic, Bonnets and Betrayal: The 1869 Dudley Poisoning of Joseph Oliver | EP559 https://youtu.be/Igt7pytWWxU1865: Bayonet Madness in Batley: A Victorian Double Murder | EP562 https://youtu.be/A08XNdHDzso1867: The Malthouse Murder | Wolverton’s Burning Secret (1867) | EP564https://youtu.be/FQKaaNrDD9k1867: The Limehouse Mystery — The 1867 Case That Divided Victorian London | EP565 https://youtu.be/36DqA1p_W7s❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #victoriantruecrime #HistoricalCrime #ArsenicMurder #ForensicHistory #VictorianForensics #HistoricalForensics #ExhumationCase #1860sHistory #VictorianEngland #BritishHistory #StockportHistory #TrueCrimeDocumentary #TrueCrimeCommunity #CrimeHistory #MurderInvestigation #NewsoftheTimes

The Workhouse Path Murder — South Wales, 1902 | A Fatal December EveningNews of the Times | Episode 597 | 1902Southeast Wales, 1902.A woman runs bleeding down a narrow workhouse path, four children behind her screaming “Murder!” into the cold December air.Moments earlier, she was walking with the man who had vowed she would never have another home.Today we uncover one of the most chilling and deeply human domestic murder cases of Edwardian South Wales — a tragedy witnessed entirely by children, shaped by poverty, jealousy, alcohol, and the harsh realities of the workhouse system.This episode explores:• The world of the lodging houses and the Bedwellty Workhouse• The final walk up the walled footpath• Eyewitness testimony from neighbours and children• Medical evidence and early forensic interpretation• The attempted defence of delirium tremens• The Edwardian court and the rapid machinery of justice• The social pressures that gave rise to the crimeIt is a case that shocked the valleys — not for mystery, but for its stark inevitability.Join us as we retrace the final hours of Hannah Shea, and the violent jealousy that ended her life on a cold winter evening beneath the shadow of the workhouse.🕯️ FURTHER PARTICULARSToday’s end of episode lighter (and explosively cautionary) tale comes from Belfast, where a Christmas pudding met its untimely end via a tin of petrol mistaken for syrup. The results? Flaming dessert, melted gas pipes, and a moral lesson for us all...👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  Other episodes you may like:1867: The Malthouse Murder | Wolverton’s Burning Secret (1867) |  EP564https://youtu.be/FQKaaNrDD9k1867: The Limehouse Mystery — The 1867 Case That Divided Victorian London |  EP565 https://youtu.be/36DqA1p_W7s ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th  Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

Stalked by Her Brother-in-Law: The Christmas Murder That Shook Post-War Britain | Liverpool, 1918News of the Times | Episode 595 |1918As Britain celebrated the end of the Great War, one young Liverpool widow was facing a danger far closer to home.This week, we step into December 1918, a moment when church bells rang for peace, soldiers returned to broken households, and thousands of war widows tried to rebuild lives reshaped by loss.But for Mary Ellen Rooney, a 32-year-old widow raising four children, the threat did not come from the battlefield —it lived across the street.After months of unwanted attention, jealousy, and open threats from her brother-in-law, Mary’s attempts to find safety ended in a Paddington corner shop on a cold November afternoon.Witnesses would describe what happened next as sudden, furious, and chillingly deliberate.Why did this case — shocking, public, and tragic — receive almost no press coverage at the time?What can it tell us about post-war Britain, the pressures on returning soldiers, and the precarious position of the women left behind?And how did one man’s fixation escalate into murder just weeks after the Armistice?In tonight’s episode, we uncover:The realities of life in 1918 Liverpool after the warThe hidden dangers faced by war widowsA deeply unsettling pattern of stalking and threatsA murder that played out in broad daylightA trial that passed almost without noticeAnd an execution carried out one week before ChristmasFor our Further Particulars, we turn to Widnes in 1881, where a revolver accident led to…another revolver accident — a Victorian tragedy so bizarre it defies summary.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival materi Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

Murder on the Winter Road: A Christmas Killing in Ballinrobe | True Crime 1880News of the Times | Episode 594 | 1880A Christmas walk home… a dark boreen outside Ballinrobe… and two figures lying in wait.Tonight we return to County Mayo, Ireland, 1880, for a chilling winter murder that stunned a rural community and left questions hanging over the snow-covered road for generations.This is the story of Peter Mullen, a small farmer whose final journey took him through family quarrels, a mysterious sprinkling of holy water, and—according to his son—an ambush by two tall, clean-shaven men on a moonlit December night.But who really knew he would pass that way?And was this tragic killing a random act… or something far more calculated?In this episode we explore:• Life in Ballinrobe at Christmas, 1880• Domestic tensions and a bitter marital quarrel• Holy water, strange choices, and a wife in hiding• A son’s account that raised more questions than it answered• The midnight ambush on the frozen road• Why the suspects—his wife and two nephews—were ultimately released• How this case slipped quietly into the long history of unsolved Irish rural killingsAs always, we draw from contemporary newspaper reports and inquest testimony to follow the story as people of the time understood it.This episode includes material from:And in today’s Further Particulars, we detour briefly to Derbyshire—where a Victorian vicar, a bread knife, and a very excitable evening led half the parish straight to the magistrates’ court.Settle in with something warm and join us for The Christmas Road Murder: Ballinrobe, 1880—an atmospheric winter mystery where small choices, quiet tensions, and old grievances may have led a man straight into the line of fire.👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18t Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

THE WHITELEY MURDER (1907) — The Crime That Shook Edwardian BritainNews of the Times | Episode 593 | 1907In January 1907, William Whiteley — London’s famous “Universal Provider” and the man who transformed British shopping — was shot dead inside his own department store.The killer? A well-dressed young man who calmly announced he was Whiteley’s illegitimate son.What followed was one of the most sensational murder trials of the Edwardian age: a story of hidden relationships, vast wealth, respectability, scandal, and a public so captivated that hundreds of thousands signed a petition to save the killer from the gallows.In today’s episode, we uncover:• The moment gunfire shattered Britain’s most modern store• The extraordinary claim that turned a murder into a national reckoning• A tangled family history of secrecy, money and legitimacy• How the press shaped public outrage — and unexpected sympathy• Why the Whiteley case still echoes through British legal and social historyPlus:A remarkable Further Particulars story — when a runaway horse smashed through a Moorgate jeweller in 1922 and left London’s pavement literally covered in diamonds.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  1907: Monte Carlo Trunk Murder |  EP284 https://youtu.be/oTOwoof-jKs1907: The Croydon Killer |  Ep287 https://youtu.be/JOcmekUMZjw1907: Camden Town Murder Mystery |  EP326 https://youtu.be/glZvLvCJVZY❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns.  If you like your true crime thoug Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Wardrobe Murder: The Grim Discovery in 1889 BuryNews of the Times | Episode 592| 1889A missing businessman. A manager with too many stories. A wardrobe that no one was meant to open.In 1889 Bury, Lancashire, a routine visit to a bustling Bolton Street furniture shop ended in one of the most shocking Victorian murder discoveries ever recorded. Behind drawn blinds, shifted furniture, and a locked cupboard with a missing key, police found a scene that stunned even seasoned detectives.This is the true story of George Gordon, a respected young businessman who vanished after a mid-week meeting — and the extraordinary investigation that exposed deception, forged letters, a fake customer, suspicious errands, and a chilling attempt to conceal a body in plain sight.From disturbed flagstones in a cellar to charred ledgers in a hearth, every clue pointed toward one man: shop manager William Dukes.Tonight, we unspool the lies, the forensic twists, and the Victorian policework that led to the discovery that would dominate northern newspapers and remain one of the most disturbing cases in Bury’s history.🕯 PLUS: Today’s Further ParticularsA New Jersey gaol, a hands-on ghost, and a haunting with far more initiative than anyone wanted…If you enjoy atmospheric Victorian true crime blended with real archival reporting, this is one to settle in for.Warm drink ready, lights a little low — and perhaps… keep wardrobes firmly shut.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  •1889: The Infamous Bloody Trunk Case |  Ep254 https://youtu.be/esL5RNishTU1889: The Mystery of the Hansom Cab Murder |  EP368 https://youtu.be/OObOZ1J_-Mk1889: Was This the Ripper’s Comeback? The 1889 Whitechapel Murder |  EP508 https://youtu.be/5Um9DOETHHI1889: The Goatfell Murder: A Charming Stranger, A Missing Tourist, and the Mountain with Secrets |  Ep521 https://youtu.be/nA-yUf84JK4❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buym Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Christmas Execution No One Tried to Stop | True Crime 1898News of the Times | Episode 591 | 1898In today’s episode, we travel to Bugsworth, Derbyshire, where the brutal murder of Hannah Cotton shocked Victorian reporters… but what stunned them even more was this:When her husband John Cotton was sentenced to hang — just four days before Christmas — no one asked for clemency.No neighbours.No friends.No anti-capital-punishment campaigners.Not even the canal community who had known him for decades.Victorian newspapers called him “friendless,” a man whose violence had driven away every human tie long before the gallows claimed him. Tonight, we examine how a life shaped by hardship, jealousy, and cruelty ended with an execution that the public accepted without hesitation.Along the way, we uncover:• the shadowy world of Victorian canal-boat life• allegations surrounding two previous wives• the testimony of three schoolgirls who saw the murder• why even at Christmastime, no voice rose to save him• shifting attitudes toward capital punishment in 1890s BritainAnd in a lighter Further Particulars: a wedding at St John’s, Hammersmith, collapses spectacularly when someone stands mid-ceremony to announce, “Stop! That man has a wife already!”👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  1843 - 1898: Favourite Victorian Cases 2024 |  EP428 https://youtu.be/K-6i26HYCgI1898: The Case of the St Neots Murder |  EP448 https://youtu.be/4qvv0FZ36g81898: The Nolagh House of Horror: Ireland’s 1898 Family Massacre |  EP556https://youtu.be/jLFY8LtgtZk❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century Brit Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Clergyman Who Hid His Wife’s Murder: The Shocking Case of Rev. Selby Watson | True Crime 1871News of the Times | Episode 590 |1871 London 1871A quiet Stockwell street.A respected clergyman.A locked room… and a truth no one wished to imagine.In October 1871, Reverend John Selby Watson — scholar, headmaster, and a man thought incapable of violence — calmly told his servant that his wife had “gone out of town.” What followed was one of the most chilling domestic murders of the Victorian era: a brutal killing, a body hidden behind a library door, and a carefully written confession that raised as many questions as it answered.Was this a momentary lapse?A lifetime of strain erupting all at once?Or a premeditated act disguised as madness?Tonight, we walk through the investigation as it unfolded — from the servant’s first suspicions, to Dr Rugg’s devastating discovery, to the courtroom debate that divided Victorian London.This is the case of a clergyman whose life unravelled in a single, terrible momentAnd in today’s lighter end-of-episode Further Particular's tale:Three cats, two furious ladies, and one judge who absolutely did not sign up for any of this.A “Persian stud” turns out to be more “Camden wanderer,” and Victorian justice must decide which whiskers are genuine.👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  1871 - 1910: Scorned: Jilted Partners and Vengeance |  Ep264 https://youtu.be/IyU0PpewCD01870-1871: Stories of in-law Issues |  EP319 https://youtu.be/NTNGLpFdOmU1871-1873: Murder in Uniform: The Death of William Glass and the Hanging of Inspector Montgomery |  EP580 https://youtu.be/mPgfbM-2fGw❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911News of the Times | Episode 589 | 1911On a cold December morning in 1911, the bell at Strangeways Gaol tolled across Manchester.Inside, two very different men walked the same final corridor — strangers in life, now bound together by the narrow platform of a double scaffold. One was a jealous, violent husband; the other a quiet young labourer who claimed he never meant to kill. Their crimes were months apart, their tempers and histories worlds away — yet both met the same fate on a winter morning the city never forgot. In today’s episode, we trace the paths that brought them there. From the cramped terraces of Royton and the busy mills of Manchester, to the quiet footpaths of Plumpton Wood, we follow the investigations, witness accounts, court proceedings, and newspaper reports that shaped two capital convictions. This is the story of Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911. Manchester in 1911 was a city of contrasts — electric trams, cinemas and industry, but also long shifts, low pay, overcrowded homes and tempers stretched thin. Through these two tragedies we glimpse Edwardian life as it was lived by ordinary families: relentless labour, domestic pressures, and communities shocked by sudden violence. And in today’s Further Particulars: a festive tale from New York in 1921, where the Christmas shopping rush produced not just queues but an entire court-room of shoplifters — ages sixteen to eighty-two — all caught in the season’s light-fingered spirit. .  👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns.  If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Ivy Inn Murder: A Single Wound and a Vanishing Killer | True Crime 1891 News of the Times | Episode 588 | 1891 A shocking Victorian crime in which a trusted 16-year-old servant was killed in broad daylight… and her killer vanished into the hills of Huddersfield. What followed was a frantic manhunt, a wrongful arrest, mass public hysteria, and finally, a confession overheard in a prison infirmary.This episode unravels the full story — from the moment Catherine Dennis was found on the landing, to the dramatic return of the chief suspect James Stockwell, who evaded police for 17 days before creeping into his mother’s house at dawn.  Did she give her son up to police? Yes, she did.Based entirely on detailed period reporting and inquest testimony, this case reveals:• The discovery of Catherine’s body at the Ivy Inn• The suspected outrage committed upon her• The tiny but deadly wound that puzzled doctors• Two innocent strangers arrested amid public fury• A missing local man whose behaviour grew increasingly suspicious• The relentless police search through Linthwaite, Slaithwaite & Crosland Hill• And the confession that finally sealed the caseThis is one of Huddersfield’s most haunting Victorian tragedies — a story of fear, misjudgement, and a community shaken to its core.And in today’s Further Particulars:A second fugitive — entirely naked — hiding on a ship for more than a month after stabbing a crewman off the Cape of Good Hope. Victorian journalism truly never disappointed. Settle in with a cup of tea as we return to Yorkshire in 1891, where quiet afternoons could turn extraordinary in an instant.👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to for Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Essex Poisoner: Mary May & the Five-Year Hunt for Britain’s Husband KillersNews of the Times | Episode 587 | 1848One quiet Essex village. One determined woman. And a trail of death so shocking it forced Victorian police to investigate an entire county.Today we uncover the chilling case of Mary May, the Essex wife whose actions in 1848 sparked Britain’s first major hunt for domestic poisoners. What began as a single suspicious death soon expanded into rumours of a murder ring, burial-club schemes, and a series of sudden “illnesses” that looked far too similar to be coincidence.In this episode we explore:🔸 The sudden death of Mary May’s half-brother — and why villagers accepted her explanation… until they didn’t.🔸 How Victorian burial clubs created a deadly financial loophole.🔸 The growing panic across Essex as husbands and children linked to Mary May or her close friends began dying in identical ways.🔸 Professor Alfred Swaine Taylor — the era’s leading toxicologist — and the forensic breakthrough that exposed the truth.🔸 Fears of a female “death club” operating across Tendring, Wix, Bradfield, and Ramsay.🔸 The extraordinary five-year government investigation into suspected poisonings across the county.Was Mary May a lone murderer?A catalyst?Or the central figure in a network of women using arsenic to rid themselves of inconvenient husbands?Victorian Britain had never seen anything like it.And in today’s Further Particulars, meet the fortune-teller who could predict everyone’s future except his own — including his arrest and three months’ hard labour.👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns.  If you like yo Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Sheffield Poisoning Case – The Artist, the Housekeeper and the Fatal Fowl (1881)News of the Times | Episode 586 |1881A quiet December dinner in Victorian Sheffield ends in horror — and a respected artist whispers his final words: “I am poisoned.”In today’s investigation, we unravel the 1881 case of Thomas Skinner, a brilliant Sheffield craftsman and etcher whose sudden collapse after a simple meal of fowl and onion stuffing sparked one of the most controversial poisoning mysteries of the Victorian age.At the centre of the storm stood his striking young housekeeper, Kate Dover — admired locally as “The Heeley Beauty” — whose purchases of arsenic, chloroform, and laudanum in the days before the tragedy drew the eyes of detectives, chemists, and an increasingly suspicious public.Was she a fellow victim?A naïve young woman caught in scandal?Or did forensic science — still in its infancy — uncover the truth?Join us as we explore:• The Victorian forensic tests that revealed arsenic in the stuffing• Conflicting medical testimony and the limits of 19th-century toxicology• A missing packet of poison• A mysterious £10 cheque found in the street• Trial drama, a shocking verdict, and a courtroom collapse• And the strange, quiet life Kate Dover lived after her releaseThis episode blends historical investigation, forensic analysis, and archival reporting, drawing directly from 1881 newspaper accounts and court testimony. 📜 Further Particulars:We close with a wonderfully absurd 1830 tale of a man whose thunderous snoring during a London church service caused such chaos that the beadle considered divine intervention the only possible explanation…👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on a Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Abergavenny Christmas Massacre (1175) — The True Story Behind a Medieval BetrayalNews of the Times | Episode 585 | 1175Step into the frozen winter of 1175, when a Christmas peace gathering at Abergavenny Castle turned into one of the most shocking betrayals in medieval Britain.This is the real story behind a massacre so infamous that historians believe it helped inspire Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding.In this episode, we uncover:• William de Braose, the marcher lord with a score to settle• Seisyll ap Dyfnwal, the Welsh chieftain lured into a deadly trap• A Christmas feast where weapons were surrendered… and treachery waited behind the door• The brutal aftermath that set Wales ablaze with vengeance• The chilling curse said to have followed the de Braose family for generationsFrom Marcher politics to clan loyalty, from massacre to medieval “justice,” this is Dark December at its bleakest.And in our Further Particulars:A disastrous 1738 case from Faversham, where a man “testing for witchcraft” proved that superstition is dangerous…but stupidity is lethal.If you enjoy historical true crime, medieval history, forensic folklore, and long-form storytelling, this episode is made for you.🕯 Settle in — and maybe don’t accept any Christmas invitations from Norman lords.This is News of the Times.🧐Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:   1693: The Poplar Witch - Mary Compton |  166 https://youtu.be/SJ9HUQFw7cU❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns.  If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the va Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Wife Killer of Watchfield: The Brutal Case of John Carter (1893)News of the Times | Episode 584 | 1893In 1893, the quiet Berkshire hamlet of Watchfield discovered a horror hiding in plain sight.Rhoda Carter — a young wife with no reason to run — vanished overnight. Her husband, John Carter, insisted she’d gone to tend her pregnant sister. But every part of his story began to crumble.A locked washhouse.A fire burning far too hot for a July night.A nine-year-old boy woken by thuds, cries, and something heavy dragged down the stairs.And beneath the blacksmith’s floor… a shocking discovery that shook the entire county.What no one realised at first was this:Rhoda was John Carter’s third wife — and the last in a disturbing pattern of women who died or disappeared around him.In today’s episode, we follow the investigation step-by-step — from neighbours’ whispered suspicions, to the police search, to the inquest that exposed a brutal killing, and finally to the execution that confirmed Carter as one of Berkshire’s most chilling murderers.This case would become so notorious that John Carter’s wax figure stood for years in Madame Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors.Along the way, we also explore the extraordinary Victorian reporting that surrounded the case — including a wonderfully outraged commentary from the Illustrated Police News, who never missed a chance for melodrama.So sit back, settle in, and let us take you to Watchfield, Berkshire, 1893 — a place where life moved slowly… until the night it didn’t.👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month   ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns.  If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Kidsgrove Tragedy: Murder, Madness & the Vanished Mind | Staffordshire, 1911News of the Times | Episode 582 |1911  In October 1911, the quiet mining town of Kidsgrove was shaken to its core.Inside a secluded villa, three people — a widow, her four-year-old daughter, and their 16-year-old servant — were found brutally murdered. No forced entry. No screams. Just silence… until an eight-year-old child came running for help.The prime suspect? Karl Kramer — a German labourer with a forged identity, a borrowed bicycle, and a suspicious amount of stolen silver jingling in his pockets.But when the police finally caught him, a disturbing question emerged:Was Kramer a calculated killer… or a man whose mind had simply vanished?This episode follows the manhunt across counties, the extraordinary behaviour of the accused in custody, and the courtroom spectacle that left a jury trying not what the man had done — but whether he knew anything at all.A chilling story of murder, madness, and a fugue state that baffled doctors, magistrates, and the Edwardian press.🔎 Featuring:• The shocking crime at Avenue Villa• Witness sightings and the frantic police chase• Kramer’s shifting identity and sudden “collapse”• Courtroom confusion over sanity vs. shamming• The extraordinary decision that sent him to BroadmoorIf you enjoy intelligent historical true crime, forensic missteps, and strange Edwardian tragedies, this episode will be right up your cobblestone street.Stay to the end for today’s Further Particulars:A nine-year-old boy, a bit of pocket money, and one extremely deceased mother —proving that some Edwardian “playdates” should really come with a parental advisory.It’s grim… but in a way the Victorians would have confidently labelled “character-building."👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of his Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

Yarmouth’s Darkest Day Since the Plague | The 1845 Bridge Disaster News of the Times | Episode 581 | 1845What began as a light-hearted Victorian spectacle — a clown in a tub drawn by four geese — became one of the worst civilian disasters in British history.In 1845, hundreds gathered on Great Yarmouth’s suspension bridge to witness a novelty act. Within minutes, the bridge collapsed, sending a crowd — mostly women and children — plunging into the River Bure. Nearly 100 people lost their lives in a tragedy the press would call “a judgment too dreadful to be forgotten.”In this episode, we uncover:The bizarre origins of the eventEyewitness horror and miraculous escapesThe haunting aftermath: legal confusion, public grief, and buried truthsHow one young survivor described stabbing his way to safety beneath the waterAnd in this week’s Further Particulars, we leave tragedy behind to share the most curious Victorian headlines of 1845 — from exploding cotton bales to a pheasant illegally entering a workhouse.Frankly, it's the best Victorian Twitter feed we’ve ever read.📜 Join us as we walk the fog-bound quays of Yarmouth on its darkest day. A story of broken chains, a grieving town, and a spectacle gone terribly, fatally wrong.👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  1845: The Shapwick Poisoner - Sarah Freeman |  Ep175https://youtu.be/NfR4QR2uqGE 1845 - 1895: Fatal Attractions |  Ep177 https://youtu.be/CHRQZJ486mo 1842: Bad Daniel Good |  Ep188 https://youtu.be/B4YxkMmmpDU ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

Murder in Uniform: The Death of William Glass and the Hanging of Inspector Montgomery News of the Times | Episode 580 | [1871 - 1873 🔍 A Victorian bank clerk found butchered. £1,600 in notes vanished. And standing at the centre of the storm? A decorated police inspector with debts, secrets... and a very damp coat.In 1871, the quiet Irish town of Newtownstewart was shattered by a murder so brutal — and so unexpected — it dominated headlines across the Empire. But when the evidence began to point not to a stranger… but to the very man charged with protecting the town, the story turned from tragedy to national scandal.👮‍♂️ Three trials. A buried cache of bloodstained notes. A murder weapon pulled from the undergrowth. And one of the most extraordinary prosecutions in British legal history.In today’s News of the Times, we dive deep into the case of Inspector Thomas Hartley Montgomery, the only serving Irish police officer ever executed for murder.And in today's end of episode further particulars story...At the end of this harrowing tale of betrayal and bloody justice, we bring you a story of crime on a very different scale:A Halloween prank. A Glasgow cinema display. And a gang of 13-year-old fashion bandits who left poor Harold Lloyd trouserless in a shop window.Because nothing says “festive mischief” quite like grand theft flannel.☕ Settle in with a strong brew and join us for this atmospheric journey into betrayal, justice, and the terrifying question: What happens when the murderer wears the uniform of trust?👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  1874: Family Killings in Ripon |  Ep210 https://youtu.be/pl8viuZayD41872: The Bermondsey Tragedy |  Ep212 https://youtu.be/R5Xo4gsu4Ig1872: The Murder at Great Coram Stree |  Ep224 https://youtu.be/lXJWjOTjNM8❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee ind Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Ardlamont Mystery: Murder, Money, and the Missing ManNews of the Times | Episode 579 | 1893  Scotland, 1893 — A young aristocrat lies dead on a hunting estate. His tutor claims it was a tragic accident. But as investigators dig deeper, a tangled web of insurance policies, disappearing witnesses, and suspicious identities begins to unravel.🔍 Who was the enigmatic "Edward Scott"?💼 Why was a life insurance policy taken out just days before the death?🧠 And what did the famed Dr Joseph Bell — the real-life inspiration for Sherlock Holmes — conclude when he examined the evidence?In this gripping tale of privilege, planning, and misdirection, we uncover the true story behind one of the most mysterious deaths of the Victorian age — and the courtroom drama that followed.📜 Featuring:Greedy tutorsVanishing witnessesAn inheritance at stakeAnd the curious forensic mind of Dr Bell…💀 Did justice prevail — or did a killer walk free?🐇 Further Particulars: The Ghost Rabbit That Shoots BackAnd finally — as a curious footnote to our tale of hunting and misadventure — we bring you a moonlit story from Cornwall involving a haunted churchyard, a full pub, and a white rabbit that absolutely refuses to be shot.One poor soul tried.He lost.To a rabbit.True story. Victorian weirdness at its finest.🎩Hosted by Robin Coles📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  1896: The Murder of Emma Hunt: Cold Case or Victorian Injustice? |  EP514 https://youtu.be/WHgRw1RSC9w1893: The Inheritance Scandal of Lady Gooch: Fake Pregnancy, Stolen Baby, and a £3.8 Million Estate |  EP533 https://youtu.be/t59vycUkFP0❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime  Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd