Murders & Misdemeanours
2 total works
Edinburgh is a city rightly famed world-wide. It is perhaps the only large British city which can be described as beautiful. It always seems to have been at the centre of major events, many of them turbulent. The innumerable murky legends of murder, misdemeanour and mayhem have perhaps taken root because of the topography and architecture of the Old Town with its maze of ill-lit and menacing wynds, closes and courts. Leading off the High Street and the Cowgate there are still places redolent of the atmosphere of past Edinburgh. In this simple introduction to the dark side of Edinburgh's history, the authors have brough together some well-known and other more obscure tales of dark deeds. They can reveal that it did not all take place in the Old Town.
Murders & Misdemeanours in The West End of London 1800-1850
by David Brandon and Alan Brooke
Published 15 November 2009
A look at the dark side of life, Victorian-style, when nothing was quite as it seemed and a public execution could be an entertaining family day out. Murderers, poachers, thieves, pickpockets and vagabonds all went about their business with impunity. Crime took place on the streets, on public transport, in homes, pubs, prisons, asylums, workhouses and brothels - it was all part of everyday life. Naturally the punishments awarded varied considerably, depending upon the crimes committed. Murderers and thieves - particularly horse thieves - could expect the rope, though others could hope for a reprieve. Such a remission would automatically add them to list of convicts to be deported to the penal colonies in Australia. Alternatively, convicts might expect to spend time in gaol or a House of Correction, with hard labour and floggings often thrown in for good measure. This collection of real life crimes vividly recreates the events surrounding them, offering an insight not only into criminal law but also into the social history attached to crime as society evolved and adapted to meet changing industries and class structures. A must have book for any arm chair detective and anyone interested in the social mores of the day.