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Family history is so much more than names and dates

Category: crime

Sarah Nicholson, no merry widow!

Sarah Nicholson, no merry widow!

Posted on February 7, 2021February 7, 2021 by Harriet
Sarah Nicholson ‘had the misfortune to marry a man 25 years her senior’. This seemingly unlucky accident (!) led to villagers trying to drive her out in 1879. But she was no strange to violence he... Read More
‘Most atrocious deed’: the Longburn murders

‘Most atrocious deed’: the Longburn murders

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Harriet
The Longburn murders of 1808 rocked Cumberland and beyond, for the way a man shown kindness ‘repaid’ it with brutality against two defenceless victims. Recorded in stone A gravestone near ... Read More
The Staffield Murder of 1856

The Staffield Murder of 1856

Posted on July 19, 2020January 4, 2021 by Harriet
The Staffield Murder of 1856 filled a lot of column inches in newspapers: likely the first and last time this little Cumbrian hamlet featured on the wider public consciousness. Whodunnit? While TV dra... Read More
Conspiracy to marriage – the Anne Crellin case

Conspiracy to marriage – the Anne Crellin case

Posted on October 14, 2019 by Harriet
It wasn’t a murder trial that gripped the nation in 1842, but a conspiracy to defraud a vulnerable middle-aged woman by tricking her into marriage. It’s definitely worthy of Crimes of the Centuri... Read More
Bee mine, honey: a cautionary tale from Shap

Bee mine, honey: a cautionary tale from Shap

Posted on July 7, 2019January 22, 2021 by Harriet
Love can be sweet. But wooing someone with bees can end up with one of you being stung, as a Shap saddler learned to his cost. Before the courts Cumbrian Characters’ URL is ‘crimesofthecenturies.c... Read More
Victorian values – punishment

Victorian values – punishment

Posted on March 17, 2019January 22, 2021 by Harriet
‘Victorian values’ are something that get trotted out in British politics every decade or so, as something to aspire (back) to. This post touches on the ‘value’ they placed on ... Read More
Ann Little – driven to a terrible act

Ann Little – driven to a terrible act

Posted on September 8, 2018September 8, 2018 by Harriet
On July 11, 1881, Ann Little, 45, who couldn’t read or write, was charged with attempting to drown herself and her two youngest children, Annie and Joseph, in the River Caldew, near Hutton Roof. It ... Read More
Annetwell Street – resort of thieves

Annetwell Street – resort of thieves

Posted on July 14, 2018January 22, 2021 by Harriet
Annetwell Street, Carlisle, isn’t much of a street today. Running alongside the Radio Cumbria building, it seems sidelined by the busy A595 Castle Way that slices through the city in front of the ca... Read More
William Pinder: punishment in the 1800s

William Pinder: punishment in the 1800s

Posted on June 21, 2018March 17, 2019 by Harriet
William Pinder was a man no one would want to add to their family tree. But his life story tells us a surprising amount about crime and punishment in the mid-19th century. In Westmorland, a crime of a... Read More
Kingstown Carlisle, a hotbed of crime

Kingstown Carlisle, a hotbed of crime

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Harriet
‘Affray at Kingstown Carlisle’ probably isn’t going to be top of anyone’s search terms online. But if you’ve chanced on this post, you’ll discover it had a turbulen... Read More
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Port Carlisle – a history built on hope

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Recent Posts

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