Category: crime
Sarah Nicholson, no merry widow!
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
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 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
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
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’ 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
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, 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