Author: Richard Jones

On Saturday the 12th of August, 1865, The Westmorland Gazette published the following story about the very disturbing murder of three children in the Holborn district of London. People across the country had only just come to terms […]

Although it is mostly Whitechapel that is today thought of as being the most crime-ridden part of Victorian London, there were other parts of the metropolis that had equally bad, if not worse, reputations. The district of St […]

It is amazing when you think about the number of leaps forward that the Victorians made when it comes to science, technology and engineering. The list of their achievements is an extensive one. Yet one that often gets […]

Spouse murders – especially those perpetrated by husbands on their wives – were extremely common through the 19th century. In many cases, drink and drunkenness played a massive part in the  crime, as is illustrated by the following […]

In November, 1871, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), attended a house party at Londesborough Lodge, near Scarborough, the home of Lord Londesborough. Shortly after returning to Sandringham House, in Norfolk, the Prince went […]

At 12.45 on the morning of Sunday, September the 30th, 1888, Israel Schwartz turned off Commercial Road, and began walking along Berner Street. Ahead of him was a broad shouldered man. A little ay along Berner Street, Schwartz […]

Reading through various newspaper reports from the 19th century, it quickly becomes apparent that murder was common place in the streets of Whitechapel and Spitalfields. Indeed, the various accounts provide a rich vein of true crime stories to […]

The 11th Jack the Ripper quiz of 2023 is up, running, and ready for you to do battle with! It seems almost unbelievable to me that this is the penultimate quiz of 2023. I mean, it seems like […]

In the lead up to Halloween, I’ve been trawling the Victorian newspapers in order to find some original ghostly tales that have not been told for a while. In time, I hope to add several of these spooky […]

It’s almost Halloween, and its the time of year when ghost stories are more popular than ever. Halloween is a special time for me, and every year I celebrate it with my annual ghost walk, and this year, […]