The New Newgate Calendar

What is the purpose of pockets? Today it seems that they have become a semi-practical part of fashion, not always that useful and sometimes there just... read more »

Weera Sanadhdhana Weera Balasooriya Kuru Uthumpala Arthadewa Gunaratne Nanayakkara Lakshapathi Maha Widanelage Fransisco Fernando — who is thankfully... read more »

  “Mysterious tragedy in London”. This is how one regional English paper reported the death of a woman in East London in early August... read more »

The title of this new book makes clear that its author is not going to sit on the fence. In detailing the cases of six women who were found guilty of murder... read more »

On this date in 1661, scholar Jin Shengtan — the “father of vernacular Chinese literature” — was Jin Shengtan (English Wikipedia... read more »

Map of Prussia and the German States in 1862 (nine years before Unification) Mrs Lavinia Roberts lived with her husband above his photographer’s... read more »

Two hundred years ago today, Nathan Foster hanged in Masonville, New York. The crime on his charge sheet was poisoning his wife, Eleanor, to get with the... read more »

The Ratcliffe Highway in the late 1800s Here’s a case of caveat emptor (‘buying beware’) from the Ratcliffe Highway, where in the... read more »

Thomas Hellier, a miserable New World indentured servant who murdered his master and mistress along with another servant to escape his Virginia plantation,... read more »

We live in a liberal society, albeit one that is under attack from the forces of conservatism. Not only is it legal to form sexual relationships with persons... read more »

This story hails from Dublin by way of the New York Daily Gazette, Oct. 31 1789: read more »

Southwark workhouse c.1910 It always seems strange to be looking at the news and seeing scenes of devastation caused by flooding in the summer. The situation... read more »

On this date in 1151, Konrad von Freistritz, the nobleman who built Henneburg castle, was beheaded for treason along with his brother Adalram. The few... read more »

Domestic assault was endemic in late Victorian London. The summary (Police) courts were full of men being prosecuted by their wives or partners for acts... read more »

From the Channel Island Military Museum on the Channel island of Jersey; image courtesy of Trip Advisor. read more »

The path of true love does not always run smoothly, and when things go wrong love can quickly turn to animosity. James Gray had been courting Georgina... read more »

On this date in 1630, a ludicrous disease panic sent two innocent men to the scaffold in Milan. Terrified as their family and neighbors dropped dead around... read more »

A fashion plate from 1889, the year that Mary Clara McGarry appeared in the Birkenhead police court Clothes have always been valued, and coveted. In previous... read more »

There were two important innovations launched in 1829, both of which have become iconic London institutions. As we enter the height of the tourist season... read more »