The New Newgate Calendar

On this date in 1800, Rodaí Mac Corlaí — with due apologies for the imperial encroachment, we’re going to roll with the Anglicized “Roddy... read more »

In May 1863 Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, now Broadmoor Hospital, opened its doors: one-hundred female patients arrived that year, with the male... read more »

On this date in 1947, William Graham Rowland was controversially hanged for murdering his lover Olive Balchin. Balchin had been savagely bludgeoned to... read more »

On this date in 1462, the 12th Earl of Oxford, John de Vere, was beheaded in the Tower of London during the Wars of the Roses. The heir to one of the realm’s... read more »

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In 1735 Hester Norton was accused of stealing a number of small items in gold and silver, money and clothing from her former employer, George Gray of Stillingfleet.... read more »

Warning: Disturbing Images Below Albert Fournier was guillotined on this date in 1920 in Tours, by France’s ubiquitous early 20th century headsman... read more »

Not everyone sentenced by the Old Bailey ended up hanged or in prison. For over two hundred years there has been the option of sending defendants to a... read more »

On this date in 1860, the British hanged Khan Bahadur Khan Rohilla, a Pashtun leader who when India revolted in 1857 set up a short-lived independent government... read more »

As a quick appendage to my previous post on English statutes, here are the Statutes of Ireland from 1310 up to the Act of Union in 1800. I know little... read more »

Here is a link to the PowerPoint which I used to deliver my paper at the University of Bristol conference, ‘Public Drinking in the Nineteenth Century’... read more »

This is the first of a series of blogs concerning the criminal justice system in operation in England between 1718 and 1775, using data collected from... read more »

On this date in 1828, Antoine Berthet capped his gift to the arts by going under the guillotine at Grenoble‘s Place Grenette. You probably haven’t... read more »

Robert Browning‘s long narrative poem The Ring and the Book concerns the murder trial of the nobleman Guido Franceschini — a real-life case... read more »

On this date in 1862, the American commercial shipper Nathaniel Gordon was hanged at the Tombs for slave trading. Importing slaves to the U.S. had been... read more »

Although it occurred some weeks before, the execution/murder of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba only became public on February 13, 1961. A week... read more »

I was fascinated to read about the poisoned Bath buns, described by Michelle Higgs in the recent British Newspaper Archive blog. http://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2014/02/18/your-newspaper-discoveries-the-case-of-the-poisonous-bath-buns/... read more »

Reno, Nevada had its only hanging on this date in 1878, and it’s never since been certain whether it was the right man they hung. J.W. Rover, Frank... read more »

 'THE RULES HAVE DONE NOTHING TO HELP!'REACTIONThe response to The Rules - and their obsession with the "right-wrong" test - was fundamentally a negative... read more »

I have just posted the PowerPoint I used for the British Association of Victorian Studies conference at Royal Holloway, in August 2013. I have added the... read more »

The law is an important historical source, and especially so for the history of debt. Over the 200 years from Restoration to the abolition of incarceration... read more »

(Thanks to Jonathan Shipley of A Writer’s Desk for the guest post. -ed.) First Murderer Take him over the costard with the hilts of thy sword,... read more »

(Thanks to Meaghan Good of the Charley Project for the guest post. -ed.) On this day in 1815, eight young men condemned for desertion during the War of... read more »

This is the generally attributed death date of Duke Erik and Duke Valdemar of Sweden — intentionally starved to death at the order of their royal... read more »

‘The Chieftain‘ a biography of Detective Chief inspector George Clarke, published by The History Press, 2011 Two years ago I finally achieved... read more »

On this date in 1947, Ernst Kundt was hanged in Prague’s Pankrac Prison. Kundt (right) is honored at Prague Castle by Hans Frank. (Frank was hanged... read more »

Lulu, based on the verses of Wedekind, performed by the Tiger Lillies[1], is a dark, compelling and shocking show. It shocks in the most affecting way,... read more »

When I killed people I had a desire. This inspired me to kill more. I don’t care whether they deserve to live or not. It is none of my concern…I... read more »

  Part of Hogarth’s Gin Lane Benefits Street is where – if you believe certain sections of the media – scroungers live. They are... read more »

Originally posted on unpublishedwriterblog:“JAMES CARSE is indicted, for that he, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and... read more »

On this date in 1864, a bustling market Saturday in Port-au-Prince, Haiti was enlivened with the public executions of eight Haitians for cannibalistic... read more »

Prison Cell Graffiti c1750 from Nell Darby on Vimeo. This graffiti can be seen at the Museum of London. read more »

Recently, there has been an attempt by some bloggers to engage with the emotional content of their academic work. Failure to engage with the emotional... read more »

On Friday, 13 April 1753, two men and a woman who had been condemned to death at the Gloucestershire Assizes were taken from Gloucester Castle to Over,... read more »

On this date in 1943, French resistance heroine France Bloch-Serazin was executed by the Germans in Hamburg. Bloch-Serazin English Wikipedia entry | French)... read more »

On this date in 1896, during a driving Adirondack snowstorm, Bartholomew “Bat” Shea was electrocuted at New York’s Clinton Prison for... read more »

On this date in 1973, 12 actual or supposed Ugandan guerrillas opposing the Idi Amin dictatorship were shot in groups of one or two at various places around... read more »

In an older post I blogged about a policing scandal that led to the establishment of an official detective unit within the Metropolitan Police in 1842.... read more »

On an uncertain date in the winter of 416-415 B.C.E., the island of Melos surrendered to an Athenian siege during the ruinous Peloponnesian War. Athens... read more »

(Thanks to Meaghan Good of the Charley Project for the guest post. -ed.) At 1:30 p.m. on this date in 1844 at the Columbus Penitentiary in Ohio, William... read more »

'THE RULES' ARE SET "It is doubtful whether there is any field of law in which there has been as much confusion and variation in interpreting the very... read more »

As is clear from several of my blog posts, one of my principal research interests is the history of the Scotland Yard Detective Department during the mid-Victorian... read more »

On this date in 1931, the Chinese nationalists executed 23 Communists at Longhua, including five members of the League of Left-Wing Writers. Early in what... read more »

Recently, there has been an attempt by some bloggers to engage with the emotional content of their academic work. Failure to engage with the emotional... read more »

On this date in 1481, Spain’s first auto-da-fe under the recently established Spanish Inquisition saw six burned at the stake in Seville. These pageants... read more »

On this date in 1999, the Philippines resumed executions after 23 years with its first-ever lethal injection. Judicial executions had ceased during the... read more »

On this date in 1653, the German bandit Jasper Hanebuth was broken on the wheel in Hanover. An illiterate farmer’s son from Groß-Buchholz, Hanebuth... read more »

In pre-revolutionary Russia women were defined primarily by their relationships with men. Within this patriarchal society women were constantly subject... read more »

Mr Gove has offered this advice to school heads, that misbehaving pupils should be told to pick up litter or write out lines hundreds of times, in a return... read more »

  Michael Gove's statement today that he wants to see state schools rise to the standard of independent schools is worthy of thought. I am in a good... read more »