The New Newgate Calendar

Guest post by Shannon McSheffrey; 30 April 2017.                              ... read more »

Just this week, in the wake of the professional footballer Joey Barton being banned for placing bets on his own team, the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger,... read more »

On this date in 1944,* four young Italian fascist agents of Mussolini‘s rump state were shot as spies and saboteurs by the Allies at a quarry near... read more »

A while ago, I went for a wander around the trail at Shag Bay and saw the remains of some industrial business that had taken place in the area. I was able... read more »

In the Syrian city of Raqqa on this date in 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) reportedly crucified two men in a posthumous public gibbeting, after executing... read more »

Piccadilly, near Green Park, in 1897 In the early hours of the morning of the 27 April 1889 Detective constable William Wyers (294 C) had stationed himself... read more »

The composed image in this date’s post would almost lead one to believe it posed, but Mexican campesinos Arcadio Jiménez, Hilario Silva, and... read more »

Illustrated Police News, 23 August 1902. (British Newspaper Archive. Image copyright The British Library Board. All Rights reserved.) On 15 August 1902,... read more »

Joseph Jesnoski was one of thousands of Polish immigrants living in  London in the 1800s. The fact that Joseph seemed to speak good English (or at... read more »

This tale of murder from the East End of London, only a couple of years after the Whitechapel murders, inevitably grabbed my attention, as the victim... read more »

On this date in 1896, New York City electrocuted Carl Feigenbaum. He’d been convicted of slaying the widow from whom he rented a room at eight cents... read more »

The exciting life of juvenile transportee Charles Brewer   Description List: Record CON18-1-13 Born in 1821, Charles was convicted aged fourteen... read more »

In late April 1842 four police constables appeared at Lambeth Police Court as defendants charged with pilfering from the London Docks. John Broughton,... read more »

Lieutenant General Hisao Tani was shot on this date in 1947 for his part in the Rape of Nanking. Tani commanded a division that took part in the conquest... read more »

William Rogers was a gentleman who lived in Shepherd’s Bush in the London suburbs and as such, he was as far from being the usual sort of occupant... read more »

(Thanks to Meaghan Good of the Charley Project for the guest post. -ed.) The story of what would become known as the Wright County War began on September... read more »

Thomas Stead was only a young boy when he was brought to the Bow Street Police Court, the most senior of the summary courts of the capital. He was charged... read more »

This time, over two postings, we profile one of the lesser known, but no less controversial, Victorian alienists - Dr Alexander John Sutherland; by re-exposing... read more »

This date’s anecdote, from a public domain local history, concerns the April 24, 1852 hanging of Nathaniel Bowman. Bowman has the minor distinction... read more »

A big fire was always likely to bring people onto the streets in Victorian London. In August 1888 a fire at the docks would have been the news item... read more »

On or very near this date in 1943, a Ukrainian militias massacred the Poles of the village of Janowa Dolina (Yanova Dolina). Janowa Dolina in the 1930s.... read more »

Ye Mingchen (1807-1859), governor of Canton (now Guangdong), China Frederick Fisher might be forgiven for thinking that while he had committed a crime,... read more »

Seattle Times, April 22, 1947. On this date in 1947, U.S. Army Private Garlon Mickles was hanged at a place called “execution gulch” in Honolulu’s... read more »

Charles McCarthy and John Harrison were described by the Standard’s  court reporter as ‘urchins’. We should probably understand... read more »

The National Archives has announced the release of a set of its pension records relating to Metropolitan Police officers on Ancestry. The registers of... read more »

Last week, on Monday 10 April, I was fortunate enough to attend a day conference hosted by the International John Bunyan Society on “Prisons and... read more »

The Metropolitan Police Court Magistrate presided over the summary court of that name but he was not actually attached to the Metropolitan Police,... read more »

From the Annals of the Indian Rebellion, 1857-58: THE MUTINEER JEMADAR ISSUREE PANDY. This Jemadar of the 34th Regiment N.I. was brought to trial on the... read more »

Moments before his death warrant expired at midnight U.S. Central Time, after a last meal consisting only of communion, Ledell Lee was executed by the... read more »

In the 1880s Woolwich was home to the Royal Arsenal, as it had been since the 17th century (and in fact earlier as there had been used for gun storage... read more »

On this date in 1374, mayor Tile von Damm was beheaded by rebel populares in his home city of Braunschweig (Brunswick). One of northern Europe’s... read more »

Italian organ grinders have figured before on this blog; there seems to have been  a fair few of them active in Victorian London and they nearly all... read more »

From the Boston Daily Advertiser and Repertory, April 26, 1820: GEORGETOWN, (Del.) April 18 — This day, the awful sentence of the law was executed... read more »

  In June 2016 the BBC reported that the theft of pet dogs was on the rise. Figures showed that over 100 dogs were being stolen in England and Wales... read more »

On this date in 1792, the French Revolution’s iconic execution machine made its quiet experimental debut on the grounds of a suburban Paris hospital.... read more »

HMS Warrior at Woolwich Rachel Scott was 13 years of age and was walking in the street outside the Worship Street Police Court one afternoon in April 1841.... read more »

On (or very near) this date in 1986, Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal had British hostage Alec Collett hanged in revenge for the previous day’s U.S.... read more »

In the mid 1870s America was still recovering from the horrors of its civil war. Its president was the victorious Union general, Ulyssess S. Grant, serving... read more »

The marriage between Thomas and Lucretia Gates was not a happy one. The relationship had soured over time and Thomas’ poor treatment of his wife... read more »

(Thanks to Augustinian friar Cherubino Ghirardacci for today’s guest post, from his History of Bologna. The Saint Nicholas in question for this picturesque... read more »

On this date in 2015, in the Islamic holy city of Medina, Saudi Arabia beheaded Indonesian domestic worker Siti Zainab after a very long wait. Zainab,... read more »

James Wallace was described in court as a 37 year-old astrologer. When he appeared before Mr Bridge at Bow Street he was charged with a violent assault... read more »

  Posted by Krista Kesselring; 14 April 2017. Granting pardons to criminals on Good Friday remains a tradition in parts of the world today. Though... read more »

The former Beach Tavern in Sandy Bay has the look of a typical early colonial era roadside inn, of which there are many scattered across Tasmania. This... read more »

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Courts went up in the very first days after the victory of the Iranian Revolution. These courts still exist nearing... read more »

Port Arthur, Tasmania On 21 March 2017, Barry Godfrey gave a paper on the Digital Panopticon and ‘Dark Tourism’ at a LABEX Past in the Present... read more »

Port Arthur, Tasmania On 21 March 2017, Barry Godfrey gave a paper on the Digital Panopticon and ‘Dark Tourism’ at a LABEX Past in the Present... read more »

Watercolour of a hand with smallpox by Robert Carswell in 1831 (Wellcome Library, London) Mr Selfe had only just taken his seat at Westminster Police Court... read more »

Many of the cases prosecuted and heard by the magistrates of the Victorian metropolis were fairly mundane and soon forgotten. Everyday across London... read more »

From the Newgate Calendar: SAWNEY CUNNINGHAM An abandoned Villain who inveigled and murdered his Wife’s Lover, murdered his Uncle, terrorised the... read more »