The New Newgate Calendar

“This is a truth that resides in me, to which I cannot bear witness if I do not die.” -Fra Michele Berti, at the stake On this date in 1389,... read more »

This post takes a look at an open dataset available through the University of Pennsylvania’s open access repository. The dataset, Indentures and... read more »

Silena Salter was by all accounts an ‘extraordinary’ young woman, By the age of 18 she was already a well known character at the Guildhall... read more »

On this date in 1774, Daniel Wilson was hanged before a throng of 12,000 in Providence, Rhode Island, for rape. A journeyman carpenter turned small-time... read more »

In April 1867 two teenagers appeared at the Greenwich Police court accused of the possession of  a variety of items that didn’t belong to them... read more »

William Gregg was hanged and quartered on this date in 1708 as a French spy. Given a recent near-miss prosecution for counterfeiting — his pregnant... read more »

Primrose Day, by Frank Bramley (1885) Tale Gallery, London By late April 1899 the old queen was nearing the end of her long reign and Britain was just... read more »

Joseph Sollis was executed in North Carolina on this date in 1827 for murder. It didn’t go so well, apparently leading a regular gawker to pierce... read more »

Today’s story picks up on where we left it yesterday, with a young lad of 12 being committed for trial for killing another youth in a fist fight... read more »

On the morning of this date in 1916, British Captain John Bowen-Colthurst ordered the summary execution of three Irish journalists in his custody: part... read more »

Greenwich Pier, c.1850 Today’s story will unfold in two parts and starts at the Greenwich Police court in April 1858. William Sellis, aged just 12,... read more »

(Thanks to Florence Dugdale-Hardy, wife of gallows aficionado and literary titan Thomas Hardy, for the guest post on horse thief “Blue Jimmy”,... read more »

A new website aimed at helping people research their family’s criminal history was launched last weekend in Hull. The website, Our Criminal Ancestors,... read more »

It was midday on 24 April 1883 and the verger to the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral (a Mr Green) was close by the choir with his assistant. He noticed... read more »

I am often reminded of how tremendously ignorant I am of some aspects of history. Most of my  study has been concerned with Britain and Europe and... read more »

From the Boston Gazette, Aug. 4, 1752: BRISTOL, April 18. Last Saturday about 4 o’Clock in the Afternoon ended the Assizes for this City and County,... read more »

On this date in 1941, Harry Gleeson hanged for murder in Ireland — wrongly, the government admitted in 2015. Gleeson was the nephew and farmhand... read more »

Today we are constantly urged to avoid becoming embroiled in street crime for fear that we might be injured or worse if we attempt to help others. This... read more »

April 22 is the Christian feast date of Saint Leonides of Alexandria, the patron saint of being surpassed by your children.* The Christian historian Eusebius... read more »

Elizabeth Collinson was employed as a servant in the household of Mr Morris, a cabinetmaker in Curtain Road, Shoreditch. When his wife discovered that... read more »

On this date in 1533, a German woman, nameless to posterity, was burnt as a witch in the town of Schiltach. Engraving of Schiltach from 1643, a century... read more »

PC Monaghan was on patrol at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday 21 April 1880. As the constable entered the canon... read more »

On this date in 1620, Thomas Dempster was condemned by a Scottish assize to execution for counterfeiting. No documentation specifying the execution date... read more »

On most days the reports from the Metropolitan Police courts concerned the lives of very ordinary Londoners. The criminal, the mentally ill, the aged,... read more »

On this date in 1246, Brandur Kolbeinsson suffered a summary beheading. The chieftain of Iceland’s powerful Ásbirningar clan — it was... read more »

Under the terms of the Married Women’s Property Act (1882) the law stated that: A married woman shall, in accordance with the provisions of this... read more »

On this date in 1818, four hanged at Lancaster Castle for uttering forged notes, along with a fifth hanged for burglary and horse theft — all casualties... read more »

A Hindu temple in Bangalore in the 1880s  This week the news is rightly dominated by the scandalous treatment of the Windrush generation. This country... read more »

Above: The Headsman’s internal monologue. One of this here site‘s recurring motifs — and definitional challenges — is the blurry... read more »

On this date in 1922, a Turkish official implicated in the Armenian genocide had a death sentence enforced upon him … by an assassin’s bullet.... read more »

If you know me, the topic of this first post may come as unsurprising but also a bit eyebrow-raising. “Sharon, you’ve been working on the Old... read more »

PC Baker (108G) was on duty in Buckeridge Street, St Giles in mid April 1844 when he heard a shout of ‘murder!’ In the mid nineteenth century... read more »

When current India Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, he implemented a “Tribal Martyrs’ Day” celebration for... read more »

Let’s not beat about the bush, James Bull was an alcoholic. In 1840 the papers referred to him as ‘dissipated’ by they meant that he... read more »

On this date in 1345, Giovanni Martinozzi died for the faith in Cairo. Martinozzi was a Franciscan who hailed from one of the prominent families of Siena.... read more »

This case is amongst the earliest I’ve looked at for the Metropolitan Police Courts predating in fact, both the beginning of Victoria’s reign... read more »

On this date in 2004, Italian mercenary Fabrizio Quattrocchi was executed by Iraqi insurgents. A former Italian army corporal turned baker, Quattrocchi... read more »

A ghost sign in modern Boston I’ve just returned from a fantastic trip to Massachusetts, and while there, of course, thought to research some of... read more »

Giuseppe Mazzini A crowd had gathered outside 7 Hardington Place, Portman Market in Marylebone. It was about 10.30 at night and a man was at a first floor... read more »

Every small boy used to want a bike for Christmas, maybe they still do (but I suspect its the latest iPhone, video game, or tablet that top the lists in... read more »

Original Dublin broadsheet via James Kelly’s Gallows Speeches: From Eighteenth-Century Ireland: The Last Speech, Confession and Dying Words of William... read more »

Jeremiah Meacham was hanged in Rhode Island on this date in 1715 for a double murder committed during a disturbing psychotic break. In the execution sermon... read more »

Female prisoners in Tothill Fields House of Correction  Mary Driscoll was well known to the establishment at Southwark Police Court. A ‘powerful... read more »

We are delighted to publish this guest post by Esther Brot, who is currently pursuing her PhD in History at King’s College London. She is writing... read more »

Today’s case took up almost the entirety of the Morning Chronicle’s  crime news coverage when it was published in April 1838. The... read more »

We owe this date’s entry to Joseph Jekyll, a young gentleman (kin to the late judge of the same name whom Alexander Pope had once teased as an “odd... read more »

Via UrduPoint.com. A different report give the spur to the murder not as a “minor dispute” but a “robbery bid”. FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint... read more »

This is a shocking case with echoes of recent acid attacks on London streets. Derryck John has just been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison... read more »

On this date in 1836, two different Englishwomen hanged in Gloucester and Liverpool for seeing off their respective husbands with arsenic. They’re... read more »

When William Bennett was first brought before a magistrate at the Guildhall Police court he was remanded in custody for a few days. The justice, Alderman... read more »