The New Newgate Calendar

I’m blogging less! Some people say blogs are dead? As I get deeper into my book project, Community of the Condemned: Chicago and the Transformation... read more »

In May 1848 a young woman presented herself at the door of Sarah Potter’s house in Jane Street, Southwark asking if she might take a room. She told... read more »

A depiction of the Veiled Murderess at her trial, taken from an account of her ‘life and confessions’ – from the Yale Law Library Flickr... read more »

German-Austria must return to the great German mother country, and not because of any economic considerations. No, and again no: even if such a union were... read more »

On this date in 1789, the Sicilian poisoner Giovanna Bonanno was hanged in Palermo. Portrait of an Old Woman, by Giorgione (c. 1500-1510) Bonanno (English... read more »

Camberwell Green, c.1901 Sarah Mary Hopkins was a 48 year-old woman who had, for the past three years, lived under the roof of her master, James Bowler.... read more »

On this date in 1598, the indigenous Guale youth called Lucas was hanged by the Spaniards in St. Augustine, Florida, for his supposed part in the prior... read more »

Bluegate Fields by Gustave Doré, 1872 ‘Walter Hill aged 26, a man of colour and late cook and seaman on board the ship Ben Nevis, from Surinam,... read more »

On this date in 1795, general Charles de Virot, marquis de Sombreuil was shot for leading the royalist invasion of Quiberon in the west of France. It was... read more »

The Tower of London stands today as a popular tourist attraction maintained by the Royal Palaces. Almost every day of the year it is thronged with visitors... read more »

The hanging this date in 1820 of Stephen Sullivan for killing a 15-year-old a year before closed the real-life case that inspired the popular Irish play... read more »

In my PhD thesis (which I finished in 2005 which seems like a lifetime away!) I researched the summary courts of the City of London in the eighteenth century.... read more »

Further to my earlier post regarding Northamptonshire Archives‘ proposed restriction of ‘free access’ to its records, and a punitive... read more »

Two hundred years ago today, Bath County, Kentucky housewife Eleanor (sometimes spelled Ellenor) Gillespie hanged “at the forks of the road on Mt.... read more »

The Old Nichol area as shown on Charles Booth’s poverty maps (1889) showing the density of poverty maked out in black and blue. The Old Nichol had... read more »

On this date in 1242, the knight, outlaw, and pirate William de Marisco was drawn by a horse to Coventry and put to the pains of disemboweling and quartering... read more »

The Northants Archives Twitter page: where local history lives, but at a cost Most of us who spend time delving into dusty archives as part of our jobs... read more »

Luke Fildes, Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward (1874) The 1880s were a desperate decade for many in London. After the prosperous years of mid century... read more »

 To mark the release of her latest book, Who Killed Constable Cock?, I’m very pleased to have a guest post from writer Angela Buckley today.... read more »

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) executed its hostage French national Michel Germaneau on this date in 2010, in the Saharan state of Mauritania.... read more »

In mid July 1859 there was something of a panic about a potential French invasion of Britain. This had been stirred up by the press after Louis Napoleon... read more »

July 23 is the feast date of fifth century Christian martyrs Rasyphus and Ravennus. Supposed by Middle Ages legends to be British natives who fled to Gaul... read more »

When a man named Burns appeared before the Union Hall Police magistrate on a  charge of being drunk and disorderly, he caused quite a stir. Burns... read more »

We have noted previously the progress of the Spanish Inquisition on the Canary Islands in the early 16th century. We turn here to another auto de fe it... read more »

Messrs. Paton and Charles, soap manufactures, were summoned before Mr Lushington at Thames Police Court accused of breaking the terms of the Factory Act.... read more »

On this date in 1972, Misao Katagiri hanged for a Tokyo gunfight he had perpetrated seven years earlier. A gun fancying 18-year-old, Katagiri triggered... read more »

William Kilminster was presented in the dock at Worship Street Police Court in July 1837 charged with ‘wrenching off the brass knob from a door in... read more »

On this date in 1683, Andrew Guilline (several different spellings of his surname are possible) had his hands chopped off and then his head too, for his... read more »

To mark completion of the four year AHRC funded project ‘The Digital Panopticon: The Global Impact of London Punishments’ we are hosting... read more »

To mark completion of the four year AHRC funded project ‘The Digital Panopticon: The Global Impact of London Punishments’ we are hosting... read more »

In Victorian London overcrowding was common and tensions often flared between occupants of lodging houses and those that owned them. Disputes over non... read more »

On this date in 1975, Dr. Mohamed Forna and other Sierra Leone dissidents were executed as traitors. A medical doctor who entered politics and was Minister... read more »

Much of the land around Sandy Bay was granted to settlers who had come from Norfolk Island in 1808. Many of the grants ranged from between 20 & 100... read more »

Frederick Caius was a telegraph boy. Employed to deliver messages, sometimes by bicycle but mostly by foot, he would have been a familiar figure around... read more »

This morning in 1888, two different locales in the U.S. state of New Jersey put two different men to death — respectively hanged by James Van Hise... read more »

George Wright so badly mistreated his young wife, Emma, that after 18 months of marriage she had walked out of his life, and had gone to live with her... read more »

I wanted much; I began much; but the gale of the world carried away me and my work. -Draža Mihailovic, last statement to the court On this date in... read more »

Before alarm clocks were widely available (let alone radio alarms or digital alarms on mobile phones) most people were reliant on being ‘knocked... read more »

Last week we cross-posted Krista Kesselring’s essay on early modern coroner’s inquests into prisoner deaths, which originally appeared on the... read more »

On or around this date in 1450 the body of the rebel Jack Cade was posthumously beheaded and quartered. He’s one of England’s first names in... read more »

Reynolds Map of East London (1882) Fans of the BBC’s Eastenders soap will be interested to know that there actually was an Albert Square in... read more »

On this date in 1738, the Jewish proselytizer Baruch Leibov was publicly burned in St. Petersburg along with a convert, retired Russian naval officer Alexander... read more »

In June 1855 a bill was introduced to Parliament to close down shops and to suspend public transport  on Sundays, to better enforce the observation... read more »

On this date in 1852, Louis Lullier lost his head for an Edgar Allan Poe-esque murder that was very nearly the perfect crime. He would be the the last... read more »

Craig Revel Horwood, one of the judges on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing,  was the subject of an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, which... read more »

Bangor Street, Notting Hill Lilian Edward was brought up before Mr Curtis Bennett at the Hammersmith Police Court charged with ‘being in the unlawful... read more »

On this date in 1807 at Wisbech, 15-year-old Richard Faulkner hanged in a truly repentant frame of mind — as described by the Norfolk Chronicle of... read more »

I have addressed the sensitive topic of suicide in several posts for this blog and it continues to be something that occurs with depressing regularity... read more »

We are delighted to share this post by Krista Kesselring, Professor of History at Dalhousie University. It originally appeared on the Legal History Miscellany... read more »

On this date in 2008, the Taliban executed two women whom it claimed were running a prostitution ring for U.S. soldiers based in the city of Ghazni. The... read more »