The New Newgate Calendar

Maximilian Dortu was shot on this date in 1849 for his part in that era’s failed revolutions, but posterity will always remember his dunk on the... read more »

By Cassie Watson; posted 31 July 2019. On an April evening in 1820, within clear view of her mother-in-law, a young woman dosed her husband’s gruel... read more »

In yesterday’s post I discussed the casual racism and anti-Semitism that was endemic in late nineteenth-century London and led to the passing of... read more »

Today is the bicentennial of the day in the national limelight for the Wiltshire village of Purton Stoke: the July 30, 1819 execution of Robert Watkins... read more »

This morning I’m off to Whitechapel to show some friends of mine around the area. If the weather is kind to us (and it’s not looking good!)... read more »

A notoriously brutal guard at the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp named Ruth Closius-Neudeck was hanged on this date in 1948. With impeccable... read more »

In 1857 Parliament passed a landmark act that fundamentally altered the ability of married couples to obtain divorce. The Matrimonial Causes Act (1857)... read more »

Today is the bicentennial of the July 28, 1819 execution by firing squad of Bolivarian independence heroine Maria Antonia Santos Plata. Monument to Antonia... read more »

It was about 2 o’clock in the morning when Henry Preston heard a loud commotion coming from the parrot house at London Zoo. The keeper rushed over... read more »

The Gulf state Bahrain shot three men this morning, including two young Shia activists whose condemnation became a worldwide cause celebre. (The third... read more »

  Mr Pass, like many fathers, wanted the best for his daughter. He was part of the large immigrant population of London, a boot maker by trade, he... read more »

“I made up my mind to do away with myself and bought a tin of rat poison, but hadn’t the courage to do it. When I saw the man in the public... read more »

Police constable Fisher (32E) was on duty in Great Russell Street in the early hours of Friday morning, 26 July 1867. As he approached Bloomsbury Square... read more »

The last of 15 women executed in Turkey, Kariye Partici, hanged on this date in 1971. Partici (German Wikipedia link, but most all of the few other sources... read more »

It was just before 5 o’clock on the 16 July 1894 when Mr John Sandys, the public orator (literally the voice) of the University of Cambridge, arrived... read more »

On this date in 1833, the Federal Republic of Central America executed Salvadoran indigenous rebel Anastasio Aquino. Monument to Anastasio Aquino in Santiago... read more »

In July 1888 Robert Allen, a 64 year-old cabinetmaker, was charged at Bow Street, with ‘resisting the police and riotous conduct’. He’d... read more »

On this date in 1971, four leftist officers who had briefly overthrown the government of Sudan were shot — just one day after their coup collapsed.... read more »

By Dr Craig Stafford, University of Liverpool For my PhD, I researched women committed for drunkenness to Strangeways Prison, Manchester, between 1869... read more »

With a new prime minister about to be announced this morning thoughts turn to a possible General Election. British politics is going through a tumultuous... read more »

Thomas Thomasen Bisp, an adulterer who fatally poisoned his wife after he got the hots for his maid, became on this date in 1822 the last person executed... read more »

Writing a memoir of your career, can be a bit hit and miss. There’s a fine line between fascinating account of your working life and a dry, dull... read more »

On Saturday 20 July 1867 the dock at Lambeth Police court was occupied by a ‘miserably-attired man’ of about 40 years of age. Thomas Nugent,... read more »

20th [July 1775]. Mr. Carpenter was taken by the night Patrole — upon examination he had swum over to Dorchester and back again, was tried here that... read more »

Distraction theft is still one of the commonest forms committed by pickpockets in London. There are frequent warnings on the underground of ‘thieves... read more »

The last man executed in Cornwall, William Hampton, hanged in Bodmin on this date in 1909. Hampton was in the awkward position of making time with a 16-year-old... read more »

George Day was passing along Lucas Place, Coram Street in the parish of St. Pancras, at about 2 in the morning when a woman hailed him from a house there.... read more »

(Thanks to 17th century Dutch Anabaptist Thieleman Janszoon van Braght for the guest post. It was originally an entry in his Anabaptist martyrology Martyrs... read more »

Here are two cases of domestic abuse from 1875, both handled slightly differently by the magistrates involved, but both revealing of contemporary attitudes.... read more »

On this date in 1743, three leaders of the Scottish “Black Watch” were shot in the Tower of London for mutiny. The recruits of the 43rd Highland... read more »

Margate Museum Upstairs, in the small but perfectly formed Margate Museum – situated in the Old Town, and formerly the town hall-and-police-station... read more »

One of the innovations of the Victorian criminal justice system was its ability to track offenders over many years. In the second half of the eighteenth... read more »

(Thanks to Robert Elder of Last Words of the Executed — the blog, and the book — for the guest post. This post originally appeared on the Last... read more »

By far the largest element of a Victorian Police Court magistrate’s business was dealing with those arrested for being drunk, drunk and disorderly,... read more »

From the Melbourne Argus of 14 July 1860: The case of the convict [George] Waines appears to excite considerable interest in the public mind, especially... read more »

John Everett Millais, The Somnambulist, 1871 Police constable Dowding (198E) was pounding his beat in the early hours of the morning of July 15th... read more »

On this date in 1958, Nuri al-Said, the Prime Minister of Iraq’s deposed Hashemite monarchy, was captured trying to flee Iraq in disguise, and immediately... read more »

My well-read copy of In Cold Blood On my bookshelf is a well-worn, well-read book – its wear and tear clearly denoting its position as one of my... read more »

As schoolboys we were always being told to avoid pushing and shoving at bus stops. We were to queue quietly, just as we did whilst waiting to enter class... read more »

On this date in 1958, Iraq’s Hashemite dynasty got the Romanov treatment from coup-making nationalist officers. Having already overstayed their welcome... read more »

On this date in 1958, the aptly named 14 July Revolution deposed the ruling Hashemite dynasty of Iraq — with the summary execution of the royal family... read more »

This started with a question on Twitter about sources for JPs, which got me looking up some old references. This is another one that's not too easy to... read more »

On occasion ‘bigger’ history touches the reports from the metropolitan police courts as the magistracy sought to deal with everyday issues... read more »

On this date in 1928 — Friday the 13th — the Bluegrass State tied a terrible record that still stands to this day by sending seven men to the... read more »

Lloyd’s weekly round up of ‘Police intelligence’ on Sunday 13 July 1884 contains a fascinating variety of human greed, misery and criminal... read more »

(Thanks to medieval scribbler Jean Froissart for the guest post, an episode narrated in his famous chronicle. -ed.) During the time of the assembling of... read more »

Today the internal combustion engine (and its electric equivalent) is ubiquitous, but the horse dominated nineteenth-century London. Horses were everywhere:... read more »

Serial killer Peter Manuel hanged at Glasgow on this date in 1958. U.S.-born to Scottish parents, “the Beast of Birkenshaw” was convicted of... read more »

If you are familiar with William Hogarth’s engravings for the Harlot’s Progress (1732) then you might remember the story of Mary ‘Moll’... read more »

Paolo da Novi, the Doge of Genoa for a few days that spring, was beheaded on this date in 1507. The silk dyer was borne to the apex of power in his French-dominated... read more »