BRIEF CASE #21, --- The Sensational & Tragic Case Of James Fisk...

BRIEF CASE #20, --- The Sinister & Chilling Case Of Miss Helen Potts...

BRIEF CASE, #19 --- The Horrifying Case Of Maria Marten & The Red Barn...

BRIEF CASE, #18, --- The Dark & Wicked Case Of Henrietta Robinson...

Lizzie Borden...

"Elizabeh Borden took an ax and gave her father forty whacks... And, when she saw what she had done, she gave her mother forty-one." --- Very popular rhyme made up at the time of Lizzie Borden's murder trial. It was a scandalous murder trial in Fall River, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Borden was found not guilty. But, many folks thought she did it. She was a big girl, solemn of nature and secretive. During the trial she conducted herself with perfect decorum. An excellent movie of the incident was made in 1975, starring Elizabeth Montgomery... (***WATCH THE FULL MOVIE, below) ;)

BRIEF CASE #17, --- The Dark & Chilling Case Of John Knatchbull... (Before the Victorian Era, but an interesting case, nevertheless)

BRIEF CASE #16, --- From France, The Twisted & Disturbing Case Of Edme Castaing...

BRIEF CASE #15, --- The Twisted & Sinister Case Of Mary Ann Burdock...

"Unmentionable," --- hilarious non fiction book by Therese Oneil...

So funny and entertaining, about the Victorian era's view of Women-&-Sex... Loaded with original Victorian photos and ads... I loved it!!!...

...The rust proof corset, above. ;)

Isn't He Pretty?, --- TRULY... (A white crow would have to be very tough and courageous to survive)

***My Short Story: "The Lunatic Girl," Part 2...

It was Cranwell Lunatic Asylum I spied in the distance. Now, the horses leading the carriage in which I was imprisoned trotted briskly on a very long lane, their hooves clop-clopping the dark brown frozen ground. The carriage stopped in front of the building's imposing entrance, and the driver yanked the carriage door. The burly footman clumsily and roughly jostled me out, bound hand and foot and gagged, as I was, useless, so vainly struggling, as he half-carried me inside Cranwell. Immediately, two huge orderlies, a man and a woman came forth to silently take me from the footman, who then turned and left. I looked into the cold eyes of my attendants. They seemed angry, as if I was just another unavoidable bother they could hardly endure. The woman bent, untying my ankles. I could walk. One on either side of me, they hustled me down the corridor. We stopped at a tall and long desk made of scuffed and pitted wood. Behind it was a sour-looking man, no beauty, who reminded me of a human rat. He had small pale gray eyes and a mustache with, perhaps, three hundred stiff, wiry hairs in it, like a rat's long whiskers. He had a long nose like a shriveled parsnip and a stringy neck. Tufts of dark gray hair sprouted from the top and sides of his head. His ears were large, pinkish and translucent; they stuck out like a rodent's. He wore a wrinkled shirt and a black string tie; a threadbare and shiny black suit hung on his emaciated frame. The man nodded and my gag was removed. I sputtered,"I don't belong here! My, --- my father, Baron Edmund Addington, he forced me to!... I was kidnapped, forced into a carriage!..." The man held up his palm. "Quiet. You will be silent and reasonable or we shall be gagging you again. We strive for peace here. This is a place of healing and understanding, and you will you treated with kindness, but only if you cooperate." He fixed me with intense, squinting eyes. "If you insist on behaving in an irrational manner you will be dealt with firmly." I shut my mouth, truly frightened. Of course, I had heard the gossip that zooms around the homes of the gentry, as we were, as my people had been for generations. The aristrocracy very seldom has the priviledge of marrying for love. So, "unruly" wives of arranged marriages and, --- any female relations who step out of their accustomed roles in high society, are in danger of being "put away' for their safety and sanity, --- of course... It was a very wicked thing to do to family members of the "fair sex," but it happened all the time. Now, it was happening to me! The man, who I later learned was Ira Carbontle, brought a big book from under the desk, setting it on the surface. He opened the book, ran a long, bony finger with thick nails that were badly in need of trimming over names and entrys, until he came to one. "Ah, yes," he said, "are you Lucille Cecelia Addington?" "I told you my father is Baron Edmund Addington, so, --- yes, I am his daughter Lucille, naturally! And, it is Baroness Lucille Addington!" "Here you are simply Lucille Addington and you will mind." "Mind!" "Yes, mind. If you don't..." "Are you threatening me?" His voice was annoyingly patronizing. "You have been brought here for a reason, Lucille. You are mentally and emotionally disturbed. Your father has told us of your condition. You will be evaluated, and examined for further abnormalities. Your father has sorrowfully told us that he believes you have slipped into insanity, that you are suffering from female hysteria brought on by an overwhelming and uncontrolled surge of feminine humors, which has led to a pregnancy. So sad in such a young and unwed woman..." I gritted my teeth. "I am not insane!" Ira closed the book, placed it back under the desk. He folded his hands on the desk's surface, looked at me with false compassion. "You are." He nodded to the orderlies, who still held my upper arms. They hustled me dowm the long corridor. We went through two swinging doors. Upon entering this part of the corridor we were greeted with what I would call an explosion of noise, --- all from shrieking human voices. The cacophony came from people lining or huddled against walls constructed mostly of very thick panes of glass in front of iron bars. Some people sat in chairs too, or on benches. Others crouched on the floor like wild beasts, waiting to pounce. Many sat with their knees drawn up, their faced buried against their thighs. Some paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Some stared ahead, their eyes lifeless. Some jerked and trembled, with rolling eyes, like frightened and pathetic sheep.

One woman seemed to have her left eye going in the opposite dirextion from her right.

We walked on, turned a corner, went through another set of double doors. We were in a long room lined with narrow metal beds, made up neatly with white sheets. Next to one bed stood women and men, and a man in a white coat, all most certainly extra medical personnel and a doctor, plus two men in black suits, one man wearing a stovepipe hat. This man's clothes were very shabby, even dusty. He had thick black brows, a scraggly black beard and was frowning, as if he had an extremely distasteful job to do. The doctor looked strangely interested, even happy. On the bed next to them was a figure covered with a sheet; a white towel covered the figure's face.

"Unbind her," the man in the stovepipe hat said, "but, can't you fools see how busy we are?" --- Copyright 2023, by Antoinette Beard.

The Victorian Shop That Made Rags Into Riches...

BRIEF CASE #14: The Disturbing & Sad Case Of Anna Mansdotter, --- from mid nineteenth century Sweden...

BRIEF CASE #13: The Dark & Disturbing Case Of Ane Cathrine Anderdatter, --- from mid nineteenth century Denmark...

"She Walks In Beauty," By George Gordon, Lord Byron...

It is said to have been inspired by an event in Byron's life. On 11 June 1814, Byron attended a party in London. Among the guests was Mrs. Anne Beatrix Wilmot, wife of Byron's first cousin, Sir Robert Wilmot. He was struck by her unusual beauty, and the next morning the poem was written... ***"She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!"

Queen Victoria's 7 Assassination Attempts...

Lady Hastings was Queen Victoria's mother's lady-in-waiting, --- then...

Oooo!!!... The Nasty Secrets Of Victorian Era Leaders!!!...

The Maybrick Poisoning Case...

She was found guilty of poisoning her husband...

10 Victorian Scandals, --- By Nene Adams...

The rise of cheap, sensational newspapers in the nineteenth century meant that shocking scandals weren’t just whispered about behind fluttering fans and raised teacups. Ordinary members of the public could sit down at the breakfast table and over tea and toast, read every juicy, salacious, delicious detail of who did what and to whom.Sadly, Honey Boo Boo wouldn’t be born for another century-plus, so reading newspapers, penny press publications, and scandal sheets was a way for the public to sate its appetite for the disturbing, the sinful, the extraordinary, and the downright ugly. Criminal conversation, beastly behavior, sexual shenanigans … it’s all here in these ten shocking scandals that rocked nineteenth century society to its well-bred core... #10 “The Boy Who Visits the Palace” December 1840 Edward Jones, seventeen years old, son of a tailor and by all accounts as unattractive as homemade sin, was discovered in Buckingham Palace in the dressing room next to Queen Victoria’s bedroom. The queen had recently given birth to her first child. As it turned out, this wasn’t the first time Jones had made himself at home in the palace. He’d been sneaking in since 1838. Worse, he’d once been caught with the queen’s underwear stuffed down his pants! His arrest had the newspapers dubbing him, the “Boy Jones.” Despite increased security, he would cause more furor over an apparent inability to stay away from the palace—he was caught again in 1841 and sentenced to hard labor. Eventually, he went to Australia. #9 “The Great Convent Case” February 1869 The case of Saurin v. Starr and Kennedy stirred up English anti-Catholic sentiments as well as selling a great many newspapers and scurrilous pamphlets. Susan Saurin (formerly Sister Mary Scolastica) sued her mother superior, Mrs. Starr, for libel and conspiracy, claiming she’d been unfairly expelled from the convent. The trial played to a packed courtroom. Witnesses gave accounts of Saurin’s supposed crimes, which included eating strawberries and cream (the wicked woman!) and being “excited” in the presence of a visiting priest. To the Protestant jury’s great disappointment, the mother superior later testified she hadn’t meant that kind of excitement. Verdict for the plaintiff; ₤500 damages awarded. #8 “The Men Who Flogged Haynau” September 1850 HaynauDuring the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 against the Austrian Empire, a man stood out for his violent tactics in suppressing the revolutionaries: Julius Jacob von Haynau, an Austrian general who earned the nickname, “the Hyena.” News of his brutality, particularly against Hungarian women, excited much anger in the English public. So much so that when Haynau visited a brewery during a trip to London in 1850, the draymen—drivers of the wagons used to deliver the barrels of beer—attacked him with whips, brooms, and stones. His magnificent moustaches were torn, his clothes ripped off, and the dread “Hangman of Arad,” abandoning his dignity, fled to a nearby inn for sanctuary. The newspapers had a field day. #7 “The Charges Proved” February, 1870 LadymordauntWhen Lady Harriet Mordaunt’s daughter was born, doctors thought she might be blind. Lady Mordaunt feared syphilis and confessed to her husband, Sir Charles, that she’d been often unfaithful to him. Among her lovers was the Prince of Wales (Queen Victoria’s eldest son, heir to the throne, and later King Edward VII). This bombshell resulted in the infamous Mordaunt divorce trial. Technically, the trial was meant to settle whether Lady Mordaunt was sane enough for a divorce to proceed. To the queen’s fury, the married Prince of Wales was called upon to testify about his relationship with Lady Mordaunt in open court. He denied the adultery. The jury decided the lady suffered from “puerperal mania”—post partum depression. She was committed to an asylum. The divorce was eventually granted. #6 “All That We Publish, We Shall Defend” January 1877 Fruits Of PhilosophyAnnie Besant, a noted feminist, Theosophist, and women’s rights activist, and Charles Bradlaugh, an infamous atheist, published The Fruits of Philosophy: the Private Companion for Young Married Couples, a pamphlet by an American doctor, Charles Knowlton, and previously judged obscene. Why? The subject was contraception. Public discussion of sex was regarded as disgraceful. Twenty minutes after the first copies went on sale, the pair were arrested following a complaint by the Society for the Suppression of Vice. Their trial was a sensation. The jury decided Besant and Bradlaugh hadn’t meant to deprave the public and they were ordered not to republish the pamphlet. They republished it anyway. 5 “Men in Petticoats” July 1854 Prince 1954 21 10In London, at the Druid’s Hall (the meeting place for the Ancient Order of Druids and occasionally hired out to non-Druids) during a masked ball, George Campbell, thirty five years old, and John Challis, sixty years old, were apprehended by the police for “exciting others to commit an unnatural offense.” Both men were dressed in women’s clothes. Homosexuality being illegal, a trial proceeded which scandalized the city. Campbell claimed he’d only gone to the party in a dress so he could witness the “vice” for himself and later preach against it. Both men’s character witnesses painted impeccable pictures. They were let off with stern warnings. #4 “Unspeakable Baseness” June 1875 Valentine Baker Pasha While traveling to London by train, Colonel Valentine Baker, a respected military figure and friend of the Prince of Wales, was accused of raping Rebecca Dickenson, twenty-two years old. At the trial, Dickenson alleged that the colonel had tried to raise her skirts, put his hand in her underwear, and kiss her many times on the lips. To save her virtue, though the train was in motion, she escaped to the step outside the first class railway carriage and clung there, screaming for help. Baker’s trial caused discussion over the British class system since it was argued, quite rightly, that if he’d been in third class, he’d have gotten away with it. Although he escaped the rape charge, he was convicted of committing an indecent assault. #3 “Concerned in an Unspeakably Gross Case” July 1889 When a policeman stopped to question a fifteen year old telegraph boy about why he had eighteen shillings in his pocket in today’s money, that’s about ₤77 or $122 USD), he kicked off a scandal that reached all the way to the British royal family. The boy hadn’t stolen the money—he’d earned it sleeping with gentlemen at a house on Cleveland Street, and so did other young telegraph boys. Scotland Yard raided the house. Among the well connected visitors was Lord Arthur Somerset, the Duke of Beaufort’s son. Prince Victor Albert, nicknamed “Prince Eddy” was also an alleged customer. While the British press kept his name out of the papers, American and French reporters weren’t so circumspect. Several of the men involved in the pedophilia ring – including Somerset – fled the country to avoid prosecution. 2 “He Did Not Make Me His Wife” April 1854 1846, after wedding John Ruskin, the leading critic of the age, the beautiful, young, and bright Euphemia “Effie” Gray expected her life to go the usual wife and motherhood route. Instead, the older Ruskin put off consummating the marriage. And put it off, and put it off until years later, she met and fell in love with another man, John Everett Millais, a Pre-Raphaelite painter and Ruskin’s protégé. She abandoned her unhappy marriage to Ruskin in 1854 and filed for annulment on the grounds that she was still a virgin. The revelations caused unflattering comment on her character in the papers. She married Millais, though she paid a price—never again would she be allowed to attend a social event if Queen Victoria was present. She probably didn’t mind that much, since she and Millais had eight children together. #1 “A Somewhat Uncertain Character” February 1861 When William Charles Yelverton met, wooed, and ultimately became twenty year old Theresa Longworth’s lover, he “ruined” her in the eyes of Victorian society because they weren’t married. She accepted his excuses, took to public speaking to support their life together, even going so far as to follow him to Scotland and Ireland so their affair could continue, but eventually, she expected a wedding. She got the matrimonial ring in a secret church ceremony in 1857. She also got a shock a year later when Yelverton made a bigamous marriage to another woman. Theresa eventually took him to court seeking alimony. He insisted their marriage was invalid because of their religious differences—he was Catholic and she was Protestant. After many appeals, the case went in his favor.

Some Victorian Scandals, By Michelle Morgan...

THE BLOODY BATTERSEA BRIDGE MURDER The Victorians had a thirst for scandal and this was apparent when Augustus Dalmas admitted murdering his lover Sarah MacFarlane after a torrid affair, which began shortly after the death of his wife. MacFarlane was rumoured to be a prostitute with several lovers but Dalmas could not resist her. However he felt so guilty about the dalliance that he bombarded the woman with hate mail, blaming her for their active sex life. Then in April 1844, Dalmas sliced MacFarlane’s throat during a walk on London’s Battersea Bridge. But instead of being hanged for murder, he was shipped off to Australia where he lived for many years. THE BATTERED BODY BENEATH THE FLAGSTONES Maria Manning thought she had it all: a husband, a lover and her lover’s cash. But she soon realised that she loved the money more than the man so, together with her husband Frederick, she plotted to rid herself of lover Patrick O’Connor and keep his fortune. After inviting him to dinner in August 1849, one or both of the Mannings shot O’Connor and buried him under the kitchen flagstones. Maria stole all his money but when Frederick laid claim to his half, she double-crossed him and ran away to Scotland. When O’Connor’s body was found and the couple arrested, they each blamed the other. They were hanged in November 1849, in front of a crowd that included novelist Charles Dickens. MABEL LOVE, THE PUBLICITY EXPERT Still in her teens, actress Mabel Love failed to turn up at The Gaiety Theatre in March 1889 and a frantic search followed. For days newspapers were full of theories and Mabel was “spotted” all over the UK. In truth she had fled to Dublin where she tried to find work. When she returned to London, she was fired from her job at The Gaiety and only reinstated when her parents pleaded with the manager. Then in July 1889 Mabel was rescued after throwing herself into the Thames. Her workload at The Gaiety was blamed but some wondered if her disappearance and suicide attempt were merely clever publicity stunts. Certainly the scandal was enough to keep her name in the headlines for many years to come. THE STRANGE CONFESSION OF PRISCILLA GUPPY In November 1857 Priscilla Guppy was living out her last days in Weymouth, Dorset. What no one knew was that 65 years earlier she had worked in a brothel. When the 90-year-old confessed, her family were shocked. But then a sensational tale followed. A fight had broken out in the brothel between two men and Guppy hit one over the head, killing him. With help from two customers, she dumped the body under a bridge. Although they were arrested, lack of evidence meant all three walked free. “I beat him in the head with an iron! May God have mercy on my soul.” Guppy died shortly afterwards, once again escaping justice for her grisly crime. THE SAD TALE OF BERTHA DENNIS In late 1884, young cook Bertha Dennis was raped and became pregnant. In March 1885 she decided to seek advice from her aunt but was stopped at the station by a mysterious woman. “Mrs X” encouraged Bertha to go to her house, which was actually a brothel, and in the following weeks Bertha was subjected to vile abuse. When she gave birth her son was taken away and she never discovered what happened to him. Eventually, Bertha managed to escape the house of horrors but no charges were ever brought against “Mrs X”, due to the victim’s reluctance to give precise details of where the brothel was located.

Victorian Bad Guys, --- REALLY!!!......

***Amelia Dyer spent 20 years killing infants that were left in her care. In 1869, now a widow, she turned to baby farming. This meant she adopted unwanted infants in exchange for money. At first she took care of them as best she could, but some of them died, and she was punished with 6 months of hard labour. Once free, she started killing the children purposely. This was likely because it was cheaper, and involved less labour. She was recognised as being mentally unstable and spent a lot of time in different mental institutions. After a dead infant was found in a river, she was discovered to be the culprit, and sentenced to hanging. ***Sarah Freeman was one of the most famous Victorian criminals of the era, a grand total of 11,000 people watched her hang on April 23, 1845. Freeman left her hometown, and moved to Bridgewater to become a lady of the night, so she was likely desperate for money. She married a man named Henry Freeman, but then he suspiciously died of arsenic poisoning. She collected a sum of money after he died due to insurance. At some point she moved back in with her family but they all mysteriously died as well. Then her brother died as well. They all died of arsenic poisoning. After examining the bodies, it became obvious she had poisoned them. ***By day, William Brodie was a respectable tradesman, and Edinburgh City Councillor, by night, he was a devilish housebreaker, who did it for the thrill, and to fund his gambling problem. Part of his day job was to fix locks. Because of this, it was easier for him to break into the houses of the people’s whose locks he had worked on. Through his job he would copy their keys, allowing him to just waltz in to the houses of his victims. When inside he would steal their money, and valuables. He was one of the most trusted locksmiths in Edinburgh, and was asked to work on some of the most expensive houses in the city. Eventually he led a gang of thieves. In his private life he had 5 children with two different mistresses. .

It was a job children could do, --- rat catcher!...

😧😩😪😵🐀🐀🐀 >>>

Child Rat Catchers of the Victorian Era

By Geri Walton | December 4, 2013 | 0 

By the Victorian Era it was common knowledge that rats carried diseases, and thousands of them were known to infest London sewers, factories, and homes just like they had infested France in Montfaucon in 1828. In the seasons when rats overran London, rat catchers were in high demand. Moreover, rats could be a big problem as reported by one Victorian rat catcher:

“One pair of rats … with their progeny, will produce in three years no less a number than 646,808 rats, which will consume day by day as much food as 64,680 men, leaving eight rats to starve.”[1]

Water rat and two common rats, Author’s collection.

To solve the rat problem, the demand for rat catchers can be demonstrated by William Jures. He often ran ads for rat catching positions with his want ads reading:

“Rats! Rats!! Rats!!! Wanted, engagements for exterminating the above Pests – Apply to William Jures, Professional Rat Catcher (with box traps), New steads, Cathill, late of Saddler’s Hall.[2]

“Buy a Trap, a Rat-trap, Buy My Trap” by Thomas Rowlandson. Public domain.

Many children preferred catching rats to cleaning chimneys, working in coal mines, or hawking wares. One reason rat catching was popular with the youth was because it was lucrative. De-ratting English manors and businesses earned rat catchers wages that ranged from two shillings to one pound. However, because rat catchers had to make an investment and at least own a terrier or a ferret, many rat catchers were older youths.

Rat catchers were also rat killers. To kill a rat was a straight forward task. Rat catchers often claimed to have alluring secret poisons, but in reality their prime rat-killing poison was plain old arsenic. The arsenic was mixed with “toasted cheese, or bacon, or fried liver, or tallow, or oatmeal.”[3]

A second way to kill rats involved ferrets and terriers. Ferrets would flush the rats out and trained terriers would seize them. Born a year before Eliza de Feuillide died, author Henry Mayhew wrote in his book London Labour and the London Poor, that terriers would “throttle them silently, excepting the short squeak, or half-squeak, of the rat, who, by a ‘good dog’, is seized unerringly by the part of the back where the terrier’s gripe and shake is speedy death.”[4]

Using these methods, the Newcastle Daily Chronicle reported on a rat catcher of the early 1860s named Mr. Matthew French of Hexham. He was better known as “Matt the Rover,” and, supposedly, in a single day he “with the aid of his four astute ferrets, and his ‘two game little terriers,’ [took, killed, and slayed] … the enormous number of three hundred rats.”[5]

French version of the rat catcher in the seventeenth century. Courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France.

If the pervasive disease-ridden varmints needed to be captured alive, there were several ways to accomplish the job. One way was to have the ferret flush out the rat and drive it into some contrivance. This was the best way to catch rats used for blood sports because it left no visible injuries, a requirement for the sport. (One popular blood sport was rat-baiting. It involved filling a pit with rats and placing bets on how long it would take a dog, usually a terrier, to kill them.)

The second reason rats were captured alive was to breed and sell as house pets. One famous rat catcher named Jack Black worked as Queen Victoria’s personal rat catcher and caught all sorts of rats, including unusual colored ones. He bred them and sold them to well-bred women who kept them in squirrel cages as pets. Jack began as a child rat catcher and in an interview in the 1800s with Mayhew he claimed:

“I should think I’ve been ratting a’most for five-and-thirty year. I’ve been bitten nearly everywhere, even where I can’t name and right through my thumbnail too … When a rat’s bite touches the bone, it make you feel faint in a minute, and it bleeds dreadful like you have ben stuck with a penknife. … The first rats I caught was when I was about nine years of age. After that I bought some ferrets, and I was, I think, the first that regularly began to hunt rats to ‘sterminate them.[6]

Jack Black. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

References:

• [1] A Rat-catcher on Rats, in Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertise, p. 3.
• [2] “Wanted,” in Alnwick Mercury, 24 October 1885, pg. 4.
• [3] Mayhew, Henry, London Labour and the London Poor, Vol. 1, 1851, p. 503.
• [4] Ibid.
• [5] “Rat Slaughter Extraordinary,” in Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 26 December 1861, pg. 3
• [6] BBC2 Shows what Mayhew’s London was Really Like, in Illustrated London News, 2 April 1966, p. 16.

Fascinating Victorian Criminals & Gangs...

 

William Palmer

Palmer was hanged in 1856 for the murder of his friend John Cook, but he likely began killing long before then. Before going after his friend, he might have killed his whole family. Only two weeks after coming to live with Palmer and his wife, Palmer’s mother-in-law died. Later his wife died as well, but only shortly after he had taken out life insurance on her. He then took out a life insurance policy on his brother, and then not long later, his brother died too. Then, all his children died while they were still infants. The most obvious murder came, when his friend won a substantial amount of money. And then, after drinking with Palmer, died of poisoning. After searching his body, they found that his winnings were “missing”.

Glascow Penny Mob...

The Penny Mobs were a Glaswegian gang during the Victorian Era, who would rob someone even just for a single penny. This is one of the reasons they got their name, another reason was that the crime rate was so high, that if the authorities caught someone committing a crime, they would just be fined one penny. The gangs formed after the mass migration of Irish after the potato famines of the mid 1800’s. Sometimes the crimes they committed were quite severe. One of these gangs, called the Ribbon Men, was responsible for blowing a gas holder in Tradeston in 1883.

Burke and Hare...

They became a serial killing duo once they discovered how profitable it was to sell recently deceased bodies for medical research. They got into the business when one of their tenants died before paying his rent, and they decided they would just get it by selling the body. This is when they found out how profitable selling bodies was. They began luring people, and then murdering them to sell the bodies for a lot of money. They always sold to Dr Knox, who was likely aware that they were killing people to get the bodies but didn’t seem to care as long as he could get the bodies he wanted. Burke and Hare were eventually caught. Hare sold out Burke, and got off scot free, whereas Burke was hanged.

The Hooligan Boys...

They were a gang located in London in the 1800’s. They are actually where the word hooligan comes from. A London newspaper wrote about them saying “The avalanche of brutality which, under the name of ‘Hooliganism’ … has cast such a dire slur on the social records of South London.” A 19-year-old man named Charles Clarke was written about in a newspaper after being charged with assault and was described as “the king of a gang of youths known as the ‘Hooligan Boys”. The group became notorious for their behavior, making disturbances, assaulting officers, and members of the public. They became known as a “gang of ruffians” causing a “reign of terror in Lambeth”.

The Deansgate Mob...

Manchester was one of the most violent cities in England during the Victorian Era, and John-Joseph Hillier was the leader of the worst gang. He had been a member for years, and got involved in many different crimes. The most popular criminal activity for the group was “scuttling”, or brawling, where they would have deadly fights with other gangs. They were so successful at scuttling, that John was dubbed “The King of the Scuttlers”. This is something he was quite proud of, and even had the title sown onto his clothes.

Mary Ann Cotton...

Mary Ann Cotton was a serial murderer specializing in poison. She is suspected of killing 21 people, 11 of those victims being her own children. Cotton married four different men, who all died. It’s believed she murdered them for the insurance money. She mainly used arsenic, which would cause an agonizing and slow death. Mary was caught when she was talking about her son, and said “I won’t be troubled long, he’ll go like the rest of the Cottons.”. Doctor William Killburn examined the bodies and found arsenic, which led to her trial and execution. She was hanged on 24 March in 1873.

--- From "Eskify".

***My Short Story: "The Lunatic Girl," Part 1... (A unique treat of reading, --- a teenage girl is forced to enter a Victorian lunatic asylum.)...

1843, --- Yorkshire, England...

They came for me late at night, more toward the earliest hours of the morning, when the house was dark, when all the servants were asleep. They must have been family friends, men friends, because when they hustled me out not even the big dogs, the lurchers guarding our house, barked. They were strong thugs and there were four of them. It was no good fighting them. I'm only fifteen and not very big. Their faces were covered with sacks to hide their identities. Naturally, I tried to scream, but one clapped his hand over my mouth, muffling my cry. I bit him, but he didn't yell or swear. He had self-control; I tasted his blood in my mouth before he gagged me.  

I was wearing only a thin muslin nightgown, and barefoot, walking, stumbling along on the sharp, chill pebbles of the drive. Before they shoved me into the carriage, they tied my wrists together with coarse twine and, then my ankles.  It was late November. It was bitterly cold, but, it hadn't snowed yet. An extremely heavy frost on everything, --- yes, almost like snow. It was sparkling on the tangles of sycamore branches, looking eerie, even wicked,

  

on the trees that bordered my father's estate like sentinels, and on the blades of stiff, icy grass.   

I was my father's only living child. My little brother Adam had died of scarlet fever in the Spring. My mother died eight years ago when she was hiking and fell against a boulder, hitting her head. My father, Baron Edmund Dunhurst Addington, never got over her death. He said she was his jewel, --- yes, his precious decoration, his pride. But, he also said she was wild and willful, like me, too young when he married her, --- my sweet, pretty mother Amelia Langford, youngest of the six daughters of the banker Josiah Langford.

It was an arranged marriage. My parents didn't like each other, weren't even fond friends. 

My father is a cold solemn man, very rich, but, he is a miser.

 
He is stingy, parsimonious and sanctimonious. Never does he give any more than the required Christian tithe to his church, to which he claims to be devoted. And, never did he show any normal parental affection for my brother or me. Any love I received was from our servants, especially after my mother's death, and especially from my kind old Nanny Janet Ruckley, 

and my elegant governess Harriet Ivers.

Those who go without love, for any length of time, will seek it somehow, somewhere... It was Thomas Dailey I ran to, the farm boy who delivered messages, who delivered vegetables and hay for our animals. He looked even younger than I did, although I was only two months older. Thomas was ever so handsome, with his thick mop of shiny brown hair and his startling, merry, dark gray-blue eyes, eyes the exact color of a jay's wings. 

Things happened fast. We became good friends, then, passionate lovers with that feverish, irresistible flush that a first love can bring. I was sure, absolutely sure, we would wed someday, run away together. We were planning it, saving money.  Then, I became pregnant.

When I told Thomas I was carrying our child he was deliriously happy, even more determined than I that we should successfully have a life together. My wise old nanny guessed my secret. I began to show much, much sooner than expected, only one month gone and I was looking puffy already, --- a little round "pooch" under my navel! A midwife-herbwoman called to the house on the pretext that Nanny badly needed herbs for her chronic arthritis confirmed that I was at least expecting twins, if not that rarity, --- triplets! I was very afraid of a multiple birth!

I told Thomas about this. He said we would leave as soon as possible, got money somewhere. I don't know where and he drove a cart to our estate. But, my father's men were waiting, and they beat him. I never saw him again, after our servants told me how Thomas was dumped in our fields and his cart burned to charred boards.

My father confronted me in our parlor, "Do you think I haven't noticed, Lucille?," he said. "Do you think I am a fool? You have put on weight quickly, even in your face. You are wearing your frocks with their waists pulled up high. I suppose you try to have yourself laced in as tightly as possible. The maid who dresses you has been dismissed, as have our other servants who kept your secret, --- your old nanny too, and your governess... You won't need servants where you're going!"

"What are you saying, Father?" I asked him. "I'm carrying your grandchild! I am your heir!"

"You are no child of mine! Nor, is the bastard you carry in your belly my kin!" His eyes were practically popping.

"I am carrying twins, perhaps triplets!"

"Even more shame and sin!," he said.

"You will disown me?"

"Of course, you are no longer pure. I can hardly make a decent match for you now! Who would have you, but some old pauper, perhaps an ancient doddering minister of some remote parish north of, --- of nothing! You are worthless to me, when you could have brought me honor and, --- and, increased my fortune! Now, you are ruined, ruined, ruined!...  Yes-yes, I will give your inheritance to the church, this house and land too, to redeem our disgraced family in the eyes of our Lord! Now, get out of here, harlot!"

I ran. I could hear him screaming, --- "HARLOT, HARLOT OF BABYLON, JEZEBEL, DEFAMER OF ALL THAT IS RIGHTEOUS, WOMAN OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH! YOU WILL PAY! MAY GOD'S WRATH FALL ON YOU AND CONSUME YOU IN THE FIRES OF HELL!"

I should have left the house immediately and forever, --- right then! I should have rushed upstairs to pack a bag. At that moment, I didn't know Thomas was dead. I planned to find him... Yes, I was going to do that when the groom came from the stable, meeting me in front of it, saying I wouldn't want to go inside to get my mare Penny, --- because, because, because...

"Spit it out, man!," I said, shaking him a little.

He looked at me, helplessly, his eyes full of tears, sniveling, wiping his nose with the backs of his hands. "Because, Miss Lucy, --- young Thomas, your Thomas... He's dead! He's dead inside! I found hm dead on the bank of the stream, half in the water, Miss Lucy, half in the cattails!"

I rushed into the stable. Thomas was lying crookedly in the straw, severely beaten, his head a mass of matted hair; I could see what was likely the cause of his death, a large wound, as if his skull had been struck with a heavy, blunt object. He had two blackened eyes, bruises everywhere, smashed teeth. Most of his fingers and toes were severed. His strong legs looked broken. He was soaked too, as if he'd also been drowned. I shoved my fists in my mouth, chomping down on my fingers. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. I don't even remember making my way to my room, but I fell on my bed, crying myself to sleep, slept deeply, exhausted.  One of our few remaining female servants eventually helped me undress, when I was still mostly asleep, got me into a nightgown.

Of course, I woke when the kidnappers came... The carriage into which they threw me, with a smelly, threadbare blanket completely covering me, bumped over roads for a long time. I squirmed, finally managed to sit upright. I saw in the distance an imposing building in the dim light and rolling clouds just after dawn. It was a huge edifice, and coldly beautiful, with it's gables and many windows. I knew it was a lunatic asylum, that I would be committed there as a wayward girl. No doubt, I would never leave, no doubt, imprisoned for life, unless, unless, by cunning and luck, I could somehow escape. 

(Use the "Search Box" to find other parts to this story.) --- Copyright 2023, by Antoinette Beard

Female serial killers are rare. (Here's one from the Victorian era.)...

Old Mother Dire...