News of the Times - Unlocking the vaults of historical crime

Catherine Wilson: Britain’s Female Borgia — The Last Woman Publicly Hanged in LondonNews of the Times | Episode 600 | 1862A quiet lodger. A trail of unexplained deaths. And the last woman ever publicly hanged in London.In this episode, we investigate Catherine Wilson — the Victorian poisoner newspapers called “Britain’s Female Borgia.” Her story begins with a near-fatal “soothing draught” in a Kennington sickroom and unfolds into one of the most disturbing murder investigations of the 19th century.What seemed at first like a single attempted poisoning soon revealed a far darker truth. As police traced Wilson’s movements through London and Lincolnshire, they uncovered a pattern of sudden illnesses, vanished savings, altered wills, and victims who died in unmistakable agony.And behind each death stood the same gentle, soft-spoken woman.Join us as we explore:🕯️ The failed poisoning that finally exposed her🕯️ The lodging-house world of mid-century Britain — where killers could hide in plain sight🕯️ The suspicious deaths of Mrs Jackson, Peter Mawer, James Dixon, Mrs Soames, Mrs Atkinson, and others🕯️ The Victorian forensic limits that allowed her to evade justice for years🕯️ The Old Bailey trial that shocked the public🕯️ And the execution at Newgate that ended an era of female public hangingsAtmospheric, unsettling, and drawn entirely from the historical record, this is the chilling true story of a woman who moved unnoticed through the sickrooms of Victorian England — leaving devastation in her wake.✨ Further Particulars — A New Year’s Collection of Curious ProverbsTo open 2026 on a suitably elevated note, this week’s Further Particulars turns to that most scholarly of Victorian institutions… The Illustrated Police News.We’ve gathered a handful of wonderfully odd foreign proverbs from 1890 — sayings that range from the poetic to the practical to the frankly unhinged.Expect buffaloes, bears, burnt children, and at least one pig with questionable table manners.A light New Year’s reminder that across time and continents, human wisdom has always been a very mixed bag.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles ❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #TrueCrimeDocumentary #HistoricalCrime #BritishHistory #VictorianCrime #CrimeHistory #CourtroomDrama #Education #NewsoftheTimes

The Wheelbarrow Murder: The Case That Led to Hereford’s Last Execution (1903)News of the Times | Episode 599 | 1903#HistoricalTrueCrime #VictorianCrime #EdwardianHistory #TrueCrimeUK #NewsOfTheTimesTonight’s episode opens our Firsts and Lasts of January series with a case that shook rural Herefordshire — and ended with the final execution ever carried out at Hereford Gaol.In July 1903, a quiet quarry near Aymestrey became the scene of one of the most unsettling crimes in Edwardian England. A wheelbarrow… a body… and a husband insisting it had all been a terrible accident. But as investigators examined the quarry, the path to Mortimer’s Cross, and William Haywood’s shifting story, a far darker truth emerged.This is The Wheelbarrow Murder — the brutal killing of Jane Haywood, the sensational trial that followed, and the historic execution that marked the end of an era in British justice.A story of poverty, exhaustion, domestic tension, forensic evidence, and a community forced to confront the thin line between accident and intention.We explore:🔸 Quarry life and the harsh world of rural labourers in 1903🔸 The discovery of Jane Haywood’s injuries — and why the “accident” story never held🔸 Witness testimony that unravelled the defence🔸 The inquest, the shocking medical findings, and the national press response🔸 The Hereford Assizes, the judge’s reasoning, and the final death sentence🔸 The last execution ever carried out at Hereford GaolFurther ParticularsBecause Victorian Britain could make even a funeral dangerous. Tonight’s final tale involves a coffin, a narrow pathway, six bearers, and one very unfortunate bystander — proving once again that the 19th century was not for the faint of heart.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: 1902: Scotland Yard Casebook: Jealousy on Judd Street - crime of passion | Kitty Byron | Ep545 https://www.patreon.com/posts/jealousy-on-judd-141707777?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1903: The Scampston Murder | The Riverbank Crime That Shocked Edwardian England (1903) | EP568 https://www.patreon.com/posts/scampston-murder-142037739?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1909: Too Drunk to Hang? The Brutal 1909 Murder That Changed British Law | EP572 https://www.patreon.com/posts/too-drunk-to-law-142667895?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #HerefordshireHistory #WheelbarrowMurder #LastExecution#HerefordGaol #1903 #TrueCrimeCommunity #BritishHistory #ColdCaseHistory #TrueCrimeStories #CrimeHistory #VictorianEngland #EdwardianEra #HistoricalMystery #OldBailey #UKCrimeCases #DarkHistory #ArchiveCrime #TrueCrimeDocumentary

The Arsenic Exhumation: How Mary Bailey’s Body Exposed a Killer | True Crime 1863News of the Times | Episode 598 1863In 1863, a quiet Stockport household became the centre of one of Victorian Britain’s most chilling poisoning investigations.When Mary Bailey died after days of violent sickness, her daughter insisted it was illness… but a newly taken life-insurance policy, two purchases of arsenic, and growing neighbourhood whispers told a very different story.What followed was extraordinary:a rare Victorian exhumation,a body preserved almost intact 74 days after burial,and early forensic toxicology revealing arsenic in every tissue.In today’s episode, we explore how a suspected insurance fraud spiralled into a full murder inquiry — and how Victorian science uncovered the truth when no living witness could.Featuring:• the “penny policies” that targeted the Victorian poor• arsenic bought “for killing vermin” — in deadly quantities• doctors whose overlapping visits hid a much darker pattern• forensic tests that transformed suspicion into certainty• a confession that revealed coercion, poverty, and fear• and the chilling final hours of one of Britain’s forgotten murderessesThis is the Mary Bailey arsenic case — a story of deception, desperation, and the forensic breakthrough that exposed a killer.Stay to the end for Further Particulars, where Victorian jealousy, a runaway lover, and a very unfortunate shop mannequin collide in spectacular fashion.Settle in with a warm drink and join us as we step back into the streets of 1863 Stockport.👤 Hostedby Robin Coles 📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: •1869: Arsenic, Bonnets and Betrayal: The 1869 Dudley Poisoning of Joseph Oliver | EP559 https://youtu.be/Igt7pytWWxU1865: Bayonet Madness in Batley: A Victorian Double Murder | EP562 https://youtu.be/A08XNdHDzso1867: The Malthouse Murder | Wolverton’s Burning Secret (1867) | EP564https://youtu.be/FQKaaNrDD9k1867: The Limehouse Mystery — The 1867 Case That Divided Victorian London | EP565 https://youtu.be/36DqA1p_W7s❤️ Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: 👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns. If you like your true crime thoughtful, atmospheric, and rooted in real records — welcome to the vault. 🎩 — RC & Team #victoriantruecrime #HistoricalCrime #ArsenicMurder #ForensicHistory #VictorianForensics #HistoricalForensics #ExhumationCase #1860sHistory #VictorianEngland #BritishHistory #StockportHistory #TrueCrimeDocumentary #TrueCrimeCommunity #CrimeHistory #MurderInvestigation #NewsoftheTimes

The Workhouse Path Murder — South Wales, 1902 | A Fatal December EveningNews of the Times | Episode 597 | 1902Southeast Wales, 1902.A woman runs bleeding down a narrow workhouse path, four children behind her screaming “Murder!” into the cold December air.Moments earlier, she was walking with the man who had vowed she would never have another home.Today we uncover one of the most chilling and deeply human domestic murder cases of Edwardian South Wales — a tragedy witnessed entirely by children, shaped by poverty, jealousy, alcohol, and the harsh realities of the workhouse system.This episode explores:• The world of the lodging houses and the Bedwellty Workhouse• The final walk up the walled footpath• Eyewitness testimony from neighbours and children• Medical evidence and early forensic interpretation• The attempted defence of delirium tremens• The Edwardian court and the rapid machinery of justice• The social pressures that gave rise to the crimeIt is a case that shocked the valleys — not for mystery, but for its stark inevitability.Join us as we retrace the final hours of Hannah Shea, and the violent jealousy that ended her life on a cold winter evening beneath the shadow of the workhouse.🕯️ FURTHER PARTICULARSToday’s end of episode lighter (and explosively cautionary) tale comes from Belfast, where a Christmas pudding met its untimely end via a tin of petrol mistaken for syrup. The results? Flaming dessert, melted gas pipes, and a moral lesson for us all...👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  Other episodes you may like:1867: The Malthouse Murder | Wolverton’s Burning Secret (1867) |  EP564https://youtu.be/FQKaaNrDD9k1867: The Limehouse Mystery — The 1867 Case That Divided Victorian London |  EP565 https://youtu.be/36DqA1p_W7s ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

Stalked by Her Brother-in-Law: The Christmas Murder That Shook Post-War Britain | Liverpool, 1918News of the Times | Episode 595 |1918As Britain celebrated the end of the Great War, one young Liverpool widow was facing a danger far closer to home.This week, we step into December 1918, a moment when church bells rang for peace, soldiers returned to broken households, and thousands of war widows tried to rebuild lives reshaped by loss.But for Mary Ellen Rooney, a 32-year-old widow raising four children, the threat did not come from the battlefield —it lived across the street.After months of unwanted attention, jealousy, and open threats from her brother-in-law, Mary’s attempts to find safety ended in a Paddington corner shop on a cold November afternoon.Witnesses would describe what happened next as sudden, furious, and chillingly deliberate.Why did this case — shocking, public, and tragic — receive almost no press coverage at the time?What can it tell us about post-war Britain, the pressures on returning soldiers, and the precarious position of the women left behind?And how did one man’s fixation escalate into murder just weeks after the Armistice?In tonight’s episode, we uncover:The realities of life in 1918 Liverpool after the warThe hidden dangers faced by war widowsA deeply unsettling pattern of stalking and threatsA murder that played out in broad daylightA trial that passed almost without noticeAnd an execution carried out one week before ChristmasFor our Further Particulars, we turn to Widnes in 1881, where a revolver accident led to…another revolver accident — a Victorian tragedy so bizarre it defies summary.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival materi Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd