News of the Times - Unlocking the vaults of historical crime

The Office Murder That Shocked Edwardian Britain — And the Detective Who Died Investigating It | True Crime 1911News of the Times | Episode 602 | 1911On a quiet September afternoon in 1911, a respected Hastings building society manager sat down to continue his paperwork. Minutes later, gunshots echoed through the office — and one of the town’s most trusted citizens lay dying on the floor. What followed was one of the most baffling cases in Edwardian true crime history: a double tragedy involving financial ruin, contested testimony, early forensic science… and a detective who died while examining the very same revolver used in the killing. Today we uncover a murder that refused to resolve itself, leaving behind shocked witnesses, contradictory accounts, and a police force shaken by the sudden death of their own investigator.• The shooting inside a quiet Hastings office that stunned 1911 Britain• The troubled chemist whose life collapsed under financial strain and hereditary mental illness• Conflicting witness accounts and forensic evidence that transformed the case• The inquest that wrestled with accident vs. intent• The extraordinary twist: the detective found dead while preparing evidence• How uncertainty, stigma, and early-20th-century justice shaped the verdict📰 Further ParticularsWe finish with a remarkable Edwardian society lawsuit involving Lady Dean Paul — a woman for whom the courtroom was practically a hobby. Expect family quarrels, Cairo gossip, theatrical denials, and a damages award so small the judge had to squint at it.🔎Hosted by Robin Coles📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: 1911: The Kidsgrove Tragedy: Murder, Madness, and the Man Who Vanished Into Himself” | EP582 https://www.patreon.com/posts/kidsgrove-murder-144289983?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1875 - 1911: The Poison Files: Britain's Most Chilling Victorian Murder Cases | EP583 https://www.patreon.com/posts/poison-files-144027249?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1911: Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911 | EP589 https://www.patreon.com/posts/two-killers-one-145441104?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1918: Stalked by Her Brother-in-Law: The Christmas Murder That Shook Post-War Britain | 1918 | EP595https://www.patreon.com/posts/stalked-by-her-146402625?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 #TrueCrimeDocumentary #HistoricalCrime #BritishHistory #VictorianCrime #CrimeHistory #CourtroomDrama #Education #NewsoftheTimes

What happens when privilege, violence, and the full weight of Georgian justice collide?In today’s episode, we uncover one of the most extraordinary moments in British criminal history: the 1760 execution of Laurence, Earl Ferrers — the last aristocrat ever hanged at TyburnThis astonishing case has everything that captivates lovers of historical true crime:• a nobleman whose violent temper shook his household,• a murder that shocked Georgian society,• a sensational trial before the House of Lords, and• the rare spectacle of a peer of the realm facing the gallows alongside common felons.We follow Ferrers from the oak-panelled rooms of his Leicestershire estate to the packed streets of London, where thousands gathered to witness a moment the country had never seen before — and would never see again. His downfall reveals the tensions of class, power, madness, and justice in 18th-century Britain.And to finish, we lighten the mood with a rollicking trip to Hyde Park’s Speakers’ Corner, 1894 — where Victorian democracy meets spirited heckling and public oratory at its most colourful.If you enjoy:• Georgian & Victorian true crime• forensic and legal history• executions at Tyburn• scandals among Britain’s elite• stories where society’s “untouchable” finally meets the law……this is an episode we think you'll like.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 📚 Related cases from the archive: 1718 - 1767: Remarkable executions | EP388https://www.patreon.com/posts/remarkable-1718-113160724?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link 1729 & 1768: The Dark Side of Aristocracy in 1700's | Ep290https://www.patreon.com/posts/dark-side-of-in-112156703?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link1761: Terrible Theodore Gardelle | Ep208 https://www.patreon.com/posts/terrible-artist-116300250?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 #HistoricalTrueCrime #BritishHistory #TrueCrimeCommunity #GeorgianHistory #18thCenturyCrime #Tyburn #ExecutionHistory #EarlFerrers #CrimeDocumentary #HistoryDocumentary #HistoryChannel #VictorianEra #OldBailey #HouseOfLords #JusticeHistory#UKTrueCrime #DarkHistory #HistoricalCrimes #ClassicCrimeCases #BritishTrueCrime #EducationalHistory #ArchiveStories #ForgottenHistory #HistoryNerd #DidYouKnow #BasedOnTrueEvents

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