Crime
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An Ingrain Swindler
As reported in The Victoria Daily Chronicle, Thursday, 24 September 1863. ‘An Ingrain Swindler– The Police are after a man who lately served a term of imprisonment at New Westminster for swindling Billy Ballou, the ex-Expressman, out of $35, about one year and a-half ago by representing that a certain bag contained gold dust when… Continue reading
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The Orcadian Pirate
Although he was inextricably linked with the Orkney Isles, John Gow was born on the Scottish mainland at Wick, a stone’s throw from John O’Groats, around 1698. Like numerous others of his ilk, Gow ended his days at Execution Dock on the banks of the River Thames at Wapping on 11 June 1725. Gow spent… Continue reading
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Hardened Villainy Displayed. Chapter 1. The Quiet Woman
The rain, which arrived on Wednesday evening, carried on a biting easterly and persisted throughout the following day. By Thursday at suppertime, news of the cancellation of the Gloucester Diligence had been received without complaint. George Tolley, Landlord of the Quiet Woman, listened as the rain lashed against the inn’s windows. In the hearth,… Continue reading
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Illustrious Thieves: Highway Robbery in Early Modern Oxfordshire
In a previous post, we covered the story of the Dunsdon brothers. Today, we are looking at some other Highwaymen who haunted Oxfordshire’s roads during the Early Modern Period. Claude Duval and James Hind are the two most famous highwaymen associated with Oxfordshire. Duval was born in Normandy in 1643. He moved to Paris… Continue reading
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A Dark and Lonesome Passage to Eternity
Edward Bonney, a 38-year-old alleged counterfeiter from Montrose, Iowa, arrived in Chicago on the steamship Champion early on Thursday, 25 September 1845. Bonney was accompanied by two other men, identified by the local newspaper, The Chicago Democrat, as ’two of the five murderers of Col. Davenport, Wm. F. Birch, alias Haines, and John Long, alias… Continue reading
19th Century, 4th of July, Aaron Long, Banditti of the Prairie, Counterfeiting, Crime, Crime and Punishment, Detective, Edward Bonney, George Davenport, Granville Young, Hangings, history, Illinois, Iowa, John Long, Justice, Murder, Newspapers, outlaws, Public Execution, Rock Island, United States History -
Hardened Villainy Displayed
Prologue The night was dark, no hint of moonlight penetrated the thick banks of cloud. The wind blowing from the east brought fast-moving showers that would soon soak anyone foolish enough to be out of doors on such an evening. Better to be inside; in bed, or a tavern, with a welcoming fire and a… Continue reading
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‘To be Master of The Devil’: Richard Faulkner
The Isle of Ely Summer Assizes, held at Wisbech on Friday, July 10, 1807, only had one prisoner to try, but he was ‘so shockingly depraved and hardened’ that his story bears retelling. Richard Faulkner was 15 when, on February 15 1807, in an act of revenge, he killed George Burnham at Whittlesea (now spelt… Continue reading
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The 1915 Vancouver Bridge Fires
By Matthews, James Skitt, Major (1878-1970) – Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1612556 Shortly before 4 a.m. on Thursday, 29 April 1915, a watchman working for the Pacific Box Company noticed smoke rising from the Connaught Bridge, spanning False Creek, Vancouver. The Connaught Bridge, a four-lane, 1,247 metres (4,091 ft) long medium-level steel bridge, was opened to traffic… Continue reading
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The Strange Execution of John Langford
John Langford, a 22-year-old citizen of Sheridan, Kansas, who ‘had led a desperate life all over the border,’ was sentenced to be hanged by a vigilance committee at Pond City at 2 am on the morning of 25 August 1869. On discovering his fate, Langford admitted to the killing of six men; he added, ‘if… Continue reading
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‘Good God! How Grief Has Altered Him!’ Thomas Carson’s Gaol Break
On 27 August 1800, brothers Thomas and John Carson, members of the Meath Yeomanry, stood trial at Trim Assizes for the ‘Wilful murder’ of ‘one of His Majesty’s subjects’, Charles Casliny. Kilmainhamwood (Irish: Cill Mhaighneann), where the killing occurred, is a village on the River Dee in County Meath, Ireland.The Carsons were tried in front… Continue reading
Hellish Fiends, and Brutish Men 