Scotland Yard Casebook: The Hotel Murder That Baffled London (1922)
News of the Times | Episode 542 | 1922
London, 1922. A respected widow is found in her bed at the Spencer Hotel near Oxford Street — her skull fractured, her life slipping away. No fingerprints. No weapon. No forced entry. No known enemies.

With the city in shock, Scotland Yard’s finest — including one of the legendary “Big Four” — scrambled to untangle a crime that seemed to have no clues at all. Was Lady White killed for revenge? For money? Or was she the tragic victim of a mistake that left detectives chasing shadows through the corridors of a quiet hotel?

What followed was a sensational investigation: whispering voices in the basement, a watchful stranger outside the hotel, and finally a shocking confession from the least expected suspect.

✨ In our Further Particulars — a lighter (and rather scandalous) postscript — we turn from murder to matrimony. Meet the teenage daughter of an MP who eloped with a baronet’s heir at 17… only to discover he was less Prince Charming and more “headstrong, obstinate, stupid and dictatorial” (to quote the judge, not us). Chauffeurs were dispatched like ultimatums, pocket money was scandalously withheld, and court proceedings made the gossip columns buzz.

🎧 If you’re drawn to mysteries that leave even Scotland Yard grasping for answers — with a side of history’s most ill-advised romance — this is one casebook you won’t want to miss.
👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 
🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1927: Case of the McKay Mother Murder |  EP460
https://youtu.be/T_IZB0cou-k
1920: A Case of Family Obsession and Murder |  EP476 https://youtu.be/EIPHlzVerd4
 
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🕯 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

 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. 

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Sisters, Poison, and Betrayal: The Forfar Murder Case of 1827
News of the Times | Episode 540 | 1827
IIn the quiet Scottish town of Forfar, 1827, a tragic case unfolds — one shrouded in domestic routine, whispered secrets, and the quiet horror of suspicion. 

When a blind, unmarried young woman named dies suddenly following childbirth, townsfolk are gripped not only by the circumstances of her death, but by the implications that soon follow.

 Her infant, born of a concealed pregnancy, dies just days later. 

All eyes turn to her older sister, — the caregiver, the housekeeper… and perhaps, the woman with most to lose.

Could jealousy or a long-simmering rivalry between sisters have turned deadly? 

Was there a clandestine love triangle involving a former lodger — one who may have fathered the child of the now dead sisters?

This haunting case from the early 19th century examines class, gender, and quiet desperation in a society that left little room for female autonomy — where even the smallest scandal could ruin a life, and an infant’s birth might end in more than one burial.

Drawn entirely from period sources, this case is a fascinating glimpse into 19th-century justice, forensic guesswork, and the fragile bonds of family when suspicion takes root.

📜 Expect:
• Sudden illnesses and suspicious substances
• Servants whispering in hallways
• A slow-burn trial with unexpected turns

💔 Further Particulars — The Window-Smasher's Serenade
Think Victorian love stories were all lace bonnets and piano duets? Think again.
We round out today’s episode with the tale of Miss Matilda Cronin, who took a more... assertive approach to heartbreak in 1849.

After being ghosted by one George Marsh, she arrived beneath his window at midnight to sing him a little something special — followed by a slap to the cheek and a well-timed assault on his front windows. Matilda may not have won George’s heart, but she definitely broke his glazing. 💥💘

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  

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🕯 About the Chann

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 Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. 

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Confessed After 22 Years — The Victorian Murder That Refused to Stay Buried
News of the Times | Episode 539 | 1879
Step into the shadowy world of Victorian secrets, where murder doesn’t always stay in the past. In today’s chilling tale, we follow a crime that baffled the community for over two decades—until a sudden confession upends everything.

What drives a man to speak after 22 years of silence?
And what does justice look like after such a long delay?

This episode reveals the twists, suspicions, and strange silences surrounding a haunting case that simply wouldn’t let go. A richly layered mystery full of deception, rural whispers, and a guilt that proved impossible to bury.

But wait—there’s more...

🪶 Further Particulars:
In this week’s bizarre bonus tale from 1879, we meet a man, a suspiciously full tub of feathers, and 30 deeply traumatised geese.

Caught mid-moult — or so he claimed — the geese were found nearly naked, with feathers clearly yanked rather than shed.

The defendant offered a flurry of excuses: moulting geese, rogue dogs, and one particularly imaginative fib about a feather-stuffed bed arriving from London. None of them held water — or feathers, for that matter.

An absurd but oddly unforgettable glimpse into the weirder corners of Victorian animal cruelty cases.

🎧 Whether you're a true crime devotee, a lover of Victorian drama, or simply curious how one ends up headfirst in a moral tub, this episode is not to be missed.

👤 Hosted by Robin Coles 

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday   

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1878: Poisoner in the Family: The Dark Tale of Ellen Heesom |  EP491
https://youtu.be/dNzsOByqvGg
1879: The Curious Case of the Perryman Affair |  EP492
https://youtu.be/3gBKtzV_22g
1872: The Twisted Tale of Mrs Portbury |  EP499
https://youtu.be/OhyLhLfCpK0

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🕯 About the Channel  
We’re an independent

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 Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. 

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 Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. 

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Before the Acid Bath Killer: Death in a Victorian Workhouse
News of the Times | Episode 538 |1842
Long before the notorious Acid Bath Killer horrified Britain, one quiet town faced its own chilling tragedy — not in some alleyway, but inside the walls of a Victorian workhouse. In Bromsgrove, 1842, a surgeon prescribed a sulphur bath to treat "the itch" among impoverished children. Nineteen were immersed. One never came out alive.

Was it a medical miscalculation? Or did neglect tip into something darker?

Join us as we revisit the original inquest and the harrowing details of a chemical treatment so potent, it scalded the skin from a child’s body. This is Victorian medicine at its most dangerous — a haunting echo of how society treated its most vulnerable.

🔍 Featuring original newspaper reports, inquest testimony, and expert accounts, this episode dives into one of the most shocking workhouse deaths of the 19th century — and the doctor who walked away unpunished.

🚨 Further Particulars: The Donkey Who Refused to Go
Meanwhile, in Worcester, a separate scandal unfolds. A four-legged escapee, impounded for the grievous offence of wandering into town, becomes the centre of a bureaucratic standoff — by simply refusing to move. Officials plead, owners disclaim, and hay disappears at a remarkable rate. Only the donkey emerges unbothered and well-fed.

If you enjoy chilling true crime, Victorian absurdity, and a dash of the surreal, subscribe for more. And if you'd like to keep us in tea and donkey feed, you’ll find the Patreon link just below.
👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 
🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1766 - 1848: Shocking Dark Crime Tales of Britain |  EP373 https://youtu.be/WIvzA4DAwUA
1849: The Curious Case of the Harvard Murder |  EP378
https://youtu.be/n23PlQFqhlw
1836 & 1843: The Trouble with Harriet |  EP398
https://youtu.be/BrZh10eMQ0s
 
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The Murder That Stunned Victorian London — The Shocking Case of Mrs. Millson (1866)
News of the Times | Episode 537| 1866
Step into the gaslit streets of 1890s London, where scandal, betrayal, and murder collided in a case so sensational it gripped the entire city.

When Mrs. Millson’s tragic fate came to light, the press seized on every sordid detail — from whispered infidelities to the chilling evidence uncovered in the aftermath.

This is more than a Victorian murder story; it’s a glimpse into a world where reputations were everything, and one deadly night changed everything.

🔍 In Further Particulars: a decidedly less murderous — but equally eyebrow-raising — tale involving an unusual dispute, questionable judgment, and the sort of decision-making that makes you wonder whether common sense ever truly existed.

If you enjoy gripping true crime, historical scandal, and a touch of Victorian drama, this episode will have you hooked from the first word to the last.

🕯️ A documentary series exploring British criminal history through primary sources — ideal for viewers who enjoy history, forensic psychology, and courtroom drama without modern commentary or filler. 

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 
🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1862: The Murderesss Timney |  EP440
https://youtu.be/4_jZ_kdxONI
1869: The Outrage and Murder near Dumfries |  EP444
https://youtu.be/KbQ7QRr6GZ0
1863: The Case of the Fatal Refusal | Victorian Romance Turns Into Fatal Murder |  EP446
https://youtu.be/PD6Lf877vdY
1860: The Twisted Case of The Stepney Murder |  EP447
https://youtu.be/3ok5__DIuU8
 
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🕯 About the Channel  
We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century Briti

 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. 

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The Liverpool Doctor on Trial – Abortion, Deception, and Death | True Crime History
News of the Times | Episode 536 | 1934
In 1934 Liverpool, a respected doctor stood accused of a crime that shocked Britain. Two young woman lay dead, whispers of a secret procedure swirled, and the courtroom bristled with scandal, betrayal, and conflicting testimony.

Was this tragedy the result of medical malpractice, calculated deception… or something far more sinister?

🕰️ What You’ll Discover in This Episode:
The mysterious relationship between the doctor and his patient
The harrowing final hours before her death
Courtroom drama, damning evidence, and unexpected twists
How this case shaped public debate on morality, medicine, and women’s rights

And in our end of episode Further Particulars story, also from the same time period, an entirely different scandal — ghostly door-knockers, a nun with a lively social calendar, and bedclothes that refused to stay put.

Proof that, in 1930s Ireland, mischief could be just as newsworthy as murder. 👻

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 
🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month 

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1679 - 1936: Curious Cases of Murder |  EP356
https://youtu.be/Kxv1VIVhJek
1930: The Blazing Car Murderer |  EP407
https://youtu.be/qqspUfNxmsA
1930: The Case of the Body in the Wall Murder |  EP424
https://youtu.be/JgMZHtDud88
1933: The Morton Murder || The Morton Murder Mystery | What Really Happened at the Farm |  EP452
https://youtu.be/u5mrp3tbB-Y

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🕯 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.  

 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. 

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Escape from Strangeways: The Hammer Murder of Warder Webb (1888)
News of the Times | Episode 535 | 1876 

🔨 A daring prison break, a brutal murder… and the most notorious escape in Strangeways history.

In January 1919, the walls of Manchester’s Strangeways Prison could not hold William Horwood, a career criminal with nothing left to lose. Armed with a hammer stolen from the prison workshop, Horwood made a desperate bid for freedom — and in the process, bludgeoned Warder James Owen to death.

What followed shocked Britain: a citywide manhunt, a terrified public, and sensational headlines chronicling every twist. But was this simply the act of a desperate man, or part of a calculated plan to outwit the law?

From the grim corridors of Strangeways to the narrow streets of industrial Manchester, this is the true story of violence, escape, and justice in post-war Britain.

📜 Featuring: rare contemporary newspaper reports, eyewitness accounts, the escape route in detail, and the dramatic conclusion that brought the case to an end.

Further Particulars:
Those inventive Victorians never did anything by halves—ballooning included. What began as a scientific flight across France ended with one man crash-landing in Belgium… completely nude.

Was it for aerodynamic reasons?
A sudden philosophical awakening?
Or simply a very French solution to a very Victorian problem?

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1888: Bradford’s Jack the Ripper: The Mutilation of John Gill |  EP507
https://youtu.be/4GK27M1s-U4
1888: The Man Who Vanished: Whitechapel’s Other Killer |  EP510
https://youtu.be/l8XGVZO9t_4
1888: The Regent’s Park Murder of 1888 |  EP511
https://youtu.be/wZ_F-ZIEmu0

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🕯 About the Channel  
We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century

 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. 

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The Woman in the Water Tub: The 1915 Murder of Carrie Jubb
News of the Times | Episode 534 | 1915
At 6 a.m. on a cold February morning, a young stable hand in Huddersfield made a horrifying discovery: a woman’s body, bruised and bloodied, was found kneeling headfirst in a horse’s water tub. Her name was Carrie Jubb, a woman of no fixed abode, with a troubled past—and no one to sound the alarm when she didn’t return home.

Who killed her? And why?

In this chilling Edwardian true crime case, we examine a life lived on the margins—of class, of safety, and of society’s concern.

With abusive partners, jealous exes, and shifting witness statements, Carrie’s story is one of silent suffering and systemic failure. No one was ever brought to trial. And her killer likely walked free.

⚖️ From newspaper accounts and inquest records, we piece together the last known movements of Carrie Jubb—and the circumstantial case that nearly led to justice.

🕯️ Further Particulars Segment
After the main case, we turn to a Victorian horror of a different sort:
💀 The Dangers of Overthinking.
In our bonus tale from 1879, a young American woman’s death is blamed not on arsenic or foul play—but on astronomy, watercolours, and excessive learning.

Prepare for a tragic warning from the annals of pseudoscience: ladies, beware—too much education may be… fatal.

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

🎧 For ad-free access to 500+ episodes, exclusive early releases, and sleepy-time scandal podcasts, visit our Patreon:
👉 https://www.patreon.com/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
•913: The Curious Case of The Liverpool Sack Murder |  EP423
https://youtu.be/QZTHm9xkPrY
1919: The Mysterious Murder of Nellie Rault |  EP465
https://youtu.be/kOX5mRlG_as

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📖 New! *Slightly Unreliable Memoirs* (Vol 1 & 2)  
Humorous 24-page PDF curiosities in the tradition of Wodehouse and Saki — available

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The Inheritance Scandal of Lady Gooch: Fake Pregnancy, Stolen Baby, and a £3.8 Million Estate
News of the Times | Episode 533 | 1893
🎩 Victorian Deception at Its Finest — Fake pregnancies, hidden heirs, and one very determined Lady...

In today’s gripping episode of News of the Times, we dive into the jaw-dropping 1878 scandal surrounding Lady Anne Gooch, who stood accused of staging a pregnancy and smuggling a baby into a London hotel in a desperate bid to claim a £3.8 million fortune (in today’s money). But when doctors grew suspicious and the housekeeper blew the whistle, society was left stunned...

💼 Did she truly believe no one would notice? Or was there more to the story than met the monocled eye?

🕵️‍♀️ PLUS, in our Further Particulars:
We bring you the strange case of a man deemed “insane” — by his own family! A tale of betrayal, survival, and one man’senforced placement into an asylum.

🕯️ Based on original newspaper archives
📜 Unfiltered, unsensationalised—history exactly as it was told
🎙️ Thoughtfully narrated for fans of true crime, Victorian history, and forgotten scandals

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1898: The Case of the St Neots Murder |  EP448
https://youtu.be/4qvv0FZ36g8
1893: The Mysterious Murder at Poplar |  EP463
https://youtu.be/JX9GZaFZCKY
1891: Mary Maguire, the Ripper & Carrie Brown |  EP466
https://youtu.be/i3HU3NTCZTw
1890: The Kingsland Murder |  EP471
https://youtu.be/2NPK1hLuVFo

❤️ Support Independent History  
If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  

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☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We tip our top hats:  
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📖 New! *Slightly Unreliable Memoirs* (Vol 1 & 2)  
Humorous 24-page PDF curiosities in the tradition of Wodehouse and Saki — available here:  
https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e  

🕯 About the Channel  
We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true cr

 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/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime

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If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The French Student Who Tried to Hire a Murderer — or Did He?
News of the Times | Episode 532 | 1876
In this true crime case from 1876, a young French student in Hertford is accused of hiring a drifter to murder his own parents with an air gun. But was Paul Bayart a cold-blooded conspirator—or the victim of a scam by a man with far more ambition than scruples?

📜 Featuring forged notes, poison research, family photographs, and a very dramatic disappearance before trial… this is one of the strangest cases ever to walk the line between parricide and fraud.

👮‍♂️ PLUS: In our end-of-episode Further Particulars, a drunken Victorian constable punches his sergeant, wrestles three colleagues, and attempts to strike the inspector—all while technically still on duty.

🔍 Highlights:
1876 courtroom drama from Hertford to Roubaix
Blackmail, forgery, and a very questionable £500 note
Bonus tale: “The Drunken Constable of Berkeley Square” (1872)
👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday   

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
•1878: Poisoner in the Family: The Dark Tale of Ellen Heesom |  EP491
https://youtu.be/dNzsOByqvGg
1879: The Curious Case of the Perryman Affair |  EP492
https://youtu.be/3gBKtzV_22g
1873: The Case of the frightful Outrage Near Norwich  |  EP494
https://youtu.be/tF_sqNrzBh4
1872: The Twisted Tale of Mrs Portbury |  EP499
https://youtu.be/OhyLhLfCpK0

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