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 Evening
News of the Times | Episode 597 | 1902
Southeast 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 crime

It 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 PARTICULARS
Today’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) |  EP564
https://youtu.be/FQKaaNrDD9k
1867: The Limehouse Mystery — The 1867 Case That Divided Victorian London |  EP565
https://youtu.be/36DqA1p_W7s
 
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🕯 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

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Stalked by Her Brother-in-Law: The Christmas Murder That Shook Post-War Britain | Liverpool, 1918
News of the Times | Episode 595 |1918
As 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 war
The hidden dangers faced by war widows
A deeply unsettling pattern of stalking and threats
A murder that played out in broad daylight
A trial that passed almost without notice
And an execution carried out one week before Christmas

For 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:  

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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 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. 

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Murder on the Winter Road: A Christmas Killing in Ballinrobe | True Crime 1880
News of the Times | Episode 594 | 1880
A Christmas walk home… a dark boreen outside Ballinrobe… and two figures lying in wait.
Tonight we return to County Mayo, Ireland, 1880, for a chilling winter murder that stunned a rural community and left questions hanging over the snow-covered road for generations.

This is the story of Peter Mullen, a small farmer whose final journey took him through family quarrels, a mysterious sprinkling of holy water, and—according to his son—an ambush by two tall, clean-shaven men on a moonlit December night.
But who really knew he would pass that way?
And was this tragic killing a random act… or something far more calculated?

In this episode we explore:
• Life in Ballinrobe at Christmas, 1880
• Domestic tensions and a bitter marital quarrel
• Holy water, strange choices, and a wife in hiding
• A son’s account that raised more questions than it answered
• The midnight ambush on the frozen road
• Why the suspects—his wife and two nephews—were ultimately released
• How this case slipped quietly into the long history of unsolved Irish rural killings

As always, we draw from contemporary newspaper reports and inquest testimony to follow the story as people of the time understood it.
This episode includes material from:

And in today’s Further Particulars, we detour briefly to Derbyshire—where a Victorian vicar, a bread knife, and a very excitable evening led half the parish straight to the magistrates’ court.

Settle in with something warm and join us for The Christmas Road Murder: Ballinrobe, 1880—an atmospheric winter mystery where small choices, quiet tensions, and old grievances may have led a man straight into the line of fire.

👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  

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

❤️ Support Independent History  
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🕯 About the Channel  
We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18t

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

THE WHITELEY MURDER (1907) — The Crime That Shook Edwardian Britain
News of the Times | Episode 593 | 1907

In January 1907, William Whiteley — London’s famous “Universal Provider” and the man who transformed British shopping — was shot dead inside his own department store.
The killer? A well-dressed young man who calmly announced he was Whiteley’s illegitimate son.

What followed was one of the most sensational murder trials of the Edwardian age: a story of hidden relationships, vast wealth, respectability, scandal, and a public so captivated that hundreds of thousands signed a petition to save the killer from the gallows.

In today’s episode, we uncover:
• The moment gunfire shattered Britain’s most modern store
• The extraordinary claim that turned a murder into a national reckoning
• A tangled family history of secrecy, money and legitimacy
• How the press shaped public outrage — and unexpected sympathy
• Why the Whiteley case still echoes through British legal and social history

Plus:
A remarkable Further Particulars story — when a runaway horse smashed through a Moorgate jeweller in 1922 and left London’s pavement literally covered in diamonds.

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

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

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1907: Monte Carlo Trunk Murder |  EP284
https://youtu.be/oTOwoof-jKs
1907: The Croydon Killer |  Ep287
https://youtu.be/JOcmekUMZjw
1907: Camden Town Murder Mystery |  EP326
https://youtu.be/glZvLvCJVZY

❤️ Support Independent History  
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☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  
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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.  

If you like your true crime thoug

 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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The Wardrobe Murder: The Grim Discovery in 1889 Bury
News of the Times | Episode 592| 1889

A missing businessman. A manager with too many stories. A wardrobe that no one was meant to open.

In 1889 Bury, Lancashire, a routine visit to a bustling Bolton Street furniture shop ended in one of the most shocking Victorian murder discoveries ever recorded. Behind drawn blinds, shifted furniture, and a locked cupboard with a missing key, police found a scene that stunned even seasoned detectives.

This is the true story of George Gordon, a respected young businessman who vanished after a mid-week meeting — and the extraordinary investigation that exposed deception, forged letters, a fake customer, suspicious errands, and a chilling attempt to conceal a body in plain sight.

From disturbed flagstones in a cellar to charred ledgers in a hearth, every clue pointed toward one man: shop manager William Dukes.

Tonight, we unspool the lies, the forensic twists, and the Victorian policework that led to the discovery that would dominate northern newspapers and remain one of the most disturbing cases in Bury’s history.

🕯 PLUS: Today’s Further Particulars
A New Jersey gaol, a hands-on ghost, and a haunting with far more initiative than anyone wanted…

If you enjoy atmospheric Victorian true crime blended with real archival reporting, this is one to settle in for.

Warm drink ready, lights a little low — and perhaps… keep wardrobes firmly shut.

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  

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

📚 Related cases from the archive:  
•1889: The Infamous Bloody Trunk Case |  Ep254 
https://youtu.be/esL5RNishTU
1889: The Mystery of the Hansom Cab Murder |  EP368 
https://youtu.be/OObOZ1J_-Mk
1889: Was This the Ripper’s Comeback? The 1889 Whitechapel Murder |  EP508 
https://youtu.be/5Um9DOETHHI
1889: The Goatfell Murder: A Charming Stranger, A Missing Tourist, and the Mountain with Secrets |  Ep521 
https://youtu.be/nA-yUf84JK4

❤️ Support Independent History  
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https://www.buym

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

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The Christmas Execution No One Tried to Stop | True Crime 1898
News of the Times | Episode 591 | 1898
In today’s episode, we travel to Bugsworth, Derbyshire, where the brutal murder of Hannah Cotton shocked Victorian reporters… but what stunned them even more was this:
When her husband John Cotton was sentenced to hang — just four days before Christmas — no one asked for clemency.

No neighbours.
No friends.
No anti-capital-punishment campaigners.
Not even the canal community who had known him for decades.

Victorian newspapers called him “friendless,” a man whose violence had driven away every human tie long before the gallows claimed him. Tonight, we examine how a life shaped by hardship, jealousy, and cruelty ended with an execution that the public accepted without hesitation.

Along the way, we uncover:
• the shadowy world of Victorian canal-boat life
• allegations surrounding two previous wives
• the testimony of three schoolgirls who saw the murder
• why even at Christmastime, no voice rose to save him
• shifting attitudes toward capital punishment in 1890s Britain

And in a lighter Further Particulars: a wedding at St John’s, Hammersmith, collapses spectacularly when someone stands mid-ceremony to announce, “Stop! That man has a wife already!”

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles 

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

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1843 - 1898: Favourite Victorian Cases 2024 |  EP428
https://youtu.be/K-6i26HYCgI
1898: The Case of the St Neots Murder |  EP448
https://youtu.be/4qvv0FZ36g8
1898: The Nolagh House of Horror: Ireland’s 1898 Family Massacre |  EP556
https://youtu.be/jLFY8LtgtZk

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

 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 Clergyman Who Hid His Wife’s Murder: The Shocking Case of Rev. Selby Watson | True Crime 1871
News of the Times | Episode 590 |1871

London 1871
A quiet Stockwell street.
A respected clergyman.
A locked room… and a truth no one wished to imagine.

In October 1871, Reverend John Selby Watson — scholar, headmaster, and a man thought incapable of violence — calmly told his servant that his wife had “gone out of town.” What followed was one of the most chilling domestic murders of the Victorian era: a brutal killing, a body hidden behind a library door, and a carefully written confession that raised as many questions as it answered.

Was this a momentary lapse?
A lifetime of strain erupting all at once?
Or a premeditated act disguised as madness?

Tonight, we walk through the investigation as it unfolded — from the servant’s first suspicions, to Dr Rugg’s devastating discovery, to the courtroom debate that divided Victorian London.

This is the case of a clergyman whose life unravelled in a single, terrible moment

And in today’s lighter end-of-episode Further Particular's tale:
Three cats, two furious ladies, and one judge who absolutely did not sign up for any of this.
A “Persian stud” turns out to be more “Camden wanderer,” and Victorian justice must decide which whiskers are genuine.

👤 Hosted by Robin Coles 

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

📚 Related cases from the archive: 
1871 - 1910: Scorned: Jilted Partners and Vengeance |  Ep264
https://youtu.be/IyU0PpewCD0
1870-1871: Stories of in-law Issues |  EP319
https://youtu.be/NTNGLpFdOmU
1871-1873: Murder in Uniform: The Death of William Glass and the Hanging of Inspector Montgomery |  EP580
https://youtu.be/mPgfbM-2fGw

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

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🕯 About the Channel  
We’re an independent team of historical

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

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Support the show

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Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911
News of the Times | Episode 589 | 1911

On a cold December morning in 1911, the bell at Strangeways Gaol tolled across Manchester.
Inside, two very different men walked the same final corridor — strangers in life, now bound together by the narrow platform of a double scaffold. One was a jealous, violent husband; the other a quiet young labourer who claimed he never meant to kill. Their crimes were months apart, their tempers and histories worlds away — yet both met the same fate on a winter morning the city never forgot. 

In today’s episode, we trace the paths that brought them there. From the cramped terraces of Royton and the busy mills of Manchester, to the quiet footpaths of Plumpton Wood, we follow the investigations, witness accounts, court proceedings, and newspaper reports that shaped two capital convictions. This is the story of Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911. 

Manchester in 1911 was a city of contrasts — electric trams, cinemas and industry, but also long shifts, low pay, overcrowded homes and tempers stretched thin. Through these two tragedies we glimpse Edwardian life as it was lived by ordinary families: relentless labour, domestic pressures, and communities shocked by sudden violence. 

And in today’s Further Particulars: a festive tale from New York in 1921, where the Christmas shopping rush produced not just queues but an entire court-room of shoplifters — ages sixteen to eighty-two — all caught in the season’s light-fingered spirit. .  

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