In 2018, Pen and Sword will publish another of my non-fiction works, Tales from the 18th Century Old Bailey. The book will offer a peek into the annals of the most famous criminal court in the world, in what must arguably be the most tumultuous century in British history. In an era when the Bloody Code sent thousands of men and women to the gallows and saw children transported to the far side of the world for what seem now like the most trivial of wrongdoings, an appointment with the judges of the Old Bailey was the last thing any self-respecting miscreant wanted to receive!
From bloody murder to impulsive shoplifting via not so dandy highwaymen and the real stories behind Mother Clap’s Molly House, a microcosm of Georgian society passed through the Old Bailey as tragic prostitutes and murderous hangmen alike found themselves standing before the bench.
It will be my gruesome delight to share these tales and more with readers, as well as the grisly details behind the terrible punishments those convicted might face. As you can imagine, I really cannot wait to bring these stories to readers, so keep your hand on your purse and your wits about you... there are villains about!
26 comments:
Congratulations on new contract. You have a super site here too.
Congratulations--though I doubt I can bring myself to read the grisly details!
Huge congratulations - I look forward to both buying and reading (hell, I'll even review it!!)
Great news. You provide a lot of unique historical insight in an amusing (and dare I say fashionable) way for free, and I am looking forward to paying for the grisly details!
I look forward to your books! They remind me of the cheery words of an C18th Scottish judge to the accused (they weren't very nice to criminals there either). He said, more or less: "You're a braw wee laddie, but ye'll be nae th worse for being hangit".
Excellent, I look forward to it. That'll go straight on my wishlist I'm struggling with the Old Bailey myself at the moment - taking a break from weather watching in 1806 - looking for gypsies. without much success.
Congratulations, this sounds so interesting and I'm really glad to have found your blog.
That's really kind, I hope you enjoy looking around!
And I won't be sparing *any* of them either!
Brilliant, thank you!!!
I'm not used to being fashionable, merci!
Oh, that's brilliant!
Let me know if I can lend a hand!
It's lovely to welcome you!
Many thanks! I've been using the suggestions in the help section of searching gyp* and gip* to account for the different spellings, which turned up a few, but all of them sporting 'normal' names. I suppose I need to trawl through 'animal theft' and 'vagabond' or 'vagrant'. If you came upon any gypsy names and the date I would be very much obliged, I ran to earth a few of the Lovells but none of the Boswells/Bosvils/Bosses though I know a number of them were transported.
Looking forward to this one, too! Congratulations!
I will keep both eyes peeled!
Thank you!
Many thanks! I suspect it's going to be a case of trawling through the local assizes at the record office and arranging a quid pro quo with people in random other parts of the country
Argh!
Sad to tell you, Catherine, that rather a lot of ours ended up in clink. Not at the Old Bailey, however. And not on your side. Mine and Rick's. Some of the girls sounded quite feisty, to put it mildly.
I have a branch of the family who were always up at the assizes for sheep stealing, robbery with violence, breaking and taking away and one case of incest. that and bestiality are country crimes, but at least on the whole that particular tribe never interfered with the sheep they stole....
You must tell me more; Rick claims to know nothing about this shadowy family past. ;-)
Luckily for the sheep!;-)
Great topic! How will this book be different from the book I published some time ago with Tim Hitchcock on the same topic, 'Tales from from the Hanging Court', or the successful Radio 4 series, 'Tales from the Old Bailey'? Bob Shoemaker
There's been a slight change in my release schedule to accommodate some royal titles associated with my forthcoming book, Life in the Georgian Court, so Tales from the 18th Century Old Bailey is currently still in its planning stage but I will share more details once its publication date gets closer. I don't think I know that Radio 4 series unless it's Voices from the Old Bailey, in which case it's an excellent piece of radio! :-)
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