Jack
the Ripper: Stephen P. Ryder & John A. Piper, the creators
of Casebook: Jack the Ripper website, claim that it is the world's
largest public repository of Ripper-related information! The website
includes sections on Victims, Suspects, Witnesses, Ripper Letters,
Police Officials, Official Documents, Press Reports, Timeline and
Games & Diversions. The section on Victorian London will be particularly
useful for history teachers.
The
Old Bailey: The Old Bailey Proceedings Online Project is creating
a fully searchable digitised collection of all surviving editions
of the Old Bailey Proceedings from 1674 to 1834 and making all 100,000
trials available on the internet free of charge for non-commercial
use. In addition to the text, accessible through both keyword and
structured searching, this website provides digital images of the
60,000 original pages of the Proceedings, advice on methods of searching
this resource, information on the historical and legal background
to trials at the Old Bailey, links to descriptions of published and
manuscript materials relating to the trials covered in the Proceedings,
and a special section for schools.
Cato
Street Conspiracy: On 22nd February 1820, Arthur Thistlewood discovered
that several members of the British government were going to have
dinner at Lord Harrowby's house at 39 Grosvenor Square the following
night. Thistlewood argued that this was the opportunity they had been
waiting for. It was decided that a group of his followers would gain
entry to the house and kill all the government ministers. The heads
of Lord Castlereagh and Lord Sidmouth would be placed on poles and
taken around the slums of London. Thistlewood was convinced that this
would incite an armed uprising that would overthrow the government.
This website provides an account of what became known as the Cato
Street Conspiracy.
History
of Judicial Hanging: In Britain hanging was the principal form
of execution from Anglo-Saxon times up to abolition of the death penalty
in 1964. There were hundreds of executions a year in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries with the greatest number being carried out
at Tyburn, near what is now Marble Arch, at the end of Oxford Street
in London. 1,140 men and 92 women were hanged at Tyburn between 1703
and 1783. Between 1800 and 1964, at least 5,508 people (including
246 women) suffered death on the gallows. This website, produced by
Richard Clark, provides a detailed history of capital punishment in
Britain.
Newgate
Calendar: Newgate
was used as a prison from at least 1188, and rebuilt as such in 1420.
It was destroyed in the Gordon Riots in 1780 but rebuilt in 1783 and
used for both civil debtors and criminals until 1815. Thereafter,
it was used for criminals only, and from 1881, only during the sittings
of the Central Criminal Court. It was finally destroyed in 1902, part
of the site being occupied by the Central Criminal Court then built.
The Newgate Calendar was published in five volumes in 1760. There
were many later editions. Later series were issued from about 1820
as the Newgate Calendar, and the New Newgate Calendar appeared weekly
in 1863-65. This online version of the Newgate Calendar has been produced
by the University of Texas School of Law.
Jack
Sheppard: In 18th-century England, many criminals were children
who were trained as pickpockets or put through windows to burgle the
houses of property owners. Between 1700 and 1725, nearly half of all
those hanged at Tyburn were apprentice boys. One of them was Jack
Sheppard (1702-24), an apprentice carpenter who, as a thief, made
more money in a month than a qualified carpenter made in a year. By
the time he was executed, he had become a hero, idolised for his daring
escapes from prison.
The
Crime Library: This website site was founded by Marilyn J. Bardsley
in January 1998. The Crime Library is a rapidly growing collection
of more than over 500 nonfiction feature stories on major crimes,
criminals, trials, forensics and criminal profiling, as well as award-winning
fiction short stories by prominent writers. The stories focus mostly
on recent crimes, but an expanding collection also delves into historically
notorious characters, dating back to the 1400s and spanning the globe.
The Crime Library serves as an important resource for students researching
current and historical subjects.
American
Mafia: The Mafia is a group of criminals organized into "families,"
and operating primarily in North America. Also known as La Cosa Nostra,
at one time there were 26 families in the United States - roughly
one for each major city. The Mafia has its roots in Sicily, where
the larger and more powerful Sicilian Mafia operates. This website
produced by Rick Porrello's provides background information on the
Mafia plus links to a large number of articles on the subject.
18th
Century Crime Reports: This collected of early 18th century newspaper
reports have been compiled by Rictor Norton. The website includes
accounts of several criminal cases including Catherine Hayes (burned
alive for murdering her husband), Captain Jane (murdered his cabin
boy), Mary Harvey (highway robber), Moll Freeman (criminal from Covent
Garden), Mary Taylor (executed in Norwich for killing her mistress)
and John Ellis (a soldier shot for desertion).
Victorian
Child Criminals: Young people have always got into trouble with
the law. What changes over time is how society deals with its young
offenders. Before
Victorian times no distinction was made between criminals of any age.
Accordingly, young children could be sent to an adult prison. There
are records of children aged 12 being hanged. The Victorians were
very worried about crime and its causes. Reformers were asking questions
about how young people who had broken the law ought to be treated.
They could see that locking children up with adult criminals was hardly
likely to make them lead honest lives in the future. On the other
hand, they believed firmly in stiff punishments. This Public Record
Office website looks at the cases of two child criminals, Elizabeth
Roberts and George Page.
Powys
County Archives (Crime and Punishment): This local history website
was created by Powys County Archives with the help of the county museums
and libraries in the area. Subjects covered include Religion, Education
and Poverty. The Crime and Punishment section provides a large collection
of primary sources on the way in which offenders were dealt with by
the authorities in the counties of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and
Breconshire in earlier times.
Crime
and Punishment: In the years after 1660 the number of offences
carrying the death penalty increased enormously, from about 50, to
160 by 1750 and to 288 by 1815. You could be hanged for stealing goods
worth 5 shillings (25p), stealing from a shipwreck, pilfering from
a Naval Dockyard, damaging Westminster Bridge, impersonating a Chelsea
Pensioner or cutting down a young tree. This series of laws became
known as "The Bloody Code." This Public Record Office website
takes a close look at why the Bloody Code passed by parliament.
Famous
Trials:
Douglas O. Linder, professor of law at the University of Missouri-Kansas
City Law School, has created an outstanding website on famous trials.
Those covered so far include the Salem Witchcraft Trials (1692), Amistad
Trials (1839-40), Andrew Johnson Impeachment Trial (1868), Susan Anthony
Trial (1873), Sacco-Vanzetti Trial (1921), Scopes Monkey Trial (1925),
Scottsboro Trials (1931-37), Nuremberg Trials (1945-49), Rosenberg
Trial (1951), Mississippi Burning Trial (1967), Chicago Seven Conspiracy
Trial (1969-70) and the My Lai Court Martial (1970). Most of these
include background information on the case, biographies and photographs
of trial participants, trial transcript excerpt and articles from
newspapers that covered the trial.
Crime
Team: Channel 4's Crime Team lifts the lid on grisly murders from
the crime history books. Each week two celebrity sleuths, from politicians
to art critics, turn detective; their powers of deduction tested to
the full, pitted against investigators of another era with only the
forensic tools of the time to crack the case. Starting at the real
murder scene, they must ask the right question of adjudicator Jerome
Lynch QC to gain the next piece of evidence, before naming their killer.
But immersing themselves in the historical period of the time, another
picture emerges - often of social inequality and harsh justice. This
website looks at the people and the influences at work. And having
learned how to chase leads and rule out red herrings, you can take
the challenge and have a go at cracking the site's own murder mystery.
Murder
Research: Serious crime down through the ages has affected every
class of family. Today genealogists are more interested than ever
to find out the facts behind a story, legend or suspicion that has
either been passed down through the generations or has recently been
uncovered. Anyone who participates in family history or historic research
is aware that murder - or at least serious crime - has been a fact
of life down through the centuries. There is a very high possibility
that a member of your family at sometime during the past few hundred
years was involved in a criminal activity, either as the victim or
the criminal. The good news is that there is an equally high chance
that the crime was reported in the newspapers creating an opportunity
to learn more about the person you are researching. The press, particularly
in days gone by, are extremely revealing and a fantastic source of
information. Murder Research is an online historic murder research
service for history explorers worldwide.
History
of the Metropolitan Police Service: This website provides a comprehensive
history of the Metropolitan Police from 1829 to the present. This
includes biographies of key figures and details of famous cases such
as Jack the Ripper (a famous series of murders that took place between
1888 and 1891), the Brighton Trunk Murders (a notorious double murder
case), Dr Crippen (the case of a murdered wife which provided a historic
instance of a criminal being caught with the aid of radio), the Antique
Shop Murder (a brutal killing that led to the first use in Britain
of the 'Identikit' technique) and Brides in the Bath Murders (zealous
detective work that finally solved the intricate case of a serial
adulterer and wife killer).
Do you
want to have your website listed in our web directory? If so, send
a brief description (about 150 words) and the URL to spartacus@pavilion.co.uk.
