A Grim Almanac Of Sussex

W.H. Johnson digs deep into Sussex's past, presenting the reader with centuries of criminality and vice, of wretched living conditions and blind fate, which so often leads to appalling consequences. A Grim Almanac of Sussex chronicles the darker side of life in the county. This is a never-ending parade of woe, horror, and misfortune: dreadful rail accidents, public executions, murderers, robbers, drunkards, and general ne'er-do-wells are all included. If it's macabre, if it's ghoulish, if it's bizarre, then it's here!

This guide unveils a sinister, macabre, or horrifying occurrence for every day of the year, and presents readers with 365 graphic, spine-tingling, and dramatic events. The wicked, the mad, the foolish, and the unfortunate parade through the pages: poachers, witches, rioters, plague victims, highwaymen, smugglers, and the condemned awaiting their fate. There are accidents, explosions, suicides, and shipwrecks. The author takes us into prisons and workhouses, into the slums of Maidstone and the cold cottages of the rural poor, and even onto the scaffold. Included are the likes of George Joseph Smith doing away with his brides in the bath; the respectable Stauntons who starved heiress Harriet to death; Frances Kidder who drowned her stepdaughter; and an old man's murder which remained unsolved until an incredible confession 11 years later. W.H. Johnson's new book is generously illustrated with a range of engravings, photographs, public notices, and original documents. This chronicle of all that is grim and ghastly is an entertaining and readable alternative history of Kent.

This day-by-day look at the darker side of Sussex's past includes diverse tales of highwaymen, smugglers, murderers, footpads, poachers, rioters and rebels. This sordid cast of characters is deservedly accompanied by accounts of old gaols, bridewells and punishments, as well a liberal smattering of death omens, disasters and peculiar medicine.

This day-by-day account of gruesome tales from York's past reveals the seedy underbelly of what was historically the most important city in the North. Inside these pages you will find true stories of murder and intrigue, battles and conspiracies, witches and religious martyrs, gruesome executions and horrible accidents. Read about Margaret Clitherow, tortured to death for her beliefs, Richard Scrope, the archbishop executed for treason, and of course the notorious highwayman Richard 'Dick' Turpin and his moonlight ride. If you have ever wondered what nasty goings-on occurred in the York of yesteryear, then read on ... if you dare!

This day-by-day account of gruesome tales from York’s past reveals the seedy underbelly of what was historically the most important city in the North. Inside these pages you will find true stories of murder and intrigue, battles and conspiracies, witches and religious martyrs, gruesome executions and horrible accidents. Read about Margaret Clitherow, tortured to death for her beliefs, Richard Scrope, the archbishop executed for treason, and of course the notorious highwayman Richard ‘Dick’ Turpin and his moonlight ride.If you have ever wondered what nasty goings-on occurred in the York of yesteryear, then read on ... if you dare!

A Grim Almanac of Oxfordshire is a day-by-day catalogue of 366 ghastly tales from the county's past. There are murders and manslaughters, including the killing by Mrs Barber of her entire family in 1909 while temporarily insane, and the brutal murder of four-year-old Edward Busby in 1871, killed by his mother to prevent his father ill-treating him. There are bizarre deaths, including those of four-year-old Charles Taylor, who was accidentally kicked clean through a top storey window in 1844 by a child playing on a swing, George Sheppard, who was struck by a cricket ball during a match in 1905, and of the vicar of Bucknell, who starved himself to death in 1935. There is an assortment of calamities which include strange and unusual crimes, devastating fires, rail crashes, explosions, disasters, mysteries, freak weather and a plethora of uncanny accidents. Generously illustrated, this chronicle is an entertaining and readable record of Oxfordshire's grim past. Delve into the dreadful deeds of Oxford's past, if you dare...

For two centuries, the shadow of the workhouse hung over Britain. The recourse of only the most desperate, dark, and terrible tales of malnutrition, misery, mistreatment, and murder ran like wildfire through the poorer classes, who lived in terror of being forced inside the institution's towering walls—and, as this collection proves, all of them were true! This book contains 365 incredible tales of fires, drownings, explosions, and disasters, infamous scandals such as the Andover affair—where inmates were forced to eat the bones they were supposed to be crushing to ward off starvation—and sickening tales of abuse, assault, bodysnatching, poisonings, post mortems, and murder. Accompanied by 70 rare and wonderful illustrations, this book will thrill, fascinate, sadden, and unnerve in equal measure.

Jostling for position in this cornucopia of the criminal and the curious are diverse tales of baby farmers, garrotters, murderers, poisoners, prostitutes, pimps, rioters and rebels. Other tales tell of those who walked the poverty-stricken streets of 'the abyss', trying to earn a few honest coppers by the most unusual and desperate occupations, from tater man to tosher. This colourful cast of characters is accompanied by accounts of prisons and punishments, as well as a liberal smattering of funerals, executions, disasters and bizarre events. If it's horrible, if it's ghastly, if it's strange, its here - and if you have the stomach for it, then read on.