Sheffield's Shocking Past by Chris Hobbs & Matthew Bell
Forgotten Tales of Murder, Mishap & Gruesome Misdemeanour
Sheffield's Shocking Past by Chris Hobbs & Matthew Bell
Forgotten Tales of Murder, Mishap & Gruesome Misdemeanour
The Sheffield Flood of 1864, the single greatest man-made disaster in Victorian
England, is well chronicled but scores of arguably more shocking episodes have
lain largely undiscovered for decades, until now...
Multiple murders; child murderers; a burning boy running
half a mile before his agonising death; strange deaths; untimely deaths; deaths
by starvation; hideous accidents; a romantic double suicide and a factory
explosion killing all in its wake. It all happened in Victorian Sheffield.
Justice was swift, unwieldy and brutal - Sheffield even had the dubious honour
of being home to Thomas Williams, the first man to be hanged during the reign of
Queen Victoria.
Not all crimes were solved; the murder of Boden Lane's “Bearded Lady”, for
example, has remained a mystery to this day.
Drink, sadly, played a large part in many of these hideous tragedies - what else
would encourage the bizarre Victorian 'prank' of pulling a (petrified) pet cat
across Attercliffe canal on the end of rope in a bid to win more beer? In this
case the animal escaped and the perpetrator drowned! Sheffield's Shocking
Past is based on extensive research by life-long Sheffielder Chris Hobbs,
ably assisted by author Matthew Bell, who provide an amazing insight into the
more gruesome and grizzly episodes of Victorian Sheffield.
The Sheffield Star newspaper printed an article featuring this website and the book on Monday 2nd April 2012
The Sheffield Telegraph newspaper printed an article featuring this website and the book on Thursday 10th May 2012
A Book-Signing Event at Waterstones, Sheffield Saturday 7th July 2012
This page was last updated on 12/09/20 09:52