Sarah Wise

This revolting case was reported in the North Wales Chronicle of 20 May 1830, although it was a London court hearing. Resurrection men were the most hated section of the community, and this report helps to explain why. “A well-known… Continue reading →

Some of the drinks my alcoholic anti-heroes put away during their treks around London sounded frankly delicious to me. Here are a couple of tap-room tipples you could enjoy in 1831: Egg Hot: boil up in a saucepan one quart… Continue reading →

Not quite the eating of horsemeat, but not that far off, either . . . ● In an 1847 pamphlet entitled “Smithfield and the Slaughterhouses: A Letter to the Rt Hon Viscount Morpeth MP by a Liveryman of London”, the… Continue reading →

While awaiting execution in Newgate Gaol, having been condemned for the murder of the Italian boy, resurrectionist James May penned this poem. It was snaffled away by the prison governor, John Wontner. “James May is doomed to die/And is condemned… Continue reading →

SUPPOSED MURDERS “On Saturday night, a person named Price, residing in Bethnal Green, was digging in his garden when he turned up a human skull, and on making further search exhumed an entire skeleton, which, however, on being examined by… Continue reading →

Pete Locker, who lives on the Boundary Street Estate, close to St Leonard’s, took this night-time shot of the church using a pinhole camera. I think it certainly captures the aura of this creepy place of worship – which is… Continue reading →

The body of the Italian Boy, Carlo Ferrari, was buried in 1831 in the graveyard of the St Paul’s Covent Garden/Strand Union workhouse in Cleveland Street, London W1 (above). The graveyard was closed in 1853 and afterwards cleared, and Carlo… Continue reading →

Itinerant Italian boys sold plaster figurines and displayed small animals in city streets well into the 20th century. Below are photographs of (from the left) an Italian boy in London with a monkey, photographed in 1854; figurine and trinket vendors… Continue reading →

Yes, it’s a cliche, but fogs really did used to make London more mysterious and eerie – people even said so at the time. I came upon these two passages while researching The Italian Boy – they’re from 1826 and… Continue reading →

The capital always had plenty of “islands” – chunks of built territory that had a sense of being cut off from close neighbours. Wapping Island and Bermondsey’s Jacob’s Island were at least separated off by ditches and inlets. But there was… Continue reading →