Was Justice Served?

The Shoreditch Shoemakers

‘It came to my knowledge that Mr Smith was not a man but a woman. Of course I was greatly astonished, and could not permit things to go on in that way...’  On 17 July 1865, a former employee of shoemaker James Giles entered his workshop, pointing a pistol in his face and pulling the trigger with no hesitation. A gun malfunction spared James his life, but the crime unravelled an extraordinary story of love, abuse and gender transgression. Who was the perpetrator? What was their motivation for shooting Giles point-blank?  In the final episode of this series, Jen and David trace a crime tied up in secrets and scandal. They delve into what life was like for working-class Londoners in the 1860s. With headlines and court testimonies, they reveal a startling LGBTQ story which deserves to be told.    Discover the details for yourself in the episode's Case Files - a collection of all the key newspaper reports - available to browse for free on Findmypast: www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved]  Was justice served? Share your judgement with the WJS community:  @wasjusticeservedpod #wasjusticeserved  Producer - Madeleine Gilbert  Assistant Producer - Daisy Goddard  AV Editor - Callum Main  Video Lead - Andrew Farrell  Researcher - Jen Baldwin  Voiceover - Tanya O’Sullivan  AV Lead - Mark Asquith  Executive Producer - Helen Kaye ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Barnsley Murders, Part 2: Richardson

‘He fired three shots at him, two of which took effect in the head and spine, and he fell to the ground...’  On a spring morning in 1888, an enraged labourer stormed into his workplace, a brickworks, with a small revolver. Striding decisively towards William Berridge - the foreman who had fired him just hours ago - the man fired three shots into Berridge’s leg, head and torso. By midday, he’s in a cell, charged with intent to kill. But how was this violent crime prosecuted?   In part two, Jen and David are looking at another shooting which took place in Barnsley, just weeks apart from the murder of Eileen Burke. They compare how the criminal justice system handled these two cases, reflecting on the role of class in sentencing and punishment.  Discover the details for yourself in the episode's Case Files - a collection of all the key newspaper reports - available to browse for free on Findmypast: www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved]  Was justice served? Share your judgement with the WJS community:  @wasjusticeservedpod #wasjusticeserved  Producer - Madeleine Gilbert  Assistant Producer - Daisy Goddard  AV Editor - Callum Main  Video Lead - Andrew Farrell  Researcher - Jen Baldwin  Voiceover - Tanya O’Sullivan  AV Lead - Mark Asquith  Executive Producer - Helen Kaye ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Barnsley Murder, Part 1: Burke

‘He found the child dead and saw Dr Burke drop the revolver on the hearthrug and stagger to the side of the room, where he lay down on a seat...’  On a cold February night, in a Barnsley pub, an unimaginable tragedy took place. Inebriated on expensive champagne, a local doctor waved a revolver around wildly. As his terrified wife fled the room to get help, a bullet rang through the air. Its target: their 9-year-old daughter Eileen. What could explain this horrific act? How did the courts – and the community – respond in the wake of such a crime?  In the first episode of this two-part special, Jen and David look at one of the ‘Barnsley Murders’ - two shootings that took place just weeks apart - and reflect on the impact of social class on its verdict. In part two, they’ll be turning their attention towards a shockingly similar crime with a very different outcome.  Discover the details for yourself in the episode's Case Files - a collection of all the key newspaper reports - available to browse for free on Findmypast: www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved]  Was justice served? Share your judgement with the WJS community:  @wasjusticeservedpod #wasjusticeserved  Producer - Madeleine Gilbert  Assistant Producer - Daisy Goddard  AV Editor - Callum Main  Video Lead - Andrew Farrell  Researcher - Jen Baldwin  Voiceover - Tanya O’Sullivan  AV Lead - Mark Asquith  Executive Producer - Helen Kaye ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Crime of Ann Grimes

‘Her dress was bedaubed with blood, and there was blood on the floor. Jealousy is said to be the cause of the crime...’  In the autumn of 1880, David Anderson awoke to find his wife Ann dead in his arms. With a fatal head wound and sheets stained with blood, her cause of death was far from natural. The couple had recently become entangled in a jealous, alcohol-fuelled love triangle with their lodger – but was she to blame for this atrocity? Who would be tried for Ann’s murder?  Jen and David delve into this gruesome 19th-century murder. They analyse salacious headlines to tell a story of jealous passion, unravelling themes of poverty, addiction and Victorian gender roles in the process. Discover the details for yourself in the episode's Case Files - a collection of all the key newspaper reports - available to browse for free on Findmypast: www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved]  Was justice served? Share your judgement with the WJS community:  @wasjusticeservedpod #wasjusticeserved  Producer - Madeleine Gilbert  Assistant Producer - Daisy Goddard  AV Editor - Callum Main  Video Lead - Andrew Farrell  Researcher - Jen Baldwin  Voiceover - Tanya O’Sullivan  AV Lead - Mark Asquith  Executive Producer - Helen Kaye ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Tichborne Imposter

If he was not Roger Tichborne, he had committed a deliberate fraud, and supported it by perjury, forgery and the most abominable means...’  In the autumn of 1886, the widowed Lady Tichborne received a curious letter signed ‘Sir Roger Tichborne, your son’. But Roger had perished in a shipwreck off the coast of Brazil over a decade before. The grieving mother welcomed Roger back with open arms – but with growing suspicions and accusations of fraud, the joyous reunion wasn’t all that it seemed. Was it the real Roger Tichborne, or a fraudster after the family’s fortune?  In this episode, Jen and David trace the scandalous story of a shipwrecked son risen from the dead to reclaim his inheritance. From Australia to Hampshire, the headlines take them on a journey full of unexpected twists, as they analyse the case’s wealth of first-hand testimonies.  Discover the details for yourself in the episode's Case Files - a collection of all the key newspaper reports - available to browse for free on Findmypast: www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved]  Was justice served? Share your judgement with the WJS community:  @wasjusticeservedpod #wasjusticeserved  Producer - Madeleine Gilbert  Assistant Producer - Daisy Goddard  AV Editor - Callum Main  Video Lead - Andrew Farrell  Researcher - Jen Baldwin  Voiceover - Tanya O’Sullivan  AV Lead - Mark Asquith  Executive Producer - Helen Kaye ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.