
News of the Times - Unlocking the vaults of historical crime
Welcome to News of the Times!
Step into the shadowed alleyways and gaslit parlours of the 18th and 19th centuries with News of the Times — a meticulously curated journey through historical crime. Each episode draws from authentic reports and court records, bringing you the darkly fascinating tales that gripped Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian Britain.
With over 500 episodes and counting, we explore true accounts of mischief, murder, and mayhem from days gone by — all delivered with a wry nod and a love for the curious corners of the past.
🕵️ For those with a taste for the peculiar, you may also enjoy our new side project: Volume 1: Slightly Unreliable Memoirs — a whimsical collection inspired by the lives (and occasional misadventures) of our research team. Think cravats, crumpets, and the occasional cactus on the lam. Intrigued? Find it here:
👉 https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e
News of the Times - Unlocking the vaults of historical crime
Confessed After 22 Years — The Victorian Murder That Refused to Stay Buried
Confessed After 22 Years — The Victorian Murder That Refused to Stay Buried
News of the Times | Episode 539 | 1879
Step into the shadowy world of Victorian secrets, where murder doesn’t always stay in the past. In today’s chilling tale, we follow a crime that baffled the community for over two decades—until a sudden confession upends everything.
What drives a man to speak after 22 years of silence?
And what does justice look like after such a long delay?
This episode reveals the twists, suspicions, and strange silences surrounding a haunting case that simply wouldn’t let go. A richly layered mystery full of deception, rural whispers, and a guilt that proved impossible to bury.
But wait—there’s more...
🪶 Further Particulars:
In this week’s bizarre bonus tale from 1879, we meet a man, a suspiciously full tub of feathers, and 30 deeply traumatised geese.
Caught mid-moult — or so he claimed — the geese were found nearly naked, with feathers clearly yanked rather than shed.
The defendant offered a flurry of excuses: moulting geese, rogue dogs, and one particularly imaginative fib about a feather-stuffed bed arriving from London. None of them held water — or feathers, for that matter.
An absurd but oddly unforgettable glimpse into the weirder corners of Victorian animal cruelty cases.
🎧 Whether you're a true crime devotee, a lover of Victorian drama, or simply curious how one ends up headfirst in a moral tub, this episode is not to be missed.
👤 Hosted by Robin Coles
📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday
📚 Related cases from the archive:
1878: Poisoner in the Family: The Dark Tale of Ellen Heesom | EP491
https://youtu.be/dNzsOByqvGg
1879: The Curious Case of the Perryman Affair | EP492
https://youtu.be/3gBKtzV_22g
1872: The Twisted Tale of Mrs Portbury | EP499
https://youtu.be/OhyLhLfCpK0
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🕯 About the Channel
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