Category Archives: Crime

Working for the Georgian Customs

Posted on March 14, 2020 by William Savage

It wasn’t job you could just walk into. Before you became a Customs officer you had to embark on six months training. This took place at some of the more important ports in the country, including Yarmouth and Lynn in … Continue reading →

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“If You Want A Job Done Properly …”

Posted on October 9, 2019 by William Savage

Turning once again to the pages of the Ipswich Journal for April 15th, 1721, we find this fascinating report of a criminal trial held in Edinburgh, at which one James Campbell of Burbank, “late of the Stores in Edinburgh Castle”, … Continue reading →

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Organised Crime in the 18th Century

Posted on March 20, 2019 by William Savage

It’s often said that there is nothing new under the sun, and this story from the Stamford Mercury for April 16th, 1772, certainly bears this out. It makes it quite clear that large-scale, organised crime is far from being the … Continue reading →

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“Crier! Call the Ghost”!

Posted on December 19, 2018 by William Savage

“A remarkable instance of a person being tried for murder on the pretended information of a ghost.” This was the headline above an article in the Chelmsford Chronicle dated 9th April, 1784. The minute I saw it, I knew it … Continue reading →

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Poachers in the 18th Century

Posted on October 10, 2018 by William Savage

Much of what we think we know about poachers and poaching in the past derives from the 19th-century. That was when the conflict between the poacher and the game-loving landowner reached its peak, with considerable violence shown on both sides. … Continue reading →

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The Murderous Georgian Rector of Wiveton

Posted on November 22, 2017 by William Savage

At around 11:15 pm on April 7, 1779, the audience began to leave the Covent Garden Theatre after a performance of a popular comic opera called “Love in a Village”. It was a warm night for early spring, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in C18th Norfolk, Crime, Georgian Society | 2 Comments

John Black and “The Lady Shore”

Posted on September 20, 2017 by William Savage

John Black was born on 31 October, 1778, in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. He spent his childhood at Woodbridge in Suffolk. His father, also called John, was curate at Butley from 1789 to 1813, Chaplain at the Woodbridge House of Correction, … Continue reading →

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The Georgian Way with Debt

Posted on July 19, 2017 by William Savage

Imprisonment for debt has become a commonplace in historical novels set in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. How common was it and why were debtors thrown into gaol? Debtors were probably the largest element in the eighteenth-century prison population. Some … Continue reading →

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Eighteenth-century Prosecution Associations

Posted on July 5, 2017 by William Savage

All my Georgian-era mystery stories share one element: the fact that England at the time had no system of public prosecution for crimes. Not only were there no police to investigate criminal acts, there were no official prosecutors to bring … Continue reading →

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Pirates of the … North Sea?

Posted on June 28, 2017 by William Savage

Many of us were brought up on romantic tales of pirates sailing in various exotic parts of the world, whether through “Treasure Island” or “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Yet the business of being a pirate could be just as profitable, … Continue reading →

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