A simple guide to tracing British family tree before the onset of civil registration in 1837 and back to the Middle Ages.The trail that an ancestor leaves through the Victorian period and the twentieth century is relatively easy to follow—the records are plentiful, accessible, and commonly used. But how do you go back further, into the centuries before the central registration of births, marriages, and deaths was introduced in 1837, before the first detailed census ...

The bestselling criminal history author provides "compelling insight" into the life and crimes of one of England's most notorious serial killers ( Buckinghamshire Life).Sixty years ago, the discovery of bodies at 10 Rillington Place in Notting Hill, London, led to one of the most sensational, shocking, and controversial serial murder cases in British criminal history: the case of John Christie. Much has been written about the Christie kil...

Agatha Christie’s detective fiction is deeply inspired by real-life crimes, criminals, and historical mysteries worldwide.Did you know that many of Agatha Christie’s best-selling detective stories have their basis in reality?‘Who killed Charles Bravo and why?’ asks retired Superintendent Spence in Elephants Can Remember. He refers to an unsolved Victorian murder mystery, one of many allusions to real life crime and criminals in Agatha Christie’s fiction. Th...

The twin fascinations of death and villainy will always hold us in their grim but thrilling grip. In Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Lewisham and Deptford the chill is brought close to home as each chapter investigates the darker side of humanity in cases of murder, deceit and pure malice committed over the centuries in this area of London. From crimes of passion to opportunistic killings and coldly premeditated acts of murder, the full spectrum of criminality is recounted, bringing to...

The real-life murder mysteries that rocked London between two world wars—from the author of Unsolved Murders of Victorian and Edwardian London.Unsolved crimes have a special fascination, none more so than unsolved murders. The shock of the crime itself and the mystery surrounding it, the fear generated by the awareness a killer on the loose, the insight the cases give into outdated police methods, and the chance to speculate about the identity of the kille...

What motivated John George Haigh to murder at least six people, then dissolve their corpses in concentrated sulphuric acid? How did this intelligent, well-educated man from a loving, strongly religious family of Plymouth Brethren become a fraudster, a thief, then a serial killer? In the latest of his best-selling studies of criminal history, Jonathan Oates reinvestigates this sensational case of the late 1940s. He delves into Haigh's Yorkshire background, his reputation as a loner, a bully...

Family history should reveal more than facts and dates, lists of names and places it should bring ancestors alive in the context of their times and the surroundings they knew and research into local history records is one of the most rewarding ways of gaining this kind of insight into their world. That is why Jonathan Oatess detailed introduction to these records is such a useful tool for anyone who is trying to piece together a portrait of family members from the past. In a series of conc...

"Oates examines in minute detail why the Jacobite forces posed such a threat to William and Mary, Queen Anne, and George I and II." —Books MonthlyMany books have been written about the Jacobite rebellions—the armed attempts made by the Stuarts to regain the British throne between 1689 and 1746—and in particular about the risings of 1689, 1715, 1719 and 1745. The key battles have been described in graphic detail. Yet no previous book has given a comprehensive militar...

This chilling volume brings together more murderous tales that shocked not only the county but made headline news throughout the nation. Covering the length and breadth of Buckinghamshire, the featured cases include the brutal slaying of a family of seven in Denham in 1870, the killing of a butcher's wife in Victorian Slough for which no one was ever found guilty, a double shooting at Little Kimble and a killing near Haddenham in 1828, in which a letter written a year late...

The East End is one of the most famous parts of London and it has had its own distinctive identity since the district was first settled in medieval times. It is best known for extremes of poverty and deprivation, for strong political and social movements, and for the extraordinary mix of immigrants who have shaped its history. Jonathan Oatess handbook is the ideal guide to its complex, rich and varied story and it is an essential source for anyone who wants to find out about an East End an...

An historical true crime accounting of London's notorious serial murderers and their victims, spanning the Victorian era to the mid-twentieth century.Murders and murderers fascinate us—and perhaps serial killers fascinate us most of all. In the twentieth century the term came to be used to describe murders committed by the same person, often with similar methods. But, as Jonathan Oates demonstrates in this selection of cases from London, this category of crime has e...

In this practical handbook Jonathan Oates introduces the fascinating subject of criminal history and he gives readers all the information they need to investigate the life stories of criminals and their victims. He traces the development of the justice system and policing, and gives an insight into the criminal world of the times and the individuals who populated it. In a series of concise chapters he covers all the important aspects of the subject. At every stage, he guides readers toward...