Category Archives: Uncategorized

I was trawling various Scottish newspaper archives to try and find further reports of the stress occasioned by the Madeleine Smith trial – I was looking for reports of lunacy or hysteria occasioned by the event when I came across … Continue reading →

A couple of months ago we had a political storm here in Australia when Scott Morrison, our prime minister claimed there had been no slavery in the colony of New South Wales. Horrendous abuse of the indigenous population, yes, slavery, … Continue reading →

As I’ve said before, I have a degree in Psychology, in fact I have a BSc. As I did my degree at St Andrews, which could never, as an institution, decide if psychology was properly part of humanities or sciences, … Continue reading →

Back in 2010 I wrote about the attempt to shut down Paleography at KCL in London. This morning’s news reminded me of this, with the government announcement that fees for humanities courses are to double. Normally all that would happen … Continue reading →

Back in 2015 I blogged about the taking down of the statue of Cecil Rhodes outside of UCT in Cape Town. Now again, the question as to what to do about colonial era monuments has raised its head again. They … Continue reading →

A nineteenth century British politician – I think it was Disraeli – once referred to the ‘ten thousand’ – essentially the mixture of upper middle class people and members of the aristocracy who actually ran things. And it’s true – … Continue reading →

The Victorians loved a good murder, especially where one involved the aristocracy, financial malfeasance, and a dash of illicit sex. And murders like these were reported in the newspapers of the day with great gusto, because murders sold newspapers, especially … Continue reading →

When I was researching the murder of Sophia Lewis I came across a couple of English newspaper cuttings that linked the murder to supposed aristocratic misbehaviour and the Waterloo Bridge mystery. My first thought was that this was some nineteenth … Continue reading →

In December 1856 a young prostitute, Sophia Lewis, was found murdered in her house in Stephen Street (now Exhibition Street) Melbourne. Sophia’s throat had been cut, and her jewellery stolen, and the money she was reputed to keep in her … Continue reading →

Remember coins? These funny round bits of metal that we used to use to pay for things. Now superseded by tap’n’go since corona virus killed the use of cash – and possibly never to return. I can honestly say we … Continue reading →