Year of the Ripper: Henry Talbot

Watney Street market once had more than 100 shops selling cheese, meat, fruit, shoes and clothing at the heart of the East End. One of those businesses was distinguished by a cast iron sign reading ‘J Sainsbury Ltd’, part of a growing enterprise which would become the largest grocery retailer… You must be a paid …

Year of the Ripper: James Langley

A local guide book for 1888 described the horse-driven omnibus as “the most convenient and cheapest form of travelling from one London street to another”. Many of the services passed through Piccadilly every few minutes from early morning until midnight on the way to Hammersmith, the Strand, Liverpool Street, London… You must be a paid …

Without a Trace: The Unsolved Murder of Robert Duff

On the day he disappeared, 12 January 2013, Robert Duff was due to attend a family celebration for his daughter’s 18th birthday. It was not an event he was likely to miss. The 37-year-old father-of-two was close to his parents and his two daughters and was in contact with them at least once a day. …

Year of the Ripper: Jane Healey

The working class area of Rotherhithe, south London, was described by Dickens as a place where the ‘accumulated scum of humanity seemed to be washed from higher grounds, like so much moral sewage.’ It was a community based around the docks and shipyards, warehouses and factories. Two of the local… You must be a paid …