Year of the Ripper: Michael Patten

Notting Hill and Notting Dale epitomised the contradictions of 19th Century London, a city wherein the poor lived yards away from people spending more in one day than they would in a year. In the sweeping crescents, gardens and walks along Ladbroke Grove down to Campden Hill and Holland Park… You must be a paid …

Year of the Ripper: Percy Ostler

On the morning of 11 January, 1888, two-year-old Percy Ostler was being looked after by his heavily-pregnant mother, Louisa, and her sister Henrietta Brown, at their basement flat below a chemist’s shop at 55 Trafalgar Road in Greenwich, south London. At around 10.45am, Miss Brown decided to go out briefly… You must be a paid …

The Assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval

Only one British Prime Minister has ever been assassinated. Spencer Perceval was shot in the Palace of Westminster in 1812 after serving just three years in office. During that time he presided over an unstable government, a financial crisis and a series of setbacks in the Napoleonic wars. But it… You must be a paid …