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In this video, we delve into the story of young Joseph Turner who was aged just eleven when a series of events would unfold that would lead to tragic consequences. When two groups of young boys came together, no-one would have ever imagined that one of them would never return home. This is the true…
Just after 10am on the morning of Tuesday, 9th June 1896, a young boy burst into the workshop of John Coates and his son Thomas, which was situated along the cobbled road of Bridge-street, Accrington and just behind the now forgotten, Brown Cow public inn. In a frenzied state of mind, the boy shouted, ‘Oh,…
Just after 10am on the morning of Tuesday, 9th June 1896, a young boy burst into the workshop of John Coates and his son Thomas, which was situated along the cobbled road of Bridge-street, Accrington and just behind the now forgotten, Brown Cow public inn. In a frenzied state of mind, the boy shouted, ‘Oh,…
When Moses Clayton’s body was laid to rest on Saturday, 1st March 1919, it would close the book on one of Rossendale’s most notorious villains. A character that had once terrorised an entire district with his brutality and drunken carefree attitude would no longer pose a threat to the townsfolk of Accrington, Bacup, Haslingden and…
When 56 year old, Robert Haworth, a tobacconist residing at a place called Church, near Accrington sadly passed away on Wednesday, 7th February 1906 – the fears of Dr. Fox and Dr. Greenhalgh as well as local government officials became all too real. What was originally thought to be cases of isolated food poisoning that…
Amid a deathly silence, the crowd that filled the gallery within the Crown Court at the Manchester Assizes all waited with baited breath as to what sentence would ultimately be handed down to perhaps one of the most callous and cold hearted men to ever stand in front of his Lordship, Mr. Justice Branson. With…
Alfred Parker was a man of routine and on the morning of Wednesday, 9th August 1905 he would begin the day as he always did. Up early, washed, made a relatively small breakfast and after saying his goodbyes to his wife, he would set off to work at nearby Carr and Parkers Mill where he…
Accrington during the mid-to-late 1800’s had managed to find itself immune from murder whilst all around them in places such as Haslingden, Blackburn and Burnley had for some strange reason found themselves to be hotbeds for crimes that many seemed beyond comprehension. And whilst a serious crime that had resulted in the murder of a…
When scrolling through endless newspapers and online articles dating back to the 1800s, I’m amazed at how many stories I come across on a daily basis where a child has died in an unfortunate accident or has been murdered by either their own parents or by some assailant whom they may never have seen before….