With special thanks to Norman Dunn for his assistance with this article. William Jobling and his future wife, Isabella Turner, were both born in Jarrow during 1794. The couple married on the 30th of June 1821 at St. Paul’s Church in Jarrow and would go on to have two children. The family lived in Jarrow Colliery Village and William worked at one of the … Read more
Changing Attitudes Toward Public Hangings Progressively, attitudes to public hangings were changing between 1800 and 1868. At the beginning of the century, hangings were attended by all classes of society. But as the century progressed, it was no longer fashionable to be seen at these events. Whether the propaganda of the abolitionists was having the … Read more
Background and Journey 37-year-old Christina Collins was a dressmaker living in Liverpool. Her husband, Robert, had gone to London looking for work as he had been unable to find suitable work in his home town. Having found a job, he sent Christina money and asked her to join him. The cheapest way for her to … Read more
Mary was born in Ross on Wye in 1805 and moved to Bristol as a teenager to find employment “in service” as domestic work was known at the time. Her first job was as a house maid to a Mr. Plumley who lived in St. Nicholas Street for whom she worked for eighteen months before being sacked for petty theft. She now … Read more
Rebecca Smith was about 44 years old. She moved to Westbury in Wiltshire with her husband, Philip, whom she married on the 5th of May 1831 and would give birth to eleven children by him. She was described as “undernourished and in poor health, living in abject poverty and almost illiterate”. Her husband, Phillip, was … Read more
