The Murder of Ellen Selina Jones A Fatal Arrangement 24-year-old Ada Chard-Williams was convicted of battering and strangling to death 19-month-old Ellen Selina Jones at 2 Grove Villas in Grove Road, Barnes in London on the 22nd of September 1899. Florence Jones, a young unmarried mother, had read an advert in the local paper which … Read more
Background Harold Amos Apted was the 20-year-old son of Thomas Apted, a builder and coal merchant in Tonbridge, Kent. Thomas owned a dark-coloured horse-drawn van, which Harold drove for deliveries. Harold also taught Sunday School and Bible classes. The Disappearance of Frances Eliza O’Rourke At 2:20 on the afternoon of Tuesday, 31st December 1901, seven-and-a-half-year-old … Read more
A Broken Engagement Nineteen-year-old John Parr had been engaged to nineteen-year-old Sarah Willott, but after discovering his lies, she broke off the relationship in the summer of 1900. He had claimed to be a French polisher by trade but, in fact, was unemployed. She also learned that he had served a prison term for theft. … Read more
The Execution Morning It is amazing what a glass of brandy will do! A few minutes before 8 o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, December 29th, 1903, Emily Swann was in a state of virtual collapse, moaning pitifully on the floor of her cell. Yet, after a drink of brandy, she was able to regain … Read more
40 year old Mary Daly was the last woman to be hanged in Ireland under British rule and the last person to be executed at Tullamore prison in Co. Offaly. She was to die for her part in the murder of her husband, John, at Clonbrock, Co Laois. Mary was having an affair with 25 year old Joseph Taylor and on … Read more
