A BRUTAL Victorian murder features in a series of books detailing true crimes in Yorkshire.
The shocking killing of a young Horsforth girl is one of a number of cases described in Bloody Yorkshire - a series of books by Bradford-born author Wendy Rhodes.
The Bloody Yorkshire series comprises three volumes with 13 crimes in each volume. The first volume was published earlier this year, the second will be published on September 1 and the third is due for release in February 2021.
Wendy, who has a degree in English Literature and a Master’s degree in Creative Writing, now lives in Spain with her husband, two rescue dogs, and four cats,
She said:”I have always had a fascination with true crime, as a child my grandmother told me stories of the crimes that happened within her lifetime-I have been hooked ever since.”
She said: “Volume 1 includes the horrendous story of five-year-old Barbara Whitian Waterhouse from Alma Yard Hosforth who was savagely lured to her death from outside a shop and brutally murdered by Walter Lewis Turner. Turner’s mother tried to help her son to dispose of the poor girl’s body even taking it in a trunk via train to Leeds, she was eventually persuaded to give her son up to the police. A trial found Turner guilty of this terrible crime and he was hanged at Armley Gail on 18th August 1891. Billington was the executioner.
“Other stories in this volume are from Eskdale cum Ugglebarny (Staithes) with the murder of Jane Robinson in 1841, followed in 1847 by the triple murder of Mr and Mrs Wraith and their servant girl in Mirfield. There are two stories from Bradford one being the murder of John Gill whose perpetrator was never found, but at the time had the same hallmark as Jack the Ripper.
“Also, the tale of Humbug Billy who mistakenly poisoned many people when he added arsenic to his lozenges then he sold them at the local market. Other stories include the tales from Bridlington, Sheffield, Filey, Helmsley and Wombwell.”
“Volume 2 starts with the burning at the stake of a woman from Flamborough for planning to murder her husband. The verdict was petty treason, as at that time men’s lives were more important than a woman’s and a wife was meant to serve her husband. Mary Bateman who is known as the ‘Yorkshire Witch’ features with her incredible tale of how she duped and killed so many innocent people who wrongly believed in her wicked potions hoping she could cure their ailments.
“There is the story of a mother from Holmfirth who killed her three children then killed herself. There are also more equally callous stories from across the county.”
Wendy moved to Filey in the early 1990s with her husband and family. They had a family business in the town which is still going strong.
She has already written a number of books- A History of Filey the Town and its People, A History of Scarborough the Town and its People, Dr Edward William Pritchard the Poisoning Adulterer, Captain John Paul Jones & the Battle of the Bonhomme Richard.
Visit https://amzn.to/2AA1rkY Bloody Yorkshire Volume 1 and
https://amzn.to/3iP6bDQ to buy Bloody Yorkshire Volume 2.
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