The Apprentice of Split Crow Lane: The Story of the Carr's Hill Murder
Condition: SECONDHAND
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Gateshead, April 1866. Five-year-old Sarah Melvin was walking along Split Crow Lane looking for her father when she disappeared. Later that night a couple walking home from the pub tripped over her body. Sarah was the child of Irish immigrants who had been drawn to the North-east in search of work. Poor, perceived with prejudice, they quickly came under suspicion of killing their own child. The true murderer was a misfit whose social awkwardness stopped him ever rising above apprentice. He would eventually make clear exactly why he killed Sarah - and the reason would scandalise the whole country, yet to him had a dreadful logic. This extraordinary story of sexual deviance and murder is told here for the first time. Painstakingly pieced together from original sources and evoking a powerful sense of place, it uncovers a wealth of information that shifts our perception of Victorian society. In lively, empathic prose, Jane Housham explores mental health, the justice system and the media in mid-Victorian England to reveal a surprisingly modern state of affairs.
Author: Jane Housham
Format: Hardback, 368 pages, 157mm x 241mm, 602 g
Published: 2016, Quercus Publishing, United Kingdom
Genre: True Crime
Description
Gateshead, April 1866. Five-year-old Sarah Melvin was walking along Split Crow Lane looking for her father when she disappeared. Later that night a couple walking home from the pub tripped over her body. Sarah was the child of Irish immigrants who had been drawn to the North-east in search of work. Poor, perceived with prejudice, they quickly came under suspicion of killing their own child. The true murderer was a misfit whose social awkwardness stopped him ever rising above apprentice. He would eventually make clear exactly why he killed Sarah - and the reason would scandalise the whole country, yet to him had a dreadful logic. This extraordinary story of sexual deviance and murder is told here for the first time. Painstakingly pieced together from original sources and evoking a powerful sense of place, it uncovers a wealth of information that shifts our perception of Victorian society. In lively, empathic prose, Jane Housham explores mental health, the justice system and the media in mid-Victorian England to reveal a surprisingly modern state of affairs.
The Apprentice of Split Crow Lane: The Story of the Carr's Hill Murder