A fascinating look at every aspect of life in Rotherham workhouse

Rotherham Workhouse

Politics & Social Sciences

Drinkall, Margaret

Social Sciences

The History Press

Discover the darker side of Yorkshire with this remarkable collection of true-life crimes from across the county.  Featuring tales of highwaymen, cut throats, poachers, poisoners, thieves and murderers, all factions of the criminal underworld are included in this macabre selection of tales. Drawing on a wide variety of historical sources and containing many cases which have never before been published, Yorkshire Villains will fascinate everyone interested in true crime and the history of Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Villains

History

Europe

In this selection of fascinating archive images paired with modern photography of the same scenes today, Margaret and Chris Drinkall capture the process of the transformation in Rotherham, in terms of its people, its society and its very structure.

Rotherham Then & Now: In Colour

Discover the darker side of Leeds with this remarkable collection of true-life crimes from across the city. Featuring all factions of the criminal underworld, this macabre selection of tales includes the case of Mary Bateman, known as the Yorkshire Witch, and that tale of a man so determined to kill his wife that he tried five times, before finally succeeding with his sixth attempt. Drawing on a wide variety of historical sources and containing many cases which have never before been published, Murder & Crime: Leeds will fascinate everyone interested in true crime and the history of the city.

Murder & Crime: Leeds

On the 10 May 1880 a Rotherham man, John Henry Wood was executed at York for the murder of John Coe. The body, found at the side of a haystack on the Canklow Road was almost beaten to a pulp, and missing from his pockets was money and a silver watch. The victim had been on a drinking spree with Wood visiting many of the local public houses still in existence in Rotherham today, including The Stag, The Masons Arms, The Belvedere, The White Swan and The Mail Coach. The two men then ended up in a brothel on Wellgate run by a woman known as 'Big Liz'. When it became known that after the murder Wood had been seen in possession of the stolen silver watch he went on the run, and it was seven days before he was caught, tried and finally hanged. But was he the man who committed the murder?

The Canklow Murder

Independently published

19th Century Barnsley Murders is a telling account of crimes in the Barnsley area that have remained unpublished for more than a century. The book reveals the dark heart of the town and reflects not only the poverty and squalor in which many people of the time lived, but also the deep-rooted prejudices and double standards of the period. Crimes include poaching in the local area, a serious poisoning of bread and butter pudding at an eating house and the tragic story of a man who was poisoned for a joke. More sinister happenings include a case of body snatching, which brought the whole town of Barnsley to a state of complete panic, the distressing murder of a child, and a woman who was shot down in the street by her former marine boyfriend. The book also charts cases of attempted murder, including the story of a woman who was saved from death by her stays and a brutal attack on an elderly lady, which might so easily have ended in murder. These macabre tales reveal a side of Barnsley that is not visible in the modern town of today. The intriguing narrative and in-depth coverage of Barnsley’s criminal past make this essential reading for both local historians and those interested in true crime.

19th Century Barnsley Murders

Pen and Sword Local History

This is a unique account of the impact that the Second World War had on the city of Sheffield. Soon after the declaration of war, the government and the people of Sheffield realized that the Germans would make the city one of their prime targets, due to the importance of the steel industry. Also, for the first eighteen months of the war Sheffield had the only drop hammer in the country, which was capable of producing Rolls Royce crankshafts for Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft. Using contemporary diaries, letters, police accounts and other archive material, this book reveals how, despite heavy bombing, the people of Sheffield refused to be intimidated. It looks at the events that were happening in the city during the countdown to the war, such as the evacuation of the children not only to other safer districts, but to the Dominions, and the development of the Sheffield Home Guard, who started out as 'Dads Army' but were sent to London to relieve its Home Guard when the capital was under heavy fire from German rockets. Also included is a description of the protection of the dams above Sheffield and how the Ladybower reservoir was used as a training ground for the 'Dambusters'. Finally, there are accounts not only of Sheffield men who were taken as prisoners of war, but how the police dealt with the German and Italian prisoners at Lodge Moor Camp.

The Story of Sheffield at War

Pen and Sword Military

This book looks into the role of women of Sheffield and how it has evolved from the powerlessness of a woman involved in a wife sale, to the achievement of the election of its first female Lord Mayor. Using, newspapers of the period, archive material and modern photographs, this book examines how the role of women slowly changed in the city. It also highlights the militancy of the Sheffield suffragettes who not only organized demonstrations in Sheffield, but also sent groups to take part in some of the most notorious demonstrations in London. Following these demonstrations several local women were badly manhandled by police before being arrested and sent to Holloway Prison. Adela Pankhurst tried at first to bring the women of the Sheffield WSPU to achieve the vote through peaceful means, only when the Conciliation Bill of June 1910 was dropped, did she then encourage them to take more militant action. Following the outbreak of both world wars the women of Sheffield worked in the steelworks making munitions. They worked day and night shifts often as bombs were falling about them, but when both wars ended they were abruptly dismissed, often with little notice as the men returned to take up their former jobs. Not until 2010 did the women of Sheffield get thanks or any kind of recognition for their services during both world wars. Only following a meeting with PM Gordon Brown and the erection of a bronze statue of Women of Steel in 2016, did Sheffield women truly get the acknowledgment they deserved.

Struggle and Suffrage in Sheffield: Women's Lives and the Fight for Equality

Women's Studies

Pen and Sword History

Rotherham Murders - True Crime BooksSet in a social backdrop of recovery from two world wars, Margaret Drinkall's Rotherham Murders concentrates on killings that took place in and around the town during the first fifty years of the twentieth century. Most of her cases have not been written about in recent years, but are now investigated and told by a modern crime historian.  Read about the brutal death of a policeman, a sensational  'body in a trunk' murder which resulted in Scotland Yard detectives coming to Rotherham and the very first wireless appeal for helping catching the culprit.  Other sad and foul deeds include mothers killing their own children, an unusual tansvestite case, an early motoring crime and a gamekeeper's grim revenge.  Not for the feint-hearted, these cases will both shock and astonish in equal measure, true stories set within one of South Yorkshire's most important industrial towns.

Rotherham Murders: A Half-Century of Serious Crime, 1900-1950

Wharncliffe Books

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Books by Drinkall, Margaret