The dark heart of Victorian London
In July 1885, the Pall Mall Gazette ran an exposé so shocking that ‘squeamish’ readers were encouraged not to read it. It followed undercover journalist WT Stead on a mission to expose child exploitat...
28 Jan 202541min
Bone-crushing hunger in Britain’s workhouses
We all know the story of Oliver Twist begging for ‘more’ in the workhouse. But were these institutions really as nasty, grim and brutal as Dickens depicts? In this first series of History’s Greatest S...
21 Jan 202540min
‘Little pills of sugared death’
On the day before Halloween in 1858, residents of Bradford flocked to the local market’s sweet stall of to get their hands on Humbug Billy’s peppermint lozenges. But before long, it became clear that ...
14 Jan 202540min
The mother of all sex scandals
Divorce cases can be messy. But the epic court battle between Caroline and George Norton in 1836 took things to the next level, with salacious accusations of adultery with none other than the prime mi...
7 Jan 202536min
Introducing History's Greatest Scandals: The Victorians
Poisoned sweets. Criminal misdeeds. And a sex scandal involving… the prime-minister. Join us for the first series of History’s Greatest Scandals, where we’re delving into the murky underworld of The ...
3 Dec 20241min
