About this episode
The Christmas Execution No One Tried to Stop | True Crime 1898News of the Times | Episode 591 | 1898In today’s episode, we travel to Bugsworth, Derbyshire, where the brutal murder of Hannah Cotton shocked Victorian reporters… but what stunned them even more was this:When her husband John Cotton was sentenced to hang — just four days before Christmas — no one asked for clemency.No neighbours.No friends.No anti-capital-punishment campaigners.Not even the canal community who had known him for decades.Victorian newspapers called him “friendless,” a man whose violence had driven away every human tie long before the gallows claimed him. Tonight, we examine how a life shaped by hardship, jealousy, and cruelty ended with an execution that the public accepted without hesitation.Along the way, we uncover:• the shadowy world of Victorian canal-boat life• allegations surrounding two previous wives• the testimony of three schoolgirls who saw the murder• why even at Christmastime, no voice rose to save him• shifting attitudes toward capital punishment in 1890s BritainAnd in a lighter Further Particulars: a wedding at St John’s, Hammersmith, collapses spectacularly when someone stands mid-ceremony to announce, “Stop! That man has a wife already!”? Narrated by Robin Coles ? New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday ?? Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month ? Related cases from the archive: 1843 - 1898: Favourite Victorian Cases 2024 | EP428 https://youtu.be/K-6i26HYCgI1898: The Case of the St Neots Murder | EP448 https://youtu.be/4qvv0FZ36g81898: The Nolagh House of Horror: Ireland’s 1898 Family Massacre | EP556https://youtu.be/jLFY8LtgtZk?? Support Independent History If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit: ? **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent): https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime ? Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd? About the Channel We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century Brit Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! ? https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f
