Shows
Archive SleuthThe Celebrity Divorce Trial of the (19th) CenturyDecember, 1851: New York City. In the midst of winter, America’s press and public are gripped by the celebrity scandal of the century. Edwin Forrest, the most famous actor in the country, is pitted in a courtroom battle against his estranged wife, as they accuse each other of adultery. One of them must prevail for a divorce to be granted. As the jury and public rake over every titillating and salacious detail of the failed marriage, the conduct and reporting on the trial provide a striking foreshadowing of another celebrity couple court case that would play out over 270 years la...2022-07-0745 minArchive SleuthAlan Turing writes to Winston ChurchillOctober 1941. In the darkest days of the Second World War, Alan Turing and a group of code breakers at Bletchley Park write a letter to Winston Churchill – in desperation. They have achieved the supposedly impossible feat of cracking the German Enigma encryptions. But this breakthrough is in danger of being squandered. 70 years later, I came across Turing’s letter – and Churchill’s handwritten response – in the archives.This is the story of Enigma, the codebreakers, and the letter that helped ensure the success of the most important top-secret breakthrough of World War II.Ar...2022-06-1635 minArchive SleuthJane Austen, Horatio Nelson and the sailor brother who links themMay 13th, 1799. The captain of a Royal Navy sloop writes an urgent letter to his admiral. But this isn’t any captain. This captain is the sailor brother of writer Jane Austen. And the admiral is Horatio Nelson, currently residing in Sicily with the love of his life, Emma Hamilton. This single letter from the archives opens a window onto a moment in time for four remarkable people from the Age of Revolution and Napoleon. The names of three of these people are immortal. The fourth person, Francis Austen, is the thread that links their fascinating stories....2022-06-0231 minArchive SleuthMutiny and Murder on the Dove Brigantine Part 3September 7th, 1736: night time. After weeks of plotting, the crew of a British merchant ship anchored in an Italian harbour have murdered their captain and seized his ship for themselves. But the mutineers failed to kill the captain’s cabin boy, who jumped overboard and swam to a nearby ship to raise the alarm. Will the Dove mutineers make it out to the open sea and fulfil their ambitions of becoming pirates? Or have their mistakes insured their downfall? This is the third and final episode of the grisly true story of mutiny and murder aboard the Dove Brigantine....2022-05-1926 minArchive SleuthMutiny and Murder on the Dove Brigantine Part 2September, 1736. After six weeks sitting idle in the harbour of Livorno, the British merchant ship the Dove Brigantine is finally loaded with her cargo of tobacco and sugar. The crew, led by the ambitious first mate Nicholas Williams, spent those long weeks mutinously plotting how to overthrow the captain and steal the ship and its valuable cargo for themselves. With the ship now ready to set sail, the mutineers put their bloodthirsty plans into action. This is episode two of the grisly true story of mutiny and murder aboard the Dove Brigantine.Archive Sleuth is available...2022-05-1222 minArchive SleuthMutiny and Murder on the Dove BrigantineSeptember, 1736. The crew of an Italian ship anchored one dark quiet night in Livorno Harbour are startled awake by the frantic cries for help from a man swimming towards them in the water. The man, a cabin boy from a nearby British merchant ship, is being pursued through the darkness by his own, bloodthirsty shipmates. The pursuing men have already killed the cabin boy’s captain, and now they are hell-bent on killing him. This is the grisly true story of mutiny and murder aboard the Dove Brigantine.Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast ap...2022-05-0521 minArchive SleuthA Midwife's TaleThis is the story of an early maternity hospital, and the ground-breaking woman who founded it. By the dawn of the 20th century, fatality rates in childbirth in Britain were as high as they had been for hundreds of years. Many women, particularly poorer women, were giving birth without the support of a doctor or trained midwife. Alice Gregory was a midwife who was determined to do something about this. So in 1905, she founded a small but ambitious hospital in a working class area of London, to provide local midwife services and, crucially, to train new midwives for the...2022-04-2131 minArchive SleuthAn international volunteer in the Spanish Civil WarTens of thousands of men and women from around the world volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), motivated by the chance to finally fight back against the rising tide of fascism. In this episode, we dive into the life and letters of one of those volunteers: John Cornford, the very first British volunteer, who wrote home from Spain to his girlfriend.Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For news on future episodes, please follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.2022-04-0730 minArchive SleuthA Royal Scandal Part 2In part two of this investigation of a royal scandal from 1810, we dive deep into the witness testimonies to try and work out what really happened on the night King George III’s unpopular son, Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, is found wounded, and his page is found dead. Had the page attacked the duke? Or…. had the duke killed his page? The numerous possible scenarios and motives for the violence kept the press and public busy speculating for decades. Can we finally solve the mystery?Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Subs...2022-03-2438 minArchive SleuthA Royal ScandalSt James’s Palace, London, 1810. In the middle of the night, King George III’s scandal-ridden son Ernest Augustus is viciously attacked in his bed. The prince’s valet is found dead. Were they victims of a mystery assassin? Did the servant attack his master? Or will an investigation of this crime reveal that the prince himself has blood on his hands? This is the story of a violent night that would shroud the royal family in mystery and suspicion for years to come.Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Subscribe at https://shows...2022-03-1028 minArchive SleuthA Nun in the French RevolutionIn this episode, my hunt through British Library manuscripts unearthed the letters of an English nun who lived in Paris at the height of the French Revolution. Her letters provide vivid descriptions of the fall of the Bastille and other momentous moments in history, and an insight into the private life, thoughts and friendship of an 18th century nun.Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For news on future episodes, please follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.Resources:...2022-02-2428 minArchive SleuthScandal in High Society Part 21910. A woman waits in Rome for her divorce to go through the courts, and for her lover to return to her from his diplomatic posting in Tehran. The man’s Foreign Office superiors have gone to extraordinary and so far futile lengths to split the couple up. But now rumours abound that the man has changed his mind, and no longer wishes to marry. Could this really be true?Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For news on future episodes, please follow the show on Twitter, In...2022-02-1027 minArchive SleuthScandal in High SocietyIn Edwardian London, a married mother falls for a fashionable young diplomat. As he begs her to run away across Europe with him, the Foreign Office take a very keen interest in their affair. Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For news on future episodes, please follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.Resources:FO 1093/113: Sir Coleridge Kennard, Diplomat: Involvement in Divorce Case. The National Archives, UK. Available online in Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War from C...2022-02-0325 minArchive SleuthThe letters of Mrs MiddletonIn this episode, discover the letters of a woman who could have stepped out of the pages of a Jane Austen novel. It is 1805. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, Susannah Middleton travels overseas for the first time. She attends balls, dines with officers, and gossips about her acquaintances. But her letters also reveal the darker truths of this much romanticised society.Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Please do rate and review! Subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For news on future episodes, please follow the show on Twitter, Instagram...2022-01-2727 minArchive SleuthMary Blandy and the patricidal poisoning part 3In the final episode of Mary Blandy's story, Mary stands trial for murdering her father. She pleads not-guilty, and devotes herself to convincing the public that she was a naïve woman, cruelly deceived by her fiancé into believing a fatal poison was a love potion. Was she believed?Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For news on future episodes, please follow the show on Twitter and Instagram.Resources:https://archive.org/details/b30452843/page/n5/mode/2up.https://ar...2022-01-2033 minArchive SleuthMary Blandy and the patricidal poisoning part 2Henley, 1750: Mary Blandy is determined to marry her dashing fiance Captain Cranstoun, whatever the price. Even if the price of love is committing murder. This is episode two of the story of Mary Blandy and the patricidal poisoning.Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. You can subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For news on future episodes, please follow the show on Twitter and Instagram.Resources used:The tryal of Mary Blandy, spinster; for the murder of her father, Francis Blandy, Gent. At the assizes held at...2022-01-1325 minArchive SleuthMary Blandy and the patricidal poisoningOxford Castle, 1751: Mary Blandy awaits trial on the charge of murdering her own father. She protests her innocence, saying she was duped by her charming yet deceitful fiancé into unintentionally killing her father. Was she telling the truth? Had Mary been duped? Or was this the last throw of the die by a calculating murderer? In episode one, Mary falls in love with a dashing army officer, but soon finds obstacles stand in the way of a happy ever after.Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps. Subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For n...2022-01-0626 minArchive SleuthIntroducing Archive SleuthWelcome to Archive Sleuth! In this mini-episode, learn about the brand new history podcast that will uncover half-forgotten stories from history and reveal the extraordinary in ordinary past lives.Archive Sleuth will be available to listen and subscribe on all major podcast apps. You can also subscribe at https://shows.acast.com/archive-sleuth. For news on future episodes, please follow the show on Twitter and Instagram.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/archive-sleuth. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.2022-01-0102 min