Download or read book Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in and Around Durham written by Maureen Anderson and published by Pen & Sword Books. This book was released on 2003-10-01 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in and Around Durham spans four centuries, with over fifty terrible tales of man's inhumanity to man, which are related in the pages of this book. In the early centuries superstition and ignorance were often the means by which justice was meted out. If it was believed that a crime had taken place, a person could be tried, condemned and hanged by the side of the road on nothing more than the statement of a neighbor. The nineteenth century saw the development of the coal industry. This brought thousands of impoverished men looking for work. Sadly , the wages were often spent on alcohol and women were often nothing more than punching bags for the drunken abusive husbands as is the case of Dorothy Wilthew who was murdered at Jarrow by her husband after years of abuse. Other cases include; Joseph Hutchinson who murdered his brother and father at Sedgefield later he was found to be insane, a child was kidnapped and later murdered by Isabella Thompson at Bishop Auckland and Maria Fitzmmons was found stabbed to death in Sunderland in 1869 it was to be 13 years before her killer, Thomas Fury, was convicted of the crime . Take a journey into the darker and unknown side of your area as you read Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in and Around Durham. Key Selling Points * This is the first Foul Deeds book, in the series, to include the Durham area. * This new established series, by Wharncliffe Books, has been very successful in other local towns and cities. * Readers always have a thirst for grisly tales of past misdemeanors in their local area. Author Maureen Anderson was born in Scotland, as a child she was taken to Australia, and finally returned back to Britain in the early 1970s. Maureen now lives in the village of Seaton, where she carries out her research on ancient history. Maureen's parents were keen members of the National Trust, which gave Maureen the love of historical buildings and all things Victorian. Maureen has had previous publications with Wharncliffe Books, including being the editor of Aspects of Teesside and the author of Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in and Around the Tees.