Category: victorian
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BOW STREET SOCIETY’S LONDON: OMNIBUSES, February 2026
Bow Street Society fans know that if you want to find your way around its London, the person you need to speak to is the Society’s driver and veteran cabman Mr Samuel Snyder. What did real-life travellers in late-1890s London rely upon to get around, though? In this month’s blog, I take a look at…
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150 YEARS OF THE CRIME MUSEUM, October 2025
An Interview with Dr Clare Smith Regular readers of the blog will know that museums and archives are some of my favourite places to visit, and curators and archivists are some of my favourite people to talk to. Therefore, I’m absolutely delighted to be welcoming Dr Clare Smith back to the blog this month. We…
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VICTORIAN URBAN LEGENDS: Spring-Heeled Jack, September 2025
For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by urban legends and folklore. In fact, many years ago, I created a series of collages depicting the Bloody Mary legend for my A-Level art exhibition. Urban legends can tell us as much about ourselves and human nature as the fantastical creatures and yarns they’re…
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THE FASHION OF THE BOW STREET SOCIETY, May 2025
They say the things we wear say much about us as individuals. This can be equally true for the characters in our favourite book, film, or television series. It’s certainly true for the characters of my Bow Street Society novels and short stories. Yet, despite their clothes saying much about them, I’ve never discussed the…
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ARTFUL FOXES AND BUTTER CHURNS, March 2025
The Slang and Phrases of C19th Theatres & Music Halls In the nineteenth century, as now, slang and peculiar phrases could be heard in all manner of establishments and echelons of society. The music halls and theatres were no different. They, like the pugilists, had their own brand of (often) non-sensical terms to refer to the…
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TREAT YOUR LOVED ONE, February 2025
The Victorian Way It’s February again, which means love is in the air for some of us. Not everyone is in a romantic relationship, though, and some people use Valentine’s Day as a way of telling a friend or relative how much they mean to them. Whatever your Valentine’s Day thoughts or plans, I’ve pulled…
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COFFEE WITH AN ARCHIVIST: David Luck, Bethlem: Museum of the Mind, January 2025
I’m thrilled to bring you a new Coffee with a Curator feature for 2025. Previous instalments have featured chats with curators, archivists, historians, and heritage managers from a variety of organisations including police museums, housing associations, and virtual museums. This time, I’m delighted to welcome David Luck, archivist at Bethlem: Museum of the Mind to chat about the…
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BOW STREET SOCIETY LOCATIONS YOU CAN ACTUALLY VISIT, June 2024
As readers of the Bow Street Society books will know, I enjoy featuring real-life locations within the fictional stories. Also, that as far as possible, I source floor plans of these locations to ensure the descriptions are as accurate as possible. Although the series is far from over, lots of real-life locations have already been…