please empty your brain below
Fascinating story DG.
Thank you.

Bernie | 07.12.11 - 4:49 a.m. | #

Seconded. A grisly breakfast read. Thanks DG.

THC | 07.12.11 - 8:18 a.m. | #

Hey a history lesson, who said that the internet wasn't educational.

Michael | 07.12.11 - 12:08 p.m. | #

Ratcliffe Highway also reminds me of that Sandy Denny/Fairport Convention song -'The Deserter' - which starts with a reference to the road.

rashbre | Homepage | 07.12.11 - 1:35 p.m. | #

Gruesome, but fascinating.

CornishCockney | 07.12.11 - 4:34 p.m. | #

Mystery, intrigue and a gruesome double murder from Dickensian times; thanks for a well researched, fascinating read DG.

Surreyguy | 07.12.11 - 4:56 p.m. | #

I believe the famous wild animal importer Charles Jamrach had parts of his business nearby. There is a statue in Tobacco Dock commemorating the escape of a tiger in 1857.

Andrew | 07.12.11 - 6:45 p.m. | #

Thanks. I've bookmarked PC Bob Jeffries to read later. Gripping stuff. I love the way they seem to have buried John Williams at some sort of crossroads - obviously couldn't go in a real graveyard.

allotmentqueen | 07.12.11 - 9:43 p.m. | #

What a story!

Is Tobacco Dock still empty, then? Can't be that long before it gets turned into luxury flats...

swirlythingy | Homepage | 08.12.11 - 9:05 p.m. | #

I walk across that bridge every morning on my way from Wapping Station to Canary Wharf. I knew about the Ratcliffe Highway murders but didn't realise they were all quite so close to Shadwell Dock. I was interested to hear you say the suspects are now well known, I didn't realise. Must do a bit of research.....

Johnny Topaz | 08.12.11 - 10:24 p.m. | #

There was a new series by Tony Robinson called Gods and Monsters that started on TV, around the end of November.
There was mention in that of an old custom of putting a stake through the hearts of the bodies of really nasty people, just to make sure they 'wouldn't come back.'
Look out for a repeat, because I'm SURE they showed a crossroads in the East End as the site of where one of these stakings and burials had taken place.
(It would've been the first episode of the series.)

RogerW | 09.12.11 - 10:54 a.m. | #

Have just found some more on this. Check out the last item on this page:-
http://www.stgite.org.uk/media/cablestreet.html

RogerW | 09.12.11 - 11:23 a.m. | #

Wow, always strange to see one's patch on the blog, even more so when it's 2 entries one after another (Shadwell station below). Wish I could have invited you in for a cuppa DG!

There was a BBC documentary on The Highway a couple of years back which was fascinating:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kmp4t

s | 11.12.11 - 5:24 p.m. | #

@ RogerW - I've just watched that Tony Robinson doc, and yes it is the same junction (by the pub). He took his life in his hands by wandering out into the middle of Cannon St Road and Cable St - for such a small junction it's pretty dangerous! On a related note, that junction/area is fast changing with all the new builds that are going up and around Nobel Court.

s | 11.12.11 - 5:28 p.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy