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1860: The murder even Sherlock Homes couldn’t solve
The Mile End Murder
What you need to know before your trail
In 1860, a 70 year old widow turned landlady named Mary Emsley was found dead in her own home, killed by a blow to the back of her head.
What followed was a murder case that gripped the nation, a veritable locked room mystery which baffled even legendary Sherlock Holmes author, Arthur Conan Doyle. With an abundance of suspects, from disgruntled step children concerned about their inheritance and a spurned admirer repeatedly rejected by the widow, to a trusted employee, former police officer and spy, the case led to a public trial dominated by surprise revelations and shock witnesses, before culminating with one of the final public executions at Newgate.
Locations
Reset- England - London
- A: Mile End
- B: 9 Grove Rd
- C: Limehouse
- D: Ratcliff Highway
- E: Barnsley St
Travel Guide
London
Mile End
“There was a particular ferocity about the slaying of a rich old lady called Mary Emsely that seemed, to some, to symbolise a wider savagery about the streets near the docks. This was world of pitiless landlords and rent collectors, of labourers were never more than a few pennies away from the workhouse, of stolid, uninspired policeman and of highways haunted by violent predators.”
Conan Doyle it is said, though there were some aspects of the case that could not be explained earlier, The victim for example had been inside her terraced house, safe, but the criminal had managed to get in without leaving any obvious signs. No-one say him either. There were unexplained sites such as blood on the walls that were not properly looked in to.
Conan Doyle thought this was very similar to his stories in that a sudden black force had entered a normal household. He wrote an essay on the frightening findings of the case.
The case for many captured the public imagination, the “Flavour of a time and place”
Streetview Maps
A) London - Grove Road, Mile End
E) London - Barnsley Street
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Mile End Murder
Destination:London Author/Guide: Sinclair McKay Departure Time: 1860
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