Courtroom Ghosts

Violent crime  committed by women is extremely rare (more than 90% of homicides are carried out by men), and sexually-motivated murders involving female perpetrators are even more unusual. So much so, in fact, that the names of the few women who have been convicted of such offences take on an almost mythical status in the collective consciousness.  One such killer is Myra Hindley. Even after her death, the public fascination with her continues.  There is a Trevor McDonald  documentary on ITV that claims that Myra Hindley and Rosemary West had a love affair while both imprisoned at Durham. It seems that there is always another angle, something new to say. But really it is just the same mugshot displayed over and over again on a outraged, horrified loop. I think most people know her story and have seen her photograph, so I'm choosing not to include either here. As much as I find crime in general interesting, I am growing increasingly uncomfortable with the way true cri...

Before I begin, I should say this post is massively tainted by my own biases and opinions, but that shouldn't be a problem because I'm right about it all. This is Mrs Georgina Weldon, one of my heroes. Mrs Weldon was born Georgina Thomas in 1837. Her father had inherited a great deal of money and as a consequence, decided to dedicate his time to being a Conservative MP, as dreadfully rich people are sometimes wont to do. Most of Georgina's childhood was spent in Italy being a talented opera singer, but in her late teens she decided to marry a lieutenant called William Weldon. Georgina's father most certainly did not approve of the marriage and so he disinherited her. It turned out that Georgina's new hubbie, Mr Weldon, was a bit of an arse, who not only refused to allow his wife to perform professionally on stage, but also had a long-standing affair, complete with love-child. Georgina, meanwhile, remained childless. Horrible Mr Weldon Eventually, Georgina Weldon too...