We are indebted to ken Wells, Curator of the Thames Valley Police Museum, and to Alan McCormick, Curator of the Crime museum, new Scotland Yard, for their time and generosity in allowing us access to their archives. Thanks also to Dr Allen m. Anscombe, forensic pathologist, who patiently and painstakingly talked us through our many medical queries; Michael Lubieszko, forensic anthropologist, for his gruesome but invaluable assistance; and Francis Disney for his knowledge of Shepton Mallet Gaol. If we have misinterpreted or misrepresented any information they have shared with us, the fault is entirely ours.
This book could not have been written without the help of the staff at Bristol records Office, Bristol Central reference library, Berkshire records Office, Gloucester Records Office, London Metropolitan Archives, Devon Records Office, Newton Abbot Library, Somerset Records Office, Wells Library, Cardiff Records Office, the National Archives at Kew, the British Library, the British Newspaper Library and Reading Central Reference Library. Thanks to Dawn Bishop at Reading City Museum and to Jenny Lister, Curator of Fashion and Textiles at the V&A. Also to Julius Herrstein, Curator, and John Pimm, of the Glenside Hospital Museum, Bristol, for their enthusiasm, access to their archives and their vast knowledge of the history of psychiatric nursing.
Thank you to Jack Holmes, Alex Southam, James Deary, retired Metropolitan Police Inspector Malcolm Cotton, and map-reader extraordinaire Barry Boulton, for helping us in their own individual ways.
A big thank you to mike: for tolerating an eight-month-long Dyer obsession; for his unstinting confidence in this project; and for editing in the face of great adversity. Thanks to Bob and Jeannette Vale and Claire and Chris Pap for their childcare, spare rooms, tea and sympathy.
Huge thanks to Paul for his technical support and for learning how to cook. Also to Sheila Whitehead for braving the London Underground system in her capacity as assistant researcher; to Jason and Nicola for Indian takeaways and a free London pad; and to Daisy, Ella and Riley for putting up with Dad’s cooking.
And, finally, thanks to Penny Phillips at André Deutsch for her belief in us and her enthusiasm for this book.
This book has been extensively based upon primary sources, but the following titles have also been consulted:
Francis J. Disney, Heritage of a Prison HMP Shepton Mallet, 1986.
Francis J. Disney, 380 Years of Prison Regimes, 1992.
Madge Dresser and Philip Ollernshaw, The Making of Modern Bristol, Redcliffe Press, 1996.
Douglas Duncan, The Mendip Hospital, 2000.
Donal F. Early, The Lunatic Pauper Palace; Glenside Hospital, Bristol, 1861-1994, Friends of Glenside Hospital Museum, 2003.
Simon Fowler, Workhouse, The national Archives, 2007.
Julius Herrstein, Glenside Hospital, produced and printed by the author, nd.
Ian m. C. Hollingsbee, Gloucester’s Asylums, 1794-2002, 2002.
Barry Horton, West Country Weather Book, 1995.
Helen Reid, Life in Victorian Bristol, Redcliffe Press, 2005.
George R. Sims, Among My Autographs, Chatto & Windus, 1904.
W. Wood (editor), Survivors’ Tales of Famous Crimes, Cassell & Co., 1916.