Acknowledgements

There are a number of people and organisations I would wish to thank for their valued assistance in the preparing of this book.

My deepest appreciation must go to Yvonne Eddleston, my wife. Not only did she help with the research, making copious notes on some of the cases, but she also proofread every chapter. Her efforts only served to make this work better.

I must also thank the staff of The National Archives at Kew. It is always a pleasure to work there and the staff are amongst the most helpful I have encountered. They also assisted with many of the illustrations within the book.

My thanks too must go to the staff of the British Library’s newspaper archive at Colindale, north London, for producing many newspapers covering the later cases.

Finally, I would wish to offer my thanks to my publishers, Wharncliffe Books, and especially Mr Rupert Harding.