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Today marks the 100th anniversary of the execution of Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen.
American homeopathic physician Crippen was hanged in Pentonville Prison, London, after being found guilty of murdering his wife Corrine.
We found Crippen and Corrine (’Cora’) in our census records - here you can see them in the 1901 census living at 34 Store Street, St Giles In The Fields and St George Bloomsbury:
Click to enlarge
Cora ‘disappeared’ after a party at their home on 31 January 1910. Crippen first claimed she had returned to America, then changed his story to say that Cora had died and had been cremated in California. Following these suspicious claims, Chief Inspector Walter Dew interviewed Crippen and searched his house but found no evidence of anything unusual. Crippen wasn’t aware of this and fled to Brussels with his new lover Ethel ‘Le Neve’ Neave.
The next day they went to Antwerp and boarded the Canadian Pacific liner SS Montrose, bound for Canada. Unbeknown to Crippen, the captain of the ship, Henry George Kendall, recognised him and Neave (despite Neave disguising herself as a boy) and ordered a wireless telegram to be sent to the British authorities. Chief Inspector Dew, who had been investigating Crippen, then boarded the ship as it docked in Canada and arrested Crippen for murder. Crippen was the first ever criminal to be caught using wireless technology.
We found Chief Inspector Dew on the 1911 census, living with his wife and four children in Wandsworth, London:
Click to enlarge
We also discovered Captain Kendall in our passenger lists. Crippen doesn’t appear on this record as he boarded the ship in Antwerp:
Click to enlarge
Read more about Crippen’s fascinating and macabre story.
More...
American homeopathic physician Crippen was hanged in Pentonville Prison, London, after being found guilty of murdering his wife Corrine.
We found Crippen and Corrine (’Cora’) in our census records - here you can see them in the 1901 census living at 34 Store Street, St Giles In The Fields and St George Bloomsbury:
Click to enlargeCora ‘disappeared’ after a party at their home on 31 January 1910. Crippen first claimed she had returned to America, then changed his story to say that Cora had died and had been cremated in California. Following these suspicious claims, Chief Inspector Walter Dew interviewed Crippen and searched his house but found no evidence of anything unusual. Crippen wasn’t aware of this and fled to Brussels with his new lover Ethel ‘Le Neve’ Neave.
The next day they went to Antwerp and boarded the Canadian Pacific liner SS Montrose, bound for Canada. Unbeknown to Crippen, the captain of the ship, Henry George Kendall, recognised him and Neave (despite Neave disguising herself as a boy) and ordered a wireless telegram to be sent to the British authorities. Chief Inspector Dew, who had been investigating Crippen, then boarded the ship as it docked in Canada and arrested Crippen for murder. Crippen was the first ever criminal to be caught using wireless technology.
We found Chief Inspector Dew on the 1911 census, living with his wife and four children in Wandsworth, London:
Click to enlargeWe also discovered Captain Kendall in our passenger lists. Crippen doesn’t appear on this record as he boarded the ship in Antwerp:
Click to enlargeRead more about Crippen’s fascinating and macabre story.
More...