Voices from the Old Bailey
BBC Radio 4
15 July 2010 - 05 August 2010
Historians struggle to decipher letters and diaries - but what about those who left no record? The poor,
those who couldn't write? There is one fantastic source, and it is now online: the Old Bailey Archives.
Through court cases, we can hear the voices of the 18th century. Thanks to the speedy court shorthand
writers, everyone's speech is recorded, from the posh to the poor. It's the nearest thing we have to
a tape recording of the past.
In this new series Professor Amanda Vickery presents dramatised extracts from gripping court cases and
discusses with fellow historians what they reveal about 18th century society and culture. Amanda Vickery
was the presenter of the highly successful "A History of Private Life" on BBC Radio 4 last year.
The series begins with the voices of highwaymen in court.
Episode 1 - Highwaymen (15 July 2010)
Highwaymen were celebrities, with hordes of adoring women, their executions a great public show. Some of
them are revealed as charismatic, while some can hardly stutter out a sentence.
Amanda listens to what they have to say as they face the gallows, with fellow historians Bob Shoemaker,
Helen Berry and John Mullan
Throughout the series there are popular ballads - about crime, or written by criminals - recorded for the
first time, on location in one of Dick Turpin's hide-outs.
Producer: Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
Episode 2 - Wicked Women (22 July 2010)
Professor Amanda Vickery presents dramatised extracts from gripping court cases and discusses with fellow
historians what they reveal about 18th century society and culture.
This time, Amanda listens to the voices of criminal women in the Old Bailey, with fellow historians Judith
Hawley, Peter King and Jeremy Barlow, on location in a crowded 18th century lodging house.
The first is a shoplifter, who pilfers a pair of silk gloves. She faces the gallows - but the jury saves
her life.
The second is a con-woman, and her case tells us a lot about the vulnerability of men in the 18th century.
The last is an abused wife who chooses the ultimate way out: murder. But once she has murdered her shopkeeper
husband, she has great trouble disposing of the body...
Producer: Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
Episode 3 - Children (29 July 2010)
Historians struggle to decipher letters and diaries - but what about those who left no record? The poor, those
who couldn't write? There is one fantastic source, and it is now online: the Old Bailey Archives.
Through court cases, we can hear the voices of the 18th century - thanks to the speedy court shorthand writers,
everyone's speech is recorded, from the posh to the poor. It's the nearest thing we have to a tape recording of
the past.
Professor Amanda Vickery presents dramatised extracts from gripping court cases and discusses with fellow
historians what they reveal about 18th century society and culture.
In this programme, the voices of children. Even children as young as seven appeared in court in the 18th
century, as witnesses, victims - and as criminals. Amanda Vickery presents three cases which capture the voices
of children,and open up the reality of their lives.
One reveals the network of relationships in the workhouse, and the cruelty and kindness which coexisted there.
The second exposes the vulnerability of teenagers working as apprentices. And the third features a little girl
who is sentenced to death - but who then escapes the gallows and makes a long and prosperous life for herself.
With historians Tim Hitchcock, Ruth Richardson and Zoe Laidlaw. Recorded on location in The Foundling Museum.
Episode 4 - Conmen and a Brawl in the Streets (05 August 2010)
Professor Amanda Vickery presents dramatised extracts from gripping court cases and discusses with fellow
historians what they reveal about 18th century society and culture.
She discusses conmen, and asks what they reveal about appearance, identity and social mobility in the growing
city of London, Europe's first metropolis.
The Old Bailey was a theatre in which high and low both played starring roles. This episode's cases mix the
greatest writers and artists of the time - Dr Johnson, Joshua Reynolds - with ballad singers, beggars,
prostitutes and fraudulent vicars. There is comedy as well as pathos in these cases.
With historians Hannah Grieg, Peter King and Judith Hawley. Recorded on location in Joshua Reynolds' house in
Soho.
Producer: Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
All the cases discussed in the programme can be found in the Old Bailey online archive . a fully searchable
edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745
criminal trials held at London's central criminal court. The website makes available a fully searchable, digitised
collection of all surviving editions of the Old Bailey Proceedings from 1674 to 1913, and of the Ordinary of
Newgate's Accounts between 1676 and 1772. It allows access to over 197,000 trials and biographical details of
approximately 2,500 men and women executed at Tyburn, free of charge for non-commercial use.
Download File Size:151.06 MB
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