The Chronicles of Crime

19 - The Chronicles of Crime Vol 1

March 29, 2026·25 min·2 clips
A mob of 5,000, led by Thomas Colley, searched closets, trunks, and even the salt-box for an old woman they accused of witchcraft.
This episode presents three historical crime narratives from 1750-1751: the execution of forger John Carr after a life of swindling, the murder of a mistress by valet Norman Ross, and the witch-ducking murder of Ruth Osborne by Thomas Colley. It offers a grim look at 18th-century justice, superstition, and criminality.

As heard by us

A measured forgery tale that treats ruin and consequence with old-world restraint.

John Carr's descent reads as a quiet collapse: respectable beginnings, a move to Dublin at sixteen, a stint in wine, then bad habits and bad company until the trade is gone and the slide is plain.

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Why you'd press play

You want forgery and ruin told with old-world gravity.

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