December, 1851: New York City. In the midst of winter, America’s press and public are gripped by the celebrity scandal of the century. Edwin Forrest, the most famous actor in the country, is pitted in a courtroom battle against his estranged wi

Alan Turing writes to Winston Churchill

Jun 16th, 2022 35m 3s

October 1941. In the darkest days of the Second World War, Alan Turing and a group of code breakers at Bletchley Park write a letter to Winston Churchill – in desperation. They have achieved the supposedly impossible feat of cracking the German

Jane Austen, Horatio Nelson and the sailor brother who links them

Jun 2nd, 2022 31m 22s

May 13th, 1799. The captain of a Royal Navy sloop writes an urgent letter to his admiral. But this isn’t any captain. This captain is the sailor brother of writer Jane Austen. And the admiral is Horatio Nelson, currently residing in Sicily with

Mutiny and Murder on the Dove Brigantine Part 3

May 19th, 2022 26m 6s

September 7th, 1736: night time. After weeks of plotting, the crew of a British merchant ship anchored in an Italian harbour have murdered their captain and seized his ship for themselves. But the mutineers failed to kill the captain’s cabin bo

Mutiny and Murder on the Dove Brigantine Part 2

May 12th, 2022 22m 39s

September, 1736. After six weeks sitting idle in the harbour of Livorno, the British merchant ship the Dove Brigantine is finally loaded with her cargo of tobacco and sugar. The crew, led by the ambitious first mate Nicholas Williams, spent tho

Mutiny and Murder on the Dove Brigantine

May 5th, 2022 21m 24s

September, 1736. The crew of an Italian ship anchored one dark quiet night in Livorno Harbour are startled awake by the frantic cries for help from a man swimming towards them in the water. The man, a cabin boy from a nearby British merchant sh

A Midwife's Tale

Apr 21st, 2022 31m 17s

This is the story of an early maternity hospital, and the ground-breaking woman who founded it. By the dawn of the 20th century, fatality rates in childbirth in Britain were as high as they had been for hundreds of years. Many women, particular

An international volunteer in the Spanish Civil War

Apr 7th, 2022 30m 16s

Tens of thousands of men and women from around the world volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), motivated by the chance to finally fight back against the rising tide of fascism. In this episode, we dive into the life and let

A Royal Scandal Part 2

Mar 24th, 2022 38m 33s

In part two of this investigation of a royal scandal from 1810, we dive deep into the witness testimonies to try and work out what really happened on the night King George III’s unpopular son, Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, is foun

A Royal Scandal

Mar 10th, 2022 28m 35s

St James’s Palace, London, 1810. In the middle of the night, King George III’s scandal-ridden son Ernest Augustus is viciously attacked in his bed. The prince’s valet is found dead. Were they victims of a mystery assassin? Did the servant attac

A Nun in the French Revolution

1 Feb 24th, 2022 28m 56s

In this episode, my hunt through British Library manuscripts unearthed the letters of an English nun who lived in Paris at the height of the French Revolution. Her letters provide vivid descriptions of the fall of the Bastille and other momento

Scandal in High Society Part 2

Feb 10th, 2022 27m 25s

1910. A woman waits in Rome for her divorce to go through the courts, and for her lover to return to her from his diplomatic posting in Tehran. The man’s Foreign Office superiors have gone to extraordinary and so far futile lengths to split the

Scandal in High Society

Feb 3rd, 2022 25m 57s

In Edwardian London, a married mother falls for a fashionable young diplomat. As he begs her to run away across Europe with him, the Foreign Office take a very keen interest in their affair. Archive Sleuth is available on all major podcast apps

The letters of Mrs Middleton

Jan 27th, 2022 27m 27s

In this episode, discover the letters of a woman who could have stepped out of the pages of a Jane Austen novel. It is 1805. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, Susannah Middleton travels overseas for the first time. She attends balls, dines

Mary Blandy and the patricidal poisoning part 3

Jan 20th, 2022 33m 46s

In the final episode of Mary Blandy's story, Mary stands trial for murdering her father. She pleads not-guilty, and devotes herself to convincing the public that she was a naïve woman, cruelly deceived by her fiancé into believing a fatal poiso

Mary Blandy and the patricidal poisoning part 2

Jan 13th, 2022 25m 52s

Henley, 1750: Mary Blandy is determined to marry her dashing fiance Captain Cranstoun, whatever the price. Even if the price of love is committing murder. This is episode two of the story of Mary Blandy and the patricidal poisoning.Archive Sleu

Mary Blandy and the patricidal poisoning

Jan 6th, 2022 26m 12s

Oxford Castle, 1751: Mary Blandy awaits trial on the charge of murdering her own father. She protests her innocence, saying she was duped by her charming yet deceitful fiancé into unintentionally killing her father. Was she telling the truth? H

Trailer

Introducing Archive Sleuth

Jan 1st, 2022 2m 20s

Welcome to Archive Sleuth! In this mini-episode, learn about the brand new history podcast that will uncover half-forgotten stories from history and reveal the extraordinary in ordinary past lives.Archive Sleuth will be available to listen and

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