In 1935, the seaside calm of Bournemouth was shattered by scandal, betrayal, and murder. Alma Rattenbury — a once-celebrated musician — and her teenage lover GeorgeStoner stood accused in a case that gripped Britain with its mix of passion, tragedy, and sensational headlines. In this episode, we trace Alma’s extraordinary life, her ill-fated marriage to architect Francis Rattenbury, and the events that led to one of the most infamous trials of the 20th century.

Source Materials

The Architect & the Lady - Canada's History

2015.173615.Trial-Of-Alma-Victoria--Rattenbury-And George-Percy-Soner.pdf

The British Newspaper Archive Blog Murder of Francis Rattenbury | The British Newspaper Archive Blog

Adultery, jealousy and murder: How the Rattenbury case gripped the nation | Bournemouth Echo

Jack Knox: Out of tragedy, Francis Rattenbury's son became a fine dad - Victoria Times Colonist

The femme fatale who scandalised Britain: Murder at the Villa Madeira that gripped the country | Daily Mail Online

This Week in History: 1935: Sex, drugs, murder and suicide — the Rattenbury case had it all | Vancouver Sun

The Sensational High-Society Murder of Francis M. Rattenbury | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Murder, suicide and the pain of a surviving son

The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury - Sean O'Connor - Google Books

In 1660, the quiet Cotswold town of Chipping Campden was shaken by the disappearance of its elderly steward, William Harrison. Within months, three members of the Perry family were convicted and hanged for his murder — without a body ever being found. Two years later, Harrison returned alive, with a tale of pirates, slavery, and improbable escape. Was it truth, invention, or something stranger still?

Source Materials

The Story - The Campden Wonder

A true and perfect account of the examination, confession, trial, condemnation and execution of Joan Perry, and her two sons, John and Richard Perry, for the supposed murder of Will. Harrison, Gent Being one of the most remarkable occurrences which hath happened in the memory of man. Sent in a letter (by Sir Thomas Overbury, of Burton, in the county of Gloucester, Knt. and one of His Majesty's justices of the peace) to Thomas Shirly, Doctor of physick, in London. Also Mr. Harrison's own account how he was conveyed to Turky, and there made a slave above 2 years, when hismaster (who bought him there) dying, he return'd to England; in the mean while, supposed to be murdered by his man-servant, who falsly accused his own mother and brother as guilty of the same, and were all three executed for it on Broadway-Hills, in Gloucestershire. | Early English Books Online | University of Michigan Library Digital Collections

The Curious Case of the Campden Wonder

The Campden Wonder | Chipping Campden Online

The Campden Wonder - abduction and witchcraft in 17th century Cotswolds | Great British Life

The Campden Wonder; or, The Supposed Murder of William Harrison — Historical Blindness

The Mystery of The Campden Wonder | Amusing Planet

In 1892 Memphis, a secret romance between two young women unraveled in tragedy. This episode traces the story of Alice Mitchell and Freda Ward — from their plannedelopement to a public murder and a sensational trial — and examines how their case shaped early conversations about same-sex love, gender norms, and mental health in America.

Source Materials:

The Trials of Alice Mitchell: Sensationalism, Sexology, and the Lesbian Subject in Turn-of the-Century America Author(s): Lisa Duggan. Source: Signs, Vol. 18, No. 4, Theorizing Lesbian Experience (Summer, 1993), pp. 791-814 Published by: TheUniversity of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174907 .

Images of Alice: Gender, Deviancy, and a Love Murder in Memphis

Erotomania and Murder in Memphis | by Alexis Coe | The Awl | Medium

Girl Slays Girl: An Excerpt From Alice + Freda Forever

A Love Gone South in 'Alice + Freda Forever' - Deep South Magazine

Alice & Freda: In 1892, Memphis girls' young love ends tragically, creates national headlines | Focus LGBT+ Magazine

Murder by Gaslight: "Girl Slays Girl."

Alice Mitchell: Passion, Murder, and a Scandal That Shook America – True Crime Archives

Mitchell, Alice | Encyclopedia.com