Murder, mayhem and starvation in Murton - new book looks at dark times in village

Historians John and Stephanie Yearnshire have painstakingly researched life in the former colliery community. The result is a book which contains more than 40 images and covers 120 incidents in the village during the Victorian era.

John said: “Do not think that Murton has been a quiet community backwater; it has not, as the book reveals. Originally agricultural land, the sinking of the new pit in 1838 brought men from all over the UK and beyond.

“They arrived with their wives and children and either carrying their belongings by hand or hiring a cart.

“Though generally decent and law abiding, some of these people created just as much chaos, mayhem and crime as any other generation. Their living conditions were generally poor, lacking any sanitation, and hunger was never far from the door. The book tells of a starving mother collapsed on the floor of the local shop.”

The book is titled ‘Grisly Crimes, Hard Times and Tragedies’ and it will be launched at the Glebe Centre in Murton during the Murton Heritage Society Weekend which is held on Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17.

The two authors will be available on both days to sign the books.

Months of extensive research by them has revealed unexpected crimes and other outrageous incidents in Murton Colliery from 1837 to 1901.

John added: “The ordinary people of Victorian Britain had to work very hard. Their hours of work were long; their free time was usually one day a week.

“The money they earned was too little to give most of them a comfortable existence. Working life began as soon as a child could do something useful; it ended when injury, illness, death or old age made working impossible. The people of the nineteenth century Britain could not expect to retire on generous old age pensions.”

John and Stephanie say they have uncovered 'dreadful behaviour’ such as ‘the woman who waited until her abusive husband was asleep and poured boiling water into his ear.’

A miner guilty of stabbing and an in-depth look at the life of Mary Ann Cotton, who may have killed up to 23 people and was hanged in Durham jail in 1873, are also included in the book.

John added: “My wife Stephanie is a ‘ Murtonian’ and was inspired to write this book with me in memory of her father Stephen Wilson and cousin John Cummings MP, both miners at the Murton Colliery.

The book costs £6.99p plus £2 for postage and packaging. Anyone wanting a copy should email [email protected]