- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: The National Archives Press; 1 edition (Sep 1 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1903365546
- ISBN-13: 978-1903365540
- Product Dimensions: 24.9 x 19.3 x 1.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 839 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,545,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Did you know that until 1823 suicides were buried at crossroads to prevent them returning to haunt the living? Or that until the Contagious Diseases Act was repealed in 1886, women in naval ports who were suspected of prostitution could be medically examined by force?
Most families have a skeleton. You may have already discovered yours via the grapevine or your own research. Or you may simply be intrigued by the dark side of our past. This popular history explores the behaviour of our disreputable ancestors from the unfortunate to the criminal, and introduces a host of colourful characters including 17th century witches, 18th century 'mollies' and Victorian baby farmers. Thematically arranged by skeleton, the text also describes how society punished and provided for its 'offenders' - as well as the changing attitudes that could ultimately bring acceptance.
Most families have a skeleton. You may have already discovered yours via the grapevine or your own research. Or you may simply be intrigued by the dark side of our past. This popular history explores the behaviour of our disreputable ancestors from the unfortunate to the criminal, and introduces a host of colourful characters including 17th century witches, 18th century 'mollies' and Victorian baby farmers. Thematically arranged by skeleton, the text also describes how society punished and provided for its 'offenders' - as well as the changing attitudes that could ultimately bring acceptance.
About the Author
Ruth Paley has an extensive knowledge of historical criminal records. She was on the staff of the Public Record Office for many years, and now works as a researcher on the History of Parliament project. She wrote Using Criminal Records for the PRO.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
4.0 out of 5 stars
Troublemakers, Mar 15 2011
By R. Zoellner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Family Skeletons: Exploring the Lives of Our Disreputable Ancestors (Hardcover)
Family Skeletons is a fun read, but the title is a bit of a misnomer, as it hardly talks about any particular families, being more of a catalogue of rogues and criminals than anything else. Also, American readers like myself should take note that these are not necessarily the lives of our ancestors being explored, but those of the English, as the book was put out by the British National Archives. It covers quite a few categories of criminals that existed there from the mid-1600's to the mid-1900's. Like most things British, the focus is on London, and the Oliver Twist-ian or Sherlock Holmes-esque cast of thieves, whores, corrupt cops, body snatchers and other shady types existing there in reality or popular imagination.This is a very nicely made book, with heavy photo paper and lots of photos and other relevant images. There is no particular order to the chapters, but each follows a similar pattern, explaining the criminal category before mentioning those who were famously convicted of that kind of crime. There are contemporary images of some of them, and details about particularly outstanding reprobates inset in grey boxes, and towards the end of each section, changes in the British laws relating to that class of criminal activity are explained, and some more modern examples mentioned. I found the sections on con artists and forgers to be especially interesting and amusing.
Generally speaking, I can't imagine any but the most prudish not enjoying reading about these Family Skeletons, provided they can handle the reading level, which is not too elevated. I'm sure high school students could handle it, as it is meant to be basically informative and simple to read. I'm sure there are even a few precocious pre-teens out there who wouldn't mind finding this in a library. I also think it would make a good coffee-table type of book, as it can be read in small sections with no need for continuity, if desired. It also promises to have a good amount of varied sources in its bibliography for further research into any especially interesting topic, as well as info on how to find whatever skeletons may be lurking in your own family closets.
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