Aram, Eugene (bap. 1704, d. 1759), murderer and philologist, was born at Ramsgill and baptized on 2 October 1704 at Middlesmoor, West Riding of Yorkshire. Little is known of his mother, but his father, Peter Aram (bap. 1667, d. 1735), employed as gardener to ...
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Margaret D. Sankey
Balfour, Robert, fifth Lord Balfour of Burleigh (d. 1757), murderer and Jacobite sympathizer, was the son of Robert Balfour, fourth Lord Balfour of Burleigh (d. 1713), and Lady Margaret Melville, daughter of the first earl of Melville. Robert's attraction to a young woman of lesser social rank prompted his parents to send him on the grand tour in the hopes of breaking their attachment. Before leaving, however, ...
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Bayeux, Osbert de (fl. 1120–1184), ecclesiastic and suspected murderer, was a nephew of Archbishop Thurstan of York (d. 1140). An archdeacon named Osbert occurs in the 1120s; if this was Osbert de Bayeux then he must have been promoted as archdeacon, presumably by his uncle, at an early age. As ...
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Beane, Sawney (fl. 15th–16th cent.), legendary murderer and cannibal, is first mentioned in print in broadsheets about 1700. Various versions of his life appeared: in some he is said to have been active during the reign of James I of Scotland (1424–36), while other accounts date his crimes to the reign of ...
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Richard Davenport-Hines
Bingham, (Richard) John, seventh earl of Lucan (b. 1934, d. in or after 1974), suspected murderer, was born on 18 December 1934 at 19 Bentinck Street, Marylebone, elder son of (George Charles) Patrick Bingham, sixth earl of Lucan (1898–1964), and of Kaitilin Elizabeth Anne Dawson (1900–1985)...
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(Richard) John Bingham, seventh earl of Lucan (b. 1934, d. in or after 1974) by Bassano © reserved; photograph Camera Press, London / National Portrait Gallery, London
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See Königsmark [Coningsmark], Karl Johann, Count Königsmark in the Swedish nobility
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See under
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William Burke (1792–1829) by Benjamin William Crombie, pubd 1829 [on the day before his execution] Scottish National Portrait Gallery
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J. Gilliland
Burke, William (1792–1829), murderer, and his accomplice, William Hare [see below], were Irish immigrants whose activities in Edinburgh made theirs perhaps the best-known pair of names in Scottish history. William Burke was probably born in the parish of Urney, near Strabane, co. Tyrone...
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J. Andreas Löwe
Calverley, Walter (d. 1605), murderer, was the eldest son and heir of William Calverley (d. 1572), writer, and his wife, Katharine, daughter of John Thorneholme of Haysthorpe, Yorkshire. His family were recusant landowners of Calverley, West Riding of Yorkshire, where he was probably born. While still a child, he lost his father. Under the terms of ...
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Christie, John Reginald Halliday (1899–1953), murderer, was born on 8 April 1899 at his parents' home, Black Boy House, near Halifax. He was the sixth child in the family of two sons and five daughters of Ernest John Christie, carpet designer, and his wife, ...
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William Corder (1804–1828) by unknown engraver, pubd 1828 [in Bury gaol a few days before his trial] © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Corder, William (1804–1828), murderer, was born in Polstead, Suffolk, on 22 June 1804, the son of John Corder, farmer, and his wife, Mary. He attended the local village school and then an academy at Hadleigh. At that time he was described as slender with a stoop. He took off for ...
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T. F. Henderson
revised by Heather Shore
Cranstoun, William Henry (bap. 1714, d. 1752), alleged murderer, fifth son of William, fifth Lord Cranstoun (d. 1727), and his wife, Lady Jane Ker (d. 1768), eldest daughter of William, second marquess of Lothian, was baptized on 12 August 1714 at ...
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J. Gilliland
Cream, Thomas Neill (1850–1892), doctor and murderer, was born in Glasgow on 27 May 1850, the eldest son of William Henry Cream (c.1823–c.1891) and Mary Elder. The family emigrated to Canada, where William became manager of Gilmour & Co....
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M. J. Bowman
Crichton, Robert, eighth Lord Crichton of Sanquhar (c. 1568–1612), nobleman and murderer, was the son of Edward Crichton, seventh Lord Crichton of Sanquhar (c.1542–1569), and Margaret Douglas (c.1545–c.1605), of Drumlanrig. On 10 April 1608 he married Anne (...
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Hawley Harvey Crippen (1862–1910) by unknown photographer, c. 1890 Getty Images
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Martin Fido
Crippen, Hawley Harvey (1862–1910), murderer, was born in Coldwater, Michigan, the only child of storekeeper Myron Augustus Crippen (1827–1910) and his wife, Andresse Skinner (d. 1909). After studying in Michigan, London, and the Homoeopathic Hospital College, Cleveland, Ohio, he qualified as a homoeopathic doctor in 1884. In 1887 he married a nurse, ...
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Elliot, John (1747–1787), natural philosopher and accused attempted murderer, was born at Chard in Somerset in December 1747, the son of John Elliott, a clothier, and his wife, Hannah. In the past he has often been completely or partly confounded with Sir John Eliot (1736–1786)...
