Secret Sleuths

Secret Sleuths

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Townsend, a detective and a thief
Edwin Townsend used his job for nefarious ends in Victorian Birmingham
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Dr Nell Darby
The lunatic detective
One man, who claimed to be a private detective, was obsessed with Queen Victoria
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Dr Nell Darby
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Fighting in the Clyde
A strike by seamen led to bad temper by two unions - and the involvement of a Scottish private detective...
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Dr Nell Darby
Arthur and his two lovers
In the East Midlands, Arthur Radford was busy both in his work and love lives
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Dr Nell Darby

June 2025

Death in the Bow Street cells
Why did a Victorian private detective kill himself after being arrested?
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Dr Nell Darby
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Detectives of the same name
How were two detectives named Nelson related, if at all? In fact, who even WAS one of them?
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Dr Nell Darby
The Kidderminster election scandal
One private detective brought about a by-election in the 1870s, thanks to his investigative work
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Dr Nell Darby
The West Ham Disappearances
One private detective saw the disappearance of two girls from east London as an opportunity to promote his business...
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Dr Nell Darby
A good deal of unpleasantness
Sheffield's Charles Keeling may have been a good private detective, but he was not a good neighbour
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Dr Nell Darby

May 2025

Detective Cooper and the case of the missing nurse
Charles Cooper was one of the 'Big Five' senior officers at Scotland Yard, but resigned to establish his Regent Street detective agency
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Dr Nell Darby
Keeping it among colleagues
Chandler & Selby was a London agency established by two former Met police colleagues
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Dr Nell Darby
The Notorious Public House Spy
William Gentle Huckle was a private detective who would do anything to stop people drinking or selling alcohol - even if it resulted in a libel case and…
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Dr Nell Darby
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