Tag Archives: emigrants

Asylum seekers or economic migrants stealing jobs?

Posted on May 14, 2015 by ActonBooks

Research is like rummaging through your dead grandad’s belongings, only to discover some never-told secret. I wasn’t looking for information on Jewish East European immigration; my interest was in Octavius Morgan and his views, as demonstrated by his speeches in … Continue reading →

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Hunting for the bad, bad Benders

Posted on November 24, 2014 by ActonBooks

Not much is certain about the murderous Bender family except to say they were acknowledged to be America’s first serial killers — at least the first discovered. Were they a family? Probably not. Was Bender their real name? Almost certainly … Continue reading →

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A pebble on his grave: Albert Grant 1831-1899

Posted on August 29, 2014 by ActonBooks

He was once so eye-wateringly rich, he bought Leicester Square when it was under threat of redevelopment, just to give it to the nation. Continue reading →

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“In consequence of having had the screw put on…”

Posted on August 16, 2014 by ActonBooks

Every once in a while you bump into something you weren’t looking for, but the happenstance makes you smile. Although FH Lewisson of Auckland, New Zealand has been dead this many a long year, you have to have hoped that … Continue reading →

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  Early in 1873, 342 emigrants gathered at London’s West India Docks. Most were men their late teens or early twenties. They were drawn from the tough underclass that built Victorian Britain. There were a sprinkling of older men – … Continue reading →

Posted on June 18, 2014 by ActonBooks | 1 Comment