London 1849

Maria and Frederick Manning came from Taunton to live in the London district of Bermondsey in 1849. They murdered Maria's lover, Patrick O'Connor, for his money. They fled, were captured, tried and hanged at Horsemonger Lane Prison, Southwark, before a roaring crowd.

1849 London was a sprawling and overcrowded city. Its streets varied from the wildly fashionable to the fetid, rife with crime, disease and prostitution. Foul water, filth-choked sewers and cholera killed thousands. The city was jammed with carts, cabs, omnibuses and new railways, yet Londoners continued to find new ways to educate and entertain themselves.

Michael Alpert has used the full records of the trial and the police files of the case, together with contemporary journalism and fiction, to recreate ordinary people's day-to-day London life in 1849.