Publications

Far from being a mere collection of the weird and whimsical reports culled from the Derby Mercury over the centuries the author has provided us with a well researched overview of the criminal justice system and the types of crime and punishment favoured in the years 1782, 1832, 1882 and 1932.  

 Written with considerable verve and some wit, the social and political history of the region unfolds before the bench as machine wreckers riot, soldiers desert and thieves are transported. There is however a fair smattering of the weird and whimsical as well. Court reports are reprinted either in part or in full, the latter appearing at first sight to be rather overwhelming but, in fact, continued effort does (sometimes) ‘amply repay the reader for his diligence’ as the parlance of the time would have it.  

 The illustrations, by John Phillips, deserve special mention.  Drawn ‘specially for the occasion’ the book is liberally sprinkled with some excellent cartoons of, for instance, poachers painfully caught ‘in flagrante” and even one of prisoners enjoying the fruits of an illicit still!
Wonderful!

Murder, Mayhem & Mercury

by John Redfern

£8.75