The Apprentice of Split Crow Lane: The Story of the Carr's Hill Murder

Gateshead, April 1866.

Five-year-old Sarah Melvin was walking along Split Crow Lane looking for her father when she disappeared. Later that night a couple walking home from the pub tripped over her body.

Sarah was the child of Irish immigrants who had been drawn to the North-east in search of work. Poor, perceived with prejudice, they quickly came under suspicion of killing their own child.

The true murderer was a misfit whose social awkwardness stopped him ever rising above apprentice. He would eventually make clear exactly why he killed Sarah - and the reason would scandalise the whole country, yet to him had a dreadful logic.

This extraordinary story of sexual deviance and murder is told here for the first time. Painstakingly pieced together from original sources and evoking a powerful sense of place, it uncovers a wealth of information that shifts our perception of Victorian society. In lively, empathic prose, Jane Housham explores mental health, the justice system and the media in mid-Victorian England to reveal a surprisingly modern state of affairs.

Jane Housham grew up in Richmond, Yorkshire and is proud of her North East heritage. She is the publisher at University of Hertfordshire Press and also reviews books for the Guardian.