Latest news with #WilliamBurke
Scotsman
7 days ago
- Scotsman
Mrs Burke and Mrs Hare by Michelle Sloan review: 'full of wisdom and compassion'
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Edinburgh is notorious as a city with two faces, one elegant, enlightened and outward-facing, the other dark, squalid and dangerous. It's a dichotomy that's etched into the very geography of the 'precipitous city'; and its double identity is reflected in its literature, from James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner to Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - notionally set in London, but shot through with that same Edinburgh antisyzygy. Mrs Burke and Mrs Hare - aka Helen McDougal and Margaret Laird |There are also, though, true stories that helped shape the myth and the image; and none more powerful than the history of William Burke and William Hare, two men living in poverty in the Edinburgh of the 1820s, who discovered a lucrative line of business in killing off poor vagrants and prostitutes around the slums and lodging-houses of the Old Town, and selling their bodies to the ambitious surgeon-anatomists of Edinburgh's fast-rising medical establishment, who chose to turn a blind eye to the provenance of the bodies. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The story of Burke and Hare has itself spawned a whole industry of books, plays and articles; but Michelle Sloan's new novel - her second, following her successful 2022 debut, The Edinburgh Skating Club - takes the unusual path of telling the story from the point of view of the partners of the two men. Neither Margaret 'Lucky' Hare nor Nelly Burke was legally married to her 'husband'; but both were arrested alongside their men when their crimes finally came to light, and later exonerated, partly because the court apparently struggled to believe that a woman could have anything to do with such crimes. The Canongate Tolbooth, Edinburgh, circa 1870. Image from Picturesque Europe - The British Isles, Vol. I, published circa 1870 | The Print Collector/Heritage Images via Getty Images Sloan, though, takes a different view; and over 340 fast-moving pages, she constructs a gripping and sometimes downright enthralling tale in two parts, in which Lucky Hare becomes the ruthless and intelligent driving force behind the crimes, and Nelly Burke the troubled conscience of the group, drawn into their cult of violence only by her helpless passion for William Burke. In the first two-thirds of the book, the story of their killing spree in the Edinburgh of 1827-28 unfolds at breathless speed, and with a fierce understanding of how desperate poverty drove the underclass of the time towards crime, and how difficult it was, under those circumstances, to afford any pretensions to virtue. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Then in part two of the novel, Sloan follows the adventures of a young middle-class Edinburgh journalist, 20 years on, who sets out to discover what became of the two women; with the whole history finally tied together in a poignant motif to do with the tiny dolls found buried on Arthur's Seat in the late 1830s, and now held in the National Museum of Scotland. Sloan's narrative in both episodes is pacey and driven, yet almost lyrical in its vividness, conjuring up the teeming life of Britain's urban slums in the age before government - under pressure from countless campaigns and social movements - began to intervene to protect life, prevent disease, and raise working people up from the degradation described here. Most strikingly, she also offers a telling insight into the attitudes to other human beings bred by such a brutal system - the contempt for human life that justifies itself by morphing into whole systems of belief about the inferiority and worthlessness of its victims. She is clear-eyed about the privilege that frees her young journalist, Duncan, to take a more enlightened view. And movingly, she is also in awe of the fundamental decency she celebrates in the novel's vivid prologue; the respect, compassion and creativity of those who - under all the pressures of history - still strive to do right by the living and the dead, in a brilliantly readable novel that succeeds in bringing a new perspective to the crowded field of Burke and Hare literature, and one full of wisdom and compassion, as well as of a deep, loving knowledge of Edinburgh itself, in all its complex moods.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Yahoo
Pottsville man pleads guilty to CSAM charges
POTTSVILLE — A 51-year-old city man pleaded guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material Friday. James J. Wagner, who faced more than 40 felony counts related to Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM), entered a guilty plea on four of those charges in Schuylkill County Court. Wagner and his attorney, Edward M. Olexa of Hazleton, appeared in front of Judge William L. J. Burke for a status conference. Wagner pleaded guilty to a count of criminal use of a communication facility and three counts of child pornography, all third-degree felonies. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine, Burke said. The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Intelligence charged Wagner on Sept. 23, 2024. The defendant faced 41 charges in total, including 20 felony counts of disseminating photo/film of child sex acts and 20 of child pornography. The commonwealth opted not to prosecute the remaining charges, per the plea agreement. Wagner has been free on bail since Sept. 26.
CBS News
26-06-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Yuba City reunites with 1931 fire engine after Sacramento museum's closure
A nearly century-old fire engine is back where it first went into service: Yuba City. After being taken out of service by the Yuba City Fire Department in the 1970s, the 1931 engine continued to live many lives, even being used as a display at a restaurant. It was living at the Sacramento Regional Fire Museum when they were forced to close their doors due to rising rent. Now, the engine is back where it started. "We got a call from Sacramento, asking if we'd like to have our fire engine back," said Yuba City Fire Captain Kevin Kennedy. The fire engine can still be driven. "A couple of our guys actually remembered it from when they were here back in the 60s," Captain Kennedy said. One of those guys was retired Yuba City Fire Chief William Burke. "I was born in 1923, so the fire truck and me are almost the same age," Burke said. Burke was on duty in the '60s. He said, by then, the engine was used as more of a backup, but he remembers it well. "It did its job for the city for many, many years," he said. "I was surprised because I thought it was completely gone." Most of the engine is original, and anything restored was built using the same vintage parts. Yuba City Fire plans to use it for parades. "Someone did a lot of work on that, fixed it up and now it probably looks even better than when we took it out of service," Burke said. The engine will make its return debut at the Yuba City Children's 4th of July Parade on Plumas Street, where it all began.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Parades and concerts mark Memorial day in Schuylkill County
Several communities in Schuylkill County are set to hold parades and other events for Memorial Day. Cressona A Memorial Day parade will be held in the borough, starting at 10 a.m. Monday near Hydro. It will be followed by a ceremony outside the American Legion Post, 1 Front St. Frackville The borough's annual Memorial Day parade will be held at 9 a.m. Monday. It will start at the Frackville Business Center (the former M&T Bank), proceeding up Lehigh Street to the Frackville Memorial Park along West Spring Street. A ceremony will be held at the park after the parade. The Frackville Community Pool will also open for the season on Saturday. Daily rates are $5 Monday through Friday and $6 on weekends. Minersville Minersville will hold a Memorial Day parade on Monday. It will step off at 9 a.m. at the Minersville Little League Complex parking lot, proceeding north on South Fourth to Sunbury Street, then to the Minersville Veterans Memorial at 3 E Sunbury St. The parade will be followed by a ceremony at the veterans memorial. New Philadelphia The borough will hold a Memorial Day parade starting at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the post office. After the parade, there will be a program at the town square; the featured speaker will be Schuylkill County Judge William Burke. In case of rain, the program will be held at the Good Intent Firehouse. Also, there will be a tree-planting ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday at the Simon Kramer Cancer Institute, 15 Alliance St. The tree will be dedicated to Eddie Doyle, a Pottsville Maroons football player who was fatally wounded in World War II. The public is welcome. Orwigsburg The borough will hold a parade at 8 a.m. Monday, starting at the Orwigsburg Veterans Memorial Hall. The event will conclude with a service on the town square, featuring borough manager William Reppy as the speaker. Pine Grove The M&J Big Band will perform a free concert from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Sweet Arrow Lake County Park, 108 Clubhouse Road. The concert will be held in the Clubhouse Pavilion; patrons are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. The rain date is Monday, Sept. 1. Port Carbon A Memorial Day parade will be held at 9 a.m. Monday, proceeding through the main thoroughfares and ending at the gazebo area for a service and playing of 'Taps' to honor the community's military families and loved ones. Pottsville A Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Garfield Square, honoring a young local servicewoman. There will be playing of taps. A Memorial Day sunset service will be held at 8:10 p.m. Monday inside the main entrance of the Charles Baber Cemetery, 1400 W. Market St. Tom Shay, a local historian, will be the guest speaker. There will be a prayer by the Rev. Dr. Kurt Kovalovich, followed by the playing of taps at sunset. Schuylkill Haven A Memorial Day parade will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, stepping off at Schuylkill Haven Area High School and proceeding down Main Street to Parkway. The Schuylkill Haven Lions Club will also hold a pancake breakfast prior to the event, at the Schuylkill Haven Area High School cafeteria. Tamaqua A Memorial Day parade will be held at 10 a.m., stepping off at East Broad Street. It will conclude with a Memorial Day service at 11 a.m. in Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
York in 1975 - 10 photos of people, places and events of the past
York in 1975 - here are 10 photos of people and places of the past OUR gallery of photos today take us back 50 years to show us the York of 1975. We begin with a photo showing the formal opening of a new-look paved and pedestrianised Stonegate. The photo, dating from April 18, 1975, shows Baroness Kirk, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department of the Environment, cutting a tape across the middle of Stonegate while the Lord Mayor of York, Cllr William Burke, looks on. Stonegate - if you excuse the pun - paved the way for the pedestrianisation of central York. In 1971, it became the first city 'foot-street' where cars were to be banned. Parliament Street in York in 1975 But it was a slow process - it wasn't until the Eighties that the city's other main shopping streets were pedestrianised, with work starting in 1987 – initially in Market Street and Feasegate. Parliament Street was pedestrianised in the early 1990s. Our other photos in today's gallery capture some of the people, places and event of York of 1975 - spark any memories? Send them - and your old photos - by email to Recommended reading: Memories of York's Viking Hotel - the city's first new hotel in 90 years Can you identify these classic cars that graced York streets in the 1960s? First photos of iconic police 'panda' car arriving in York in the 1960s How York was saved: our fight to keep historic walls, barbicans and landmarks Read more York nostalgia DO you love delving into York's past and seeing photos from yesteryear, and reading stories about them? We do too! The Press features nostalgia pages most days in the paper and online - including an eight-page supplement every Wednesday in the paper. April 27, 1975: York County Hospital. We also have more than 3,000 members in our online nostalgia group on Facebook, Why We Love York - Memories. It is free to join and you will find us at - click here to get started! It would be great to see your old photos of York - and they don't have to be from centuries ago. We all love seeing old photos from our own past, and some of our more popular stories date from the 70s, 80s and 90s - and even into the noughties.
