Rogues, Rakes and Robbers

On 20 October 1799 at Pensieri in Anglesey, a fire breaks out, destroying cart house, corn, haystacks and timber. A young woman is seen running from the scene – but what secrets drove her to set the fire? Uncover the tales of real-life murders, manslaughters, assaults and arson that took place in Georgian Wales and the borders, which together give us a window onto life for ordinary, common people – whose lives would otherwise be lost from the historical record. From courtship rituals to the value of horses, Georgian attitudes to sex work and insanity, vulnerable adults and fraud, each chapter uses documents from Wales’s Court of Great Sessions to illuminate the past.

Muir is an exceptional guide to the underbelly of Georgian Britain; she tells this history with the precision of a blade.,In Professor Muir mines her wonderfully rich historical sources to bring life to an infamous cast of villains and their unfortunate victims. This is a must-read for anyone who loves true crime and Welsh history.