The Victorians have been accused of “murder-worship”. A murderer was an object of prurient fascination; and if the felon was an attractive woman her notoriety was assured.

Heroes & Villains - Mrs Manning

Grace Horsley Darling was the ideal Victorian heroine. Brave, feminine, modest, pious and dead at 26, she embodied all the virtues the sentimental Victorians looked for in their womenfolk.

Heroes & Villains - Grace Darling

William Collier was not immortalised as a Staffordshire figure because of any great deeds, or even misdeeds. His uneventful life and brief moment of criminal notoriety would not have been enough to single him out. It was the unfortunate manner of his death which captured the Victorian imagination and earned him a place on the nation’s mantelpieces.

Heroes & Villains - William Collier

The sentimental image of Florence Nightingale as the Lady of the Lamp overshadows the fact that she was one of the most influential women of the nineteenth century.

Heroes & Villains - Florence Nightingale

Horatio Nelson embodied all the virtues of the ideal naval commander. Charismatic, quick-witted and with great personal courage, he was adored during his lifetime and is still revered today as one of Britain’s greatest national heroes. However, he could be vain and silly, he often disregarded authority, and his private life shocked even his admirers.

Heroes & Villains - Admiral Lord Nelson

The Victorians’ obsession with murder was surpassed only by their passion for litigation and the workings of the law. A case which combined the two was bound to arouse feverish interest.

Heroes & Villains - James Blomfield Rush

No-one can doubt that the cause for which John Brown died, the abolition of slavery in America, was a noble one. In his lifetime, however, he was regarded as a fanatic, and modern writers have accused him of terrorism.

Heroes & Villains - John Brown

Murder is especially shocking when committed by a doctor. Doctors understand drugs and they are trusted members of society; and they are only human. Occasionally the temptation offered by motive and opportunity proves irresistible.

Heroes & Villains - William Palmer

Lady Sale was typical of the indomitable women who accompanied their empire-building husbands into the wars and campaigns of the nineteenth century. Danger brought out the best in her, and she became a byword for toughness and resourcefulness.

Heroes & Villains - Lady Sale

The British public has always loved a mystery. Spice it up with a dramatic court case and a long-lost heir and you have one of the greatest sensations of the Victorian age.

The Potteries Museum