LOOKING FOR A GREAT XMAS GIFT.

*** LOOK NO FURTHER ***

ROTHERHAM’S BLACK HEARTED VILLAINS

In searching out some of Rotherham’s Black Hearted Villains the author had to travel along the streets of Rotherham. Through Masbrough, the High Street and some of the murky courts off Westgate. Others were to be found living in some of the outlying villages of Swinton, Wath, Rawmarsh or Greasborough.

Some were navvies who robbed shopkeepers and assaulted police officers when they came to arrest them. Another man stabbed two strangers for no reason at all. These villains were not always men, some were women, such as the mother who burnt her three-year-old son with a red-hot poker. Or parents who neglected their children so badly that the youngest one was described as being ‘a parcel of bones.’

Sometimes these black hearted villains, were not always criminal, some of them could be found within the Rotherham’s police force itself.

To downlad this book or to buy a paperback go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/BO9MC3D78P

Many people only feel really safe when they are within the bosom of their own family, surrounded by loved ones in a place where they can relax and throw off the cares of the day… But what if that home is a place of fear and dread? What if your home contains the one person you want to get away from? We present to you: SHEFFIELD’S TOXIC RELATIONS

There was the case of the husband who was so insanely jealous of his wife that he killed her at the Alexandra Opera House before hanging himself among the stage ‘flies.’ There is the case of Peter O’Neil who murdered his wife right in front of lodgers.

Spare a thought for little Elizabeth Waddington who was killed by her own father, who also tried to kill her mother in the most barbaric of ways. Albert Hodgson neglected his own three children to the point that they would have starved to death, if they weren’t rescued by the NSPCC.

Whilst it is more than fair to say that most elements of society have improved a great deal, since Victorian times. Even just in this year of 2021, stories in the news show that family relations can, even today, be appalling, or murderous….

You can get your hands on a e-book or physical book today, at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09CRW9CKB/

Pause for reflection on how safe and peaceful your life today is, and be thankful that, hopefully, you are not at risk, from some of Sheffield’s Toxic Relations. A collection of true tragedies that really happened in the streets of Sheffield, in the 19th Century.

We are proud to present ‘Rotherham Scamps and Scallywags’ which hold several curious cases which were brought before the Rotherham magistrates during the nineteenth century. The cases include a man spending the night jailed in the Chapel on the Bridge, a wealthy farmer who could not resist the impulse to steal small inexpensive items he did not need and sisters who turned shoplifting into a mini crime wave.

Perhaps “Scallywags” might be a bit light of an attribution, for the murderous grandmother who drowned her own granddaughter at birth like an unwanted animal. The deliberate highway robbery at Rawmarsh where so much violence was used that a man was hanged for it. The real scamps and scallywags were the Derby butcher who went from selling unsound meat in the Shambles to living in style in Ferham House. Or the 16 year old lad whose larking about at the Midland Iron Works cost a man his life.

These real, Rotherham people, were hauled before the magistrates for their crimes. Reading between the lines, the book also reveals a time when absolute poverty was rife, and crime was the only choice for some.

To buy in paperback or to download as a kindle edition, please click here.

Thankfully Rotherham is certainly a better place now, than the one of our grand and great-grand parents’ time.

Our best wishes, and health to you.

Margaret and Chris Drinkall

June 2021

It is now nearly a year since the first Rotherham LOCKDOWN book was published. It has been a tough year for many of us, who have suffered in the pandemic, suffered from loss, and suffered from isolation. However, from the very first, our NHS has striven to meet the demands of a sudden and deadly disease which brought the world to it’s knees.

It was in the spirit of thanking the NHS, that we started to release these LOCKDOWN books, with any profits going wholly to Rotherham NHS and the Sheffield Hospitals Charity.

We are happy to report that, at present, thanks to those of you who have bought these titles, that we have raised just over £400 for Rotherham and £620 for Sheffield, giving a grand total of £1020. If you have bought any of those books, thank you sincerely, for you have personally contributed to the well being of critically ill people of Rotherham and Sheffield during this dark time.

Thankfully we are now on our way out of the worst of Covid-19. We have no current plans for further LOCKDOWN books, but you can be sure there are still plenty of stories that Victorian Yorkshire’s past has to tell us. The reception of the Sheffield’s Evil Women book has been very good, and if you ever wanted to know more about Rotherham’s Scamps and Scallywags, you wont have to wait long.

Feel free to share this status, if you have contributed or want to raise awareness, as any sales from those books will be donated in the future too. A link to all the books on Amazon is right here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Margaret+Drinkall+Lockdown+Book

Margaret and Chris Drinkall

May 2021

Following the success of the Sheffield Dark Trilogy here is another book about crime in the city during the 19th century. This time it concentrates on the female side of Sheffield’s criminal underground. Here you will meet criminal women transported to the other side of the world for crimes as simple as stealing a few shillings, some boots or some brushes. One appalling women threw her daughter into the Rivelin Dam, not once but twice. There are tragic cases of those killing new born babies in order to hide the crime of unmarried conception. There is one woman who set her husband on fire, whether by accident or intentionally, I leave you to judge’

Some committed crimes against other women. Such as using the art of fortune telling to relieve one woman of her money. or another young girl who thought she was doomed, to kill herself. There was an ignorant midwife who killed two women with her incompetence. But perhaps the kind of woman most feared by the Sheffield authorities were the prostitutes. They were seen as duping innocent young men out of their well earned wages. Sheffield in the 19th century was seen as a hotbed of vice, and the woman who worked in such professions as the most depraved imaginable. All these cases are true and really happened in Sheffield.

The books are available to buy or download from Amazon

Margaret and Chris Drinkall

March 2021

Just in time for Christmas… The Dark Sheffield trilogy concludes with a menagerie of cases fuelled by desire and hate. For example there is a man who suffered a rejection, and in revenge plotted the death of the woman herself as well as her two sisters. Business rivalry takes a bitter twist, between two milkmen brothers, ending in something much more fatal than milk being delivered.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08R6NB4WN

Hate and desire are not limited to adults… There is the case of a young boy who killed another boy he saw as a rival. Another tragic case is that of the five week old baby never wanted by it’s father, and desire was truly devoid, in the case of a baby’s body found in a railway carriage.

Men are not the only instigators here, there is a case of a mother killing herself and her small daughter for which no reason was ever established. There is a wife playing a double game with her lover. Within these pages, you’ll find gruesome tales of areas you know or may have lived in, but a warning… these are not tales for the faint of heart!

All proceeds from this book and the others in the trilogy will go to the Sheffield Hospitals Charity (SHC), which helps support the hospitals in the city, as a token of our appreciation for all the extremely hard work they are undertaking during this present COVID-19 crisis.

Have a healthy and happy Christmas holiday,

Margaret and Chris

This is the fifth Lockdown Book of Rotherham Criminals. Who knows? Perhaps it is the last, with all these vaccinations emerging. As with all previous Rotherham Books, any royalties we raise will go to Rotherham NHS Trust.

Buy in paperback or kindle format here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08QFZYJC9

There is no end to the cases from Rotherham’s murky past. They include murderous attacks on officers from the emerging “Police force”, a body of men who were at first hated by local citizens. Following their arrest of a soldier from the Boer War, there was once a riot on Frederick Street.

Children were not exempt from criminality. There are a series of petty crimes from children as young as six. The accidental death of a 13 year old boy killed whilst playing marbles by a 15 year old boy at Parkgate. Also there is a shocking sex scandal which took place when a ‘madame’ tried to get her nieces involved as prostitutes.

And if you were of diminished mental abilities, you could also be treated as a criminal… we have details of suicides who were buried in unconsecrated grounds at midnight without a Christian burial, like a criminal. And spare a thought, for the girl with limited understanding; being rejected by her family, and her subsequent desperate attempts for someone to look after her illegitimate baby.

I continue to be fascinated (and hope you do too), by the incidents of murder and crime which took place in the 19th century Rotherham. So although this may just be the last ‘lockdown’ book in the series, it wouldn’t be the end of books on that subject. I look forward to introducing you to many more in the future.

Have a happy and healthy Christmas holidays, and a prosperous new year,
From Margaret and Chris.

“Drop-tober” full month sale on most kindle titles is now live!

Grab yourself a bargain. We have made the sale a month long affair so no-one is trapped out of the sale by it falling outside of their pay day.

Most Paperback versions reduced by 30-70%.
Most Kindle versions reduced by 60-80%

To celebrate more than 6 years of self-published titles (and the patrons who bought them) we are having a month long sale of most of our older works. grab yourself a bargain, and spread the world to anyone who may have a thing for victorian history, curious crimes and curious times of the 19th century.

Do note that a couple of our more recent works, as well as the lockdown books, are still regular price. The rest of the titles have been reduced as far as Kindle Publishing will let us. We couldn’t give you them any lower if we tried (and we would!)

Stay safe out there,
Margaret & Chris

We are delighted to announce the publication of the 4th Lockdown Book of Rotherham’s Criminals. I think you’ll find that in this book we have found some of the best cases yet!

Read about the exploits of ‘Rotherham Bob’ who was a character well known to the people of the town. At election times he would dress up in his rainbow finery and prance through the town, begging for money which he spent drinking in the local pubs. (This will also be found in the Rotherham Advertiser this week!)

There is also a shocking account of a child murder at the Crinoline Bridge, which could have been one of the earliest instances of Victorian baby farming. You will also uncover the strange account of a visitor to the town from Birmingham, who was somehow poisoned, but when she died, no inquest or police investigation was held in Rotherham. Why? Only when her husband heard rumours that she had been poisoned and demanded an inquest in Birmingham, was the case fully explored…

As before all royalties from this and the other Lockdown Books will be donated to the Rotherham NHS. To find the book, just follow this link:

As always, thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!
Margaret & ChrisThe Lockdown Book of Rotherham’s Criminals (Book 4) eBook: Drinkall, Margaret: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Chris and I are please to let you know that sales from both the (Rotherham) Lockdown Books and the first of the Sheffield trilogy (Sheffield Dark Streets) have gone extremely well. So much so that on 9 Aug we were able to donate £45 royalties, added to that is today’s wonderful donation of £95.26p (rounded up to £100) making a grand total of £145 for the Rotherham NHS. The royalties for the Sheffield Dark Streets book has amounted to a massive £88.10 for the SHC (again rounded up to £100) on your behalf. This makes a fantastic total of £245 towards the people working on the front line during this present COVID-19 crisis.

THANK YOU

We couldn’t have done it without you!