Cholera caused more deaths, more quickly, than any other epidemic disease in the 19th century and in Dundee, with no clean water and no real means of sanitation, many people fell gravely ill and died.
Tag: death
The Overgate
If you’ve seen any really old maps of Dundee, you might notice that there’s no mention of the Overgate as we know it, or indeed, the Nethergate. Known back then as Argyllsgait (Argyllgait) and Flukergait respectively, it wasn’t until the latter part of the 1500’s that the new names came into play, not long afterRead more ⟶
George Wishart
George Wishart was born in 1513 and became one of the earliest Scottish religious reformers. Wishart is widely recognised as a martyr for his Protestant beliefs and was burned at the stake because of them in St Andrews on the orders of Cardinal David Beaton under accusations of heresy in 1546. George Wishart is bestRead more ⟶
William Bury
William Bury presented an alarming story concerning the death of his wife to local police in Dundee on 10th February 1889, but was he the infamous Jack the Ripper?
A Devil in Disguise?
On November 9th, 1889, the Dundee Courier And Argus ran a very strange story indeed – one we found had not only a bizarre set of circumstances, but also an odd ending: “A mill foreman was fined in the Dundee Police Court the other day for assaulting a youthful worker. Time was when assaults onRead more ⟶
The Dundee Body Snatchers
In Dundee, body snatchers, graverobbers, or “Resurrection Men” turned over a considerable amount of business. When Cholera struck in 1832, the memories of Burke and Hare’s atrocities were still very much at the forefront of people’s minds. Even though Burke had been executed in 1829 (whilst Hare spent the rest of his years in relativeRead more ⟶
On this day – Man sentenced after family feud ends in brother’s death
It is the party season, and while family gatherings can be joyous occasions, sometimes we don’t get on with our family. Things can quickly take a turn for the worse when alcohol is involved, and on this day in 1974 Daniel Flanagan was sentenced for the culpable homicide of his brother, and assault for stabbingRead more ⟶
Hanging and execution in Dundee
273 people were publicly hanged in Scotland between 1800 and 1868. Of these 273, 14 were women. Few of them actually took place in Dundee, with only six recorded hangings, five of them public, the final one private. The last man to be hung in Dundee, William Bury, was the infamous murderer who was suspectedRead more ⟶
Unusual deaths
An unusual story in Dundee’s papers about a woman who died on 27th October 1912, warning readers not to fall foul of the same fate – and to watch out for false teeth! Full story below: Warning from a Tragedy A Lochee woman met her death under tragic circumstance on Tuesday, expiring after swallowing herRead more ⟶
Grissell Jaffray
Grissell Jaffray is famous in Dundee history for the crime of being a witch. She was choked and burned at the stake in a public execution and is the last person to have been burned in Dundee for the crime of witchcraft.