Fugitive slaves, Victorian justice
Oskar Jensen tells the tall tale of a court case inspired by a best-selling novel
Arts & Ideas · BBC Radio 4
April 6, 202313m 41s
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Show Notes
The trial of sisters begging on the streets of South London led to donations sent in by Victorian newspaper readers and an investigation by the Mendicity Society. New Generation Thinker Oskar Jensen, from Newcastle University, unearthed this story of the Avery girls in the archives and his essay explores the way attitudes to former slaves and to the reform of criminals affected the sisters' sentencing.
Producer: Ruth Watts