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Class, Servitude, and the Criminal Justice System in Early Victorian London: The Russell Murder

New Arrival Class, Servitude, and the Criminal Justice System in Early Victorian London: The Russell Murder

Class, Servitude, and the Criminal Justice System in Early Victorian London: The Russell Murder

Author: Allyson N. May
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781032771731
Published In: May 2026
Format: Paperback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

HKD 597.00

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Description
Contents

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This volume draws on the recently discovered and extraordinarily rich scrapbook compiled by prosecuting solicitor Francis Hobler about the 1840 murder of Lord William Russell to consider public engagement with the issues raised from discovery of the murder itself through the ensuing legal processes.

The murder of Russell by his valet Francois Benjamin Courvoisier was a cause celebre in its own day by virtue of the fact that the victim was a member of one of England's most prominent political families. For criminal justice historians, the significance of this case lies instead in its timing. In 1840, England had neither an official detective force to investigate the murder nor a public prosecutor to undertake the prosecution. Those accused of felony had only recently (1836) won the right to full legal representation, and the conduct of Courvoisier's defence was controversial. Reaction to Courvoisier's execution was also noteworthy, testifying to a new public unease with capital punishment. The subject of master and servant relations in early Victorian England is another key component of the book: previous studies have not considered the murderer's motivation.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of criminal justice and law, Victorian England, and microhistory.

1. Introduction

14 Norfolk Street, Park Lane: Upstairs and Down

3. Inspectors Call: The Investigation

4. The Case for the Prosecution Rests ... with Francis Hobler

5. 'Going to See a Man Hanged'

6. Who Speaks?: Voice, Image, Agency - and Truth

7. Explanations and Consequences