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After the murder confession, years later an anonymous letter reveals the truth. Concluded by Deborah Findlay.

1865: Millbank Prison. As Constance Kent begins her sentence in one of London's more squalid gaols, the remainder of the Kent family attempt to move on.

Now vindicated by Constance's confession, Jack Whicher's investigations become immortalised by the great crime novelists of the day.

Meanwhile, Constance's brother, William, becomes a celebrated scientist in Australia, and Constance, by contrast, ends up serving every day of her 20-year sentence.

On her release, she joins her brother in Australia, where she nurses in a lepers' colony, her past hidden from those around her. Only in 1928, with the arrival of an anonymous letter from Sydney, do the real events at Road Hill House back in 1860 finally come to light...

Kate Summerscale's gripping account of the Victorian murder case that shook the nation.

Concluded by Deborah Findlay.

Abridged by Doreen Estall.

Producer: Justine Willett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.

15 minutes

Last on

Sat 30 Apr 202202:00
BBC Radio 4 Extra

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See all episodes from The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Broadcasts

  • Fri 11 Apr 200809:45
    BBC Radio 4 FM
  • Sat 12 Apr 200800:30
    BBC Radio 4
  • Fri 31 Jul 201514:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Sat 1 Aug 201502:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Fri 29 Apr 202214:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Sat 30 Apr 202202:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra

Lucy Worsley's Crime Collection

Lucy Worsley's Crime Collection

Hand-picked programmes on the themes of 19th-century murder and mores.