Talk:Murder of Harriet Staunton

A fact from Murder of Harriet Staunton appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 19 March 2014 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Madame Tussauds displayed models of the four people accused of the murder of Harriet Staunton in 1877?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2014/March. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Murder of Harriet Staunton.

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First attempt[edit]

This is my first attempt in a long while to create an article on any subject other than horse racing. Probably needs a lot of work. Tigerboy1966 17:27, 8 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I can make out there was no real doubt about what happened and who was responsible. It was all about whether it constituted murder. And why was Alice Rhodes treated differently and allowed a pardon? I can only assume that it was because of her age. Tigerboy1966 18:20, 8 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A pretty impressive effort. I see that you have covered the Staunton murders but have not covered the earlier murders committed by Frederick Hunt in 1875. Although much less sensational than the later case (Hunt being found not guilty by virtue of insanity), I believe that it was the combination of the two cases so close together that led to the notoriety of Penge and the abrupt shift in building type from large meddle class homes to terraces of workers' cottages. Dr Sutherland wrote to the BMJ about the Hunt case. Bebofpenge (talk) 04:15, 9 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure the residents of Hungerford and Soham would understand. When I started the article I assumed that "murders" was plural in reference to Thomas and Harriet, but no charges seem to have been brought over the child's death. As there was no connection between Hunt and the later crime it might be better to rename this page "Murder of Harriet Staunton". Tigerboy1966 09:12, 9 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have moved the page for the reasons described above, "Penge murders" will redirect to the new page. The Hunt case looks potentially notable and may be worth an article in future: from the limited sources I found online I see that he killed his wife, poisoned his children and attempted suicide before being declared insane. As in the Staunton case, the crime involved reasonably respectable middle-class people and was all the more shocking as a result. Tigerboy1966 14:47, 9 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have tidied up the Penge page to separate the two cases. The 1877 murders links to Murder of Harriet Staunton and the 1875 murder has a separate reference.Bebofpenge (talk) 02:41, 10 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]