The BackTracker History Show

Shorter Tales Season:  6 Episode: 24 This week’s show packs a punch with three bite-sized but gripping tales – a dash of heroism from a local legend, a stirring act of WW2 bravery, and the bittersweet drama of a woman scorned – as well as your usual helpings of fascinating facts from days gone by. CAST Pete Budd - Colin Ball Jesse Organ - Patrick Allen THIS PODCAST This podcast has been speci...

HMS Trincomalee Season:  6 Episode: 23 HMS Trincomalee is one of only two surviving British frigates from her era, alongside her near-sister ship, HMS Unicorn, now preserved as a museum in Dundee. Ordered on 30 October 1812, Trincomalee was constructed in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, by the renowned Wadia family of shipwrights. Her maiden voyage was the begining of a love story and also brough...

The Legend of Lady Anne Clifford (Pt 2) Season:  6 Episode: 22 The last member of one of England’s great medieval dynasties, Lady Anne Clifford became something of a legend in her own lifetime, and has remained a celebrated figure in the history of northern England ever since. After fighting a 40-year battle for her right to inherit her father’s estates, devoted herself to restoring and enhan...

The Legend of Lady Anne Clifford (Pt1) Season:  6 Episode: 21 The last member of one of England’s great medieval dynasties, Lady Anne Clifford became something of a legend in her own lifetime — and ever since, she’s stood as a celebrated figure in the storied history of northern England. Anne spent a lot of time at the court of Elizabeth 1 with her parents and became a Lady in Waiting to Quee...

Who Killed Young Betty? Season:  6 Episode: 20 On February 20, 1823, young Betty Trump, just 13 or 14 years old, left her home in Buckland St Mary, near Taunton. She was on her way to visit family in the village of Winsham. On the return journey, Betty passed through Chard, pausing to pick up some supplies. Then she headed out once more toward Buckland St Mary—and vanished. This tragedy horri...

Florence Simpson Season:  6 Episode: 19 Florence Simpson didn’t just break new ground—she laid the foundation for the future of women in the British military. From voluntary cook to military commander, hers was a legacy of perseverance, service, and transformation at a time when the role of women in war was being rewritten. CAST Florence Simpson - Cerise Reed Lady Rachel Dudley - Molly Jeffer...

The Suicidal Murderer Season:  6 Episode: 18 On April 5, 1936, Beatrice Sutton was found dead in her London flat, lying across the bed with pillows stacked over her face. At first, it looked like natural causes—but a closer look revealed she’d been strangled. Murder had hidden in plain sight. A murder with an unusual reason behind it CAST Frederick Herbert Field - Joe Wilson Inspector Brown -...

USS Huron: Bristol's U.S Hero Season:  6 Episode: 17 It was just after midnight on Tuesday, July 21st, 1908, in a quiet little home on Rudgeway Parade, Upper Eastville. The world barely noticed as Antonio Williams drew his final breath. A modest man by all appearances… but behind that quiet ending was a life of extraordinary courage. Antonio Williams wasn’t just a U.S. Navy pensioner—he was a...

Lillian Wyles: A Pioneering Police Officer Season:  6 Episode: 16 Lilian joined the London Metropolitan Police in 1919 as a Sergeant, part of the Metropolitan Women Police Patrols. At the time, this was most unusual for women and initially not at all popular either with fellow Police Officers or the Public as it was deemed "unwomanly". Eventually rising to the rank of Chief Inspector. CAST Li...

The Murder of Billy the Tinker (Pt 2) Season:  6 Episode: 15 Previously, in the quiet village of Bishopsworth… It’s March 1880. Two colliers, out gathering primroses on an otherwise peaceful day, stumble upon a ghastly sight: a body, cold and decomposed, lying in a gully. The victim? William Palmer Robinson — a traveling razor grinder, eccentric wanderer, and local curiosity known for his fon...

The Murder of Billy the Tinker (Pt 1) Season:  6 Episode: 14 It’s March of 1880. In the sleepy Gloucestershire village of Bishopsworth, two colliers are out gathering primroses when they stumble upon something that will shake the entire region to its core — a body, lying in a gully, cold and decomposed. The victim? A man known as William Palmer Robinson — a traveling razor grinder, local ecce...

Lillian Bland: An Aviation Pioneer Season:  6 Episode: 13 Lilian Bland (28 September 1878 – 11 May 1971) was a trailblazing Anglo-Irish journalist and aviator who made history in 1910–11. Defying the conventions of her time, she became one of the first women in Great Britain and Ireland—and possibly the world—to design, build, and successfully fly her own aircraft, the Bland Mayfly. Her fearl...

Murder at Saxton Grange Season:  6 Episode: 12 In the dark, quiet hours before dawn on September 5, 1933, flames erupted from a barn at Saxton Grange Farm, just outside Tadcaster in Yorkshire. When the fire was finally doused, what emerged from the smouldering ruin was grim: the charred remains of 30-year-old Frederick Ellison Morton, the farm’s owner. But it wasn’t the fire that killed him....

The HMS Victoria Disaster (Pt 3) Season:  6 Episode: 11 HMS Victoria, the proud flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, collided with HMS Camperdown during a routine manoeuvre gone horribly wrong. The impact tore a massive hole in Victoria’s bow, and within just fifteen minutes, the ship rolled over and sank beneath the waves. A total of 358 souls were lost, including Vice-Admiral Sir George Try...

The HMS Victoria Disaster (Pt 2) Season:  6 Episode: 10 On 22 June 1893, HMS Victoria, flagship of the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet, collided with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres in the Eastern Mediterranean. In part two of this tale, we continue to eavesdrop on the court martial to determine who exactly was to blame CAST Rear Admiral Markham - Steve Sheperd Captain Maurice Bourke - Joe...

The HMS Victoria Disaster (Pt 1) Season:  6 Episode: 9 At around 15:30 on 22 June 1893, disaster struck in the Eastern Mediterranean as HMS Victoria, the proud flagship of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, collided with HMS Camperdown during fleet manoeuvres. Within moments, chaos unfolded, and the mighty warship began its tragic descent beneath the waves, sealing its fate in one of the m...

Emily J. Harding: Protesting Through Art Season:  6 Episode: 8 Emily Jane Harding Andrews (1850–1940) was a British artist, illustrator, and suffragette. Starting with miniatures, she shifted to children's book illustration in the 1880s. A committed activist, she joined the Artists' Suffrage League, designed posters for the movement, and spoke out against violence toward suffragettes. CAST Mu...

Martha Scriven: The Sad End of a Young Widow Season:  6 Episode: 7 Martha Scriven died on December 5, 1895. The cause of death was recorded as "exhaustion from peritonitis caused by punctured wound in the uterus and intestines." At the inquest, the attending doctor expressed doubt that Martha had been pregnant at the time of the procedure. Listen to her experience in her own words as she desc...

The Father of Australian Architecture Season:  6 Episode: 6 Francis Greenway (1777–1837) was a convict-turned-architect who shaped Australia’s early colonial architecture. Transported for forgery, he became Governor Macquarie’s chief architect, designing landmarks like Hyde Park Barracks and St. James’ Church, gaining him the moniker the "Father of Australian architecture". His legacy endures...

A Poor Victorian Family's Trauma Season:  6 Episode: 5 On Saturday 30th August 1858, J. B. Gandon, Esq., conducted an inquest on the body of the deceased at the George Tavern on Kingsland Road. Details revealed during the investigation brought to light disturbing circumstances surrounding the crime. CAST Elizabeth Pyne - Sam Roberts Isaac Pyne - Steve Yeo Eliza Pyne - Poppy Kendell Police Con...

Death of a Front Line Clergyman Season:  6 Episode: 4 He was charismatic, charming and passionate about his faith. Rev. Charles Edmund Doudney just wanted to make the world a better place for everyone, so when World War One required clergymen to offer their services, he didn't shy away and joined the British Army, serving as a chaplain at the front, to the 18th Field Ambulance. On the da...

The Bristol Dinosaur Season:  6 Episode: 3 In 1834, the bustling quarries of Clifton, Bristol, hid an incredible secret buried beneath their stone walls. As workers chipped away along Worrall Road, they stumbled upon strange bones unlike anything they’d ever seen. Little did they know, they had uncovered Thecodontosaurus, a creature that would later earn its place in history as one of the wor...

A Bristol Murder: Killer Boy Season:  6 Episode: 2 In a rash moment of teenage bravado, two young lives were changed forever. One ended tragically and the other's life would never be the same again. Listen to the story of 19-year-old William Braund and 14-year-old Alfred Dancey and the event that happened in 1849. Plus there's two quick news snippets from the papers published at the same time...

Cpl Theodore Veale VC: A WW1 Hero Season:  6 Episode: 1 Corporal Theodore William Henry Veale VC (11 November 1892 – 6 November 1980) was a British Army soldier renowned for his exceptional bravery during World War I, which earned him the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to British and Commonwealth forces. CAST Newspaper - Ceri...

Samuel Pepys Tour Around Bristol Season:  5 Episode: 44 Samuel Pepys was a prominent English diarist and naval administrator, renowned for his detailed and vivid Diary, which spans from January 1, 1660, to May 31, 1669. Pepys provides an invaluable account of Restoration London, covering its society, politics, and significant events such as the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. His w...