The BackTracker History Show

200th Anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Season:  5 Episode: 9 In total, across the UK and Ireland, 146,452 lives have been saved by the RNLI – this equates to an average of two lives saved every day for 200 years.  Founded in a London tavern on 4 March 1824 following an appeal from Sir William Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man and witnessed many shipwrecks, the R...

The Babbacombe Murder Mystery (Part Two) Season:  5 Episode: 8 Saturday, the 15th February 1884 saw the fateful murder of 68 year old, Emma Anne Whitehead Keyse at The Glen in Babbacombe in Devon. All the evidence pointed to just one suspect, 21 year old John Henry George Lee, the Butler and general handyman. Listen to the account of his trial and discover what made this particular crime stan...

The Babbacombe Murder Mystery (Part One) Season:  5 Episode: 7 Emma Anne Whitehead Keyse was a single lady of 68 years old. She was born in Edmonton, London, in 1816. She lived at The Glen with four helpers. One of them was John Lee, who did various jobs. Elizabeth Harris was the cook, and she had asked Emma to give her half-brother, John Lee, a job a few months before. The other helpers were...

Valentine's Day Special Season:  5 Episode: 6 Valentine's Day is steeped in history, but what exactly do you know about it? In this special episode, we take a look at this unusual holiday and an even closer look at the Valentine card, commonly used to express love and affection. Did you know that there used to be an alternate though? CAST Duke of Orleans - Steve Sheperd Ophelia - Sam Roberts...

Reginald Burt: A Soldier's Regret Season:  5 Episode: 5 Whilst he was away serving in the army, Reginald Burt’s wife, Lily, was having a baby by another man. He did everything to save his marriage, offering to adopt the baby, but in the end, something snapped. CAST Reginald John Frederick Burt - Joe Wilson Mr Justice Morris (Judge) - Steve Sheperd Mr Norman Skelton (Defence) - David Haile Ins...

The Amazing Victoria Drummond (Part Two) Season:  5 Episode: 4 Victoria Drummond was the first female marine engineer in the UK and the first British woman to serve as chief engineer with the Merchant Navy, but all this was earned through sheer determination and a driving force to spend her life doing what she loved, regardless of the perceived boundaries. In this episode, we look at how she...

The Amazing Victoria Drummond (Part One) Season:  5 Episode: 3 Drummond was the first woman to qualify as a marine engineer and she managed to have a successful career at sea despite encountering prejudice and discrimination. In this episode, we look at her early life and the difficulties she had trying to start her chosen career in marine engineering. CAST Victoria Drummond - Rose Hayles Mr....

The Murderous Bank Robber Season:  5 Episode: 2 It was a normal Friday afternoon in Knowle, Bristol, when a man was spotted acting suspiciously near the Lloyds Bank. Little did they know that the day would end with a robbery of £1,444 which would spark a nationwide manhunt, and a murder still unsolved 66 years later CAST John Rowe - Tony Allen Murderer - Joe Wilson Chief Det. Supt F. Carter -...

New Year's Day Special Season:  5 Episode: 1 In this episode, we take a look at what has happened on New Year’s day in the past. The events that have shaped history and changed our world THIS PODCAST This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England.  If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show w...

Christmas 2023 Season:  4 Episode: 42 To celebrate the festive season, we delve into a few things that only seem to appear at this time of year. We discover what's so special about mistletoe? Why are they called Mince pies and the special ingredients in a Christmas pudding? THIS PODCAST This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England.  If you li...

Crossroad Burials Season:  4 Episode: 41 William Birt was supposed to be the first man hanged on the gatehouse of the new Gloucester Prison, but he had other ideas. Find out more about William's story and the custom of burials at crossroads. THIS PODCAST This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England.  If you liked it please leave a rating...

Emmeline Pethick Lawrence: The Bristol Suffragette Season:  4 Episode: 40 Bristol born Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence was one of the leaders of the ‘suffragette’ campaign. Imprisoned six times, she was treasurer of Mrs Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union and jointly edited ‘Votes for Women’ magazine.  In this episode, we delve into the life and accomplishments of this remarkable wo...

The Bristol Blitz Season:  4 Episode: 39 Bristol was bombed heavily between June 1940 and May 1944. The longest period of regular bombing, known as the ‘Bristol Blitz’ began in autumn 1940 and ended the following spring. The first bombs of the Bristol Blitz fell at around 6 pm on Sunday 24 November 1940. A further six bombing raids took place until the last major attack in April 1941. The cit...

Murder in Austria Season:  4 Episode: 38 It was a marriage made in hell. The 35 year old Montague Cyril Williams and the 21 year old Private Margaret Laughlan Williams spent more time drinking and fighting than anything else. She had never wanted to get married but couldn't find. way out. Things had to change and on 4th July 1949, they did. THIS PODCAST This podcast has been specially edited...

Remembrance Day Special 2023 Season:  4 Episode: 37 Remembrance day is a time to reflect on the lives of those who gave their today's for our tomorrows. I always try to respectfully highlight  the achievements of some of those whom you may never have heard of. Here we have just three, Thomas Edward Rendle, Walter Ayles and Clifford Granville Shaw. If you can help with tracing Clifford’s...

Halloween Special: Thomas Thorneycroft & Tettenhall Towers Season:  4 Episode: 36 In this special seasonal episode, we explore Tettenhall Towers in Wolverhampton and find out more about it's most famous resident, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Thorneycroft. We also hear from well known and very well respected Paranormal Investigator, Karin Beasant. She tells us about an investigation she did at th...

Murder of a Taxi Driver: The Hunt for Percy Toplis (Part Two) Season:  4 Episode: 35 Francis Percy Toplis was a British criminal and imposter active during and after the First World War and well known to the police. He became the main suspect in the murder of Salisbury taxi driver Sidney Spicer on Saturday 24th April 1920. He fled the scene and the nationwide manhunt lasted six weeks. Find ou...

Murder of a Taxi Driver (Part One) Season:  4 Episode: 34 On the morning of Sunday 25th April 1920, the body of Sidney George Spicer was found in a hedgerow on a quiet country road near Thruxton Down, Andover. He had been shot in the head and it was quickly established that Spicer was a taxi driver from nearby Salisbury who had collected a fare the night before and driven five people to the R...

England V Wales: When International Football came to Town Season:  4 Episode: 33 It’s clear now that if England is chosen to stage the 2028 European football championships, none of the matches will be played in Bristol. (They won’t be played anywhere in the South outside the capital, in fact, but that’s a different story.) And yet, there was a time when the city provided a welcoming home to t...

His Masters Voice: Nipper The HMV Dog & other tails Season:  4 Episode: 32 When you think of famous dogs there are quite a few that spring to mind: Scooby doo or Toto for instance, there are few as instantly recognisable as Nipper, the terrier from Bristol. The cute little Jack Russell's face puzzling over the sound coming from the horn of an early wind-up gramophone became the enduring image...

The Body in the Chest Season:  4 Episode: 31 Brian Hocking aged 24, his wife Elizabeth, aged 25 and Norman Bamber were a friendly threesome, then Brian went missing. Gambling, greed, passion and sex were the ingredients to this unbelievable true tale of cold blooded murder. THIS PODCAST This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England.  If you li...

The Tragic Death of Leslie Howard Season:  4 Episode: 30 He starred in one of the most successful movies of all-time and was a world-famous actor. But Leslie Howard’s glittering career and complex personal life was cut tragically short when he was lost in a mysterious plane crash aged 50, the victim of a suspected Nazi anti-spy attack during WWII. The story only gets more shadowy from there…...

The Circus Of Varieties Season:  4 Episode: 29 An unassuming building in the centre of Bristol was host to some of the greatest entertainers Europe had to offer. It was the site of a very popular past time and regularly had major exhibitions and balls. It even played a part in the development of the area's aviation industry, but you wouldn't think it now. Listen to the story of a building now...

The Unsolved Murder of Gertrude O'Leary Season:  4 Episode: 28 Gertrude O'Leary had no enemies and very few intimate friends, although she nevertheless had a reputation among her neighbours and those who did business with her as being a kindly and generous woman. Yet, on 30th July 1949, when the shop was still found to be closed at 10.30pm, her regular customers became worried and called the...

Sarah Guppy: The Victorian Female Inventor Season:  4 Episode: 27 Sarah Guppy achieved amazing things in Bristol back in 1811. Whilst women of the time were expected to be carrying out domestic duties, Sarah Guppy was inventing new products and creating unique designs, including a design for a bridge to cross the River Avon. Sarah Guppy THIS PODCAST This podcast has been specially edited from...