Square Mile of Murder

Last updated

The Square Mile of Murder relates to an area of west-central Glasgow, Scotland. The term was first coined by the Scottish journalist and author Jack House, whose 1961 book of the same name was based on the fact that four of Scotland's most infamous murders were committed within an area of 1 square mile (2.6 km2).

Contents

The area

Locations of the 'Square Mile' murders Square Mile of Murder map.svg
Locations of the 'Square Mile' murders

The area stretches northwards from Blythswood Hill in the western end of Glasgow city centre to Sauchiehall Street and west towards the Charing Cross area. It is nowadays bisected by the M8 motorway.

The murders and locations

The four murder cases took place between 1857 and 1908.

  1. The case against Madeleine Smith was found to be not proven, that she laced her lover Pierre Emile L'Angelier's cocoa with arsenic (Blythswood Square).
  2. The Sandyford murder case, in which Jessie McPherson was brutally struck forty times with a meat cleaver. Her friend Jessie McLachlan was accused and found guilty of the murder; McLachlan always maintained her innocence, accusing McPherson's employer's elderly father of the murder instead (Sandyford Place).
  3. The serial killer Dr Edward William Pritchard, known as "The Human Crocodile". His three victims included his mother-in-law, Jane Taylor, and his wife, Mary Jane Pritchard, whom he poisoned, then had the coffin lid unscrewed so that he could kiss her (Berkeley Street, Sauchiehall Street).
  4. Marion Gilchrist's death in 1908 was pinned on Oscar Slater, the subject of a major miscarriage of justice (West Princes Street).

21st-century

In 2021, Esther Brown was murdered at her home on West Princes Street, one of the roads in the mile. [1]

Television adaptation

House's book was adapted as a six-part television series by the BBC in 1980. The cast included George Baker (as Madeleine Smith's father), Anthony Bate (as Pritchard), Simon Cadell, Neil Connery, Gregor Fisher, Rikki Fulton, John Grieve, James Hazeldine, and Tony Roper.

Related Research Articles

Buchanan Street

Buchanan Street is one of the main shopping thoroughfares in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. It forms the central stretch of Glasgow's famous shopping district with a generally more upmarket range of shops than the neighbouring streets: Argyle Street, and Sauchiehall Street.

Garnethill is a predominantly residential area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland with a number of important public buildings.

McLellan Galleries

The McLellan Galleries are an exhibition space in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, situated behind a frontage of shops in Sauchiehall Street.

Madeleine Smith Scottish socialite and alleged murderer (1835–1928)

Madeleine Hamilton Smith was a 19th-century Glasgow socialite who was the accused in a sensational murder trial in Scotland in 1857.

The Sandyford murder case was a well-known proceeding of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United Kingdom. It is one of four notorious murder cases that took place in an infamous area of Glasgow known as the Square Mile of Murder, which lies around Charing Cross, "situated where Sauchiehall Street is coming to an end as a shopping centre and giving way to well-built terraces". The case revolved around the brutal murder of one Jessie McPherson, a servant, in 17 Sandyford Place, Glasgow, Scotland, in July 1862. McPherson's friend Jessie McLachlan later stood trial, accused of having murdered McPherson.

Blythswood Hill Human settlement in Scotland

Blythswood Hill, crowned by the elegance of Blythswood Square, is the wealthiest part of central Glasgow, Scotland. It extends from the west edge of Buchanan Street to Gordon Street and Bothwell Street, Charing Cross, Sauchiehall Street and Garnethill. Developed as the city's wealthiest and healthiest residential area from 1800 onwards, its Georgian and Victorian architecture continues as a Conservation Area of international note. It started as the ″Magnificent New Town of Blythswood″. becoming an integral part of the city-centre's business and social life.

Sauchiehall Street Shopping street in Glasgow city centre

Sauchiehall Street is one of the main shopping streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street.

Willow Tearooms Tearooms at 217 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Scotland

The Willow Tearooms are tearooms at 217 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Scotland, designed by internationally renowned architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which opened for business in October 1903. They quickly gained enormous popularity, and are the most famous of the many Glasgow tearooms that opened in the late 19th and early 20th century. The building was fully restored, largely to Mackintosh's original designs, between 2014 and 2018. It was re-opened as working tea rooms in July 2018 and trades under the name "Mackintosh at The Willow". This follows a trademark dispute with the former operator of The Willow Tearooms which was resolved in 2017. This name is now used at tea room premises in Buchanan Street and was also additionally used at the Watt Brothers Department Store in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow between 2016 and its closure in 2019.

Charing Cross is a major road junction in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde at the intersection of Sauchiehall Street, St George's Road, Woodlands Road, North Street and Newton Street, as well as being at a major interchange of the M8 motorway.

International Financial Services District

The International Financial Services District (IFSD) is a public-private financial district in Glasgow, Scotland. Based at Scottish Enterprise, the £1 billion venture aims to create an attractive inward investment location for leading international financial services companies and a re-location option for existing Glasgow-based companies, seeking to expand their operations.

Edward William Pritchard

Edward William Pritchard was an English doctor who was convicted of murdering his wife and mother-in-law by poisoning them. He was also suspected of murdering a servant girl, but was never tried for this crime.

William Harley Scottish entrepreneur (1767–1829)

William Harley (1767-1829) was a textile manufacturer and Scottish entrepreneur who is known for his early contributions to the city of Glasgow, including the development of the New Town of Blythswood and pioneering hygienic dairy farming.

Glasgow Society of Lady Artists

The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists was founded in 1882 by eight female students of the Glasgow School of Art with the aim of affording due recognition to women in the field of art. It has been described by Jude Burkhauser as "the first residential club in Scotland run by and for women". In the early days of the club, they met at 136 Wellington Street, Glasgow.

Glasgow City Centre is the central business district of Glasgow, Scotland. Is bounded by Saltmarket, High Street and Castle Street to the east, The River Clyde to the south and the M8 motorway to its west and north. Glasgow City Centre is composed of the areas of Garnethill, Blythswood Hill and Merchant City as well as parts of Cowcaddens, Townhead, Anderston and Calton.

St. Vincent Street

St. Vincent Street, is one of the major streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in the early 1800s as part of the residential New Town of Blythswood developed by William Harley of Blythswood Square. St. Vincent Street was named to commemorate the victory of Sir John Jervis, on 15 February 1797, off Cape Saint Vincent, Portugal. when the Royal Navy defeated the Spanish fleet which was on its way to join Napoleon's French fleet.

Blythswood Square

Blythswood Square is the prestigious square atop Blythswood Hill in the heart of the City of Glasgow, United Kingdom. The square was built as part of the 'Magnificent New Town of Blythswood' built upon the barren and largely empty ground immediately west of a very new Buchanan Street from around 1800. The Blythswood district was classed as a Conservation Area in 1970.

Events from the year 1862 in Scotland.

Kelvingrove, Glasgow Human settlement in Scotland

Kelvingrove is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated north of the River Clyde in the West End of the city, and directly borders Kelvingrove Park to the north and the grounds of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to the west. Its other boundaries are not precisely defined, but roughly correspond to Sauchiehall Street to the south opposite the Sandyford neighbourhood, and the Charing Cross area to the east.

Sandyford, Glasgow Area of Glasgow, Scotland

Sandyford is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is north of the River Clyde and forms part of the western periphery of the city centre. Formerly the name of a ward under Glasgow Town Council in the first part of the 20th century, it is within a continuous area of fairly dense urban development bordering several other neighbourhoods whose mutual boundaries have blurred over time, and is possibly less well known than all of the places which adjoin it, particularly Anderston and Finnieston.

James Smith (Glasgow architect)

James Smith (1808–1863) was a 19th-century Scottish architect who specialised in very large country mansions.

References

  1. Hay, Katharine (15 October 2021). "Man admits raping and murdering pensioner Esther Brown in Glasgow". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 22 December 2021.