Arsenic, Bonnets and Betrayal: The 1869 Dudley Poisoning of Joseph Oliver

Arsenic, Bonnets and Betrayal: The 1869 Dudley Poisoning of Joseph Oliver
News of the Times | Episode 559 | 1869
It began, as so many Victorian poisonings did, with an ordinary cup of milk and a sudden sickness.

In the quiet town of Hart’s Hill near Birmingham, Joseph Oliver — a healthy, hard‑working boilermaker — fell violently ill in the spring of 1869. Within weeks he was dead, and his young wife, Fanny Frances Oliver, was weeping at his funeral. But behind closed doors, something far darker was taking shape.

Before Joseph’s death, Fanny had rekindled a secret affair with a butcher named Burgess. She had quietly siphoned her husband’s life savings and purchased arsenic under a false name — supposedly, she said, to “clean bonnets.”

Was she a desperate woman trapped in a loveless marriage, or a cold, calculating killer ready to start a new life? This episode plunges deep into one of the most dramatic Victorian poisoning trials of the 19th century — a case that gripped Birmingham and Dudley with its themes of betrayal, greed, and arsenic‑laced ambition.

And in this episode's further particulars segment...
Thinking of leaving Britain in 1841? Don’t pack your trunks just yet — we’ve unearthed a marvellously well-meaning guide to emigration from a time when Florida was hailed as the Montpelier of America and Virginia was (optimistically) preparing for a progressive future...

Our correspondent helpfully steers you clear of Canada’s blizzards, prairie diseases, and “extremely rude” society — and into the silken arms of Delaware, Pennsylvania, and the subtropical citrus dreams of the American South. 🌴🧳

It’s the travel brochure you didn’t know you needed — complete with moral panic, coal optimism, and suspiciously cheerful railways.

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles

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