The Bermondsey Horror Executions That Had Charles Dickens And Herman Melville In The Crowd
A brutal murder in 1849 London shocked a nation and drew some of the biggest celebrities of the time
No matter how salacious or disgusting, we all love a good scandal. Occasionally, they can be so over the top that they dominate society for varying lengths of time. That’s exactly what happened with the Bermondsey Horror, which was a love triangle that devolved into a brutal murder during the middle part of 19th century London.
In the summer of 1849, London was in the midst of a horrible cholera outbreak, but a brutal murder in the Bermondsey district that came to be known as the “Bermondsey Horror” ended up capturing the attention of the community. This case had it all — a love triangle, greed, and betrayal, which ultimately led to the first execution of a married couple in England in 150 years.
Marie Manning (maiden name was de Roux) was born around 1821 in Lausanne, Switzerland. She eventually migrated to England and became a maid for various aristocratic households. In 1847, she married Frederick George Manning, who worked intermittently on the railroads but also had a checkered past involving accusations of robberies.
