{"id":25077,"date":"2023-05-25T09:25:42","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T07:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=231493"},"modified":"2023-05-25T10:11:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T08:11:37","slug":"nell-darbys-historical-cold-cases-the-hoxton-horror","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/nell-darbys-historical-cold-cases-the-hoxton-horror\/","title":{"rendered":"Nell Darby\u2019s historical cold cases: the Hoxton horror"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Nell Darby asks whether the brutal 1872 killing of a mother and daughter was the work of a stranger, or someone closer to home <\/p>

By Dr Nell Darby\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 25 May 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

It really was a Victorian horror story: two 11-year-old boys go into their local print shop to buy some writing paper and envelopes, only to find the shop owners absent. After waiting some time, and noticing blood on the shop counter, they go to fetch a neighbour, who finds two bodies behind the counter. The owners \u2013 an elderly widow and her 38-year-old daughter \u2013 have been beaten to death with a plasterer\u2019s hammer; nobody is ever convicted of their murders.<\/p>\n

This double murder took place on 10 July 1872. The shop was run by the twice-widowed Sarah Squire, who, after the death of her printseller husband, took over his business, aided by her daughters Jemima and Christiana. Jemima then left, leaving Sarah and Christiana to manage the shop, at 46 Hyde Road in Hoxton, together. It was seen as a quiet place, run by two women who were settled in their ways, and who neighbours regarded as \u201cpenurious\u201d.<\/p>\n