The Square Mile of Murder relates to an area of west-central

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, Scotland. The term was first coined by the Scottish

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Jack House John House (16 May 1906 – 11 April 1991) was a prolific and popular Scottish writer and broadcaster, with a significant attachment to the City of Glasgow. Early life East end House was born in Tollcross, then in the County of Lanark, just o ...

, 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).

The area

The area stretches northwards from Blythswood Hill in the western end of Glasgow city centre to Sauchiehall Street and west towards the

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

area. It is nowadays bisected by the M8 motorway.

The murders and locations

The four murder cases took place between 1857 and 1908. #The case against

Madeleine Smith Madeleine Hamilton Smith (29 March 1835 – 12 April 1928) was a 19th-century Glasgow socialite who was the accused in a sensational murder trial in Scotland in 1857. Background Smith was the first child (of five) of an upper-middle-class ...

was found to be

not proven Not proven (, ) is a verdict available to a court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and "not guilty").The Scottish criminal jur ...

, that she laced her lover Pierre Emile L'Angelier's

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

with arsenic (

Blythswood Square Blythswood Square is the Georgian square on Blythswood Hill in the heart of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. The square is part of the 'Magnificent New Town of Blythswood' built in the 1800s on the rising empty ground west of a very new Bucha ...

). #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). #The

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

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). #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.

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 Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton, OBE (15 April 1924 – 27 January 2004) was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, ''Scotch and Wry''. He was also known for his appear ...

, John Grieve, James Hazeldine, and Tony Roper.

References

*House, Jack (1961) ''Square Mile of Murder'', Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Square Mile of Murder 1980 British television series debuts 1980 British television series endings 1980s British crime television series Crime in Glasgow Murder in Scotland Non-fiction crime books English-language television shows History of Glasgow