The Murderous Mannings & The Bermondsey Horror

In the summer of 1849, Patrick O’Connor, a prosperous London customs officer, vanished without warning. His trail ended in a quiet Bermondsey house, home to Frederick and Maria Manning—a married couple bound to him by secrets and suspicion. When O’Connor’s body was found buried beneath their kitchen floor, whispers of greed, betrayal, and hidden passions spread across London.

SOURCES

Buckley, Angela(2024) The Bermondsey Murder: Scotland Yard’s First Great Challenge and Dickens’ Inspiration. Pen & Sword, Barnsley, UK.

Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper (1849) Murder In Bermondsey. Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, Sun 19 Aug 1849, p12. London, UK.

The Sun (1849) An Account Of The Alleged Murderer And His Wife, And Their Antecedents. The Sun, Mon 20 Aug 1849, p8. London, UK.

Newcastle Guardian & Tyne Mercury (1849) Trial of the Mannings. Newcastle Guardian & Tyne Mercury, Sat 27 Oct 1849, p8. Newcastle, UK.

The Tipperary Vindicator (1849) Trial Conviction And Passing Of Sentence Of The Mannings For The Murder Of Mr O’Connor. The Tipperary Vindicator, Wed 31 Oct 1849, p1. Tipperary, Ireland.

John Bull (1849) Execution Of The Mannings. John Bull, Mon 19 Nov 1849, p13. London, UK.

John Bull (1849) Confession Of Frederick Manning. John Bull, Sat 17 Nov 1849, p13. London, UK.

------

For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at ⁠darkhistories.com ⁠

Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: ⁠http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories⁠ or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories⁠

The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: ⁠http://author.to/darkhistories⁠

Dark Histories merch is available here: ⁠https://bit.ly/3GChjk9⁠

Connect with us on Facebook: ⁠http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast⁠

Or find us on Twitter: ⁠http://twitter.com/darkhistories⁠

& Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/⁠

Or you can contact us directly via email at ⁠contact@darkhistories.com⁠

or join our Discord community: ⁠https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf⁠

The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.