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Finding Billy Waters: Black Londoners in Regency Britain

Thursday 10th October, 18:30 (Doors open at 18:15)

William ‘Billy’ Waters: busker, sailor, immigrant, father, lover, extraordinary talent, and a forgotten Black celebrity from Regency London. Delve into Waters’ life amongst the environs of Bow Street and discover a diverse Regency London that you didn’t know existed.

Dr Mary L. Shannon’s new book Billy Waters is Dancing: Or, How a Black Sailor Found Fame in Regency Britain (Yale 2024) tells the story of Regency London’s forgotten Black celebrity. Mary is a writer and Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Roehampton, London. She's the author of the award-winning Dickens, Reynolds, and Mayhew on Wellington Street and a self-confessed lover of all things London. Find her at marylshannon.com.

Timings: doors open at 18:15. The talk begins at 18:30 and lasts approximately 75 minutes, including a Q&A with the audience and a book signing.

Conditions of entry: this event is recommended for anyone over the age of 16 years. 

Tickets: there are two ways to attend this event, in person at Bow Street Police Museum, or online via a live stream (using Zoom). 

Prices to attend at the Museum: £12 / £9.60 Friends.

Join us online via Zoom.

Finding Billy Waters: Black Londoners in Regency Britain

Thursday 10th October, 18:30

William ‘Billy’ Waters: busker, sailor, immigrant, father, lover, extraordinary talent, and a forgotten Black celebrity from Regency London. Delve into Waters’ life amongst the environs of Bow Street and discover a diverse Regency London that you didn’t know existed. 

Dr Mary L. Shannon’s new book Billy Waters is Dancing: Or, How a Black Sailor Found Fame in Regency Britain (Yale 2024) tells the story of Regency London’s forgotten Black celebrity. Mary is a writer and Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Roehampton, London. She's the author of the award-winning Dickens, Reynolds, and Mayhew on Wellington Street and a self-confessed lover of all things London. Find her at marylshannon.com. 

Timings:  The talk begins at 18:30 and lasts approximately 75 minutes, including a Q&A with the audience and a book signing.

Conditions of entry: this event is recommended for anyone over the age of 16 years. 

Tickets: there are two ways to attend this event, in person at Bow Street Police Museum, or online via a live stream (using Zoom). 

Prices to attend via live stream: £6/£4.80 Friends.

Join us in person at the museum

Marshall Hall: a Law Unto Himself

Thursday 14th November, 18:30 (Doors open at 18:15)

Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC saved more people from the hangman’s noose than any other known barrister. In an age of inadequate defence funding, minimal forensic evidence, a rigid moral code making little allowance for human passion and a reactionary judiciary, his only real weapons were his understanding of human psychology and the power of his personality. His charismatic oratory and film star profile made him an Edwardian celebrity. Jurors collapsed and judges wept at the overwhelming power of his performances. Thousands congregated to await the verdicts in the trials in which he appeared for the defence. Curtains were brought down in West End theatres to announce the acquittals he secured. His famous trials included the Camden Town murder, Seddon the Poisoner, the Brides in the Bath, the Green Bicycle Murder and the Murder at the Savoy.

Sally Smith is a London barrister and KC. Her biography of famous Edwardian barrister Sir Edward Marshall Hall has attracted significant critical acclaim since it was published in 2016. Her latest book, A Case of Mice and Murder (Bloomsbury Raven) is the first in her series of wonderfully ingenious murder mysteries set at the beginning of the Edwardian.

Timings: doors open at 18:15. The talk begins at 18:30 and lasts approximately 75 minutes, including a Q&A with the audience and a book signing.

Conditions of entry: this event is recommended for anyone over the age of 16 years. 

Tickets: there are two ways to attend this event, in person at Bow Street Police Museum, or online via a live stream (using Zoom). 

Prices to attend at the Museum: £12 / £9.60 Friends.

Join us online via Zoom.

Marshall Hall: a Law Unto Himself

Thursday 14th November, 18:30 (Doors open at 18:15)

Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC saved more people from the hangman’s noose than any other known barrister. In an age of inadequate defence funding, minimal forensic evidence, a rigid moral code making little allowance for human passion and a reactionary judiciary, his only real weapons were his understanding of human psychology and the power of his personality. His charismatic oratory and film star profile made him an Edwardian celebrity. Jurors collapsed and judges wept at the overwhelming power of his performances. Thousands congregated to await the verdicts in the trials in which he appeared for the defence. Curtains were brought down in West End theatres to announce the acquittals he secured. His famous trials included the Camden Town murder, Seddon the Poisoner, the Brides in the Bath, the Green Bicycle Murder and the Murder at the Savoy.

Sally Smith is a London barrister and KC. Her biography of famous Edwardian barrister Sir Edward Marshall Hall has attracted significant critical acclaim since it was published in 2016. Her latest book, A Case of Mice and Murder (Bloomsbury Raven) is the first in her series of wonderfully ingenious murder mysteries set at the beginning of the Edwardian.

Timings:  The talk begins at 18:30 and lasts approximately 75 minutes, including a Q&A with the audience and a book signing.

Conditions of entry: this event is recommended for anyone over the age of 16 years. 

Tickets: there are two ways to attend this event, in person at Bow Street Police Museum, or online via a live stream (using Zoom). 

Prices to attend via live stream: £6/£4.80 Friends.