Mr Briggs’ Hat : A Sensational Account of Britain’s First Railway Murder by Kate Colquhoun
On 9 July 1864, businessman Thomas Briggs walked into carriage 69 on the 9.45 Hackney-bound train.
A few minutes later, two bank clerks entered the carriage – but as they sat down, one of them noticed blood pooled in the seat cushions and smeared on the walls.
But there was no sign of Thomas Briggs.
The only things left in the carriage were his walking stick, his bag – and a hat that, strangely, did not belong to Mr Briggs . . .
This is a factual account of the first murder to take place in a railway train carriage. What makes it even more “sensational” is that it was a closed first class carriage and there was no evidence of a weapon.
Alarm was raised when the railway carriage was found spattered with blood. Meanwhile, the victim was discovered on the railway line, having been thrown from the train. Carried to a nearby public house, he subsequently died of his injuries without regaining consciousness.
So who murdered Thomas Briggs? How did they do it? And why was there a strange hat left behind?
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