not only in France but across the world.^9 His analytical methods have also
been the foundation for modern archaeological study of human remains.
A notorious British murder in 1879 demonstrated the public fascination
with ideas of‘criminal types’, and with crimes committed by people who
failed to behave in ways that society expected of them. Mrs Julia Martha
Thomas was a widowed teacher who lived alone in Richmond, Surrey. She
was a rather eccentric character in her midfifties, who liked to travel and to
dress as if she was of a higher social class. This desire to give an impression
of better circumstances also led her to want to employ servants, but her
difficult personality meant that she could rarely keep a maid for any length of
time. An acquaintance of Mrs Thomas recommended to her a woman who she
had employed temporarily to do some cleaning while her usual servant was ill.
Based on this recommendation, Mrs Thomas hired Katherine Webster but
failed to look into Webster’s background. Had she done so, she might have
discovered that Webster, née Lawler, was an Irishwoman with a long criminal
record who had served several prison sentences for larceny and theft in both
Ireland and England (Figure 33).
The employment was unsatisfactory on both sides. Mrs Thomas
complained about the standard of Webster’s work, and Webster found her
VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN CRIMEFigure 33. Katherine Webster and Julia Martha Thomas (After: Illustrated
Police News, 12th July 1879