61 - The Case of George Edalji

Small-town politics and old-fashioned racism come into play when the household of an Indian vicar in Great Wyrley, in Staffordshire, England is targeted for harassment. In 1903, a series of animal mutilations and maiming afflict the area and the vicar's son, a solicitor by the name of George Edalji, is convicted.

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Opening music from https://filmmusic.io. "Giant Wyrm" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

"Dark Child" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Closing music by Soma.

SOURCES

“A stupid hoax.” London Standard, July 26, 1895.

“Cattle-maiming – fresh atrocities at Great Wyrley.” The Guardian, August 28, 1907.

“Cattle-maiming – the new situation at Great Wyrley.” The Guardian, August 29, 1907.

“Edalji is restored.” Washington Post, December 1, 1907.

“Extraordinary hoax.” Essex County Standard, August 24, 1895.

“Labourer sent to penal servitude.” London Times, November 7, 1934. https://www.casebook.org/press_reports/times/19341107.html

“'Poison pen' letters.” The Guardian, November 7, 1934.

“Strange persecution of a clergyman.” Birmingham Daily Post, January 20, 1893.

“Strange persecution of a clergyman.” Leicester Chronicle and Leicestershire Mercury, April 1, 1893.

“The Edalji case – a mysterious letter from Walsall.” The Observer, January 20, 1907.

“The Edalji case – prisoner to be released this week.” The Observer, October 7, 1906.

“The maiming outrages – an arrest at Wolverhampton.” The Guardian, September 6, 1907.

“The renewed Wyrley outrages.” Manchester Guardian, April 1, 1904.

“The Staffordshire maiming outrages.” The Penny Illustrated Paper, November 14, 1903.

“The Wyrley outrages.” The Guardian, September 7, 1907.

Costello, Peter. Conan Doyle, Detective: The True Crimes Investigated by the Creator of Sherlock Holmes. London: Constable & Robinson, 2006.

Doyle, Arthur Conan. “The Case of Mr. George Edalji.” New York Times, February 2-3, 1907.

Risinger, D. Michael. “Boxes in Boxes: Julian Barnes, Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and the Edalji Case.” International Commentary on Evidence 4:2 (2006).

Weaver, Gordon. Conan Doyle and the Parson's Son: The George Edalji Case. Cambridge: Vanguard Press, 2006.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapurji_Edalji

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/18/arthur-conan-doyle-set-up-by-police-fabricated-letters

https://britishheritage.com/features/sir-arthur-conan-doyle-and-the-case-of-george-edalji