The title of this blogpost is "Peace" but not that soothing, tranquil state that is the opposite of war. No indeedy, the "Peace" that the title refers to is Charles Peace, a criminal, who is associated with this Sheffield suburb - Banner Cross - where I have lived for the past thirty seven years.
I was reminded of this notorious man's past existence when we visited The Emergency Services Museum near the city centre on April 5th. In that old building there are Victorian prison cells and in one of them Charles Peace was once detained. On the tiled wall there was a picture of him - "The Banner Cross Murderer" and "The Notorious Burglar". There was also a "Wanted " poster from the 1870s.
Peace was no hero. He was a violent scumbag. An habitual burglar who brought misery to many people's lives. He also preyed on women he fancied and frequently carried a gun.
His crimes were not just limited to this city of his birth for he got up to his tricks in other places - including Liverpool, Manchester, Hull and South London. He may have imagined that his life was charmed and that he could get away with anything like some sort of superhero.
In the early 1870's he became obsessed with a woman called Katherine Dyson whose devoted husband was a civil engineer called Arthur Dyson. Peace's constant harassment became so unbearable that the couple moved to a new home here at Banner Cross, hoping that Peace would not find them.
They were sadly wrong because soon after arriving Peace appeared one evening. It was July 1st 1876. He confronted Katherine by the outside toilets and upon hearing the commotion Arthur Dyson followed Peace down a nearby alleyway. Peace took out his gun and shot his pursuer dead. Then he fled to Hull where his wife lived.
Peace threatening Mrs Dyson at Banner Cross
It took a good while for the forces of law to track Charles Peace down but he was discovered in Peckham, London and brought back to Sheffield.
Following his trial in February 1879 he was hanged in Armley Jail in Leeds. He was forty six years old. He had also killed a Manchester policeman during an attempted burglary just a month after he had killed Arthur Dyson.
Oh yes, Charles Peace was a bad man who earned his execution. If anyone ever asks you to "give Peace a chance", please think of him. Why on earth he ever gained legendary status in some ballads, books and films is beyond my reckoning. He was no Robin Hood, that's for sure.
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