The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable

Download or read book The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable written by Carol Baxter and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Tawell was a sincere Quaker but a sinning one. Convicted of forgery, he was transported to Sydney, where he opened Australia’s first retail pharmacy and made a fortune. When he returned home to England after fifteen years, he thought he would be welcomed; instead he was shunned. Then on New Year’s Day 1845 Tawell boarded the 7:42 pm train to London Paddington. Soon, men arrived chasing a suspected murderer – but the 7:42 had departed. The Great Western Railway was experimenting with a new-fangled device, the electric telegraph, so a message was sent: a ‘KWAKER’ man was on the run. The trail became a sensation, involving no apparent weapon, much innuendo, and a pious man desperate to save his reputation – and would usher in the modern communication age. Told with narrative verve and rich in historical research, this is a delicious true tale of murder and scientific revolution in Victorian England.