06/10/2026
📣Join us on Wednesday 21st October at 6pm St Mary's by the Tyne (NE8 2AU - typo in image) for the first in a series of Keelmen's Talks.
📆:21.10.26
⏰️:6-7pm
📍: St Mary's by the Tyne, Gateshead, NE8 2AU
🎟: events page on twbpt.org.uk
‘O pity my unhappy state’: Jane Jamieson at Keelmen’s Hospital
In January 1829, behind the walls of Newcastle’s Keelmen’s Hospital, a violent family argument drew national attention and was even immortalised in song. Join Drs Patrick Low and Helen Rutherford (Newcastle Prison A History ) to learn more about one of the most famous events in the building’s history.
This talk explores the remarkable and tragic story of Jane Jamieson, from the events surrounding the death of her mother, Margaret, to the trial, ex*****on and public dissection that followed. It also takes us inside the Keelmen’s Hospital as it was almost two centuries ago, offering a glimpse into the lives of the people who lived there and the community of which Jane and her family were part.
Through contemporary accounts and surviving evidence, we will uncover a story of family tensions, poverty, violence and justice in Georgian Newcastle – and a remarkable incident in the long history of one of the city’s most important surviving historic buildings.🧱
Dr Patrick Low and Dr Helen Rutherford are co-authors of Newcastle Prison: A History 1828-1925 (with Dr Shane McCorristine and Dr Clare Sandford-Couch).
Dr Helen Rutherford is an associate professor in the Law School at Northumbria University. She is a qualified Solicitor. Her historical research interests include the nineteenth century coroner and crime, trials and punishment – with a North East England focus.
Dr Patrick Low is an independent researcher specialising in capital punishment in the North East of England. His research has particularly examined ex*****on and post-mortem punishment, and he has contributed as an expert to the BBC’s Murder, Mystery and My Family. He was also built and designed the Wellcome Trust-funded Harnessing the Power of the Criminal Co**se website and the Online history of Newcastle Prison (www.newcastlegaol.co.uk)
