Bristol, UK, 10^{th<\/sup> October 2024 \u2013<\/em><\/strong>
\nBristol-born author Frederick J Hillberg is celebrating the publication of his new historical novel, \u2018The Dangerous Journey\u2019<\/strong>. Set in 1840\u2019s Victorian England, the story brings to life the brutal attempted murder on Bristol accountant William Miller Mackreth in the Shropshire town of Ludlow – a crime that reverberated across Britain and the colonies. Based on real events, this gripping tale of mystery, love and endurance, is written by William\u2019s great-great-grandson who recreates a moving and faithful account of the shocking attack by the enigmatic Josiah Mister, William\u2019s recovery and the sensational trial that followed. <\/p>\n}

The author Frederick J Hillberg, who is retired, shared his insights into researching and writing his great-great-grandfather\u2019s extraordinary near-death encounter over 150 years ago, \u201cI began working on the project several years ago when investigating our family tree. I knew that William Mackreth was a wealthy businessman in Bristol but it wasn\u2019t until a visit to the Bristol Archives and a reference to the \u2018Ludlow Chest\u2019 that the full story began to unfold.\u201d<\/p>\n

A landmark case in British legal history that shocked Victorian society<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A trip to Ludlow revealed an unexpected truth: William Mackreth had been at the heart of a famous local tale of mistaken identity, culminating in a vicious attack with a razor blade at the well-known Angel Inn (still standing) and became a landmark legal case in British history. \u201cAs I delved deeper, I was amazed at the extent to which my great-great-grandfather\u2019s ordeal had captured the attention of Victorian society. Even Charles Dickens is believed to have mentioned the case in a letter to a friend.\u201d Hillberg added.<\/p>\n

The novel not only recounts the events in Ludlow but also paints a vivid picture of life in Bristol during the era, highlighting Mackreth\u2019s struggle to recover with the help of his fianc\u00e9e, Jane. Hillberg explores a time when Bristol was governed by \u2018Bristol Time\u2019 and \u2018Bristol Nails,\u2019 and where an \u2018upstairs downstairs\u2019 culture was still prevalent and the scourge of cholera outbreaks spared no one. <\/p>\n

The author added, \u201cIt is a remarkable tale, almost stranger than fiction, not only due to the nature of the crime and the sheer number of coincidences but also the fact that my great-great-grandfather survived the attempted murder that left him scarred for life. I am incredibly proud to have been able to bring this piece of family history to light. I think the book will appeal strongly to anyone with an interest in local history, crime and mystery, or a touch of romance.\u201d<\/p>\n

When not writing, Fred is an active figure in his local community and his pastimes include gardening, photography, coin & stamp collecting and reading historical biographies. In 2023 Fred published his first children\u2019s book, Brave Cat Millie (ISBN: 9781916095069 ).<\/p>\n

The paperback version of The Dangerous Journey (ISBN: 9781839528200) published by Brown Dog Books<\/strong> (https:\/\/www.browndogbooks.uk\/<\/strong><\/a>) <\/strong>is priced at \u00a39.99 (RRP) and is available to order from all bookshops from 17^{th<\/sup>
\nOctober as well as on-line. An eBook version priced at \u00a33.99 will be available via Amazon (Kindle), Kobo devices and Apple iBooks.<\/p>\n}

-ends-<\/p>\n

PHOTOGRAPHY:-<\/p>\n

A range of high resolution photos are available on request or use the download links of high res images below<\/p>\n

Front Cover of The Dangerous Journey : https:\/\/mbf.cc\/g4Cam2
Freddie Hillberg head & shoulders shot : https:\/\/mbf.cc\/Vcz6IK
Freddie Hillberg with his new book, The Dangerous Journey : https:\/\/mbf.cc\/67YsqH
The Angel Inn, Ludlow Source: Richard Tisdale https:\/\/mbf.cc\/9Z6ebT
Further images of William Miller Mackreth are available on request.<\/p>\n

Press contact : Jane Shergold
Tel : 07966 176028 or 01225 580214 email: jane@carrawaypublishing.co.uk<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A true tale of attempted murder, mystery and love that marked a landmark case in British legal history Bristol, UK, 10th October 2024 \u2013 Bristol-born author Frederick J Hillberg is celebrating the publication of his new historical novel, \u2018The Dangerous Journey\u2019. Set in 1840\u2019s Victorian England, the story brings to life the brutal attempted murder…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[116,1496,190,3262,1512,110,3263],"class_list":["post-1147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment-arts","tag-arts","tag-bristol","tag-entertainment","tag-historical","tag-published","tag-set","tag-shropshire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promomag.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}