The Hauntingly Excellent Range
George Ashmore
It was once a firmly held belief for many people in England that in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven a good Christian burial was a prerequisite - if you were taken by grave robbers however, you were deprived of this, and this was the fate that befell George.​
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On August 29, 1740 George Ashmore was hanged in Derby for the crime of counterfeiting - one of the many offences at the time in England that was punishable by death. The day after his execution his lifeless body was claimed by relatives and taken for burial in Sutton-on-the-Hill, Derbyshire.
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At that time in our history corpses were a highly sought after commodity, as they were quite understandably needed by medical professionals for dissection in an attempt to learn more about the human body. Demand outstripped supply though, and the more unscrupulous professionals purchased corpses from grave robbers or 'Resurrectionist Men' and George's corpse was stolen for this reason.
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George's ghost is said to haunt County Hall on St. Mary's Gate where his trial was held.
Related places to visit in Derby
LOCATION: Magistrates Court, 27 St Mary's Gate, Derby DE1 3JR
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CONNECTION: This building was opened in 1660 in Derby and was the location of the towns trials or Assizes. It was here that George's death sentence was passed. It was also the location of various dissections after the 1752 Murder Act allowed the corpses of the executed to be given to medical professionals on an official level. This law was, in part, an attempt to reduce the instances of corpses being stolen from their graves.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
LOCATION: Corn Market, Derby
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CONNECTION: This was the location of Derby's very first County Gaol and was where George was held as he awaited his trial. It was also the Gaol where Alice Gooderidge was held in 1596 when she was awaiting her death sentence after being accused of, and found guilty of, being a witch. She ultimately died of gaol fever before the sentence could be carried out.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
Derby History Walks
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Come and join us for a 90-minute walk full of revelations, curses, deaths, superstitions, evil doers and much more!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
Learn all about Derby's most notorious murders and murderers on Derby's murder walk - not for the faint-hearted!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
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True, but weird, Derby history including frogs falling from the skies, ghouls roaming the town, historic hot dogs, mummified cats & more.
VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
A walk full of tortured spirits who met a grisly end including both the murderers and their victims
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
