Camden Town

Coordinates: 51°32′28″N 0°08′36″W / 51.541°N 0.1433°W / 51.541; -0.1433

Camden Town, often shortened to Camden (ambiguously also used for the much larger London Borough of Camden of which it is the central neighbourhood), is an inner city district of London,2.4 miles (3.9 km) north of the centre of London. It is one of the 35 major centres identified in the London Plan.

Laid out as a residential district from 1791 and originally part of the manor of Kentish Town and the parish of St Pancras, London, Camden Town became an important location during the early development of the railways, which reinforced its position on the London canal network. The area's industrial economic base has been replaced by service industries such as retail, tourism and entertainment. The area now hosts street markets and music venues which are strongly associated with alternative culture.

History

Toponymy

Camden Town is named after Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. His earldom was styled after his estate, Camden Place near Chislehurst in Kent (now in the London Borough of Bromley), formerly owned by historian William Camden. The name, which appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1822, was later applied to the early 20th century Camden Town Group of artists and the London Borough of Camden, created in 1965.

Camden Town Murder

The Camden Town Murder was a murder which took place in Camden Town, London in 1907. Robert Wood, an artist, was tried for the murder of Emily Dimmock, a prostitute, and acquitted after a brilliant defence by Edward Marshall Hall.

On 11 September 1907, Emily Dimmock (known as Phyllis), a part-time prostitute cheating on her partner Bertram Shaw, a railwayman, was murdered in her home at Agar Grove (then 29 St Paul's Road), Camden, having gone there from The Eagle public house, Royal College Street. After sex, the man had slit her throat open while she was asleep, then left in the morning. On the 12th, Shaw returned home during the evening to find his room locked. He borrowed a key from a neighbour, but upon entering found Phyllis lying naked on the bed, throat cut from ear to ear. It was a savage but skillful attack on her from the nature of the wound. Nothing much had been taken from the flat, and the motive was a mystery; the case quickly became a sensation.

After initial difficulty the police investigation led by Inspector Neill centred on Robert Wood, an artist. Wood was in a relationship with Ruby Young, who recognised his handwriting on a postcard found in Dimmock's room. Wood was put on trial for the murder, during which Marshall Hall displayed the kind of effective and dramatic cross-examination that he was known for. Marshall was convinced of Wood's innocence, and also of the fallibility of the prosecution case. The judge Mr Justice Grantham departed from the pro-conviction stance he was expected to take mid-summing up, and made it clear he thought the jury should acquit. That they did, after retiring for only 15 minutes between 7.45 and 8pm.