VICTORIAN murders and unusual deaths in Horsforth will be the subject of a talk on Monday.

Local historian and film-maker Mark Saville will give his talk at Horsforth Museum at 7.30 on Monday, November 1.

He said: "Going to work in any one of the mills, the steelworks or in a quarry was dangerous - there were no machine guards, no safety equipment, and if you died - well, it was your fault.

"Looking through the newspaper archives of the Wharfedale Observer from 1880 to the early 1900s records countless stories of children who died at home from scalding;teenagers showing off at work; those who worked on the railways who'd not heard that fast approaching train - and a small number of murders, including the full story of the murder of six-year-old Barbara Waterhouse."

Barbara, from Alma Yard, in Horsforth, was lured to her death and murdered by Walter Lewis Turner. He was hanged at Armley Jail in 1891.

Many of the incidents recorded in the old newspapers involved industrial accidents, with people dying or being maimed while working on dangerous machinery.

Mark said: "Perhaps one the saddest deaths is that of three- year-old Matthew Gordon Whitaker, son of quarry owner Thomas Whitaker who lives at Summerfield on Outwood Lane. His nanny had taken him out for a walk, May 1892, and they were at the bottom of Broadgate Lane where he ran across the road to some dogs, but got hit by a cart laden with stone. He’s in a critical condition, but dies of his injuries two weeks later, the death certificate says “accidently knocked down by a horse and cart on the highway whilst watching some dogs fighting.”

He added: "They were a very wealthy family and built the villas at the Woodside end of Outwood Lane and also funded the Wesleyan chapel there. They owned the quarries that covered Hawksworth Woods – they sold them to Leeds City Council in 1920 for the Hawksworth estate – for £1 million in today’s money."

Another sad example happened in 1894 when 12-year-old Harry Law drowned in a disused quarry near Long Row. Harry was from Yeadon but had come to Horsforth to visit his grandfather who was unwell. Pre-booking is essential. Tickets cost £3 and can be booked at yorkshireway@btinternet.com.