Peter Ackroyd

His ghosts were reportedly seen at several London theatres, including the Grand Theatre at Clapham Junction, Collins Music Hall in Islington and Theatre Royal at Drury Lane.

His enduring place in Victorian popular culture was also reflected in Peter Ackroyd's novel Dan Lino and the Limehouse Gollum.

A curious story published in the spiritualist journal Light in June 1924, and later recounted at the Ghost Club, concerned a direct voice séance, which a voice claiming to be Lino described his funeral, held in November 1904, before large crowds.

The supposed spirit barked that it had been an exceptionally hot day, an unlikely claim for November, When a sitter passes notes to a journalist who had known Lino, meteorological records were consulted and reportedly showed a maximum temperature of just 9 degrees centigrade.

And of course, um, you know, a great example for fidelity to the gospel for all Christians in, in these islands, not just Catholics, uh, as the centuries have rolled by.

So, um, and I, and I learnt a lot more about him later on, a good few years ago now, by the historian and, um, writer Peter Ackroyd.

He wrote, uh, I have it here with me, the copy of "The Life of Thomas More," which is probably, probab- I would argue the definitive, if not one of the most definitive biographies of Thomas More.

Thank you so much, Edmund.

Um, so yes, so in the end, of course, he, uh, was not in conscience able to take the oath of supremacy as many people in high office did up and down the country, and he was arrested, uh, put in the Tower of London, um, scrutinized many, many times for, uh, for him to disclose his opinion of the king and the, and the, the divorce between, uh, him and Queen Catherine and the subsequent marriage with Queen Anne Boleyn.

And he, uh, kept his counsel on that until the very, very day of his full trial for treason in Westminster Hall, which of course he was found guilty of, uh, by a rigged jury.

Um, and one of the things Peter Ackroyd describes in the book that he wrote about is a very moving account of that trial, uh, which is beautifully depicted in the movie A Man For All Seasons, which I mentioned earlier.

Um, in fact, you can, you can see that scene on YouTube for free.

There's this extraordinary series of rumors that seem to be moving around the medieval world.

You also see very similar things in medieval London, as well as Peter Ackroyd has written about.

So there's this loosening period when wealth inequality goes down and homosexuality appears to have its...

It's period out in the sun.