Aug 31, 2026 · 23 min · 11 segments
In 1817, twenty-year-old Mary Ashford was found dead after attending a dance near Birmingham. Abraham Thornton was tried and acquitted of her murder, but the case was far from over. What followed was…
Hello and welcome to Historical True Crime, the podcast that looks back at history's darkest crimes and criminals.
I'm your host, Lizzie, and today is episode 193.
In 1817, the death of a young woman named Mary Ashford became one of the most closely watched criminal cases in England.
At first, it appeared to be a local murder investigation.
Mary had gone to a dance, spent part of the night with a young man named Abraham Thornton, and was found dead the following morning.
But the case doesn't end with the investigation or even with Thornton's trial.
Instead, Mary's death became tied to an extraordinary legal battle that exposed just how much of England's medieval legal system was still technically alive in the early 19th century.
Over the months that followed, the case would raise difficult questions about evidence, consent, public opinion, and the limits of the court.
It would also expose a legal procedure so outdated that within two years, Parliament would finally remove it from English law.
This episode is the story of Mary Ashford.
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Hello and welcome to Historical True Crime, the podcast that looks back at history's darkest crimes and criminals.
I'm your host, Lizzie, and today is episode 193.
In 1817, the death of a young woman named Mary Ashford became one of the most closely watched criminal cases in England.
At first, it appeared to be a local murder investigation.
Mary had gone to a dance, spent part of the night with a young man named Abraham Thornton, and was found dead the following morning.
But the case doesn't end with the investigation or even with Thornton's trial.
Instead, Mary's death became tied to an extraordinary legal battle that exposed just how much of England's medieval legal system was still technically alive in the early 19th century.
Over the months that followed, the case would raise difficult questions about evidence, consent, public opinion, and the limits of the court.
It would also expose a legal procedure so outdated that within two years, Parliament would finally remove it from English law.
This episode is the story of Mary Ashford.
