The event is being organised by crime and policing historian Adam Wood, who will also be the emcee for the weekend.

The conference itself will hear lectures from eight expert speakers, on specific crime cases alongside wider historical context such as Victorian detective methods and 19th century understanding of criminal lunacy.

Details of each speaker will be revealed below in due course - go to the Speakers button on the menu to view full details of each talk.

1/ THE MURDER OF JULIA WALLACE

Mark Russell

The classic unsolved murder from January 1931, in which Julia Wallace was found brutally beaten to death in the sitting room of the home she shared with husband William in Liverpool.

Despite William Wallace being arrested, charged and convicted of the murder, the verdict was overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal − the first time in British legal history that an appeal had been allowed after re-examination of evidence.

The question remains: who killed Julia Wallace on that cold January night in 1931?

2/ GASLIGHT STORIES: TALES FROM THE VICTORIAN LUNACY PANICS

Sarah Wise

Women in white, eccentric heirs, inconvenient people, 'maniacs' and 'monsters'...

The 19th century saw a series of scandals concerning sane individuals being locked away in lunatic asylums – the victims of unscrupulous persons, who wanted to be rid of a ‘difficult’ family member, spouse or friend.

But who were the victims of this trade? And to what extent was it carried on? Was a Victorian paterfamilias simply able to ‘put away’ an unwanted wife or disobedient daughter?