Before The Tide Takes Them
Field Notes and Research
Field Journal — Episode One
Behind the drama lies a trail of newspaper reports, parish records, witness testimony and unanswered questions. These Field Notes explore Jonathan Balls, his family, the investigation that followed, and the world in which the deaths occurred.
Choose a line of enquiry from the list
Who was Jonathan Balls, and what do we really know about the family around him? Here we look at the people behind the names, the pattern of deaths, and the relationships that would later become central to the investigation.
Arsenic sat at the heart of the case — but detecting it was far from straightforward. This section explores the poison itself, the tests used to find it, and what the surviving medical evidence can actually tell us.
To understand the case, we also need to understand the world in which it happened. Poor relief, childhood mortality, sudden death, burial practices and the workings of a Victorian inquest all shaped the way events unfolded.
Story,Rumour and Memory
Not everything surrounding Jonathan Balls belongs neatly to the evidence. Here we follow the rumours, newspaper reports, strange details from the coffin and the stories that grew around the case long after the inquest had ended.
We might have found out who he was!!