#286 - The Black Cap Farce (Edith McQuaid, Soho, UK)

Murder Mile UK True Crime

Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast

True Crime, English, Nglish, E, Uk, Crime, London, Society & Culture, Murder, Killer, True-crime, History, Personal Journals, British

4.7 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On 1st January 1932, in the attic room of 27 Old Compton Street in Soho, 19-year-old domestic servant Edith McQuaid gave birth to a baby boy. Whether he died of natural causes, or she took his life by infanticide will never be known. But she wasn't alone. Edith was one of 1000s of women who concealed the pregnancy, the body of the dead babies or murdered them at birth across the United Kingdom, and yet, it wasn't there fault, as this national scandal had been raging for centuries.

Date: 1st of January 1932 (birth and death of her baby)
Location: attic, 27 Old Compton Street, Soho, London, UK, W1
Victim: 1 (name unknown)
Culprits: 1 (Edith McQuaid)
Method: infanticide / neonaticide

Murder Mile is one of the best UK / British / English true crime podcasts covering only 20 square miles of West London. It is researched, written and performed by Michael of Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast with the main musical themes written and performed by Erik Stein and Jon Boux of Cult With No Name and additional music, as used under the Creative Commons License 4.0. A full listing of tracks used and a full transcript for each episode is listed here and a legal disclaimer.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're fascinated by true crime, then join us in June 2025 for CrimeCon
0:05.7	London. Meet the biggest names in True Crime TV, experience live forensic demonstrations
0:10.8	and dive deep into the criminal mind with your favourite authors, podcasters and content creators.
0:17.1	To secure your place, go to crimecon.co.uk now and be part of the UK's biggest true crime community.
0:23.7	CrimeCon London, partnered by True Crime, 7th and 8th of June 2025.
0:45.3	Welcome. Welcome to Murder Mile. Today I'm standing on Old Compton Street in Soho W1.
0:51.3	Ten doors up from the bombing of the airport Duncan, three doors west of the Battle of
0:55.9	Frith Street, opposite the gangland hit at the Golden Goose, and two doors down from Charles
1:02.2	Bertier and the deadly, big arms quip, coming soon to murder mile.
1:10.6	A 27 Old Compton Street currently stands a five-story Georgian townhouse from 1781,
1:17.6	with high windows and a shop on the ground floor.
1:21.6	Today it's an Italian restaurant called Pepe,
1:24.6	where customers waddle out, rub in their bellies, groaning, oh, why did I eat so much?
1:32.2	Having only planned a nibble a Caesar salad, but was forced, they claim, into wolfing down a bowl
1:39.2	of antipasti, six loaves of brachetta, a battalion of noy, a metric ton of pasta, a fistful of Parmesan,
1:47.7	a pizza so big they had to demolish a whole wall just to get it in,
1:52.7	and a tiramisu so colossal, you could bathe in it.
1:57.7	Hmm, heaven!
2:11.1	But from 1927, until at least 1932, the four floors above were the luxurious West End Desres of wealthy widow, Mrs. Lewis.
2:20.3	With a whopping ten rooms, the first and second floor was Mrs. Lewis's private abode with its own bathroom, sitting room, dynette and kitchen. On the third floor was her stylish bedroom, and in the loft space
2:27.3	was storage, a room for her housekeeper, and a box bed for her servant, Edith McQuaid.
2:37.1	As an unmarried 19-year-old working-class girl, struggling in an era where unfair laws were
	...

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