🎠Welsh Ballet Dancer or Infamous Criminal?
In the late 18th century, fear swept through London as the “London Monster” terrorised women across the city. From 1788 to 1790, this elusive attacker targeted fashionable ladies, leaving them with cuts, jabs, and insults—all while wearing daring disguises. The attacker’s disturbing antics captivated the city, sparking mass hysteria and media frenzy.
Enter Rhynwick Williams, a ballet dancer from Wales, thrust into the limelight. Fingers pointed to Williams after Anne Porter, one of the assaulted women, identified him as her attacker. But was he truly the infamous Monster?
Captured and tried, Williams was convicted despite offering an alibi. Historian Jan Bondeson now questions this conviction in his illuminating book, “The London Monster: Terror on the Streets in 1790.” Could Williams have been merely a scapegoat, caught in the fervour of a frenzied city desperate for justice?
Intriguingly, Bondeson reveals that descriptions of the “Monster” varied wildly, and some victims even fabricated injuries. He raises the question: was there ever a single Monster, or were other shadowy figures at play, eager to mimic the notorious criminal?
Williams served a six-year sentence, but many ponder if the real menace remained at large. Was panic allowed to mask truth, and were the authorities too hasty in their judgement? Thanks to Bondeson’s research, we’re left to wonder if the legacy of the London Monster was based more in myth than reality.
Uncover the truth about this chilling chapter in London’s history, and see if you believe in the myth of the Monster. 📚🔍 #LondonMystery #HistoryUncovered #MythOrMonster
(Images: Sketch of Rhynwick Williams and cartoons from the era)