Victorian True Crime: The Bradford Poisoned Sweet Tragedy of 1868

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]In 1858, a wave of violent illness struck Bradford, sparking a panic that the plague had returned.

[00:00:07]The true cause was eventually traced back to a local sweet maker.

[00:00:12]The tragedy began when confectioner Joseph Neal sent for daft, a plaster dust used to bulk out expensive sugar.

[00:00:18]At the local pharmacy, Charles Hodgson left the task to inexperienced apprentice William Goddard, who mistakenly scooped 12 lb of arsenic from an unlabeled cask. The toxic powder was then kneaded into 40 lb of dough. The sweets were then finished at the Green Market by Humbug Billy. Each one contained four times the lethal dose of arsenic.

[00:00:39]By the next morning, 21 people were dead. As no laws required the labeling of toxins, those involved were acquitted.

[00:00:46]Public outcry sparked the catalyst for the 1868 Pharmacy Act, finally placing lethal poisons under strict legal control. Like and subscribe for more of my dark history content.