Doctor Poison

The Extraordinary Career of Dr George Henry Lamson, Victorian Poisoner Par Excellence

Jan Bondeson Matador 2021 Pb, 312pp, £12.99, ISBN 9781800465145

The mystery and intrigue of the title immediately draws us in. Our curiosity about the oxymoron used to describe Dr George Henry Lamson promises a fascinating tale for true crime fans. Jan Bondeson provides a detailed look at his life, family background and downfall, and places him among other infamous killer medical men such as Crippen and Shipman.

After various stints on European battlefields as a military surgeon, Lamson settled in Britain. His infamous trial begins a third of the way through. The dissection of the court and contemporary press articles provides layers of evidence that counter the view of Lamson as a heroic war surgeon presented in the early chapters. It exposes the misdemeanours of medical practitioners that occurred due to their working circumstances. Doctors relied on ill people to get paid. The medical working environment was competitive and transient, with doctors having to move around to adapt to changing demands for their work. Bondeson describes Lamson as a “very bad business man”; facing bankruptcy and in a desperate position, this led him to murder his disabled brother-in-law to benefit from his inheritance. This led to a scandalous and public trial at the Old Bailey. While lots of focus is given to the trial, Bondeson also reflects on some events earlier in his life, querying whether Lamson may have committed more crimes than he was convicted of.

This is a well-researched account of Dr Lamson’s life and crimes – though it takes a while for Bondeson to get to the crux of why Lamson was called “Doctor Poison”. The forensic scrutiny of contemporary records is excellent; Bondeson has clearly consulted a wide variety of sources to draw out the evidence. Overall, it’s a great tale of medical misdemeanour and of murder. Cara Dobbing

★★★★