Quest to solve Victorian murder leads to televison series

BBC News

09-03-2025

When a filmmaker had a dream he could not make sense of, he never imagined it would trigger a 15-year journey to solve the murder of a Victorian teenager.The body of 16-year-old Lucy Sands was found under a pile of cobbles, three months after her disappearance from Workington, Cumbria in 1881.But Stephen Baldwin had never heard of Lucy Sands - or her unexplained death - when he dreamt he was walking along a street and heard the blood-curdling scream of a young girl.Now, 15 years after that dream, the filmmaker is putting the finishing touches to a seven-part TV series exploring the life and death of the teenager, in which, he claims, he solves her unexplained murder.
'Not forgotten'
"I didn't know what that dream was, but it stuck with me," said Mr Baldwin.Instinctively, the director began trawling through historic records, focusing on Maryport - and eventually, he came across the murder of Lucy Sands. He became intrigued.Lucy was born in Northern Ireland, but when her parents died, she and her brother James were sent to live with their grandmother on Christian Street in Workington.One December evening in 1881 Lucy went to meet friends in town - among them, it is believed, a gentleman friend called Maynard - and she never returned. Her disappearance attracted worldwide attention and dominated the local news at the time.
"I had to dispel what was going on in my head so I went to Workington in my van for a couple of days, and headed to Christian Street," recalls the 63-year-old filmmaker."I met a man there who gave me a lot of information - and I found out where Lucy was murdered."From there, he headed to Northside - the area where Lucy's body was found - and it was then he realised that it was the same place he had seen in his dream.He became obsessed with the story, and in 2018 Mr Baldwin began filming The Ballad of Lucy Sands.
Initially Mr Baldwin wanted to make a film, but as he researched the story, there was just too much information so it became a seven-part series for television.The filmmaker even tracked down relatives of the alleged killer, in Wales and America - with two of them appearing in the series."One is a serving police officer and one is a retired one, so we got them to play the officers arresting him."The first four episodes have already been screened at the Helena Thompson Museum in Workington, with the final three episodes due to be shown in June.Understandably, the director doesn't want to spoil the ending ahead of its screening, but he believes he has solved the cold case of Lucy's untimely death."The killer escaped justice. We know they had him in cells for six weeks, but he got away with it," he said.
More than 300 local people worked as actors and extras in the series, which was filmed at locations including Workington, Whitehaven and Allonby.Rose Marian Finn, from Egremont, plays Sarah Harrison, the mother of Maynard, who was involved with Lucy and was present the night she disappeared."I hadn't heard about Lucy Sands at all, and I think the way the story came about and how it was conceived by the director is fascinating," she said."Lucy was a young girl who had her life cut short in such a horrible way, and now everybody knows about her - she's not forgotten."The 70-year-old had been involved in local theatre groups, but did not have much screen experience. She said the filming gave her the opportunity to meet other local actors, and the confidence to apply for other on-screen roles."It's given me that experience, and everyone who's had that could take it further," said the actress, who has since starred in the ITV series Innocent, filmed in Keswick.
Lasting legacy
After the first episodes of the series were shown in Workington, the town council decided to create a permanent tribute to Lucy Sands.Last month a memorial was created on the grounds of St John's Church, on the site of Lucy Sands' grave.Mr Baldwin said he was proud to see the memorial created, describing her memory as "something that's been lost for too long".He is currently editing the last episodes of the series ahead of their premiere in June, meaning his journey with Lucy Sands is drawing to a close."It's been a 15-year journey for me - I'm quite sad we're coming to the end of it."
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