A very evil Caithnessian

[rich]

I was browsing away on the web over a bottle of Keith ale from Nova Scotia when I came upon this little gem. Can anyone think of any other wicked Caithnessians.....?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Keith,_Jr.

[unicorn]

Your link doesn't work.

[rich]

This article is about a murderer. For other uses, see Alexander Keith (disambiguation).
Alexander 'Sandy' Keith, Jr. (1827–1875) was a notorious nineteenth century criminal from Halifax, Nova Scotia.


Alexander Keith, Jr.Keith was born in 1827 in Caithness, Scotland, immigrating to Halifax when he was a small boy. The nephew of Alexander Keith, founder of the Alexander Keith's brewery, Keith worked for a time as a clerk in his uncle's brewery.

Keith became a secret agent for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, acting mostly as a blockade runner and courier. He was involved with Luke Blackburn in an infamous plot to send clothes infected with yellow fever to northern cities in the United States[1].

In 1865, he swindled his associates-in-crime and fled to St. Louis, Missouri, settling finally on the prairie. There, he married Cecelia Paris, a milliner's daughter from St. Louis.

Hunted down by one of his victims, he fled again with Cecelia to Germany, where they lived the high life in Dresden and Leipzig, hobnobbing with wealthy socialites and Saxon generals under the assumed name of William King Thomas. When the couple began to run out of money, Sandy Keith concocted a plot to blow up passenger ships and collect the insurance money.

This led to a major catastrophe in Bremerhaven, in December 1875 when one of his bombs accidentally went off on a dock, killing eighty people. At the time, the deed was known as the "crime of the century. Keith/Thompson was aboard another ship at the time and was aware of the premature detenation of his time bomb, and the massive carnage. He went to his suite in the ship he was on and shot himself. He died in a week's time."

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Alexander Keith memo

After the tragedy was revealled as a murder/insurance scam on a large scale, the disappearance of other ships were looked into to see if Keith/Thompson and his possible associates were involved. One was the disappearance of the SS City of Boston which vanished in January 1870.

[edit] See also
American Civil War spies
[edit] References
1.^ American State Trials: A Collection of the Important and Interesting, by John Davison Lawson, Robert Lorenzo Howard - Trials - 1917, p. 72
[edit] Sources
Ann Larabee, The Dynamite Fiend: The Chilling Tale of a Confederate Spy, Con Artist, and Mass Murderer (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2005).
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Keith,_Jr."
Categories: 1827 births | Canadian smugglers | Scottish immigrants to pre-Confederation Nova Scotia | People from Caithness | People from Halifax, Nova Scotia | Canadian mass murderers | 1875 deaths

[John Little]

Oh come on now - the man was just trying to make a living.....

[mrlennie]

19th century bin laden lol

[Corrie 3]

He sounds like a good recruit for the WADF committee!!!

:eek::roll::roll:

C3

[WeeRob]

He sounds like a good recruit for the WADF committee!!!


C3

I know this is a joke but its in pretty poor taste... :roll:

[Corrie 3]

I know this is a joke but its in pretty poor taste...
You think it was a joke WeeRob??????
The OP asked if we knew of any other evil Caithnessians, I happen to believe that what the WADF committee are doing to the genourous folk here is very evil...but lets not get threads crossed eh?

C3....:roll::roll:;)

[sandyr1]

This article is about a murderer. For other uses, see Alexander Keith (disambiguation).
Alexander 'Sandy' Keith, Jr. (1827–1875) was a notorious nineteenth century criminal from Halifax, Nova Scotia.


Alexander Keith, Jr.Keith was born in 1827 in Caithness, Scotland, immigrating to Halifax when he was a small boy. The nephew of Alexander Keith, founder of the Alexander Keith's brewery, Keith worked for a time as a clerk in his uncle's brewery.

Keith became a secret agent for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, acting mostly as a blockade runner and courier. He was involved with Luke Blackburn in an infamous plot to send clothes infected with yellow fever to northern cities in the United States[1].

In 1865, he swindled his associates-in-crime and fled to St. Louis, Missouri, settling finally on the prairie. There, he married Cecelia Paris, a milliner's daughter from St. Louis.

Hunted down by one of his victims, he fled again with Cecelia to Germany, where they lived the high life in Dresden and Leipzig, hobnobbing with wealthy socialites and Saxon generals under the assumed name of William King Thomas. When the couple began to run out of money, Sandy Keith concocted a plot to blow up passenger ships and collect the insurance money.

This led to a major catastrophe in Bremerhaven, in December 1875 when one of his bombs accidentally went off on a dock, killing eighty people. At the time, the deed was known as the "crime of the century. Keith/Thompson was aboard another ship at the time and was aware of the premature detenation of his time bomb, and the massive carnage. He went to his suite in the ship he was on and shot himself. He died in a week's time."

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Alexander Keith memo

After the tragedy was revealled as a murder/insurance scam on a large scale, the disappearance of other ships were looked into to see if Keith/Thompson and his possible associates were involved. One was the disappearance of the SS City of Boston which vanished in January 1870.

[edit] See also
American Civil War spies
[edit] References
1.^ American State Trials: A Collection of the Important and Interesting, by John Davison Lawson, Robert Lorenzo Howard - Trials - 1917, p. 72
[edit] Sources
Ann Larabee, The Dynamite Fiend: The Chilling Tale of a Confederate Spy, Con Artist, and Mass Murderer (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2005).
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Keith,_Jr."
Categories: 1827 births | Canadian smugglers | Scottish immigrants to pre-Confederation Nova Scotia | People from Caithness | People from Halifax, Nova Scotia | Canadian mass murderers | 1875 deaths

Richard......Just think of Australia, New Zealand and Van Dieman's land!

BTW... Alexander Keith was from the Halkirk area

[unicorn]

There's no evil fowkies in Caithness, we are all luverly [lol]

[WeeRob]

You think it was a joke WeeRob??????
The OP asked if we knew of any other evil Caithnessians, I happen to believe that what the WADF committee are doing to the genourous folk here is very evil...but lets not get threads crossed eh?

C3...

Look mate, accusing people of handling public money in an inappropriate fashion is one thing but likening them to a mass murderer is another.

If we had appropriate moderation on these boards then your comment should have been deleted.

[rich]

I was going to include Swen Afleisson (hope that's spelt OK) the pirate ancestor of all the Caithness Swansons). So I guess he has a lot to answer for.

[rich]

As always, Calder's history of Caithness has the goods! Chapoter 12 gives us the Wild North, and a fascinating set of villains. This is a great read over the Old Pultney...


http://www.caithness.org/history/historyofcaithness/chapter12/index.htm

[Corrie 3]

Look mate, accusing people of handling public money in an inappropriate fashion is one thing but likening them to a mass murderer is another.

If we had appropriate moderation on these boards then your comment should have been deleted.
As far as I am concerned they are both evil crimes and should be punished accordingly.....and remind me WeeRob, when did we become "Mates"?????

C3.......:eek::roll:;)

[peter macdonald]

There is often confusion between Alexander Keith from Halkirk and his nephew "Sandy Keith" also from Halkirk
this may help to clarify ...The beer is beautiful and the man himself seemed a pretty good guy......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Keith
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Keith,_Jr.

[theone]

Richard......Just think of Australia, New Zealand and Van Dieman's land!

BTW... Alexander Keith was from the Halkirk area

Really? He sounds like a Wicker to me.....

[rob murray]

As far as I am concerned they are both evil crimes and should be punished accordingly.....and remind me WeeRob, when did we become "Mates"?????

C3.......:eek::roll:;)

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !