A HAND-WRITTEN manuscript featuring details of highway robberies and hangings in a North-East village is to go on sale at a London auction house this week.

The diary chronicles events in Haughton-le-Skerne, on the outskirts of Darlington, in the 19th Century.

The book offers a snapshot of life in Georgian Britain, and was written by an unknown resident.

Among the entries is an account of an attempted highway robbery, and a report of the hanging of a local woman.

Simon Luterbacher, manuscript specialist at Bloomsbury Auctions, in London, said the manuscript features some particularly grizzly accounts of life in the 1800s.

“Violence would have been very common in those days,” he said.

“Obviously, in the 19th Century there was much fascination with murder, robbery and violent crime, as there is today.

“The big sellers in those days would have been about trials of high-profile murderers.

“There was that fascination with crime – it’s the same as people sitting down to watch Inspector Morse today.”

Entries were recorded between 1809 and 1835.

One excerpt from January 29, 1815, tells the story of an attempted hold-up in Croft Road. The victim, James Towlmin, escaped when his horse was startled by a gunman.

The entry reads: “James Towlmin was atempted to be Robed between the Nags Hed and the Angel Inn on the Croft Road to Darlington”

The entry adds that the assailant produced a pistol, and the horse “set of at full galop”.

Another note from September 28, 1817, tells of the suicide of a local woman.

The entry reads: “Susanah Bacon hanged her self while her Husband was at Church.”

The book, entitled Journal of Events at Haughton-le- Skerne, goes up for auction on Thursday with an estimate of between £400 and £600.

Mr Luterbacher said: “It is not clear who wrote this, but it was obviously somebody who lived in the village.

“From what we can see, it may have been written by a member of the Parker family, although we have found out very little about them.

“The author records little bits about what had been going on around him. It is very much local scandal and village gossip.”

Bids can be made online at info@bloomsburyauctions.com or by calling the auction house on 020-7495-9494.