Suburban Gentleman: The Life of Thomas Griffiths Wainewright; Poet, Painter, and Poisoner

Probably no murderer ever lived such a remarkable life as did Thomas Griffiths Wainewright. Wainewright was gifted with talents which, in another man, would have enabled him to make a fortune. He was an artist who was thought good enough to paint a portrait of Lord Byron. But he never worked seriously at his art until he became a convict. He was an author whose writings were as popular as those of Lamb and Hazlitt. But he scorned to earn a living by his pen. He became a soldier, but tired of that life, while, from the day he entered smart society to that day when he had to flee the country, he spent money and obtained credit at the rate of thousands a year. Too "gentlemanly" to earn money, he turned to crime. He commenced as a forger. When forgery was no longer profitable, he adopted murder.