Murder at Jamestown
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Synopsis
In December 1606, 104 men and boys sailed out of London with instructions to make North America a permanent colony for the English Crown.

In December 1606, 104 men and boys sailed out of London with instructions to make North America a permanent colony for the English Crown. They set down on Jamestown Island and made it the first capital of Anglo-America. But by spring 1608, 68 of the original colonists had perished. The traditional explanation for this was that the men were a motley crew of delicate ‘gentlemen’, ill-equipped to deal with their momentous mission. But there may have been a more sinister explanation. Murder At Jamestown documents the incredible work of archaeologist Dr Bill Kelso, who uncovered the original Jamestown Fort site and some of the original skeletons and concluded that drought, bad drinking water and Native Americans were responsible for the death of a hardy group of Englishmen. It also tells of a more extreme theory. Is pathologist Frank Hancock right in thinking that the men were victims of arsenic poisoning?

Duration
1 x 50'
Definition
SD
Genre
History
Subgenre
Factual
Producer
n/a