WHEN you delve into the county’s past you are likely to uncover some shocking and gruesome discoveries.

Some truly terrible murders took place in the past- some of them seem like a work of fiction but they really took place many of years ago.

If the murderers hadn’t already been hanged for their crimes it’s likely that they will have already passed away of natural causes.

From a female serial killer who poisoned her children to the tragic murder of a 12-year-old girl, all of these murders took place in the 19th and 20th century

Here are three of Greater Manchester’s most shocking historic murders:

Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Eccles

Elizabeth  Eccles seemed like an ordinary Bolton mother- until neighbours noticed that her children kept getting sick.

As this was 1842, child mortality was common but suspicions began to grow when two of their children, Alice and William, died within weeks of one another.

Police conducted a  post-mortem examination on Alice and William and found that their stomach’s were riddled with arsenic and that Betty had purchased the poison the previous month.

Bodies of her previous children were also exhumed from the ground and arsenic was found in some of their stomachs.

All in all, Betty was suspected of murdering 10 people, eight of which were her own children- however, it is now thought that this figure could have been even higher.

It is thought that her main motive for the murders was money, as she claimed for the burial fund after each death.

She was hanged in 1843 outside Kirkdale Prison in Liverpool.

Ivy Lydia Wood

12-year-old Ivy Lydia, was brutally attacked and murdered in 1919- It was a day that shook the town of Hyde.

On July 25 1919, Ivy was sent off to do some errands.

The last person, apart from her killer, to see her alive was a young boy called Ernest Gosling- he spotted her walking through the gates of Carrfield Mill.

At around 1:30 am, the girl’s body was discovered by 31-year-old Carrfield Mill nightwatchman, Arthur Beard.

Police ascertained that the girl had been violently assaulted- she died as a result of suffocation and had been sexually assaulted.

Notably, her body was found covered in clay.

Arthur’s clothes were also covered in clay and his changing story about the reason for his stained clothes aroused the suspicion of the police.

Police descended on the Carrfield Mill and found chipped tiles, bloodstains and clay marks in the cellar of the building.

Shockingly, Beard signed a confession admitting to the murder.

He was taken to court and sentenced to death- but the verdict was later changed to manslaughter and he was given life in prison.

To this day, there is a memorial plaque to Ivy in Hyde Cemetery

Albert James Osborne

In 1916, tragedy hit the town of Radcliffe when 10-year-old Albert Osbourne was murdered.

He was drowned in the Bury and Bolton canal in a fit of jealous rage.

Albert’s mother, Eliza Osbourne, had taken on a lodger in the previous months called Albert Urwin and a relationship soon began to flourish between them.

When Eliza ended the relationship, Urwin didn’t take the news well.

One day, Unwin picked the Eliza’s boys, Albert, aged 10, and Horace, aged six,  up from school one day and took them to various places around town until darkness fell upon the town.

Unwin then took the children on a “shortcut home” and threw Albert into the murky canal while Horace ran away to get help.

Albert’s body was discovered in the canal a few days later and Unwin was charged with murder.

As he had attempted to commit suicide several times in the past, he was declared insane and sent to prison.