Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking that they earn the label crime of the century.

But the stories that made headlines in decades past are necessarily remembered today.

I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author.

In each episode of this show, I'll examine a case that's maybe less known today, but

was huge when it happened.

This is crimes of the centuries.

Claire and Evelyn Williamson did practically everything together.

The sisters were four years apart in age, Claire being the younger of the two, and had

relied exclusively on each other for years.

It might sound sweet, but the truth is, the girls didn't have much choice.

Their father, George Williamson, had died the same year Claire was born, Siddora, as Evelyn

was nicknamed in a play on her middle name, Dorothea, and her sister had been raised by

their mother, Rosalie, and a governess named Margaret Conway.

Lucky for all of them, George had been a British soldier and left Rosalie with some money to

raise the girls.

In the 1880 British census, Rosalie's status was listed as head of the household, and

her occupation as a new attendant.

In other words, she didn't have to work because she was paid an annual amount from her husband's

pension.

Rosalie lived until Dorothea was 20 and Claire 16.

Then the girls were orphaned.

These weren't their only brushes with death, two of their siblings had also died.

...