Edward Oxford's been my part-time obsession for the past 18 months, and it's time to start telling the story.

Oxford - 18, unemployed and slightly demented - tried to change the course of history. He shot at Queen Victoria and Prince Albert when Victoria was newly pregnant with her first child, Princess Adelaide.

He missed. That, or the gun wasn't loaded.

Then - by a long and complex path that has been the subject of my obsession - he lived to a ripe old age and was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery under the name John Freeman.

He lived with secrets, duality and, no doubt, regrets and what-ifs. I can't claim that I discovered him, but I have pretty much claimed him for myself. Other researchers have worked on him and as I work through my material I'll publish their links here, but I think I have more of the story than anyone else.

The idea, of course, is to blow his cover as widely as possible. The book should be out with one of Melbourne's best little publishers next year (I'd name them but no deal is done until it's done, and I haven't checked in with them on this blog).

So the blog is part workspace for me, and partly a way to share the experience of turning this digital and dead-tree pile of research material into a story that somehow makes sense. By putting up links, I can also share material that won't make it into the book, or can't be posted here for copyright reasons.

As a first step, there's a photo of Oxford, taken in the notorious Bethlem (Bedlam) hospital here.