Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

Sarah Anne Swann Child Murderer

Sarah Ann Swann, 25, was indicted for the willful murder of her newborn child.

The prisoner had been a domestic servant to Mr Gould, a licensed victualler. On the 22 November 1880 she was under notice to leave her duties. Early on that morning she complained of illness and a medical man was called. She left at 9am, however by 10.30 the landlord of the public house heard a noise of groaning from the coal cellar.


The potman found a newly born female child, lying on the coals, quite naked, with a piece of coal on her head. The child was quickly taken to the infirmary, where sadly she died the same night. On the child was found a lacerated wound and other injuries on the child's head, and had died from effusion of blood on the brain caused by the injuries and cold exposure.

Sarah Ann Swann had a verdict of manslaughter served on her and was sentenced to five years penal servitude.

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Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Constance Emily Kent - Child murderer

Constance Emily Kent (6 February 1844 – 10 April 1944) was an English woman who confessed to a notorious child murder that took place when she was 16 years old.



Sometime during the night of 29 June and the morning of 30 June 1860, Francis "Saville" Kent, almost four years old, disappeared from his room in his father's, Samuel Kent's, house called the Road Hill House, in the village of Rode, then in Wiltshire. His body was found in the vault of an outhouse on the property. The child, still dressed in his nightshirt and wrapped in a blanket, had knife wounds on his chest and hands, and his throat was slashed so deeply that the body was almost decapitated. The boy's nursemaid, Elizabeth Gough, was initially arrested but later released.

Constance was prosecuted for the murder five years later, in 1865. She was sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life in prison owing to her youth at the time and her confession. She served twenty years in a number of gaols, including Millbank Prison, and was released in 1885, at the age of 41. During her time in prison, she produced mosaics for a number of churches, including work for the crypt of St. Paul's cathedral.

To read Constance's full story and life history follow this Wikipedia link

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Kent

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65158658/constance-emily-kent/


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Tuesday, 6 February 2018

Clara Humphries Victorian child murderess

Clara Humphries aged 21years and 8 months, a domestic servant, was committed to prison for the attempted murder of her illegitimate child by strangulation in 1882.



On the day in question she was observed by her mistress, Mrs Young, to be unwell, and was directed to go to bed. Mrs Young followed Clara and while she was in the room she heard the cry of a child, which was in a box, with a piece of tape fastened round it's neck.

The baby had lived for several hours afterwards, and, according to the medical evidence, death resulted from extravasation of blood to the brain.

The defence was that the extravasation was the result of an accident during birth and that the application of the tape round the neck was done during a paroxysm of insanity.

The jury found the prisoner guilty but recommended her to mercy. Clara was sentenced to serve five years penal servitude.

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