Alleged Infanticide at Edge Hill

A woman who was put on trial for the murder of her baby in 1844 was acquitted but still sentenced to two years imprisonment for concealment of birth.

In September of that year Mary Baxter took up lodgings in Sidney Place. She was soon asked by other females there if she was pregnant, which she denied. On the evening of 28th October Mary went to bed much earlier than the other three females who shared her room. The following morning when daylight broke she was heard by Sarah Bennett, the landlady going out to the yard and returning to bed.

Later in the morning Mary got up to go to a local house to do some laundry work, but when Mrs Bennett was making up the beds she saw blood on the sheet. She then went to the yard and found blood in a bucket of water, leading to her going to where Mary was working and demanding an explanation.

Mary admitted that she had given birth to a child and put it in the outhouse. A search found the body of a baby boy there with a cord tied around his neck. Mary was arrested and charged with infanticide, being committed to the next South Lancashire Assizes.

21 year old Mary was described by the Lancashire General Advertiser as a 'rather good looking young woman' when she was placed at the bar on 14th December. As the surgeon who conducted the postmortem could not be sure the child was born alive, she was acquitted of murder but found guilty of concealment of birth. She was sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour.

Death Sentenced Commuted After Botched Abortion

In the late Victorian period an army Lieutenant's mistress died after he carried out a DIY abortion on her, but his death sentence was instead commuted to just three years imprisonment after intervention by the Home Secretary.

29 year old Jane Yates, described as a 'woman of independent means' in the press, lived with her widowed mother a 62 Edge Lane, where the body of the Hanging Boy was discovered in 1946.

Jane spent the night of 20th July 1898 away from home and three days later she complained of feeling ill, remaining in bed for two days. She left home on the 25th but the following day a doctor called to her mother saying that she was critically ill and staying with a friend at 140 Salisbury Road, Wavertree. She was attended to by the family physician Dr Bligh and a specialist but died from blood poisoning in the early hours of 27th July, having still manage to enjoy a last glass of champagne and ice.

Both doctors agreed that the blood poisoning had been the result of a miscarriage that has been began by the use of an instrument. Although Jane had been able to tell Dr Bligh that she alone was responsible for what had happened, the medical men were certain that she was not being truthful.

Mrs Yates explained that Jane had suffered a miscarriage five years earlier, connecting it to Lieutenant Robert Wark, a married man who was then in Liverpool with the 2nd Volunteer Artillery. He was now stationed in Woolwich but had continued to correspond with Jane on an almost daily basis, addressing letters to Miss Setay, her surname spelt backwards, and sending them to a stationery shop in Wavertree Road.

At the Inquest, which took place over a month later, the Coroner said that the letters contained passages which were a disgrace to any man and only read what was necessary, including references to a meeting at Crewe on 20th July. They also referred to Jane's 'condition' with the Illustrated Police News reporting that Wark had wrote that 'they could not expect a doctor to run any risks but he was prepared to do so.'

46 year old Wark was present at the Inquest but said nothing on the advice of his solicitor, although a statement he had made to the police in London though was read out. This contained an admission that he and Jane had enjoyed 'undue intimacy' for the last six years, with her often visiting him in London after he was posted to Woolwich. Regarding the abortion though, he denied having any knowledge of it and claimed that he had last seen Jane three weeks before her death.  His statement said he knew nothing about any miscarriage and had tried to persuade Jane not to seek an abortion. However this was in direct contradiction to the content of his letters that were read out by the Coroner, as he had crucially not mentioned the meeting at Crewe.

The jury though found that the cause of death was poisoning due to an abortion and that Wark had aided and abetted the deceased. The Coroner stated that this was equivalent to a verdict of wilful murder and Wark was taken into custody.

The following day Wark appeared at the Police Court where he was remanded whilst further evidence was gathered. His wife was interviewed by Lloyds Weekly at their home and she appeared to be standing by her husband, possibly because Jane had left him £7,000 in her will. It was actually Mrs Wark who had introduced the two to each other via a riding school in Spekelands Road.

Wark's trial began at the Liverpool Assizes on 7th December. Staff confirmed that the couple had stayed at the London & North Western Railway Hotel in Crewe on 20th and 21st July, signing in as Captain and Mrs Yates. The surgeon who carried out the post mortem said that an abortion had been carried out, while the graphic contents of the letters were read to then jury. After two hours deliberation a guilty verdict was returned with a recommendation for mercy.

Before sentence was passed Wark addressed the court and said that he was not guilty and that the only statements which were true were those of himself and Jane. Justice Phillimore then sentenced him to death in the usual manner, leading to some hissing from the public gallery. As Wark was taken down the steps towards the condemned cell he was cheered by many.

Petitions calling for a free pardon were forwarded to the Home Secretary Matthew Ridley. However he responded that on the evidence given, this was not justified. He instead commuted the death sentence and ordered that Wark serve three years penal servitude.

Killed by a Gimlet

A fight in which a teenager killed a man by poking him in the eye with a small tool led to him being convicted of manslaughter.

The incident took place at a coopers shop in a coal yard in Marlborough Street on Saturday 18th February 1843. John Wilkinson, who was 28 years old, got into a quarrel with Moses Doyle, who was only 13 but looked two or three years older.

It was not clear what started the row but after Wilkinson threw punches at Doyle a worker named Owen Handwright got between them and tried to calm the situation down. However as he spoke to Wilkinson, Doyle picked up a rusty gimlet - a small tool that is a sort of cross between a drill and screwdriver - that was lying around and stabbed Wilkinson in the left eye.

Wilkinson was taken to the Dispensary where the wound was dressed and he then returned home, but on the Monday afternoon he was shaking quite badly and a doctor was sent for. On examining the wound,  he found a small circular hole that appeared quite deep and called in another surgeon. Despite their best efforts, Wilkinson passed away two days later.

A post mortem examination found that the wound extended to the brain which had been lacerated, causing inflammation and an absess. This was the direct cause of death, leading to Doyle, who lived in Marlborough Street with his parents and two sisters being taken into custody. He was charged with manslaughter and appeared before at the Liverpool Assizes on 10th April. He was found guilty and sentenced to 14 days in Kirkdale gaol.

Bar Thrown by Father Kills Baby

An argument between a husband and wife in Edwardian Liverpool led to their five month baby being killed  when she was struck by an object her father had thrown.

On the evening of Saturday 2nd February 1907 28 year old labourer Michael McDonough, his wife and mother in law, who lived at 57 China Street (off Netherfield Road) visited the Cole family, who occupied the cellar of that property. After spending an hour there drinking they returned to their own rooms.

At about 1030pm Mr and Mrs McDonough began arguing and throwing crockery at each other. Michael threw an iron bar at his wife but instead it hit the back of the head of their five month old daughter Elizabeth, who was being held in the arms of Mrs McDonough. She took the baby girl to the East Dispensary but Dr Crampton there pronounced life extinct.

The following morning Michael was arrested and on the Monday he was charged with murder and appeared at the magistrates court, where he denied the charge and was remanded in custody. He was then brought before the Liverpool Assizes on 23rd February, where the charge was reduced to manslaughter. Despite acknowledging that he was drunk and had intended to hit his wife with the bar, he was sentenced to just four months imprisonment with hard labour.

Mothers Dread Leads Her to Kill Baby

A mother who was convinced her baby son had inherited a health condition killed him and herself shortly before Christmas 1937.

William Lloyd James, his wife Marjorie and five month old son David only arrived in Liverpool in November of that year, when Mr James accepted a masters position at Quarry Bank School.

On the evening of Tuesday 14th December Mr James returned to their Chalfont Road home to find 31 year old Marjorie lying on the kitchen floor, with David beside her. Both were dead and appeared to have been gassed by the oven.

The inquest took place two days later, with Mr James telling the Coroner how his wife feared that David had inherited rheumatism from her. He told how on the night before the deaths, she had told him she could not bear the thought of David suffering the same pain she had done. Despite a doctor having assured Marjorie that David's recent discomfort was no more than stomach trouble, she remained convinced that an act on her part had led to him inheriting the condition.

The jury returned a verdict of 'suicide' on Marjorie's death and one of 'murder' for David, but the Coroner recorded that the balance of Marjorie's mind was disturbed at the time.

Man Kills Niece During Epileptic Fit

A terrible tragedy occurred in 1881 when a 6 year old girl was killed by her cousin whilst he was having a fit, leading to the judge handing out a severe rebuke for the man's parents.

Henry Taylor, a 25 year old labourer, lived with his parents at Trowbridge Place (off Brownlow Hill). Also living there was his cousin Agnes Blanche Jones, who had been adopted by the Taylors, having been the illegitimate daughter of Mrs Taylor's sister. On the 29th January of that year he suffered a severe seizure that prevented him from going to work, then on the evening of 2nd February his mother saw the signs of another one coming on.

Henry's mother sat up watching him for some time, but at 1am as he got more agitated she persuaded him to go to bed. As soon as he got upstairs his mother heard gurgling and a scream, but Henry shouted down that everything was okay. When she got a lamp and went up however, she found him standing with  a knife in his hands and Agnes lying on a sofa bleeding heavily.

A doctor and policeman were sent for and Agnes was declared dead at the scene, her head almost severed from the body. Henry told the officer that he had done it and handed him the knife, before being taken into custody and making his first appearance before the police court the following morning.

Henry was tried the following week at the Liverpool Assizes, where evidence was produced to show that he had suffered epilepsy all his life. Once this had been heard the Mr Justice Stephen intervened and stopped the trial, saying a symptom of he disease was a tendency to get into a mad fury and kill people unconsciously. He ordered the jury to return a verdict of not guilty on the grounds of insanity.

After ordering Henry to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure, the judge was then very critical of Henry's parents, saying that it 'was lamentable they left the prisoner at large when it was clear he was not fit to be at liberty.'

Youth Kills After Being Thrown Out of Pub

A 17 year old who stabbed one of his neighbours in a fight after he was thrown out of a pub near Wapping Dock was found guilty of manslaughter and sent to gaol for ten years.

On Saturday 13th November 1880 William Spears went on a drinking spree with his friend James Humphreys, ending up at Hammond & Mills public house on the corner of Hurst and Grayson Street, opposite Wapping Dock. At about 645pm Humphreys tried to order two pints of ale but was told by the barman that they had had enough. 

When the two males refused to leave two police officers were sent for to remove them and Stephen Burns, who was stood at the bar and had once lived in the same court as Spears, asked them not to be rough with him as Humphreys was far worse. Within minutes though the youths had entered the pub via another door and were again refused service, this time being forcibly ejected by James Patterson, a drinking companion of Burns.

Burns then joined the three males on the street and an argument broke out, leading to blows being exchanged. Spears then took a knife out of his pocket and stabbed Burns in the chest and ran off, while his victim crossed the road to the dock gate, where a policeman helped him into a cart to be taken to the Royal Southern Hospital. Humphreys was arrested at the scene for being drunk and riotous, while Burns died just ten minutes after arrival at the hospital.

Burns had been able to give all details to the officer of the man who stabbed him and Spears was soon arrested at his court dwelling in Grayson Street. He was in bed when the police arrived but he didn't deny what had happened, saying that he was drunk and did not know what had made him do it. The following Thursday Spears was committed for trial at the Assizes, with Patterson being severely rebuked by the Stipendiary Magistrate during the hearing. He said he was struggling to remember what had happened because he had been to a two night wake for Burns, with Mr Raffles responding that the Roman Catholic clergy condemned such practices.

Spears was tried on 8th February 1881 at the Liverpool Assizes. Patterson described how he had ejected Spears and Humphreys from the pub and a fight broke out, but the key witness was customs officer Arthur Hope, who had been by the dock gates. He told the court that Burns had punched and head butted Spears before the knife was taken out. This led to the judge directing to the jury that they could not possibly return a guilty verdict on the murder charge. However they did find Spears guilty of manslaughter and he was sentenced to 10 years penal servitude.