Baby

The body of a newly-born child was found dead in an ash heap at the back of 143 Burgess Street in Grimsby on 27 October 1921.

Two sisters were tried for its murder at the Lincolnshire Assizes on Friday 3 February 1922 but the judge said that it could not be determined which of the two women had carried out the act and ordered the jury to acquit the women.

The body was found in an ash heap and pile of refuse in a closet at the back of the house where the sisters lived.

The medical evidence showed that the child had died from suffocation, probably caused by pressure on the throat, about which there were marks, apparently of human fingers.

Doctor

A doctor said that he was called to 143 Burgess Street on 28 October 1921 about 11.15am and saw the younger sister in a bedroom along with the elder sister and their mother. He noted that he was not their medical attendant and had never seen them before.

He said that the sister was conscious and able to hear and that he looked towards the bed expecting to see a baby in bed with her because he knew that it was a case in which a baby had been born. However, he said that his attention was then drawn by either the elder sister or the mother to the corner of the room where there was a parcel in the room.

He said that he asked for the parcel to be put on a table, which it was, and that he found that it consisted of the body of a child wrapped up in cloth.

He said that he noted that on superficially examining the child that the hair of the head, the cavities of the ears, nose and mouth, and the body generally, showed signs of dust and debris, and that on the front of the larynx was a distinct reddish mark, the surface of the layer of the skin at that point being rubbed off.

He added that there were also signs of rigor mortis, that being stiffening of the legs, that indicated that the child had been dead for at least 8 hours.

He said that he asked:

Indicating the mark, and that the elder sister said:

The doctor said that he then left and made a communication with the police.

Post Mortem Examination

The doctor said that he carried out a post mortem examination on 29 October 1921 and found that the child had been a fully developed nine-months term male child. He said that there were indications of dust and refuse over the body, in the ears, in the hair, nostrils, and over the body generally as well as in the mouth.

He said that there was a very distinct mark over the front of the larynx, it being on each side, but more towards the right side, and that in his opinion the marks were due to pressure, adding that the pressure must have been considerable.

He said that superficial layers of the skin were rubbed off over the area of the mark and that when he turned back the skin that he found that there was a corresponding extravasation of blood in the underlying tissues.

He said that in his opinion that the marks could have been caused by a human hand, adding that it was hard to believe that a mother delivering herself could have caused the marks he saw.

He said that the extravasation of blood was caused by the rupture of the small vessels under the skin, and indicated that flowing of blood had taken place during life.

He noted that the umbilical cord had been 14in long and had been torn and not tied. He said that the umbilical cord could not have caused the mark round the neck.

He said that when he examined some of the dust found in the child's mouth that he found it consisted of very fine cinders, tea leaves and debris.

He said that when he made a central opening into the throat above the larynx that he found that the cavity of the mouth and the pharynx down to the larynx and extending through the larynx contained a considerable quantity of cinder dust, tea leaves and debris and that fine dust extended half way down the trachea. He noted that the finding of the dust indicated that breathing had taken place.

He said that he also found very small haemorrhages on the surface of the heart and lungs.

He said that all the other organs were healthy and well filled with blood and that in his opinion the child had been born alive, noting that the lungs floated buoyantly in water and were full of air to the touch.

He stated that the child had had a separate existence from its mother and in his opinion had died from suffocation, which would have occurred in a case such as this where the tubes were stuffed with foreign bodies, but noting that it might also have occurred through pressure over the larynx.

The doctor noted that it was improbable that such a quantity of material as he had found could have got into the child's mouth simply by falling on top of the ashes, unless the efforts of breathing were remarkably powerful, adding that if the child had been crying in the closet box with its mouth open and the cinders were put in on top of it that it would have accounted for it.

He said that in his opinion that the child must have lived for some minutes.

He noted that two or three days later he noted that there was a marked tear in the orifice of her vagina, indicating that the child had been born precipitately, or that the size of the child was disproportionately large.

Midwife

A midwife that had lived at 17 Garden Street in Grimsby said that about four or five months earlier the two sisters had come to her, the elder sister asking her what the matter was with her sister. She said that the younger sister said:

However, she noted that she didn't examine her but advised the elder sister to take her sister home and make the best of things, adding that:

She said that they then left her.

She said that on Friday 28 October 1921 at about 1.50am, their mother came to fetch her and told her that her daughter had had a baby in the closet and that it was dead, noting that the elder sister heard the conversation.

She said that she then went to 143 Burgess Street, which was about 10 minutes’ walk from her house and that when she got there she asked where the baby was and that the elder sister fetched a baby down in a basket, it being covered with ashes.

She said that she then exclaimed:

She said that the elder sister then said that she was nearly crazy and didn't know what to do.

The midwife then said:

She said that the elder sister told her that she didn't know what to do and that she had telegraphed for her mother at Scunthorpe and asked her to come.

The midwife said that she then took the body of the child and washed it, and noticed that the child had a red mark on its neck, adding that she had never seen a mark on a baby's neck like that before.

The midwife said that she then went upstairs to the front bedroom and saw the younger sister in bed and her mother there.

She said that she examined the younger sister and asked her where the afterbirth was and that the mother told her that she thought that it had all come away together. The mother then told her that it was no use going to the closet as the night soil man had fetched the night soil just before they went for her.

She said that when she asked the younger sister about the afterbirth and whether anything came away from the child, she replied:

She said that the elder sister then said:

She said that she then told them that if she was sure that the child had been born dead that she could give a certificate, but that as she had not been there that she could not.

The midwife noted that she saw no signs of baby clothing or preparation for birth about the house.

Neighbour

A neighbour that had lived at 270 Victoria Street, Grimsby, said that 143 Burgess Street was at the rear of her house, the back yards adjoining, being separated by a wooden partition, and that the closet at her house was next to the closet at 143 Burgess Street and that they were separated by a brick wall.

She said that she remembered the evening of Thursday 27 October 1921, when she had occasion to go to the closet in her yard, at about 7pm, when she heard the sound of a baby crying. She said that it seemed to come from the next closet. she said that she had been in her closet for between 2 and 3 minutes and that it was a strong cry and that when she left it was still crying.

She noted that she was rather deaf, but that everything was still and she could hear quite plainly.

Sisters’ Mother

The mother of the sisters, who lived in a caravan at Stack's Yard, Scunthorpe, said that her elder daughter, a hawker, was 30 years of age and her younger daughter, a fish worker, 21 years of age.

She said that on 27 October 1921 that she received a telegram at about 5.30pm at Scunthorpe and that the contents of it were read to her and that in consequence of that she went to 143 Burgess Street in Grimsby, arriving sometime after 1pm that night.

The telegram had read:

She said that she got to the Town Station sometime after 10pm and arrived at 143 Burgess Street about 10.30pm and that when she arrived her elder sister said:

She said that they then went for the midwife and that when they returned she asked her younger daughter:

But said that she didn't reply.

Detective

A detective said that he went to 143 Burgess Street at about 12 noon on Friday 28 October 1921 with two other officers and that when he went into the kitchen he saw the elder sister, her brother and their mother and that when he told them what he was doing there they told him that the younger sister was upstairs.

He said that when he went upstairs that he found the dead body of a male child lying on a table upstairs, wrapped up in a cloth. He said that when he examined it that he found some discolouration as well as ashes in its mouth, and had it taken away by the Coroner's officer.

He said that when he then went back downstairs that he asked how it happened and that the mother said:

He said that the elder sister then said:

The detective then asked her who did the washing and she said that she did. He then asked:

The elder sister replied, saying that she asked her what was up with her, but that she told her that she was all right.

The detective said that he then went upstairs and asked the younger sister where she had been when the child was born, and that she replied:

The detective then asked her when it was born, and she said 7pm. He then asked her how the body came to be in the box, and she said:

The detective said that at that moment the elder sister came into the room and that he said to her:

He said that the elder sister replied:

He said that the younger sister then said:

The detective then made further enquiries and after finding out that the sisters had been to see the midwife about four months earlier he asked the elder sister about it, saying:

He said that the elder sister replied:

He said that he then asked:

To which she replied:

The detective then asked:

The elder sister replied:

The detective then asked:

The detective noted that the elder sister didn't reply at first, but after a few moments hesitation said:

Inquest

The inquest in to the child's death was held on 31 October 1921 and adjourned to 23 November 1921, after which both sisters were charged with wilful murder.

Trial

The trial was held at the Lincoln Assizes on 3 February 1922.

The case for the prosecution was that about 7pm on 27 October 1921, that the younger sister gave birth to the child in the outhouse, but that a midwife was not fetched until 2am the following morning and that when the child was seen it was covered in ashes, cinder and refuse and had a red mark on its throat, indicating that extreme pressure had been applied before its death.

However, the judge then noted that if there had been wilful suffocation that there was no evidence to show which of the sisters did it and therefore directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty against the sisters, which they did and the sisters were discharged.

Burgess Street was described as being full of dens of iniquity and later demolished and redeveloped with only a small fraction of Upper Burgess Street to the south remaining today. It was split into Upper Burgess Street and Lower Burgess Street, being divided thus by Central Market.