Ann Watson

Ann Watson died two days after her father hit her on the head whilst he was trying to coax her to eat.

Her father was tried for her murder but the judge directed the jury to acquit him of both murder and manslaughter after the prosecution presented their case and the defence said that it would not be safe or right to allow the case to go further.

Ann Watson's elder sister told the court that two days before Ann Watson died that her father, after trying for an hour to coax her to eat, hit her with his hand on the side of the head. However, she said that her father had been fond of Ann Watson and that the blow was not a hard one and that she had never seen him hit her before.