Minnie Clarke

The body of a newly-born child was found drowned at a house in Wynford Street, Eccles New Road.

It was alleged that she had been drowned by her aunt, the mother's sister and she was tried for its murder but discharged after no evidence was offered.

The child had been born with a doctor in attendance in the early hours of the Saturday morning. The mother had been 18-years-old whilst the elder sister who was tried was 31.

After the child was delivered the doctor handed the child over to the elder sister, noting that the child was drying and that the elder sister then left the room with it.

The doctor said that when he went to leave the house he neither saw nor heard the child and surmised that she had gone to a neighbour's house so as to prevent the child's cries from waking the brother who had been asleep in a bed upstairs. He then left the house.

It was noted that in so far as there was a probability that the child's cries might disturb the brother, the doctor had been right as when the brother came downstairs at about 5am he asked the elder sister whether there had been a child in the house. The sister was said to have appeared confused and to have made some reply that the brother had been unable to understand and so he set about looking for the child about the house and for some little time his efforts were unsuccessful. However, he eventually went down into the cellar and looked in a copper there where he found a quantity of dirty clothes and when he removed them and looked in he saw the dead body of the child in about lying in a few inches of water.

He then took the child upstairs and showed the elder sister the body and she again made an incoherent reply and the doctor was then sent for again.

When the doctor arrived he concluded that the child was dead and came to the conclusion that the cause of death was suffocation by drowning.

The police were then called and the elder sister arrested whilst the body of the child was taken to the Weaste Mortuary.

When the elder  sister was charged she said, 'I did not do it'.

When she made a statement she said that on account of the child crying, and not desiring to let her brother know about its birth, she took the child down into the cellar and placed it on some clothes in the copper, noting that she didn't know that there was water in the copper. It was noted that her story was partly corroborated by her brother who found the child.

At the inquest the jury returned a verdict of Found Drowned.

When she appeared at the Salford Police Court on Wednesday 30 April 1902 no evidence was offered and she was discharged.

Wynford Street has since been demolished, the area later being developed as the Willan Industrial Estate.