The Baby Farmers
Page 29
22 Barnard, p.48.
23 ibid., p.49, citing a patron called Alexander Harris.
24 Colonial Literary Journal (henceforth CLJ), 27/6/1844, p.1.
25 ibid., p.298.
26 CLJ, 31/10/1844, p.289.
27 ibid., p.303.
28 S C McCulloch (1966) ‘Gipps, Sir George (1791–1847)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, pp.446–53.
29 The Guardian (henceforth TG), 5/10/1844, pp.233–5.
30 ibid., p.236.
31 ibid., emphasis in original.
32 ibid., p.235.
33 ibid.
34 M Steven (1967) ‘Macarthur, John (1767–1834)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, pp.153–9,
35 TG, 5/10/1844, p.235.
36 The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser (henceforth MMHRGA), 24/7/1852, p.3.
37 MMHRGA, 17/3/1855, p.2.
38 MMHRGA, 8/8/1855, p.2.
39 MMHRGA, 27/11/1856, p.2.
40 MMHRGA, 6/1/1857, p.3.
41 MMHRGA, 29/1/1857, p.3.
42 MMHRGA, 24/2/1857, p.1. New South Wales was an English colony. This calculation was based on the price index of 1750–2005 set out in Table 1 of D Webb (2006) Inflation: The Value of the Pound 1750–2005, Research Paper 06/09, House of Commons Library, London, pp.12–15. The Australian dollar value was calculated according to its value on 23 July 2012 at 0.6618 GBP.
43 MMHRGA, 26/12/1857, p.2.
44 SMH, 12/2/1858, p.5.
45 SMH, 9/5/1865, p.1. Emanuel Sutcliffe was described as her father, late of Maitland. The marriage certificate is in the author’s possession (1865/000355).
46 According to her death notice on 7 February 1912, Minnie was in her 45th year, making her year of birth either 1866 or 1867.
47 The Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil, 12/6/1875, p.38.
48
49 Email communication from Faye Stevenson, 4/6/2010.
50 Herben, p.4. The admission card for Ellen Sutcliffe’s admission to Newington Asylum is not held by the State Records Office of New South Wales, Kingswood (henceforth SRO).
51 SMH, 12/8/1893, p.7.
Chapter 3
1 Herben, p.1; marriage certificate of William Makin and Ellen Bolton, number 1336/ volume 21; death certificate of William Samuel Makin, number 1887/009536; copies held by author.
2 1837 Convict Muster,
3 See ancestry.com.au, public family trees for John Makin, which contain contradictory and conflicting information. I have relied on the information in these trees and the family history by Herben only when they concur in relation to dates and personages.
4 Mary and William Bolton’s children were William (b.1803), Anne (b.1806), Mary (b.1807), Eliza (b.1812), Ellen (b.1816) and Sarah (b.1818).
5 The Convict Muster of 1823 states that William Bolton was convicted in Warwick, although his convict record states his conviction was in Stafford. Since he was convicted of more than one crime this accounts for the discrepancy. It appears he received a life sentence for coining and seven years for sacrilege,
6 Tasmanian Archives,
7
8 P Robinson (1993) The Women of Botany Bay, Penguin Books, Ringwood, Victoria, pp.160–1.
9 Quoted in ibid., pp.102, 161–3.
10 England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791–1892, Record for Mary Boulton, pp.240–4.
11 Robinson, p.185.
12 Ellen was born on 28/6/1816 or 1817 in Birmingham.
13 Robinson, p.26.
14 ibid., pp.63, 102.
15 J Ramsland (1986) Children of the Back Lanes: Destitute and Neglected Children in Colonial New South Wales, New South Wales University Press, Sydney, p.1.
16 ibid., pp.3, 5.
17 The population in 1800 was 5217 (3780 men and 1437 women): Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s Population Since 1788 and Gender Composition Since 1796, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, 2007.
18 Ramsland, p.5, quoting Governor King.
19 ibid., p.11; quoting Governor Macquarie.
20 S and K Brown (1995) Parramatta: A Town Caught in Time, 1870, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, p.103.
21 B M Bubacz (2008) The Female and Male Orphan Schools in New South Wales, 1801–1850, Ph.D Thesis, Department Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, p.105, citing Governor Macquarie.
22 ibid., pp.105, 107, citing Rule 15 of Rules and Regulations of the Female Orphan School.
23 ibid., p.108.
24 ibid., p.118.
25 Ramsland, pp.11–12.
26 Sydney Gazette, 11/2/1810, p.1, cited in Bubacz, pp.93–4.
27 Ramsland, pp.18–19.
28 ibid., p.14.
29 Bubacz, pp.106, 226.
30 ibid., p.225.
31 Ramsland, p.16.
32 ibid.
33 Marriage certificate of Ellen Bolton, Volume 21/1336; copy held by author.
34 Ramsland, p.26, citing Reverend Walker.
35 ibid., pp.29, 30.
36 ibid., pp.30–1, emphases in original.
37 ibid., p.31.
38 ibid., pp.20, 40.
39 Bubacz, p.223.
40 All letters about Ellen Bolton’s discharge from the Female Orphan School were obtained from SRO, citation NRS 783[1]; [4/333]; pp.243–8, Reel 2776; copies held by author.
41 All documents concerning Sarah Bolton’s discharge from the Female Orphan School were obtained from SRO, citation NRS 783[2]; [4/334]; p.051–3, Reel 2777; NRS 798 [4/390]; p.161, Reel 1484; copies held by author.
42 O’Meara was one of 11 conductors working under the wardsmen who were in control of the five police districts in Sydney Town,
43
44
45
46 R Hughes (1987) The Fatal Shore, The Harvill Press, London, p.256.
47 Barnard, p.91; Summers, p.280.
48 Hughes, p.256.
49 ibid., citing Dr Reid, emphasis in original, footnote omitted.
50 References to the riot at the Female Factory include: The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (henceforth SGNSWA), 31/10/1827, p.2; The Australian, 31/10/1827, p.3.
51 SGNSWA, 17/8/1830, p.3.
52 Barnard, pp.40–1. Mary Bolton’s ticket-of-leave and certificate of freedom obtained from SRO, citation [4/4307; Reel 987]; [4/4071; Reel 912]; copies held by author.
53 SMH, 2/2/1853, p.3.
54 SMH, 8/4/1882, p.6. On 9/9/1856, 21/4/1857 and 20/4/1858, William Samuel Makin was granted a publican’s licence for a recognisance of £50: Certificates for Publicans’ Licences, 1830–1849, 1853–1860, Record for William Samuel Makin.
55 The Empire, 26/2/1864, p.5.
56 SMH, 4/1/1871, p.2; see also The Empire, 2/11/1870, p.2.
57 A W Martin (1974), ‘Parkes, Sir Henry (1815–1896)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, Carlton Press, Victoria, pp.399–406.
58 SMH
, 2/11/1870, p.2; 9/12/1870, p.2.
59 Marriage certificate 1871/000870; copy held by author.
60 SMH, 24/6/1872, p.2; 3/7/1872, p.2.
Chapter 4
1 Herben, p.4.
2 Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858–1933
3 References to the sheep-stealing charge and trial are from SMH, 20/10/1881, p.7; 2/11/1881, p.7.
4 SMH, 6/4/1883, p.7.
5 SMH, 23/8/1889, p.3.
6 Although the horse owner paid Makin £20, he then announced he had stopped payment on the cheque.
7 SMH, 29/11/1889, p.4.
8 Death certificate 1886/005417; copy held by author.
9 Death certificate 1888/001900; copy held by author.
10 SMH, 16/11/1892, p.3.
11 M Lewis (1998) Thorns on the Rose: The History of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Australia in International Perspective, AGPS, Canberra, pp.16–17, 21.
12 D Hill (2008) 1788: The Brutal Truth of the First Fleet, William Heinemann, Sydney, p.154, quoting Surgeon Bowes Smyth of the Lady Penhryn who witnessed ‘a scene of debauchery and riot which ensued during the night’ of 5 February 1788. Although this orgy is disputed by historian Grace Karskens, Lieutenant Watkin Tench also noted in his diary the ‘licentiousness’ and ‘habits of depravity’ which occurred when the male and female convicts disembarked: T Flannery (ed) Watkin Tench 1788 (1996), Text, Melbourne, p.45.
13 Lewis, pp.22–4.
14 ibid., pp.22–4, 36.
15 J Allen (1990) Sex and Secrets: Crimes Involving Australian Women Since 1880, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, pp.20, 25.
16 World Health Organization (2001) Global Prevalence and Incidence of Selected Curable Sexually Transmitted Infections: Overview and Estimates, World Health Organization: Geneva, p.22,
17 M Genç and W J Ledger (2000) ‘Syphilis in Pregnancy’, Sexually Transmitted Infections, 76, pp.73, 74.
18 ibid., p.73.
19 For the contraction, symptoms and stages of syphilis see Genç and Ledger, p.74; K Nessa, A Alam, F A H Chawdhury, M Huq, S Nahar, G Salauddin, S Khursheed, S Rahman, E Gurley, R F Breiman, M and Rahman (2008) ‘Field Evaluation of Simple Rapid Tests in the Diagnosis of Syphilis’, International Journal of STD & AIDS, 19, p.316.
20 Lewis, pp.53–4.
21 Elisabeth Kehoe (2005) Fortune’s Daughters: The Extravagant Lives of the Jerome Sisters, Atlantic Books, London, pp.xvii, 177.
22 For the symptoms and contraction of congenital syphilis see: Genç and Ledger, pp.74– 75; Nessa et al., ‘Field Evaluation of Simple Rapid Tests’, p.316; A E Singh, K Sutherland, B Lee, J L Robinson and T Wong (2007) ‘Resurgance of Early Congenital Syphilis in Alberta’, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 177, p.34; C C Wu, C N Tsai, W R Wong, H S Hong, Y H Chuang (2006) ‘Early Congenital Syphilis and Erythema Multiforme-like Bullous Targetoid Lesions in a 1-Day-old Newborn: Detection of Treponema Pallidum Genomic DNA from the Targetoid Plaque using nested Polymerase Chain Reaction’, Journal of the American Academcy of Dermatology, 55, pp.S11–5,
Chapter 5
1 The Argus (henceforth TA), 10/3/1893, p.4.
2 SMH, 22/12/1892, p.5. One pound equalled 20 shillings and one shilling equalled 12 pence.
3 The following is a list of their addresses after 1880 when the Makins were living at 190 Goulburn Street: Darling Street, Ultimo (October 1881); 149 Goulburn Street, Darlinghurst (February 1882); on or near Bourke Street, Surry Hills (November 1883); 47 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst (1884); 58 George Street, Redfern (November 1885); 207 Wells Street, Redfern (July 1886); 113 Bullanaming Street, Redfern (in August 1888); 26 Dale Street, Chippendale (October 1888); Glebe (part of 1889); Richard Street, Newtown (1890); Cook’s River Road, St Peters (June 1891); 56 Howard Street, St Peters (1891); Bay Street, Glebe (1891); Harbour Street, Darling Harbour (date unknown) and Queen Street, opposite the mortuary (date unknown). Sources: Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858–1933,
4 Ruth Ellen Homrighaus (2001) ‘Wolves in Women’s Clothing: Baby-Farming and the British Medical Journal 1860–1872’, Journal of Family History, 26, pp.350–72; S Swain (2005) ‘Toward a Social Geography of Baby Farming’, History of the Family, 10, pp.151–9; B Waugh (May 1890) ‘ “Baby-Farming”’, Contemporary Review, pp.700–2.
5 In 1875, a report found that illegitimate babies in England and Wales had ‘double the mortality risk of those born in marriage’: A Levene, ‘The Mortality Penalty of Illegitimate Children: Foundlings and Poor Children in Eighteenth Century England’ in A Levene, T Nutt and S Williams (2005) Illegitimacy in Britain, 1700–1920, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, p.34.
6 Allen, p.26.
7 ibid., p.27.
8 ibid., p.26, 30.
9 Judith Allen ‘Octavius Beale Reconsidered: Infanticide, Babyfarming and Abortion in NSW 1880–1939’ in Australian Labour History Group (ed.) (1982) What Rough Beast? The State and Social Order in Australian History, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, p.115; Barbara Burton (1986) Bad Mothers? Infant Killing in Victoria 1885–1914, Honours Thesis, University of Melbourne, cited in G A Carmichael (1996) ‘From Floating Brothels to Suburban Semirespectability: Two Centuries of Nonmarital Pregnancy in Australia’ Journal of Family History, 21, p.293; Kathy Laster (1989) ‘Infanticide: A Litmus Test for Feminist Criminological Theory’ Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 22, pp.151, 153.
10 SMH, 16/1/1892, p.7; 29/2/1892, p.7; 24/3/1892, p.2.
11 Criminal Law Amendment Act 1883.
12 Allen, Sex and Secrets, p.28.
13 ibid., pp.29–30.
14 According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, between 1989–90 and 2006–07, the offending rate of men for the crime of homicide fluctuated from 2.5 to 4 times the offending rate of women for the crime of homicide,
15 Allen, Sex and Secrets, p.31.
16 Carmichael, p.293.
17 Allen, Sex and Secrets, p.33.
Chapter 6
1 A-M Whitaker (2002) Pictorial History of South Sydney, Kingsclear Books, Alexandria, New South Wales, p.114.
2 J Beard (1983) Newtown 1892–1922: A Social Sketch, Honours Thesis, Department of History, University of Sydney, p.5.
3 The description of suburban life in Newtown is taken from ibid., pp.7–8.
4 BC, 11/11/1892, p.6.
5 SMH, 5/11/1892, p.10.
6 ibid.
7 TA, 4/11/1892, p.6; BC, 8/11/1892, p.6.
8 Joyce’s visit to 6 Wells Street is taken from SMH, 16/11/1892, p.3; BC, 16/11/1892, p.3.
Chapter 7
1 Allen, Sex and Secrets, p.35.
2 Mr Neild (1892) Second Reading Speech, Infants Protection Bill, Legislative Assembly, NSW Parliamentary Debates (First Series) Fifteenth Parliament Session, 1891–92, 55º Victoire, Volume 52, Charles Potter, Government Printer, Sydney, p.758.
3 Mr Haynes and Mr Garvan (1892) Second Reading Speech, Infants Protection Bill, Legislative Assembly, NSW Parliamentary Debates (First Series) Fifteenth Parliament Session, 1891–92, 55º Victoire, Volume 52, Charles Potter, Government Printer, Sydney, pp.763–5.
4 Mr Wall (1892) Second Reading Speech, Infants Protection Bill, Legislative Assembly, NSW Parliamentary Debates (First Series) Fifteenth Parliament Session, 1891–92, 55º Victoire, Volume 52, Cha
rles Potter, Government Printer, Sydney, p.768.
5 The legislation was originally named the Infants Protection Bill. Enacted as the Children’s Protection Act on 31 March 1892, it was renamed after the upper age of baby-farmed children was increased to three years.
6 The Daily Telegraph (henceforth DT), 28/10/1892, p.4; 13/10/1892, p.5.
7 Allen, Sex and Secrets, p.35.
8 S Swain (2009) ‘Birth and Death in a New Land: Attitudes to Infant Death in Colonial Australia’, History of the Family, 15, p.25.
9 As described in Allen, Sex and Secrets, pp.36–7.
10 DT, 9/11/1892, p.5.
11 Allen, Sex and Secrets, p.36.
Chapter 8
1 All references to these inquests are to Inquest Numbers 1196/92 and 1177/92, Register of Coroner’s Deaths, 1892. The evidence from these inquests was published in SMH, 27/10/1892, p.8; 29/10/1892, p.8; 8/11/1892, p.6; 15/11/1892, p.3; BC, 8/11/1892, p.6; The Evening News (henceforth EN), 27/10/1892, p.6; 29/10/1892, p.6.
2 L Mellor (2008) ‘Milford, Frederick’, Faculty of Medicine Online Museum and Archive, University of Sydney,
3 See SMH, 27/10/1892, p.8; 11/11/1892, p.3; 15/11/1892, p.4; EN, 28/10/1892, p.6; 11/11/1892, p.6.
4 R W Mann, W M Bass and L Meadows (1990) ‘Time Since Death and Decomposition of the Human Body: Variables and Observations in Case and Experimental Field Studies’, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 35, pp.103–11.
5
6 Flies will burrow through cracks and crevices in the soil after burial, especially following heavy rain. They also lay their eggs on the surface of the soil after a burial: W C Rodriguez and W M Bass (1985) ‘Decomposition of Buried Bodies and Methods That May Aid in Their Location’, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 30, pp.836–52, 848–9.
7
8 D H R Spennemann and B Franke (1995) ‘Decomposition of Buried Human Bodies and Associated Death Scene Materials on Coral Atolls in the Tropical Pacific’, Journal of Forensic Science, 40, pp.356–67.
9 SMH, 5/11/1892, p.5.
10 EN, 27/10/1892, p.6.
11 A A Vass (2001) ‘Beyond the Grave—Understanding Human Decomposition’, Microbiology Today, 28, p.190.