The Dark Case of Amelia Dyer

Brief Case

Hello Everyone, today we are going to dive into the case of Amelia Dyer, Britain's most prolific female serial killer with a toll of over 400 babies.  Please remember to subscribe and hit the bell icon as well as leave a like and a comment for more videos twice a week!  Music by CO.AG Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwZB4l43iTw&t=105s Music by Myuu -https://www.youtube.com/user/myuuji Music by Kevin Macleod - https://incompetech.com  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Transcript

00:07Hello everyone, today we will be visiting Victorian England and looking at the terrible

00:15crimes committed by possibly England's most prolific serial killer Amelia Dyer.

00:26Amelia was born in 1838 in a small village of Pilemarsh just east of Bristol. Bristol for

00:35those of you unfamiliar with England is on the River Severn which separates England from Wales

00:41and is about 120 miles from London. Amelia was the youngest child of Samuel and Sarah Hobley and had

00:49three brothers and a sister. Her father worked as a master shoemaker. In her early years she was a

00:56good student and very much liked literature and poetry. Sadly during this time her mother suffered

01:03mental illness caused by typhus. Amelia witnessed her mother's violent fits and she cared for her

01:11mother until her mother's death in 1848. After her mother's death Amelia went to live with an aunt in

01:18Bristol for a while and found work as a corset maker. Her father died in 1859 and her eldest brother

01:27Thomas inherited the family shoe business. In 1861 at the age of 24 Amelia became permanently estranged

01:36from at least one of her brothers James and moved into lodgings in Trinity Street Bristol. There she

01:43married George Thomas. George was 59 so 35 years her senior so they lied about their ages on their

01:51marriage certificate to reduce the age gap. George deducted 11 years from his age and Amelia added six

01:59to hers. After her marriage Amelia trained as a nurse. In Victorian Britain this was considered a

02:06respectable occupation and enabled her to inquire useful skills. Life as a nurse however was hard so

02:14through a contact with a midwife named Ellen Dane Amelia learnt an easier way to earn a living.

02:25Amelia started using her own home to provide shelter for young unmarried women who were pregnant

02:31illegitimately and then farming off the babies for adoption or allowing them to die of neglect and

02:38malnutrition. Ellen Dane was forced to decamp to the USA shortly after meeting Amelia to escape the

02:45attention of the British authorities. In 1834 the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed which meant that the

02:54fathers of illegitimate children no longer had any financial obligation to provide for the mother of the child.

03:02This made life very difficult for young unmarried mothers and helped the growth of the practice

03:08known as baby farming in which people such as Amelia Dyer acted as adoption of fostering agents in return

03:16for regular payment or a single upfront fee from the baby's mothers. Many of these institutions took in

03:23young women and cared for them until they gave birth. The mothers subsequently left their unwanted babies

03:31to be looked after as nurse children. The predicament of the parents involved was often exploited for

03:38financial gain. If a baby had well-off parents who were simply anxious to keep the birth secret the

03:45single fee might be as much as eighty pounds. Fifty pounds might be negotiated if the father of the child

03:52wanted to keep his identity safe. Sadly the majority of the young women were from poor backgrounds.

03:58These women were charged a lot less such as ten pounds. In 1870 ten pounds would be about 850 pounds

04:07in today's money.

04:09Some carers resorted to starving the farmed out babies. They did this to save money and even to hasten death.

04:16Many babies were noisy so they were sedated with alcohol or opiates.

04:22Geoffrey's cordial better known by its common name mother's friend was a syrup containing opium which

04:29would be given to babies. Many children died as a result of these medicines and in the Victorian times

04:35opium killed far more infants through starvation than directly through overdose. This was because

04:41when a baby is continually fed opium they would not want to eat and die from malnutrition. This meant

04:49that when a coroner would produce a death certificate they were most likely to record the death as

04:56debility from birth or lack of breast milk or simply starvation. Mothers who wanted to see their babies

05:05or whose circumstances had changed and wanted to reclaim their child could often encounter difficulties

05:11and many would be too frightened or ashamed to tell the police about any suspected wrongdoing.

05:17Even the authorities often had problems tracing any children that were reported missing.

05:24This was the world opened up to Amelia. She had to leave nursing due to the birth of her daughter

05:30Ellen Thomas. Then in 1869 her husband George Thomas died and Amelia needed an income.

05:41Amelia decided that baby farming could help her make money especially as she had trained as a nurse.

05:48So she advertised to nurse and adopt babies in return for a substantial one-off payment and adequate

05:55clothing for the child. In her advertisements and meetings with clients she assured them that she was

06:02respectable married and that she would provide a safe and loving home for the child. At some point in her

06:09baby farming career Amelia was prepared to forgo the expense and inconvenience of letting the children die

06:16for neglect and starvation and soon after receipt of each child she murdered them thus allowing her to pocket

06:23most or all of the entire fee. Amelia Dyer evaded any police investigation for a long time until she was

06:31eventually caught in 1879 after a doctor was suspicious about the number of child deaths he had been called

06:39to certify in her care. Strangely though she was not convicted of murder or manslaughter but instead

06:46sentenced to six months hard labor for neglect. After serving her six-month sentence she had spells in

06:54mental hospitals due to her alleged mental instability. These always however coincided with times when it

07:01was convenient for her to disappear. Being a former asylum nurse Amelia knew how to behave to ensure a

07:08relatively comfortable existence in an asylum. It appears that Amelia began abusing alcohol and opium-based

07:14products early in her killing career. Her mental instability could have been related to her substance

07:20abuse. In 1890 Amelia cared for the illegitimate baby of a governess. When the governess returned to visit

07:28her baby she became suspicious and stripped the baby to see if a birthmark was present on its hips. It

07:35wasn't.

07:36The governess reported this to the authorities and when the authorities started to investigate Amelia drank

07:42two bottles of laudanum in a serious suicide attempt but her long-term abuse had built up a tolerance to

07:49opium products so she survived and was not prosecuted due to lack of evidence. Of course she returned to

07:58baby farming and murder. Amelia decided that she did not want to involve doctors to issue death certificates

08:06and began disposing of the bodies herself. The precarious nature and extent of her activities again prompted

08:13undesirable attention. She was alert to the attentions of the police and of parents seeking to reclaim their

08:20children. She and her family frequently relocated to different towns and cities to escape suspicion,

08:27regain anonymity and to acquire new business. Over the years Amelia used many different identities.

08:36In 1895 Amelia moved to Cavisham, Berkshire accompanied by an unsuspecting associate,

08:43J. Granny Smith whom Amelia had recruited from a brief spell in a workhouse and Amelia's daughter

08:50Mary Anne also known as Polly and her son-in-law Arthur Palmer. This was followed by a move to

08:58Kensington Road, Reading, Berkshire later the same year. Smith was persuaded by Amelia to be referred to

09:06as mother in front of innocent women handing over their children. This was an effort to present a caring

09:13mother-daughter image in January 1896 a 25 year old barmaid named Evelina Marmon gave birth to an

09:26illegitimate daughter Doris in a boarding house in Cheltenham. She was unable to raise the child alone so

09:34saw offers of adoption and placed an advertisement in that miscellaneous section of the Bristol Times and

09:41Mirror newspaper. It simply read wanted respectable woman to take young child. Evelina intended to go

09:49back to work and hoped eventually to reclaim her child. The advertisement next to her own was one

09:56placed by Amelia Dyer which read married couple with no family would adopt healthy child nice country home

10:04terms 10 pounds. Evelina responded to a Mrs Harding and a few days later she received a reply from

10:12Amelia from Oxford Road in Reading. Mrs Harding wrote I should be glad to have a dear little baby girl

10:21one I could bring up and call my own. She continued we are a plain homely people in fairly good

10:28circumstances.

10:29I don't want a child for money's sake but for company and home comfort. Myself and my husband

10:36are dearly fond of children. I have no child of my own. A child with me will have a good

10:42home and a

10:43mother's love. Evelina Marmon wanted to pay a more affordable weekly fee for the care of her daughter

10:49but Mrs Harding insisted on being given the one-off payment in advance. Evelina was not in a very good

10:56social or economic position so she reluctantly agreed to pay the 10 pounds and a week later

11:03Mrs Harding arrived in Cheltenham. Evelina was surprised by Amelia's advanced age and appearance

11:10but Amelia seemed affectionate towards Doris. Evelina handed over her daughter together with a cardboard

11:17box of clothes and the 10 pounds. She was very upset at having to give up care of her daughter

11:24and accompanied Amelia to Cheltenham station. She returned to her lodgings very emotional

11:30at having to give up her baby daughter. A few days later she received a letter from Mrs Harding

11:35saying all was well. Evelina wrote back but received no reply. However, Amelia Dyer had not travelled

11:45where she had told Evelina she was going. Instead, she had gone to 76 Mayo Road, Willersden, London

11:55where her 23 year old daughter Polly was staying. There Amelia found some white edging tape,

12:01using dressmaking, wound it twice around the baby's neck and tied a knot and murdered her. Amelia and her

12:09daughter Polly allegedly helped to wrap the body in a napkin. They kept some of the clothes Evelina had

12:15packed and sold the rest to the local pawnbroker. Amelia paid the rent to her landlady and gave her

12:22a pair of child boots as a present for her little girl. The following day, Wednesday the 1st of April

12:291896, another child named Harry Simmons was taken to Mayo Road. However, with no spare white edging tape

12:38available, the tape around Doris' corpse was removed and used to strangle the 13-month-old boy.

12:45On April 2nd, both bodies were stacked into a carpet bag along with bricks for added weight. Amelia then

12:52headed for Reading. At a selected spot she knew well, near Caversham Lock, she forced a carpet

12:59bag through railings into the River Thames. Three days before, on the 30th of March 1896, a package was

13:10retrieved from the Thames at Reading by a barge man. It contained the body of a baby girl, later identified

13:17as Helena Fry. The package was given to Reading Borough police who found a label from the Temple

13:24Mead station Bristol. With microscopic analysis of the wrapping paper, deciphered a faintly legible

13:31name, Mrs Thomas, and an address. The evidence led police to Amelia Dyer, but they still had no strong

13:40evidence to connect her directly with any involvement with the baby in the river. The police decided to

13:46put Amelia under surveillance. The police used a young woman as a decoy, hoping she would be able

13:52to secure a meeting with Amelia to discuss her services. A meeting was arranged for April 3rd,

13:59Good Friday, but instead of the decoy turning up, it was the Reading police who arrived at Amelia's house.

14:05When searching her home, they were apparently struck by the stench of human decomposition.

14:11Although no human remains were found in the house, plenty of other related evidence, including white edging

14:17tape, telegrams regarding adoption arrangements, porn tickets for children's clothing, receipts for

14:24advertisements, and letters from mothers inquiring about the wellbeing of their children. Previous few

14:30months alone, at least 20 children had been placed in the care of Mrs Thomas, now revealed to be Amelia

14:37Dyer.

14:38It also appeared that she was about to move home again, this time to Somerset. This rate of murder

14:46has led some to estimate that Mrs Dyer may, over the course of decades, have killed over 400 babies and

14:54children, making her one of the most prolific murderers ever. It is believed that Amelia arrived

15:02home carrying a brown paper parcel. She hid the package in the house, but after three weeks of odour and

15:10decomposition, prompted her to dump the dead baby in the river. As it was not weighed adequately,

15:17it had been easily spotted. Amelia was arrested on April the 4th and charged with murder. Her son-in-law

15:24Arthur Palmer was charged as an accessory. During April, the Thames was dredged and six more bodies were

15:31discovered, including Doris Marmon and Harry Simmons, Amelia's last victims. Each baby had been strangled with

15:40white tape. Eleven days after handing her daughter to Amelia Dyer, Evelina Marmon, whose name had emerged

15:47in items kept by Amelia, identified her daughter's remains.

15:55At the inquest into the deaths in early May, no evidence was found that Mary Ann or Arthur Palmer

16:02had acted as Amelia Dyer's accomplices. Arthur Palmer was discharged as a result

16:09of a confession written by Amelia Dyer. On the 22nd of May 1896, Amelia Dyer appeared at the Old Bailey

16:17and pleaded guilty to one murder, that of Doris Marmon. Her family and associates testified at her trial,

16:25that they had been growing suspicious and uneasy about her activities, and it emerged that she had

16:31narrowly escaped discovery on several occasions. Evidence from a man who had seen and spoken to her

16:38when she had disposed of two bodies in Caversham Lock also proved significant. Also, her own daughter

16:45had given graphic evidence that ensured Amelia Dyer's conviction. The only defence Amelia Dyer offered

16:53was insanity. She had been twice committed to asylums in Bristol. However, the prosecution argued

17:00successfully that her mental instability had been a ploy to avoid suspicion. Both committals were

17:07said to have coincided with times when Amelia was concerned her crimes might have been exposed. It took

17:14the jury only four and a half minutes to find her guilty. In her three weeks in a condemned cell,

17:20she

17:20filled five exercise books with her last true and only confession. She was visited the night before her

17:28execution by a chaplain and asked if she had anything to confess. She offered him her exercise books,

17:36saying, Isn't this enough? Amelia Dyer was hanged at Newgate Prison on Wednesday the 10th of June 1896.

17:44Asked on the scaffold if she had anything to say, she said, I have nothing to say.

17:54It is uncertain how many more children Amelia Dyer murdered. However, inquiries from mothers,

18:00evidence of other witnesses and material found in Amelia's homes, including letters and many babies

18:07clothes, pointed to many more. The Amelia Dyer case caused a scandal in Victorian Britain and she became

18:14known as the Ogress of Reading. Subsequently, adoption laws in Britain were made stricter,

18:22giving local authorities the power to police baby farms in the hope of stamping out abuse.

18:28Despite this and the scrutinising of newspapers personal ads, the trafficking and abuse of infants did

18:34not stop. Two years after Amelia Dyer's execution, railway workers inspecting carriages at Newton

18:42Nabbit Devon found a parcel. Inside was a three-week-old girl. She was cold and wet, but she was

18:51alive.

18:51A lady named Jane Hill had given the baby to a Mrs. Stewart for £12. Mrs. Stewart had picked up

19:00the baby

19:01in Plymouth and apparently dumped her on the next train. It is claimed that Mrs. Stewart was Polly,

19:11the daughter of Amelia Dyer.

19:17Hello everyone, thanks for listening and I hope that you enjoyed the video. If you did,

19:23please hit the like button and leave a comment and don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell icon

19:29to stay notified of the next brief case.

19:42thank you.

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