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who had assisted in the birth and its concealment. Four involved the father of the deceased infant and another individual, often a grandparent. Usually, if the birth had been concealed, the maximum penalty was two years imprisonment, and as
Bronwyn Dalley notes, women could often plead mitigating circumstances through male sexual coercion (a "seduction" narrative), although this was not always successful. Some women were convicted of infanticide or manslaughter in this context, although many others were acquitted. Men could not similarly plead "seduction" or the trauma of unassisted childbirth in this context; as witnessed by the case of William Henry Woodgate, who committed
200:, cross-cultural relationships and other such inhospitable grounds. Intertribal warfare was also a factor that militated against female infant survival, given the prospect that surviving male children could then become warriors for the defence of a particular iwi (tribal community and social network). However, it is highly probable that the advent of colonialism and introduction of European transport and weapons technology affected the severity and scale of prior tribal conflicts, so this may not reflect an accurate prognosis of MÄori infanticide. As time went on, many MÄori adopted Christian religious beliefs due to missionary efforts and this reduced the incidence of
299:'s Glasgow Hotel. However, in June 1871, she gave birth and then concealed the body of her newborn infant beneath her mattress. Although she claimed that the death of the infant was accidental, the infant had suffered concussion to the head, fractures and lost blood through laceration, possibly caused by scissors or a stay. Although Gee was not found guilty of manslaughter or murder, she was found guilty of concealment. Her lawyer,
380:. Justice William Richmond commented that in such instances, judges and juries were often swayed by the 'seduction narrative' and held the man who had impregnated such women more culpable than the "abandoned" and isolated single women who gave often traumatic birth without the attendance of family or doctors in the new colony, so they would not convict a young woman of infanticide, murder or manslaughter in this context.
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an estimated cumulative 53,000 such infants perished in New
Zealand. Early New Zealand colonial statistics show that from 1872 onwards, more than 1,000 infants or small toddlers died each year from maladies and environmental factors summarised below, peaking at 1,995 such fatalities in 1883, although in 1872 (1,941 deaths), 1875 (1,816 deaths), 1886 (1,889 deaths), and 1899 (1,806 deaths), more than 1,800 infants died.
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extramarital affair while her husband was absent. She claimed that the infant was premature, but medical examination demonstrated that it was, in fact, a fully developed infant, had been born alive and died of suffocation. Alison Clark argues that one of the reasons that she was not treated as leniently as some of the other women cited in this section was that as a married woman, Spendlove "should have known better."
337:. The jury found the latter verdict was the case, although this was an unusual outcome, as courts usually did not find that mothers were mentally ill when they killed their newborn babies in this context However, at least three other women may have had diagnosable mental health concerns by current medical standards, given Clarke's assessment of newspaper accounts and court documents.
24:
275:. Her employer, William Coates, spotted the body of a newborn infant in the lavatory, with the subsequent revelation of the decomposed body of a female infant. Bates confessed to the apparent concealment of the infant when she was apprehended, but held that it had been stillborn when she gave birth alongside the
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domestic servant who gave birth at sixteen in secret in 1884, and threw the dead body of her infant down an ablutionary facility. Postmortem medical investigation revealed that it had been alive at its birth and had several superficial scratch wounds on its trunk, and cause of death was determined to
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distorted social relationships that may have either hampered or facilitated infanticide in the MÄori context. Given the ravages of higher incidence of poor housing, sanitation, malnutrition and infectious diseases, overall 19th-century MÄori infant mortality was probably higher than those of
European
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adjacent to the town. Mary Ann Swift, a dancer at the
Greenstone Pub, argued that had not been the case when she appeared as witness for the prosecution in this case, but her opinion was dismissed. She was found not guilty of either murder, manslaughter or concealment by the subsequent jury when the
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In the case of Mary Ann
Spendlove, concealment was judged to have occurred and she was acquitted of murder in 1866, and subsequently sentenced to two years imprisonment on the lesser charge. Spendlove had cast her baby's body adrift in Nelson Harbour in 1865. The infant had been conceived during an
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If the afflicted child was less than one month old at their time of death, there may have been premature birth. Without the complex life support technology available in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, this would often prove fatal due to the lack of sufficient infant respiratory development.
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In a 2012 volume on childbirth, pregnancy, infant mortality and infanticide in 19th-century New
Zealand, Alison Clarke places the deaths of newborn infants in colonial era 19th-century New Zealand in historical context. Over the four decades (1861-1899) for which statistical evidence is available,
395:
Sometimes, however, the balance of evidence pointed otherwise. In 1881, Dunedin coroner Thomas
Morland Hocken advised against keeping an infant in bed with its parents, as there could be problems with respiratory distress if the sleeping parents rolled over and inadvertently suffocated the baby in
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bank clerk and his family. In 1889, while boarding with a labourer's wife, this young woman gave birth and concealed the body of the infant in that woman's wardrobe. It was unclear whether the infant had been born alive or not in this instance and she was acquitted of concealment of birth. She had
221:
Altogether, Clarke identifies 98 cases of deliberate or intentional infant death that resulted in legal proceedings. Of these, 94 were undertaken against the mother of the deceased infant, while fourteen of these were also undertaken against the baby's father, grandparents or friends of the mother
229:
Originally, concealment arose in 17th century Anglo-Scottish law and sought to punish secret illegitimate pregnancies and childbirths in which mothers hid the bodies of the infants after birth or stillbirth. As noted above, not all mothers were successful in pleading concealment- the cases of
186:
In the case of MÄori infants, detailed statistics about infant health and mortality are not as readily available, due to their presence in remote and isolated rural dwellings inaccessible through roading and civic transport. Furthermore, there are social policy considerations that need to be
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stand out as exceptions to this general rule, although the defense was usually effective when it came to mitigated imprisonment or even acquittal, in some circumstances. Throughout the
British Empire in the 1890s, concern arose over the negligent standards of "care" offered by baby farmers.
344:'s Benevolent Society, an emergency housing facility for indigent women, their infants and children, but the baby only survived for three months before it was strangled. When Wilson appeared before the New Zealand Supreme Court, it was apparent that she was unfit to face charges of
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had their sentences commuted to the lesser charge of "concealment of birth" under the
Offences Against the Person Act 1867. However, the relative leniency extended only to mothers of concealed or hidden infants who subsequently died. Fathers, grandparents and "baby farmers" like
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amongst such Maori communities, although it also returned even during the early 20th century during times of economic hardship. In short, it is hard to assess the frequency and prevalence of MÄori infanticide and its permissibility during the 19th century.
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counterparts, however. Against infanticide, however, large family (whanau) structures were often available to care for any such child. While there are accounts of apparent infanticide, they often seem to be second-hand information from pakeha
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might be passed on to their newborn infants during prenatal development, while inadequately warm clothing might affect mortality for the newborn infants of the poor. Infant malnutrition might occur due to lack of awareness of the benefits of
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had taken her two earlier children into custodial care, and Weston was drinking heavily. The coronial inquest jury found Weston had a manslaughter case to answer, but Weston was later acquitted of manslaughter in the
Dunedin Supreme Court.
303:, claimed that the injuries to the dead infant were likely to have been accidental, and the Crown Prosecutor, Bryan Haggit, concurred. Gee was suspected of brutally killing her child and was not acquitted of concealment, however.
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newspaper that New Zealand society was responsible for the spate of infanticides in recent years of colonial history. He was referring to the contemporary case of Mary Davis (1889), in which that
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in contemporary medical practise. Bonnington was found not guilty of concealment through reason of insanity at the time of birth and although held for three months doing kitchen work at the
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and had no family available in New Zealand to assist her covert pregnancy and childbirth, thus leading to her slashing her newborn baby's throat and hiding the body under her mattress in
295:, Bridget Gee (1845-?) was initially described as a "good industrious girl and of a kind disposition" by her employer, Mrs Elizabeth Aikman, while employed as a maidservant at
109:
Other than that, newborn infants might also perish from sharing beds with their parents, who might roll over and smother them inadvertently during sleep; negligent parental
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question. However, in the case of Mary Ann Weston, there were grounds to suspect that the death of the infant may have been deliberate, as Dunedin's Industrial School
325:, an Auckland suburb. The presiding judge in that case, Chief Justice James Prendergast, suggested three options to the jurors- they could either find Smith guilty of
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domestic servant had given birth secretly, and as with Margaret Heads/Edwards had concealed the baby's body in her wardrobe. Davis had tied but not cut the infant's
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with his niece that subsequently resulted in her pregnancy and childbirth, leading to the killing of the newborn and his subsequent execution for murder in 1877.
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in 1875. However, she was found guilty of manslaughter, given the nature of her infant's fatal injuries, although only sentenced to two months imprisonment.
425:, and was acquitted of both murder and concealment of birth in the local Magistrate's Court. Tregear advocated for parenting education in this context.
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mother Rosina Smith initially fostered out her newborn infant, but then absconded with the two-month-old baby, before burying him in a market garden in
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in the United Kingdom, who were her historical contemporaries. Such trials also built up a volume of relevant case law within imperial jurisdictions.
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be haemorrhaging from the umbilical cord. Doctor Thomas Porter noted that Bonnington appeared to be experiencing what might be defined today as
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abuse and impaired standards of care; administration of alcohol to prevent infant cries; and the associated use of soporific drugs such as
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journalist referred to Heads/Edward's 'seduction" and argued that the man who had abandoned her was "truly" responsible for this tragedy.
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and custodial staff testified that she was unable to comprehend what was said to her, was violent and had to be restrained.
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Bronwyn Dalley: "Criminal Conversations: Infanticide, Gender and Sexuality in Nineteenth Century New Zealand" in
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infants. Resultantly, many New Zealand women who might otherwise have been sentenced to penal servitude or
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that states a Knowledge editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic.
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Jan Kociumbas: "Azaria's Antecedents: Stereotyping Infanticide in Nineteenth Century Australia:"
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Infanticide: Historical Perspectives on Child Murder and Concealment: 1550-2000
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in the 1920s were viewed as more culpable for the death of such infants.
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Born to A Changing World: Childbirth in Nineteenth Century New Zealand:
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Born to a Changing World: Childbirth in Nineteenth Century New Zealand:
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Te Iwi Maori: A New Zealand Population: Past, Present and Projected:
497:"She has no Baby Now to Call Her Mother: Infant Death" in A.Clarke:
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R.Sauer: "Infanticide and Abortion in Nineteenth Century Britain:"
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Massacre of the Innocents: Infanticide in Great Britain: 1800-1939:
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Te Iwi Maori: A New Zealand Population Past, Present and Projected:
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Dangerous Motherhood? Insanity and Childbirth in Victorian Britain:
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in the context of her daughter's death. She was admitted to the
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Lunatic Asylum, she was subsequently released and returned to
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was difficult to assess, especially for newborn indigenous
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personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay
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In 1878, Margaret Wilson gave birth to a daughter at
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In 1869, Annie Bates had been domestic servant for a
563:Auckland: Auckland University Press: 1991: 47, 100
511:Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand: 1861-1899
243:and others may have been viewed as equivalents to
684:29.10.1895; 13.11.1895; 18.11.1895; 19.11.1895
513:: Wellington: Government Printing Office: 1899
271:merchant and his family on the South Island's
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746:Auckland: Auckland University Press: 1991.
711:Auckland: Auckland University Press: 2000.
700:Wellington: Bridget Williams Books: 2012.
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306:Similarly, Margaret Collins (1854-?) was
64:Learn how and when to remove this message
547:Wellington: Bridget Williams Books: 2012
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501:Wellington: Bridget Williams Books: 2012
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739:Palgrave: Macmillan: Basingstoke: 2004.
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77:Infanticide in 19th-century New Zealand
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779:19th-century murders in New Zealand
753:London: Routledge Kegan Paul: 1986.
680:E.Tregear: Letters to the Editor:
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716:Minnie Dean: Her Life and Crimes:
671:31 December 1881: 10 January 1882
465:Capital punishment in New Zealand
359:Fanny Bonnington (1868-?) was a
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799:Law enforcement in New Zealand
707:and Deborah Montgomerie (eds)
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460:Sarah-Jane and Anna Flannagan
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127:sexually transmitted diseases
804:Child welfare in New Zealand
789:Child murder in New Zealand
774:19th century in New Zealand
725:: Ashgate: Aldershot: 2002.
125:and single pregnant women,
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794:Cultural aspects of death
475:Frances Lydia Alice Knorr
249:Frances Lydia Alice Knorr
718:Penguin: Auckland: 1994.
450:Lillian Fanny Jane Hobbs
187:considered, as British
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44:by rewriting it in an
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280:case came to trial.
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370:Alzheimer's disease
732:13: 2001: 138-160.
721:Mark Jackson (ed)
709:The Gendered Kiwi:
350:Sunnyside Hospital
85:capital punishment
46:encyclopedic style
33:is written like a
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445:Caroline Whitting
255:in Australia, or
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206:cannibalism
189:colonialism
123:prostitutes
90:Minnie Dean
768:Categories
742:Ian Pool:
659:31.08.1889
647:21.10.1884
635:15.06.1878
623:08.10.1884
611:15.04.1875
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587:07.02.1872
575:14.01.1870
486:References
419:Wellington
411:Wellington
374:Wellington
308:illiterate
277:Grey River
273:West Coast
152:diphtheria
136:bronchitis
119:chlorodyne
100:Background
398:orphanage
317:In 1884,
269:Greymouth
164:gastritis
160:enteritis
156:diarrhoea
144:influenza
140:pneumonia
54:July 2017
557:Ian Pool
429:See also
378:Blenheim
361:Blenheim
335:insanity
319:Auckland
210:homicide
172:syphilis
115:laudanum
385:Dunedin
323:Parnell
297:Dunedin
293:Ireland
263:History
202:slavery
198:slavery
111:alcohol
40:Please
346:murder
342:Timaru
327:murder
312:Milton
289:Galway
224:incest
287:From
168:ileus
81:MÄori
247:and
234:and
208:and
174:and
117:and
413:'s
352:in
333:or
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