DKL
03-18-2012, 05:29 PM
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A Charred Concealment
Late in the evening of September 20 1895, the officers of E Division received some suspicious information regarding a woman living at 68 Leyden Street in Kirkdale. Ann Burke was the wife of a nautical fireman, but he was working away from home. Neighbours of Mrs Burke had witnessed a disturbing change in her behaviour of late and had come to notice how the once relatively normal wife and mother had started acting in a most extraordinary and often intoxicated manner. Worried residents informed police that Mrs Burke’s recent outbursts of eccentricity may be causing harm to her young children who lived with her inside the increasingly wretched-looking house.
At about nine o’clock Detective Sergeant Bailey in the company of Detective Inspector Kneale arrived at the Leyden Street property and were at once bemused by a most unusual scene before them. The windows of the address reflected a very strong bright light as if the whole interior room was ablaze. They hammered hard on the front door demanding immediate access from its inhabitants.
“You cannot come in!” cried Ann defensively through the door. At this one of the officers left in haste to summon assistance and he soon returned with two burley constables. They would have access in no time. With the additional manpower the door was charged down causing a ghastly winter chill to sweep forth through the lower rooms of the house.
The commotion within soon attracted a curious crowd and a large number of locals gathered outside the property to discover the cause of the disturbance. Many were anticipating something tragic with many women remarking that Mrs Burke had not been quite right lately.
Local gossips told a tale of how only a fortnight ago, Mrs Burke had been quite far advanced in pregnancy and had apparently uttered certain remarks which had undoubtedly aroused some suspicions surrounding the upcoming birth in the neighbourhood.
Indoors the sight which was revealed to the officers was of a most putrid and vile nature. The forty-year-old Ann was standing in the middle of the room, a room so unfurnished and bare it was a wonder how any family could possibly survive. Her hair had fallen about her neck in a crazed fashion and her eyes gleamed with a look of pure hate and frenzy. In an instant Mrs Burke began to spit out an evil torrent of incomprehensible expletives and insults at the approaching police and wildly attempted to obstruct their entry into the room with all her being.
This whole terrifying spectacle was witnessed by the woman’s eldest daughter. The eight-year-old sat crying as she watched her mother’s woefully insane performance play out before her frightened child eyes.
The initial cause of alarm the unease, the roaring fire, was thankfully confined to its proper place, but only just. The bright orange flames of the fire flew high, half way up the blackened brick chimney breast. From this inferno stemmed a nauseating stench of rotting flesh and within the scorching coals a constable spotted something with a peculiar outline. He sprang towards it but was scratched, grabbed and cursed by Mrs Burke who was adamant that the officer was to stay well away. She was vehemently restrained by his colleagues as the constable headed towards the searing heat to investigate this bizarre smouldering entity.
A gasp of horror immediately passed the constable’s lips as without doubt, the sad object in the hearth was that of a burning body of a deceased child. Without thinking he reached into the fire and placed his hands around the infant’s slightly protruding head. This endeavour proved too hot to handle and he recoiled back in instant pain. The constable next obtained a nearby poker and shovel and with great care he was able to manoeuvre the roasting carcass out onto the wooden floorboards.
The body was indeed that of a newly-born child, charred and burned beyond any proper recognition. The trunk and legs had been almost entirely consumed, but the arms, legs and chest were sufficiently distinguishable to be that of a very young infant. The body was placed in a respectable position before being taken to the detective’s office and finally the Prince’s mortuary.
Ann was charged with concealing the birth of a child before being led away to the confines of the station.
“I did it. I put it in the fire just before you came in. I must ask you for mercy” she confessed with a fearful intensity.
The strict examination she was soon forced to undergo seemed to calm her down and for the most part Mrs Burke told a story with credible coherency. She related to police that the child had been born dead and that she had been attended to by a doctor and nurse from Boundary Street. She gave the names of both attendees but on investigation these people denied any knowledge of Mrs Burke. Her daughter was also questioned but the girl could offer no explanation why as to her mother’s erratic behaviour that evening.
Later, Mrs Burke was also formally charged with the murder of her baby.
“I suppose I shall have to suffer for what I have done” replied Ann knowingly. Her three remaining children were taken to a shelter in Islington to be temporarily cared for by appropriate adults.
At the Dale Street police court on September 20, Ann Burke faced stipendiary magistrate Mr Stewart charged with the concealment of the birth of her child by secretly disposing of the body. The accused was a fairly tall woman with a pale and drawn face with a mass of long messy hair. Her outlandish appearance was completed by a long black cloak in which she was wrapped tight around her body for some sort of material comfort.
After serious consideration by jurymen, Ann was found guilty and sent to the Assizes to face the higher court. It was there on November 20 that the prisoner was found not guilty of the charge against her. Mr Connell on Mrs Burke’s behalf successfully argued that the charge of concealment was most unfounded. I had been a proven fact that Ann had happily informed neighbours of her motherly condition and it was well known that she was expecting. There was no concealment in this case, and there was no way of knowing whether the child in question was born dead. Without evidence to the contrary Mr Connell urged the court to find his client innocent.
Of course, the manner in which the baby’s body was dealt with was deeply unsettling and was taken as an obvious sign that Mrs Burke was of a deeply unsound mind. The wise members of the jury consulted and acquitted the prisoner completely and she was discharged. It is presumed Mrs Burke was ordered to undertake the strictest of psychiatric examinations if not for herself, but for the sake of her three remaining children back at 68 Leyden Street.
More... (http://danielklongman.tumblr.com/post/19371496817)
A Charred Concealment
Late in the evening of September 20 1895, the officers of E Division received some suspicious information regarding a woman living at 68 Leyden Street in Kirkdale. Ann Burke was the wife of a nautical fireman, but he was working away from home. Neighbours of Mrs Burke had witnessed a disturbing change in her behaviour of late and had come to notice how the once relatively normal wife and mother had started acting in a most extraordinary and often intoxicated manner. Worried residents informed police that Mrs Burke’s recent outbursts of eccentricity may be causing harm to her young children who lived with her inside the increasingly wretched-looking house.
At about nine o’clock Detective Sergeant Bailey in the company of Detective Inspector Kneale arrived at the Leyden Street property and were at once bemused by a most unusual scene before them. The windows of the address reflected a very strong bright light as if the whole interior room was ablaze. They hammered hard on the front door demanding immediate access from its inhabitants.
“You cannot come in!” cried Ann defensively through the door. At this one of the officers left in haste to summon assistance and he soon returned with two burley constables. They would have access in no time. With the additional manpower the door was charged down causing a ghastly winter chill to sweep forth through the lower rooms of the house.
The commotion within soon attracted a curious crowd and a large number of locals gathered outside the property to discover the cause of the disturbance. Many were anticipating something tragic with many women remarking that Mrs Burke had not been quite right lately.
Local gossips told a tale of how only a fortnight ago, Mrs Burke had been quite far advanced in pregnancy and had apparently uttered certain remarks which had undoubtedly aroused some suspicions surrounding the upcoming birth in the neighbourhood.
Indoors the sight which was revealed to the officers was of a most putrid and vile nature. The forty-year-old Ann was standing in the middle of the room, a room so unfurnished and bare it was a wonder how any family could possibly survive. Her hair had fallen about her neck in a crazed fashion and her eyes gleamed with a look of pure hate and frenzy. In an instant Mrs Burke began to spit out an evil torrent of incomprehensible expletives and insults at the approaching police and wildly attempted to obstruct their entry into the room with all her being.
This whole terrifying spectacle was witnessed by the woman’s eldest daughter. The eight-year-old sat crying as she watched her mother’s woefully insane performance play out before her frightened child eyes.
The initial cause of alarm the unease, the roaring fire, was thankfully confined to its proper place, but only just. The bright orange flames of the fire flew high, half way up the blackened brick chimney breast. From this inferno stemmed a nauseating stench of rotting flesh and within the scorching coals a constable spotted something with a peculiar outline. He sprang towards it but was scratched, grabbed and cursed by Mrs Burke who was adamant that the officer was to stay well away. She was vehemently restrained by his colleagues as the constable headed towards the searing heat to investigate this bizarre smouldering entity.
A gasp of horror immediately passed the constable’s lips as without doubt, the sad object in the hearth was that of a burning body of a deceased child. Without thinking he reached into the fire and placed his hands around the infant’s slightly protruding head. This endeavour proved too hot to handle and he recoiled back in instant pain. The constable next obtained a nearby poker and shovel and with great care he was able to manoeuvre the roasting carcass out onto the wooden floorboards.
The body was indeed that of a newly-born child, charred and burned beyond any proper recognition. The trunk and legs had been almost entirely consumed, but the arms, legs and chest were sufficiently distinguishable to be that of a very young infant. The body was placed in a respectable position before being taken to the detective’s office and finally the Prince’s mortuary.
Ann was charged with concealing the birth of a child before being led away to the confines of the station.
“I did it. I put it in the fire just before you came in. I must ask you for mercy” she confessed with a fearful intensity.
The strict examination she was soon forced to undergo seemed to calm her down and for the most part Mrs Burke told a story with credible coherency. She related to police that the child had been born dead and that she had been attended to by a doctor and nurse from Boundary Street. She gave the names of both attendees but on investigation these people denied any knowledge of Mrs Burke. Her daughter was also questioned but the girl could offer no explanation why as to her mother’s erratic behaviour that evening.
Later, Mrs Burke was also formally charged with the murder of her baby.
“I suppose I shall have to suffer for what I have done” replied Ann knowingly. Her three remaining children were taken to a shelter in Islington to be temporarily cared for by appropriate adults.
At the Dale Street police court on September 20, Ann Burke faced stipendiary magistrate Mr Stewart charged with the concealment of the birth of her child by secretly disposing of the body. The accused was a fairly tall woman with a pale and drawn face with a mass of long messy hair. Her outlandish appearance was completed by a long black cloak in which she was wrapped tight around her body for some sort of material comfort.
After serious consideration by jurymen, Ann was found guilty and sent to the Assizes to face the higher court. It was there on November 20 that the prisoner was found not guilty of the charge against her. Mr Connell on Mrs Burke’s behalf successfully argued that the charge of concealment was most unfounded. I had been a proven fact that Ann had happily informed neighbours of her motherly condition and it was well known that she was expecting. There was no concealment in this case, and there was no way of knowing whether the child in question was born dead. Without evidence to the contrary Mr Connell urged the court to find his client innocent.
Of course, the manner in which the baby’s body was dealt with was deeply unsettling and was taken as an obvious sign that Mrs Burke was of a deeply unsound mind. The wise members of the jury consulted and acquitted the prisoner completely and she was discharged. It is presumed Mrs Burke was ordered to undertake the strictest of psychiatric examinations if not for herself, but for the sake of her three remaining children back at 68 Leyden Street.
More... (http://danielklongman.tumblr.com/post/19371496817)