George Shepley was a confectioner who had a shop on Fargate, Sheffield around Easter of 1882. In his employment were three sisters called Bathia, Janet and Ada Machin, who all worked as domestic servants for him and his wife. Around that time, George’s wife Emma had spoken to him of her suspicions that the twenty two year old Bathia had recently put on weight and she suspected her of being pregnant. She admitted to her husband that she had spoken to the girl, but Bathia had convinced her mistress that her suspicions were groundless and the matter was dismissed for the time being. However Mrs Shepley was not convinced.
On 31 May the three sisters went to bed at the usual time in the bedroom they all shared. Bathia shared a bed with Ada and Janet slept in another bed in the same room. Nothing unusual was heard throughout the night, apart from Janet waking and hearing Bathia was being sick in the bathroom around 1.30 am. Nevertheless, Mrs Shepley was still suspicious and so on 1 June she sent for surgeon Mr F. Woolhouse and asked him to examine the girl. Sure enough he found enough evidence that Bathia had recently been confined of a child. After the surgeon left the room, Mrs Shepley asked her servant what had become of the baby and the prisoner told her that it had been born dead and she had buried it in the garden.
A search was made and the little body was quickly found, wrapped in an apron made of course sacking. Angry as she was at being deceived, Mrs Shepley allowed Bathia to stay at the confectioners until she had completely recovered, before being sent to Fir Vale Workhouse. Meanwhile an inquest on the child’s body was arranged by Coroner, Mr D Wightman to be held at the workhouse on 5 June 1882. However, as Bathia had still not recovered and was unable to attend, just formal evidence was taken. Surgeon Mr Woolhouse was asked to undertake a post mortem by the coroner before the inquest was adjourned to Tuesday 4 July.
Thankfully Bathia had completely recovered and was at the inquest in the custody of Acting Detective Jackson of the Sheffield Police Force. The first witness was the confectioner himself and Mr Shepley told the jury that the girl had worked for him for a year, as had her sisters Janet and Ada. He said that following the surgeons revelation that Bathia had recently given birth, he and the surgeon had searched all the cupboards and outbuildings attached to the property on Fargate. Both he and Mr Woolhouse described the finding of the body of the child in the ashpit.
Mr Woolhouse then spoke about the post mortem and how he had found that a wad of tissue had been pushed down into the child’s throat. He stated that in appearance the female child looked full term and well developed and there were signs that there had been air in the lungs after birth. He concluded that its death was due to suffocation caused by the tissue paper in the throat. Mrs Emma Shepley also gave evidence that over the past year she had suspected the girl had been pregnant, but when she tasked her with it, Bathia denied it twice. She repeated how she had sent for Mr Woolhouse and he discovered that Bathia had given birth recently.
At the conclusion of the inquest Mr Wightman summed up for the jury, who after a short deliberation brought in a verdict of wilful murder against Bathia Machin. He told the prisoner:
‘Bathia Machin the jury have returned a verdict of wilful murder against you. It is therefore my duty to commit you to take your trial on that charge’
The prisoner was weeping as she was escorted into a police cell at the conclusion of the inquest.
Accordingly Bathia Machin was brought before judge Mr Justice Cave in the Crown Court of the Leeds Assizes on Monday 31 July 1882. Thankfully she was defended by Mr Lawrence Gane. Mr Barker prosecuted the case and he gave details to the court. He stated that the main evidence against the prisoner was the examination by the doctor and the fact that the child had been wrapped in an apron which had been identified as the property of the prisoner. Mr Woolhouse once again repeated his evidence of the post mortem and finding the tissue in the child’s throat.
He was then cross-examined by the judge who asked him if he was sure that the piece of paper in the throat was the cause of death. However Mr Woolhouse shook his head and said that he could not say that it was the definitive cause of death. Mr Justice Cave immediately stated that after that comment that he did not see how the capital charge of murder could therefore be maintained. When the prosecution said that would be a question for the jury to decide, his lordship disagreed. He told Mr Barker ‘how can they say, not being persons of scientific skill, when the medical man himself cannot say so? They must be guided by the scientific evidence.’
The judge pointed out that to find the prisoner guilty, the jury have to have clear evidence, not only in order to prove that death was caused by the paper in the throat, but also that it was the prisoner who had put it there. Mr Barker admitted that was so and that he would withdraw the capital charge and proceed with a case of concealment of birth. Mr Gane’s line of defence was that there was no evidence to show that Bathia intended to conceal the birth from her mistress. When asked outright, she had immediately admitted giving birth without any hesitation. Nevertheless the jury found Bathia Machin guilty of concealing the birth. Mr Justice Cave summed up before sentencing the prisoner to twelve months imprisonment with hard labour.