In September of 1863 Emma Cutler was aged just twenty two when she started work as a domestic servant for a farmer at Kilnhurst, called Waterhouse. She had been deserted by her husband, and whether she knew she was pregnant at the time she took the job, remains to be seen. However by the beginning of 1864 Emma was beginning to show, and when Mrs Waterhouse charged her with being pregnant the girl denied it, telling her mistress that she had developed dropsy. Unfortunately by Saturday 19 March she could no longer hide her widening waistline, and by that time Mrs Waterhouse had enough and gave her notice. A few days later Emma Cutler disappeared.

When her employer noted that the domestic servant wasn’t in the house, her bedroom was searched. Mrs Waterhouse felt vindicated to find unmistakable evidence that proved that Emma had recently given birth in that very room. Information was given to the Rotherham police and on Wednesday 23 March she was shortly afterwards found to be back at her parents home at Worksop. Emma was quickly arrested by Police Sergeant Horne. In reply to a charge that she had murdered her child, Emma told him that the child had been born dead. When the sergeant asked her how she knew the baby was dead, she told him that it had not cried when it was born.

Emma then asked Sgt. Horne if he wanted to know where the body was, and when he replied in the affirmative, she told him that she had placed the baby in an unused attic at her employer’s house. Emma had hoped that the little body would never be discovered. The attic room, was carefully examined, and the body of a female child was found hidden underneath some clothing in an old box. It was taken to the police office in Rotherham, and an inquest was arranged for Thursday 24 March 1864 at the Rotherham Court House, by deputy coroner Mr W Woodhead Esq. The enquiry was merely a preliminary, and evidence was simply given of Emma Cutler’s arrest before it was adjourned for a week.

In the meantime the coroner requested that a post mortem be carried out on the little body by Dr Henry Darwin, the house surgeon at the Rotherham Dispensary. Subsequently Emma was brought before magistrates, on Monday 28 March, where the prisoner was simply remanded for a week. When the inquest was resumed, Dr Darwin stated that he had examined Emma and found that she had recently given birth to a child. She had told him that on the day in question she was suddenly taken ill, and was quite unable to help herself. The child at its birth, fell on the floor and did not make a sound and so the prisoner believed that it was dead.

The surgeon stated that on undertaking the post mortem, he found congestion in the child’s brain and membranes which might have happened by falling on the floor. He said that the child was full term and had died from haemorrhage and exposure combined with the want of medical assistance at the time of its birth. Dr Darwin then gave devastating evidence which pointed towards Emma’s guilt. He declared that he had examined the child’s lungs and found air in them, which proved that the child had taken a breath after it had been born. He therefore told that court, that in his opinion the child had lived a separate existence from its mother, and therefore it could not have been born dead.

Emma was not only undefended in the inquest, but was so distraught throughout the hearing of the evidence, that she wept bitterly. Consequently when the prisoner was brought before the magistrates on Monday 4 April, she offered no defence. The evidence from the coroners inquest was read out and Emma Cutler was found guilty and committed to take her trial at the next York assizes. The prisoner was brought before the very first Assizes to be held at Leeds, at the Town Hall on Saturday 13 August. She was brought before the judge, Mr Justice Keating on the lesser charge of concealment of birth. Nevertheless once again the poor girl was undefended, although she was prosecuted by a very skilful advocate, Mr Vernon Blackburn.

The only defence against such a charge was if a woman could prove that they had not actually tried to conceal the birth, but had in fact made preparations for it. As mitigation for her actions therefore, Emma told the court that she had made some arrangements for the birth of the child, and had bought the necessary baby linen. She claimed that her intention had been to leave her employers house immediately after she had been given her notice, then the baby would have been delivered at her parents house at Worksop. But before she was able to leave, she had gone into labour and the baby had been born. Acting out of sheer panic and well aware that she had denied the fact that she was pregnant at all to Mr and Mrs Waterhouse, she left the house in shame after hiding the baby’s body.

However her employer denied this statement when she gave her own evidence. Mrs Waterhouse told the judge that the prisoner had, with her permission, stayed on for several days after the expiry of her notice. Trials of these kinds were very frightening to an undefended young girl, and being faced with skilful questions from the prosecution and the judge would have been very distressing to an ignorant girl. It was noted that throughout the trial Emma was reported as being in such distress and so terrified, that during the judges charge to the jury, she had actually fainted. Thankfully, the prisoner he had been quickly attended to by the York prison matron. She gave the prisoner some smelling salts and Emma soon recovered.

Nevertheless the jury found her guilty, although the judge stated that the case was one ‘entirely devoid of any aggravation’. He must have felt some sympathy for the stricken girl though, as he sentenced Emma to be imprisoned for just one month with hard labour. She was lucky. Two more similar cases were tried by the same judge on the same day, at the same Assizes. The next case of concealment was one from Arksey near Doncaster and the prisoner, a twenty two year old girl called Jane Tomlinson was sentenced to three months imprisonment. The second case was from South Kirby near Wakefield and involved a 19 year old girl called Faith Abbott. Justice Keating admitted that the case was a sad one, however in his summing up told the prisoner that nevertheless she had broken the law, and Faith was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment with hard labour.

Adapted From ‘Rotherham Crimes: Book Two’ by Margaret Drinkall (2016) A collection of twenty seven weird and terrible crimes from Amazon. Kindle edition: £2.49 or Paperback: £7.99