In 1899 a young, professional twenty-nine year old nurse called Frances Ruth Edwards was employed at a private nursing home in Scarborough. It seems that prior to this appointment she had much experience working in a nursing capacity, as previously she had worked at the South Yorkshire Asylum at Wadsley, where she lived. Before that she had worked at another nursing home at Huddersfield, where she had also tried to commit suicide. It seems that Ruth’s roots were in Australia, where her father still lived although she had few friends in Sheffield. However, in July of that year when her employer Louisa Ann Penty at Scarborough found out that Frances had stolen some money, she was asked to leave.

Reluctantly the nurse caught the 12.25 train to York, prior to catching a second train which would take her back to Sheffield. Another passenger, a woman called Ellen Hutchinson was on the same train. During the journey she saw the young woman drink something from a small glass before she fell from her seat around five minutes later. Ellen lifted Frances into her arms and held her like that until the train drew into Malton station. Only as she held the woman did she see the carbolic acid bottle and a small glass on the seat of the train. As the train drew to a stop, she pulled the communication cord to summon help but, according to this witness it never rang.

Accordingly, an inquest was held on Frances Edwards by the Coroner for the East Midlands, Mr Luke White at Malton Railway Station on Saturday 8 July 1899. The first witness was Mrs Penty, who explained the circumstances of the deceased woman leaving her employ. When the second witness was shown the glass bottle and glass, Ellen Hutchinson identified them as the same ones she had seen on the seat of the train. Then she described how she had pulled the cord, but got no response, which caused something of a stir at the inquest. One member of the jury asked her if she had pulled the cord hard and she replied that she had.

Mr Thompson, the station master at Malton was in attendance and was asked if the cord was tested regularly. He assured the coroner that it had been tested before the train left Scarborough and therefore it should have been working. His statement was backed up by railway porter Samuel Wood. After hearing from the witnesses, it was needless to say the verdict of the jury was that Frances Ruth Edwards had committed suicide ‘by carbolic acid poisoning whilst suffering from temporary insanity.’ Sadly the second case of women taking such a poison was again heard that same month. On Friday 28 July 1899 an inquest was held at the Golden Ball Inn at Attercliffe, Sheffield.

It seems that another woman, forty-six year old Sarah Gilham had died two days earlier from carbolic acid poisoning. Her husband, Hiram stated that his wife had been very depressed as she had suffered from rheumatism in her hands and feet for some time. He said that she had also been prone to complaining of pains in her head. Hiram told the coroner that on many occasion Sarah had expressed the wish to die and this had been exacerbated by the fact that she had let her son have goods on account from a little shop she ran. However he had not paid her back, which had worried her considerably. On the night of Wednesday 26 July Hiram said he was in the shop when he saw her drinking something from a small bottle.

Immediately he knocked it out of her hand and sent for a surgeon Dr Blythe, but he was too late to save his wife and Sarah Gilham died at a quarter-past midnight. The couple’s daughter confirmed his account and the same tragic verdict was returned. The third and final case of the ingestion of carbolic acid is perhaps the most poignant happened in Meersbrook, Sheffield in October of the same year. The woman concerned was twenty-four year old Emma Black who, the previous week had left her husband and gone back to live with her parents at Wincobank. She was said to be very depressed in spirits, so her parents kept a close eye on her.

Despite their close attentions, Emma managed to find some carbolic acid on the morning of Sunday 15 October. She took it up to her bedroom whilst the rest of the family were downstairs. Emma took a determined drink, but finding it burned her throat, threw the bottle across the room. She screamed out for her mother who ran upstairs and tried to make her daughter vomit, whilst her father ran to fetch Dr Toyne of Wincobank. He tried several antidotes, but without any effect and subsequently Emma died about an hour and a half later.

What makes this particular case more unfortunate was that Emma was about to become a mother!