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English murder victim

Fanny Adams (30 April 1859 – 24 August 1867) was an eight year old English girl, who was murdered by a solicitor's clerk, Frederick Baker, in Alton, Hampshire, in 1867. Her murder was extraordinarily brutal and caused a national outcry in the United Kingdom. Baker abducted Adams and took her into a hop garden near her home, where he killed and dismembered her; some parts of her body were never found. Investigation suggested that two small knives were used for the murder, but it was later ruled they would have been insufficient to carry out the crime and that another weapon must have been used.

Fanny Adams (born 30 April 1859) and her family lived in Tanhouse Lane, on the northern side of Alton, a market town in Hampshire, England. The 1861 census shows that Fanny lived with her father and five siblings. The family were apparently locally rooted; a George Adams and his wife Ann, believed to have been Fanny's grandparents, lived next door. Fanny was described as being a "tall, comely and intelligent girl". She appeared older than her real age of eight and was known locally for her lively and cheerful disposition. Fanny's best friend, Minnie Warner, was the same age and lived next door in Tanhouse Lane. The town of Alton was renowned for its plentiful supply of hops, which led to many breweries opening in the town and made hop picking an integral part of its economy until the mid 20th century. To the northern end of Tanhouse Lane lies Flood Meadow and the surrounding River Wey, When George was told the details he returned home to take his loaded shotgun and set out to look for the culprit, but neighbours stopped him and instead sat with him through the night. The next day hundreds of people visited the hop garden to help collect Fanny's scattered remains. The police tried, unsuccessfully, to find the murder weapons, as they suspected that small knives were used to commit the crime. It is likely that the crowd of searchers had inadvertently trampled down any clues left on the ground. They did, however, recover all of Fanny's cut clothing, scattered around the field, with the exception of her hat. Most of Fanny's body parts were collected on that day, but an arm, foot, and intestines were not found until the next morning. One foot was still in a shoe, and still clutched in one hand were the two halfpence that Baker had given to Fanny. The breast bone was never found. Fanny's remains were taken to the doctor's surgery, located in Amery Street, for a post mortem to be carried out. The surgery was later converted to a public house, 'Ye Old Leathern Bottle' and is now a private residence. Fanny's body parts were sewn together, only yards away from her home. From there officers of Hampshire Constabulary took them to the local police station. A stone which still had flesh and hair sticking to it was handed in to the police as evidence, as they thought it may have been the actual murder weapon.

That evening, police superintendent William Cheyney hurried from the police station to Flood Meadow, where he was met by several people, who then led him to the Leathern Bottle. Upon arrival, the proprietor of the house handed Cheyney a bundle labeled "portions of a child" and, with the help of some of his officers, Cheyney organised a search to trace the missing body parts. Hearing that Baker had been seen with the children prior to Fanny's disappearance, Cheyney retraced his steps through the town and located Baker's place of work. Arriving at the solicitor's office at 9:00 pm, he found Baker still at work, an hour later than usual. Baker protested, claiming his innocence, despite being informed that he was the only suspect. Cheyney had no alternative but to arrest Baker on suspicion of murder. By this time, a large and agitated crowd had gathered outside the solicitor's office, forcing the police to smuggle Baker out the back door for fear that the mob would kill him. When searched at the police station, Baker was found to be in possession of two unstained small knives. Spots of blood were observed on both wristbands of his shirt, and his trousers had been soaked to conceal the bloodstains. After being questioned about his appearance, Baker responded: "Well, I don't see a scratch or cut on my hands to account for the blood". Baker's conduct during his interrogation was described as cool and collected. Some time after the arrest, Cheyney backtracked to Baker's desk in the solicitor's office, and discovered a diary among some legal papers. An entry had been made for Saturday 24 August 1867 which recorded: "Killed a young girl. It was fine and hot". The Hampshire Chronicle reported that the hop garden had been cleared on 21 September, but nothing connected with the murder had been found. It also added that Baker remained completely unfazed with the murder, and did not exhibit any symptoms of insanity or remorse. Further confusion was added when Baker stated that he was intoxicated after seeing the children; all evidence and witnesses rejected his claim. Baker was transferred to Winchester Prison on 19 October.

Subsequent investigations from Hampshire Constabulary continued until October. It was around this time when a young boy, whose parents lived close to the Adams family, came forward as an eyewitness. The boy testified that he saw Baker emerge from the hop garden at about 2:00 pm on the day Fanny was murdered, with his hands and clothes saturated with blood. Baker then reportedly stooped down to the river and calmly wiped himself with a handkerchief, after which he put a small knife and another unidentified object in his jacket pocket. The boy had related this story to his mother at that time, but she had not told anyone until she spoke out in a pub two months later. The police searched the whole area for sixteen days, but no other weapons were found. Cheyney requested an immediate forensic test in late October. All recovered clothing, and the two knives taken from Baker at the time of his arrest, were sent to Professor A. S. Taylor at Guy's Hospital in London, where they received the most detailed tests possible for the period. After examining the items over the coming weeks, Taylor was able to confirm that the blood on the knives was human. One of the small knives contained a small amount of coagulated blood, although none was on the handle. Under cross examination, Taylor stated he would have expected more blood on the knives and signs of rust if they had been washed. The quantity of blood found, however, was surprisingly small. However, Taylor opined that an inexperienced person armed with a proper weapon could dismember a body in about half an hour — blood would still run but would not have spurted from the body. Further examination of Baker's clothes uncovered some small traces of diluted blood in some parts of his waistcoat, trousers and stockings. The wristbands of his shirt had been folded back and diluted blood stained the folds. There was no sign of rape on the body. Dr Lewis Leslie from Alton thought Fanny's ultimate cause of death was probably by a blow to the head with a stone. Leslie speculated that a larger instrument had to have been used to cut the body, and also added that dismemberment was achieved in less than an hour. Forensics indicated that cuts had been made when the body was still warm, and that Fanny had not only been cut but also hacked and torn to pieces. The time it had taken Baker to cut the body into so many pieces most likely gave him the opportunity to choose his positioning so that he might not necessarily be covered in blood. The forensic staff in London concluded that the small knives found in Baker's possession would not have been capable of severing parts of Fanny's body, so another weapon had to have been used. Meanwhile, in Winchester Prison, Baker was said to be talkative to the wardens and especially the chaplain. He still insisted that his conscience was clear with regard to the murder and wondered who the guilty party was, hoping that "he would be found." Baker ate and slept well, which was in contrast to his time in Alton's prison, where he was reportedly disturbed in his sleep and physically shuddered at the sight of meat.

English law at the time required that in the case of sudden death, an immediate inquest had to be held under the jurisdiction of a coroner. In the case of Fanny Adams' inquest, Deputy County Coroner Robert Harfield was in charge of the proceedings which were held at the Dukes Head Inn (later re named the George) in Alton on 27 August 1867. Cheyney was in attendance along with acting Chief Constable Superintendent Everitt, who was representing Hampshire Constabulary. Coincidentally, the pub where the initial trials were held was very close to the police station, which is now the site of a fire station. The first to give evidence was Minnie Warner, who told the jury that Baker had given her money to run down The Hollow with Fanny and into a nearby field while he picked blackberries for them. She was unable to identify Baker but correctly described what he was wearing when he murdered Fanny. The next to testify was Fanny's mother, Harriet, who recalled that she met Baker at the gate to the hop garden and that he was headed towards the road which led to Basingstoke. It was there Minnie identified Baker as the man who gave her the pennies. Baker contradicted Minnie at the time by saying "no, three halfpence". When asked by Harriet to give his name, Baker refused but told her where he could be found. Mrs Gardner, who had accompanied Harriet to search for the missing girl, gave evidence next. She was able to identify Baker and told the jury that he appeared to be very relaxed at the time she saw him. After asking him if he had seen the missing child and enquiring why he had given her money, Mrs Gardner told Harriet that she should "give him in charge to the police," adding, "The reason why I speak so is that an old gentleman has been giving halfpence to the children for no good purpose, and I thought you were of the same sort." After being asked again of Fanny's whereabouts, Baker said that he left her at the gate to play. The coroner asked Baker if he wanted to cross question the witness, but he declined. The inquest concluded that Baker was responsible for the murder of Fanny Adams, and he was committed to Winchester gaol to await trial. The trial took place at Winchester on 5 December. The defence contested Minnie's identification of Baker and claimed the knives found were too small for the crime anyway. They also argued insanity: Baker's father had been violent, a cousin had been in asylums, his sister had died of a brain fever and he himself had attempted suicide after a love affair. The defence also argued that the diary entry was typical of the "epileptic or formal way of entry" that the defendant used and that the absence of a comma after the word "killed" did not render the entry a confession. Justice Mellor invited the jury to consider a verdict of not responsible by reason of insanity, but they returned a guilty verdict after just fifteen minutes. On 24 December, Christmas Eve, Baker was hanged outside Winchester Prison. The crime had become notorious and a crowd of 5,000 attended the execution. This was the last public execution held at that prison. Before his death, Baker wrote to the Adamses expressing his sorrow for what he had done "in an unguarded hour" and seeking their forgiveness. Following his execution, Baker's death mask was made, and the following year his full figure was placed as an exhibit in the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussauds famous waxworks in London. Fanny was buried in Alton cemetery. The headstone, erected by voluntary subscription, reads:

In 1869, new rations of tinned mutton were introduced for British seamen. They were unimpressed by it, and suggested it might be the butchered remains of Fanny Adams. "Fanny Adams" became slang for mediocre mutton, stew, scarce leftovers and then anything worthless. The large tins the mutton was delivered in doubled as mess tins. These or cooking pots are still known as Fannys. By the mid 20th century, many working class men were pretending to their children and social superiors that their own favoured expression, "sweet F. A. ", stood for "sweet Fanny Adams" with its commonplace meaning of total inaction or downtime, while they and their peers used that expression among themselves to mean "sweet fuck all". Sweet Fanny Adams has lingered as a euphemism for that expletive.