88. ROSE MAYERSBETH(27), Unlawfully neglecting Ethel Rose Mayersbeth and causing injury to her health.
MR. HUTTON Prosecuted.
ELIZA REED. I am the wife of Alfred Reed, of 6, High Street, Lambeth, he is the landlord and we occupy the house - the prisoner and her husband and six children occupied two rooms on the first floor back - they came about two years ago - her husband does not live there now - he left about four months ago - I heard him complain to the prisoner that she was very dirty - the eldest child is about 10 - Ethel Rose was apparently about two years old - the mother looked after the children after the father left, there was no one else to look after them - she told me that her husband allowed her 27s. 6d. a week, out of which, she had to pay 7s. 6d. rent - I did not see him give her clothes for the children, but I have seen the clothes on the children and have heard her say, "Your father has bought them" - the children were sometimes left alone from ten a.m. till five p.m., only the boy of ten had the care of them - that happened once or twice a-week and she would return the worse for drink - I saw her frequently the worse for drink, she was very much addicted to drink - the child died on Friday, the 16th, and on the Friday before that the prisoner was out till five o'clock - I saw Rose Ethel on that day sitting by the fender about two o'clock, after dinner, she had a petticoat and chemise on but no boots - the other children were very dirty, and so was the room - I gave her notice to go, in consequence of the dirt; she did not go - I got a warrant on the Monday, and an officer came to execute it - on Tuesday, November 16th, I went up with him and my husband to the room - the children were all undressed; there were five of them - Rose was one; she was in a bassinette, and had only a chemise on - the other children were very dirty, except one - I could not find any clothes - it was a foggy and misty day - I took the little boy and Rose Ethel down to the kitchen to warm them - the prisoner came in about 12.30, and her husband gave her some money to go and buy some boots and clothes - she went out, and took Ethel with her from the bassinette - I told her that the child had nothing on her - I did not force her to take the child out - she covered it with a shawl which she was wearing - I don't know whether the child had anything else on - I thought it looked poorly; its breath was very short with bronchitis, or something of that sort.
HENRY BARNES (152 L). On November 16th I went to 6, High Street to execute a warrant - I went to the front room, which was occupied by the prisoner and her children - I did not go into the back room, because the landlady told me it was empty - the front room was in a very filthy state - there were two or three pails of excrement there - I never smelt such a smell in my life; it was shocking - I could not stand there - the children had no clothes at all, only little shirts - I saw no clothes in the room, but I did not look - some of the children were taken down into the kitchen by the landlady.
Cross-examined. One was a pail, another was a chamber and another a tile stand - they were in the room.
By the COURT. I have been in a good many houses, about one a day, because I am a warrant officer, the house was more dirty and more stinking than other houses of a similar character, it was the worst I have been into - I know the husband from seeing him but have no personal knowledge of him, I have not made inquiries about him, I have gone to him to get school-board fines and have always got them.
ALICE LAIVNIA SNELLING. I occupy the shop at 146 Lambeth Walk - on Tuesday, November 16th, the prisoner came there carrying a bundle - she had two boys with her, one about nine and one younger - the eldest had on a pair of stockings, a pair of knickerbockers and a coat, but no shoes - I cannot say if he had a shirt - the other had a little jacket, a hat, no stockings, and a pair of boots - I saw a bundle - a corner of her apron dropped and I saw the lower part of a child's body - the bundle consisted of the child Rose Ethel - it had no clothes on the lower part of its body - she said she had been turned out of her room and she was going to take the children to the workhouse - she said the child had caught the measles - she then discovered that the child was dead in her arms - she first discovered it herself - I sent for a doctor and a policeman.
ELIZA REED (Re-examined). It was on account of her dirtiness that I got rid of her, I mean the state in which she kept both the children and the room - I have heard what the policeman said, it is true that the room smelt badly - it was in a filthy condition - she has got much worse since her husband went away from her - the husband is a clerk, I think - he was a decent sober man, he always came in quietly - I do not think the place was fit for the habitation of children as it was kept - I am not responsible for the cleanliness of the rooms I let to the woman, but the dirt was habitual for the last few months - it was not healthy in the house - at times the bodies of the children were kept clean at other times they were neglected - I think that the cause of the neglect was that she had too much drink - the children were fed pretty fair, nothing much to complain of as regards the food - I never saw any insects on them - as far as I was concerned it was the filthy condition of the house that was the objectionable matter - I do not know what she did with the childrens' clothing.
ARCHIBALD BLAIR. I am a fully qualified medical man of 50, Broad Street, Lambeth - on November 16th, in the middle of the day, I went to Mrs. Snelling's shop, and saw the prisoner there, with the child Rose Ethel about two years old, lying on her lap - life was extinct - it had on a chemise, a grey shawl and a black shawl somewhat similar to what the prisoner has on - that clothing was not sufficient for it - I examined it, it was fairly well nourished - the face and body were dirty - the face had apparently not been washed - I cannot say whether it was habitual dirt - I will not say that it had not been cleaned for days, but there was continuous neglect - I made a post-mortem examination and found that it had been suffering from acute pneumonia before death for three or four days judging from the state of the lungs - it would be obvious to the mother that the child was suffering, there would be certain symptoms, first cough, secondly, quickened breath, thirdly, fever and increased heat of the body - I heard the way it was clothed when the police went into the room - that would be injurious - it ought to be very different in regard to clothing - it was most improper to take it out in that condition.
By the COURT. It was insufficiently clothed - its condition should have been obvious to a mother from the premonitory symptoms - it would be decidedly injurious to a child of that age to breathe an offensive atmosphere - I did not speak to the mother about it - I saw no evidence of rash from its having had measles - I found traces of food having been given to it within the last 24 hours - there was nothing to lead me to believe that there had been insufficient feeding.
GEORGE EDWARDS (Police-Sergeant L). I was present before the coroner but was not called - I arrested the prisoner on the 22nd - she said, "I have always been kind to my children, I fed them well and gave them good food, I know my rooms were dirty when the policeman came, I could not help that as I had been ill" - I have known her husband about six months, he is a clerk employed by a bookmaker, a betting man - he is a respectable man, a teetotaler he tells me - I have been in his company frequently, more especially since this case - I never saw the prisoner before in my life.
GUILTY of wilful neglect calculated to give unnecessary suffering. - Nine Months' Hard Labour.
Source: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913, Second Session 1897-98, Pages 119 - 121