Baby Farms & Amelia Dyer

In March of 1896, the corpse of a baby girl was found floating the the Thames River. Officials noted that white dressmakers tape was tightly wrapped around the little girl’s neck, leading to the conclusion that she had been the victim of homicide.

During this time, it was not unusual to find an infants corpse lying in the street, in the trash, or floating in the river. There were hundreds found each year, whether they were still born, victims of neglect or violence.

It was also during this time that a woman by the name of Mrs. Thomas, who would later be known as Amelia Dyer, started her own thriving business of baby farming. For a modest fee, Dyer would “take care” of babies who were born to unfit mothers. The mothers assumed that Dyer either raised the babies herself or adopted them out to other couples. Whatever they thought, none of them ever asked any questions or raised suspicions.

Amelia Dyer was born in 1838 to a normal family in Bristol. Growing up, she was trained as a nurse and later became a midwife; which ultimately was the gateway to her new found baby farming business-helping women get rid of their babies.

Her new trade quickly picked up during the Victorian Era, especially since having a child before marriage was seen as completely ungodly. Married women with more children than they can handle, women whose husbands died, and mistresses of rich businessmen also needed the help from an experienced baby farmer from time to time. “Finding one was as easy as picking up a newspaper.”

However, Dyer was not always as terrible as seems. She agreed keep children for a small fee from their mothers. Of course she would also slowly starve them to death. She eventually went to jail for child neglect a served six months for her crimes. Upon her release, Dyer tried her hand at other trades, but none of them ever stuck. Before long she was back to placing ads in the local news paper.

Amelia Dyer eventually had a daughter of her own and when she was old enough to marry, her and her husband joined her mother’s family business. Dyer then developed a strong addiction to a mixture of opium known as Godfrey’s Cordials and also known as “Mother’s Friend.” She also used the drug to silence the children she neglected.

So back to the little girl that was found in the Thames River… The seamstresses tape that was wrapped around the baby’s throat was ultimately traced back to Amelia Dyer. Her lawyers tried to plead an insanity defense, faulting her opium addiction. She went on trial and was convicted of killing over 400 children; “it took the jury less than an hour to declare her sane, guilty and worthy of the ultimately penalty.”