Women and the gallows 1797-1837: unfortunate wretches

Description

"131 women were hanged in England and Wales between 1797 and 1837, executed for crimes including murder, baby-killing, theft, arson, sheep-stealing and passing forged bank notes. Most of them were extremely poor and living in desperate situations. Some were mentally ill. A few were innocent. And almost all are now forgotten, their voices unheard for generations. Mary Morgan - a teenager hanged as an example to others. Eliza Fenning - accused of adding arsenic to the dumplings. Mary Bateman - a 'witch' who duped her neighbours out of their savings. Harriet Skelton - hanged for passing counterfeit pound notes in spite of efforts by Elizabeth Fry and the Duke of Gloucester to save her. Naomi Clifford has unearthed the events that brought these 'unfortunates' to the gallows and has used contemporary newspaper accounts and documents to tell their stories"--;Part 1. Person. Eliza Fenning: attempted murder ; Ann Heytrey: murder and petty treason ; Esther Hibner: murder of a child ; Mary Morgan, Mary Voce, Mary Thorpe: infanticide ; Mary Bateman: murder ; Eliza Ross: murder ; Catherine Frarey and Frances Billing, Sophia Edney: husband murders -- Part 2. Property. Sarah Lloyd, Melinda Mapson, Elizabeth Fricker: theft ; Ann Hurle and Mary Ann James: fraud ; Sarah Bailey, Charlotte Newman, Harriet Skelton: uttering forged bank notes ; Charlotte Long: arson -- The end of the bloody code -- Part 3. Chronology. Women executied 1797-1837. Part 1. Person. Eliza Fenning: attempted murder Ann Heytrey: murder and petty treason Esther Hibner: murder of a child Mary Morgan, Mary Voce, Mary Thorpe: infanticide Mary Bateman: murder Eliza Ross: murder Catherine Frarey and Frances Billing, Sophia Edney: husband murders -- Part 2. Property. Sarah Lloyd, Melinda Mapson, Elizabeth Fricker: theft Ann Hurle and Mary Ann James: fraud Sarah Bailey, Charlotte Newman, Harriet Skelton: uttering forged bank notes Charlotte Long: arson -- The end of the bloody code -- Part 3. Chronology. Women executied 1797-1837.