Location: Tiddington, Oxfordshire, England

Year: 1886

In January 1886, a woman called Emma Nelms of Tiddington - the wife of a railway worker - was arrested for the "wilful murder" of her own child.

At the trial, it quickly transpired that Mrs Nelms' husband had prepared breakfast for the family that fateful Sunday morning, and his wife had come downstairs, holding their baby, which she had then placed in a cradle.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Nelms had gone outside, only to find his wife in a state of terrible distress, exclaiming: "Oh, I have killed my child!". Mr Nelms quickly ran back into the house, and upon approaching the cradle, he realised that the poor child's throat had been cut "in a dreadful manner. There was a razor on the shelf, with blood upon it."

Emma Nelms was promptly arrested, and the inquest was held the following day, where it was revealed that she had eight other children, and "had lately been in a low, despondent state".

In court, Mr Nelms confessed that his wife had mentioned that she ought to "destroy the child", but hadn't even for one moment thought that she might actually carry out her threats.

Emma pled guilty, and during the trial, the prison surgeon deposed that she "was clearly suffering from insanity, and was already predisposed to mental illness, several of her kindred having been insane, and that the present attack was due to puerperal fever brought on by lactation at a critical period of life." 

The jury returned a verdict of "wilful murder", and the judge then committed Emma Nelms to a Lunatic Asylum.

(Image below shows Tiddington, and is courtesy of Aston Rowant & Chiltern Spring Line Villages website).