FANNY ADAMS

 

I am not surprised that on Christmas Eve morning, when the noose was slipped around his neck, twenty-nine year old Frederick Baker issued an apology to the parents of "Sweet" Fanny Adams.  However, his atonement, like so much else in his life,  was a lie.  

This lie was told among the deceptively peaceful rolling green fields and gentle streams of Hampshire, England, specifically, in the ancient, "...pleasant little market town..." of Alton.  It's name was proof of it's longevity,  "Aewieltun" being Anglo-Saxon for "the farm at the spring".  

The surrounding woodlands had been labeled "The New Forest" as far back as the Doomsday Book in the year 1086. The town itself was for centuries a top producer of wool and mutton,  and it was surrounded by acres of barely and hops which produced the popular Alton Ales in the town's two breweries. 

But in 1867 the industrial revolution was also brewing among it 4,000 citizens. 

London was 43 miles to the northeast, a two and 1/2 day horse drawn coach ride via the High Road. 

But the decade old London and South Western Railway now carried people and produce there in 2 hours. In this year of 1867, for the first time, more people in Hampshire were employed in industry than in farming.

Skilled workers in Alton were riding this wave, such as bricklayer George Adams, his wife Harriet and their seven children. They were participants in a creation of the world's first middle class.  Strikes, beginning in 1851, had earned bricklayers a 9 hour workday, half day off on Saturdays, and wage increases.  And George was an employee of the largest builder in England - the Dyers. 

Working for the Dyers meant that George could depend on a regular wage, and worked with solicitors in drawing up contracts and budgeting jobs. 

Bricklayers learned these skills during a seven year apprenticeship. And once accepted into the trade men such as George Adams then oversaw as many apprentices and laborers as each job required. They were what we today would today referrer to as sub-contractors. 

As proof of their social status, George and Harriet Adams had their own town home, on 400 yard long TanHouse Lane (Above, below the "plus" to the left of the church center screen, and below).  His parents lived next door, likely in a house he helped pay for.

On the particularly hot and clear Saturday afternoon of  24 August, 1867,  George Adams was not at work, nor on TanHouse Lane (above). He was engaging in that most Victorian of public exercises, playing cricket on The Butts.

The field (above) had originally been set aside so long bowmen could perfect their skills. The  cone shaped earthen backstops to catch errant arrows were called butts. But Long Bows had been out of style since Saint Crispen's day in 1415. Instead, since 1750, Alton had fielded a cricket team, which practiced and held matches where bowmen once practiced, on the southern side of town. 

Harriet Adams was home this Saturday, as she was most days, caring for the youngest of her seven children. The elder of her brood were at work in the house or doing what they could to add to the families income.

Meanwhile, eight year old neighbor Minnie Warner (above, left) and seven year old Lizzie Adams (above, right) were playing in the flood meadow at the end of TanHouse Lane. With them was Lizzie's elder sister, eight year old Fanny.

"Sweet" Fanny Adams" was tall for her 8 years, a "... comely and intelligent girl", with a "lively and cheerful disposition". The only photo we have of her  (above) shows her at no more than four or five years of age, with her long blond hair done in curls. That the daguerreotype was taken at all, indicates her parent's middle class pride in their Sweet Fanny.  

The flood meadow where the girls were playing was owned by a man named Hobbs, who grew leeks around the edges of the often flooded land.  The meadow was, in fact, the unlikely source of the River Wey, which gathered strength while flowing north to eventually join The Thames. 

Beyond the meadow, crisscrossing foot paths bisected hop and barley fields. 

One of those footpaths, known as the Hollow, led across fields and farms to the even smaller village of Shalden, some two miles to the northwest.

Some time after 1:30 that afternoon of 24 August, 1867, a man with a sallow complexion, and dressed in a black frock coat, a light colored waistcoat, trousers and a top hat approached the three girls. The girls  knew him from their church, and he seemed pleasant enough, although the girls recognized at once he had been drinking.  The man offered the two smaller girls, Minnie and Lizzie, a half penny each if they would race each other up the Hallow to the next field. The girls eagerly agreed and quickly set off, with Fanny and the man following.

When they rejoined at the new field, the man congratulated the two girls and paid them. He then offered all three another half penny each if they would go with him into a nearby field (above) and eat some berries. Again, the offer of coin was a strong inducement and the three girls opened the gate and went into the  field with the man. They spent some time eating berries, before the man offered Fanny a ha'penny (a half penny) if she would walk with him to Shalden. 

Fanny took the coin, but something made her refuse to take the man’s hand. He paid Minnie and Lizzie a final ha'penny and told them to go home. Then he swept little Fanny up in his arms and carried her away (above), up the Hollow.  It was about 2:00pm, Saturday, 24 August, 1867.

According to a study released by the American state of Washington, 136 years after Fanny's ordeal,  

44 % of child murder victims were killed by strangers and 42% by family or acquaintances. Two thirds of the perpetrators had prior arrests for violent crimes, but just half had prior arrests for crimes against children. In 76% of homicide cases involving child abduction, the child was dead within three hours of being kidnapped. And in 74% of the cases, the victim was a female under the age of 11. 

Of course none of this explains why Frederick Baker, the drunken man in the frock coat, sexually assaulted 8 year old Fanny Adams, then killed her and later returned to butcher her corpse. The crime itself may be beyond explanation or understanding. And that may be the saddest thing of all about Fanny's brutal death; the idea that there is little we can do or have done to prevent it from happening again and again and again.

A few minutes after 2:00pm a young boy saw a man in black frock coat come out of the hop garden (above)  north of the flood meadow. He noticed the man because his hands and clothes were spotted  with blood. The boy thought the man might have killed an animal, but his was not dressed as a hunter. 

The man bent down at the edge of the River Wey (above) to wash his hands and dabbed at the stains on his clothing with a hankerchief, before rising and walking back toward town.  The boy was bothered enough by what he saw that he ran to his own home on TanHouse Lane and told his mother.  She agreed what he saw was unusual, but she told no one else.

Meanwhile, Minnie and Lizzie had returned to the Adams home (above), and in a jumbled account, attempted to explain to Harriet Adams about the man and the blue berries and the race and the pennies. Clearly, Harriet did not understand. Why should she? There had not been a murder in Alton within living memory. Nor had there ever been a child abduction.  She sent the children back outside to play while she returned to her chores.

Sometime before 3:00pm, 29 year old Frederick Baker returned to the offices of solicitor William B. Clements, on the Alton's High Street, opposite the Swan Hotel and Pub. Baker had worked for the past year for Clements as a clerk,  and the other employees noted he was late returning from lunch, which was unusual for him.  Baker remained hunched over his desk, scribbling,  for over an hour. Then he left again without explanation. 

As the hour of 5:00pm arrived yet another neighbor on TanHouse Lane, a Mrs. Gardner, went outside to usher her own children home for dinner. When she noticed Lizzie Adams was alone, she asked where her older sister was.  Both Lizzie and Maude Warner now explained again about the man in the frock coat carrying Fanny off.  And this time an adult heard the girls.  Mrs. Gardner immediately told Harriet Adams, and the two women set off to the Flood Meadow (above) in search of Fanny.

Not finding the girl in the meadow, the women started up the Shadow (above, left), and almost immediately ran into Fredrick Baker, heading back toward town. The assertive Mrs. Gardner recognized the man from the girl's description and challenged him, demanding to know what he had done with the child.  Baker assured the women he had left Fanny playing in the hop fields. He often gave pennies to the neighborhood children, he added, so they could buy sweets. Mrs. Gardner was suspicious and said, "I have a great mind to give you in charge of the police".   Baker casually replied she could do what she liked, and walked off. After a moment of indecision the women returned to TanHouse Lane and their hungry families.

Fredrick Baker returned directly to the High Street offices of solicitor Clements (above, now a private home).  There, another clerk, Maurice Biddle, was disturbed enough by Bakers' manner that he asked what had happened. Fredrick recounted his run in with Mrs Gardner and Mrs Adams. "It will be very awkward for me if the child is murdered" he said. Biddle took this as an attempt at humor and returned to his own work.

About 6:00pm, Biddle invited Baker to join him across the high street at the Swan Hotel and Public House (above, right, under lantern). He later testified that while morosely drinking a pint of ale, Fredrick suggested he might leave town, perhaps as early as Monday.  Biddle pointed out that Fredrick might have trouble finding another job which paid as well as the one he had. Baker replied, "I could go as a butcher."  A few moments later, although it was now after regular office hours, Fredrick Baker returned to the north side of High Street, saying he was going to finish the work he had failed to complete that afternoon. 

By 7:00pm, with still no sign of Fanny, and with about an hour until sunset, Harriet Adams began to panic. Since many of the men had returned home from work, a search party quickly descended on the Hop garden. They found what they were looking for almost immediately. 

Fanny's head was discovered by laborer Thomas Gates, who was a veteran of the Charge of the Light Brigade. The girl's head was stuck atop two hop poles. jammed into her neck, her blood stained hair drawing attention.  Her naked torso was nearby.  Her arms and legs had been roughly cut and ripped away and scattered haphazardly.  One foot was found, still in a shoe. And clutched firmly in one palm were the two penny which Baker had given to Fanny.  The contents of her pelvis and chest, including her heart, liver and intestines,  had been removed and tossed about the hop garden.  

Her eyes were found in the shallow River Wey (above).   Did Frederick think throwing her eyes in the river was going to keep anyone from seeing what he had done?  House painter, William Walker, recovered a large stone from the hop garden, smeared with blood and strands of blond hair and flesh. 

When what had happened to Fanny was undeniable, Harriet collapsed with grief.  George, when he  returned home, retrieved his shotgun - another sign of his middle class status. Friends were able to get the weapon out of his hands, and offer some comfort and beer. 

Alton Police Superintendent William Cheyney was already familiar with Fredrick Baker (above).  In his short time in Alton, Baker had already been arrested for drunkenness and for fighting. About 9:00pm that Saturday night,  Cheyney found his suspect still in Clement's law offices and arrested him.  Baker insisted he knew nothing about Fanny's murder. 

And then, to protect him from the angry crowd already gathering on the High Street, Cheyney slipped the suspect out the back door and escorted him down the street to the safety of the police station (above). There Baker was searched. In his pant pockets they found two small knives. Spots of blood were observed on his shirt cuffs. And his trousers were soaking wet, indicating they had been washed recently. When asked about the blood, Baker remained "cool and collected" and claimed the blood was his own, but could not point to any cuts.

The following day was a Sunday. After church services, search parties returned to the hop garden where they recovered a few more random parts of Fanny's body and most of her clothing, ripped and cut into shreds. However they never found her hat.

On Monday morning, 26 August, while Alton's meager police force (above, in front of their station) guarded the prisoner, Superintendent Cheyney returned to the law offices and searched Baker's desk. In it he found a daily diary, written in Fredrick's hand. The entry for Saturday, 24 August, 1867 read, "Killed a young girl. It was fine and hot."

Tuesday evening, 27 August, saw the inquest before Deputy County Coroner Robert Harfield at the Duke's Head Inn (above). Fanny's poor body, now sewn together as best it could be, was presented as evidence.  Superintendent Cheyney filled in the details of Baker's arrest, and the contents of his diary. When asked if he had anything to say, Fredrick Baker replied, "No, sir. Only that I am innocent." The jury quickly returned a verdict of "willful murder against Fredrick Baker for killing and slaying Fanny Adams".

On Wednesday, 28 August they laid Sweet Fanny Adams to rest in the Alton Cemetery, some 1,500 feet from what had been her home.  The Reverend W. Wilkins delivered the graveside address to a crowd of hundreds. Initially her grave marker was wooden, but in 1872 it was replaced with a head stone. Shortly after the funeral the Adams family left Alton. Harriet never returned. In his old age George came back once, to spend time at Fanny's grave.

On Thursday morning, 29 August, the London newspapers were filled with the gory details. The Standard claimed, "No tiger of the jungle, no jackal...could so fearfully have mutilated it's victim." And the Daily Telegraph described the murderer as "...a ferocious human being...(who could) take a girl child...and after unspeakably brutish treatment, chop her body into pieces and scatter them about.."

That same day the Alton magistrates held their trial in the town hall and formalized the coroner's jury verdict.  Fredrick Baker was then transported twenty miles to the southwest to Winchester Prison (above) where he was to be tried at the next assizes by a crown court.  Anger in the crowds had reached a pitch, and it was only by forceful police action that Baker was safely escaped justice in Alton.

The assizes were English and Welsh crown courts presided over by visiting judges. They usually considered only the most serious criminal charges, and Baker's murder trial was set for Thursday, 5 December, 1867, in the Great Hall of Winchester Castle (above) under what purported to have been King Arthur's round table, now on the wall. It's still there. 

The trial was presided over by 58 year old Judge John Mellon (above).  Minnie Warner was carried into the court room to testify under oath that Fredrick Baker was the man who had walked off with Fanny Adams. The defense grilled her intensely, but she never wavered. Then Mrs. Gardner testified about her encounter with Baker, just after 5:00pm. 

Perhaps the most damning new testimony came from Professor A.S. Taylor (above) from Guy's Hospital in London. He had done a full autopsy of the battered corpse and had discovered the body had been mutilated after death, but while still warm. He also explained that one of the knives found in Baker's pockets had a small amount of coagulated human blood on the blade.  

The defense pleaded insanity. The Barrister , Mr. Carter, described Baker as  "a weak, puny, excitable character", who had moved to Alton after a suicide attempt, brought on by a broken engagement. His father, a Guildford tailor, had ...shown an inclination to assault, even to kill, his children", and attacked 

Fredrick and his sister with a fireplace poker. The sister had later died of a "brain fever", and a cousin had been hospitalized in mental institutions four separate times. None of this mitigating evidence had any effect on the jury. 

They took 15 minutes to find Baker guilty of the murder of Fanny Adams. Judge Mellon immediately sentenced Fredrick to be hanged. 

Sitting in his cell in Winchester prison (above), Frederick Baker composed a message to George and Harriet Adams. He wrote that he was sorry for having murdered their Fanny, and had done it in “an unguarded hour” and only then because she would not stop crying. It was done, he insisted without “malice aforethought” and without “…pain or struggle”. Frederick assured the grieving parents he had not molested Fanny, but he offered no other explanation as to why she had been crying when he had smashed her head with the rock. He signed his apology,  "From a guilty but repentant culprit, Frederick Baker." Christmas Eve morning, at 8:00am sharp, Fredrick Baker had a noose slipped around his neck and pulled tight. Then the trap door he stood on was opened.

During his fifty year career as a hangman, William Calcraft (above), ushered some 450 souls to their final reward,  and Fredrick Baker's execution would be far from his last job, although it would be one of the last public hangings.  The problem was, "Short Drop" Calcraft  was "particularly incompetent" at his job.

It was Calcraft’s technique of dropping his subjects no more than 18 inches which insured all 450 would take from three to four minutes to slowly strangle to death, kicking and writhing as Fredrick Baker did, in full view of the 5,000 people (mostly women) gathered to witness his well earned demise. And the confession Baker had made and the denial it included were simply final proof that Fredrick Baker was a liar to the very last moment of his life. 

Later that morning technicians from Madame Trussauds' took a death mask of Fredrick Baker, and within 10 days he took his place in the museum's Chamber of Horrors on London's Baker Street - item number 223 in their 1868 catalogue. His head mold was destroyed on 9 September, 1940 during the Nazi bombing blitz. 

The execution of Frederick Baker, was as gruesome as any parent of a murdered child might wish. But his slow agony did nothing to save the lives of the uncounted children who have followed Fanny. 

But every child saved during the vital first three hours of an abduction by an Amber Alert, must thank Donna and Jimmy Hagerman, who in 1996 pushed to change the way U.S. police respond to child abductions, after their daughter, Amber Hagerman (above) was kidnaped and murdered. And those children saved by Amber's sacrifice can also thank those who ask questions of these monsters in our midst, rather than simply calling for their blood. Spilling blood may be a just punishment, but it has never saved a life.

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