Amelia Dyer in Victorian times was the English breeder who killed more than 400 children, called a killer breeder because of her ferocity. Here is her long archived history.
Amelia Dyer, the Victorian murderess who killed 400 children
In the time of Queen Victoria, England was by no means a safe place.
Just think of the doctor Harold Shipman, who killed 250 patients and the famous Jack the Ripper.
The story of the most cruel English murderer has been forgotten in the archives of the courts and the police. Amelia Dyer, in fact, was a breeder and killed about 400 children. The estimate is approximate.
Infanticide was widespread in Victorian England.
At that time, a law allowed the illegitimate father to abandon mother and child without any responsibility. A mother who had conceived a child out of wedlock often had to prostitute herself to support herself. The alternatives were worse: starve to death or let the baby die.
The problem of illegitimate childbirth was widespread at the time. For this reason, baby breeders , Baby Farmers , took hold . The latter offered a haven for mothers with babies.
Amelia Dyer became a breeder when she was widowed at the age of 32. She herself had a baby girl and was employed as a nurse . Only later, when she asked a midwife for advice, did she realize that she could make a living by taking in pregnant women and raising their children until adoption. The service was undoubtedly effective.
The parents of the unfortunate poor paid considerable sums to guarantee the women a safe place even for the unborn. Amelia decided to kill the children by strangling them rather than starve them to death. As early as 1879, a doctor accused Dyer of neglecting the children, having noticed many suspicious deaths.
Following the accusations, the woman served a six-month prison sentence. After that experience Amelia began to have suicidal tendencies and to consume alcohol and opium .
Her murderous activity continued, but the woman disposed of the children’s bodies herself. Therefore, the doctors were no longer involved.
The breeder often changed cities and identities. With this stratagem she avoided too many questions and avoided inquiries from the families of the murdered children. In this way, the Victorian Killer also managed to escape from the police.
One day, unfortunately for her, the lifeless body of Elena Fry , a little girl wrapped in wrapping paper, was found on the banks of the Thames . The policeman who found the child was able to read a writing on the card, which referred to Mrs. Thomas.
The police soon set out on the trail of the Victorian Killer and thanks to the complicity of a woman they discovered the very profitable circle of adoptions. The woman’s house was ransacked and strong evidence of her guilt was found. Among the various objects, letters and more were found strips of cloth tape with which Amelia strangled the little ones.
The Dyer was arrested and the police continued to investigate the Thames, where six more children’s bodies were found. On May 22, 1896, the woman was tried and sentenced to death. Although Amelia was only convicted of one murder, it is believed that her victims numbered around 400. On June 10, 1896, she was hanged in prison.
We must consider those times as sad times of great poverty. At that time, in addition to cruelty to innocent souls, there was also much indifference.
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