Skip to main content

Strange and Bizarre Stories - Women Murderers 29th April 1885

This caused so much gossip and absolute intense focus in the early colonial history of Maitland township - two women, who allegedly planned the murder of the younger woman's husband and another woman.

Did they?

Let's try and get some answers tomorrow night!!!




Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), Wednesday 29 April 1885, page 3

The Condemned Women, Mary Anne Burton and.Sarah Keep.

The prisoners Mary Ann Burton and Sarah Keep, mother.and daughter, confined in Maitland Gaol under sentence of death, for poisoning Henry William Keep, husband of the younger prisoner, have shown a determination to starve themselves.

We, (Morpeth Times) understand that whatever belief the younger prisoner might have had in her conviction, Mrs. Burton was horribly astonished at her own, as she maintained (and indeed it was proved) that she had always been kind to the deceased.

Prisoners, (not legible) their condemnation, have become reserved, and suffering is plainly depicted on their countenances.

Both women, if we are informed correctly, refuse all food; they do hot appear to want it.

The condemned are  not in the one cell together; they occupy each a separate cell.

The general opinion is that they will not be hanged, but will receive a life sentence.

It is rumoured that it is the intention of the authorities to exhume the bodies of the late Mr. Burton, husband of Mary Burton and mother of Mrs. Keep, and the late Miss Cook, who died after a few hours illness after having tea at the prisoners' place..

If poison can be traced in the cases referred to, then the gallows will not be spared.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Diary of a Ghost Hunter - The Wallacia Hotel

  We were given the opportunity of staying overnight at the Wallachia Hotel in Western Sydney. The hotelwas officially opened on December 3rd 1937. During the Second World War the hotel was used as the Army headquarters for radiopyhysics. I had never been to the Wallacia Hotel before, but, my ghost hunting gal pal Anne, had been there about 5 years ago with a group of Paranormal Investigators that she was working with at the time. We arrived and we were greeted by Craig, the night manager, who welcomed us with open arms.  Craig recognised Anne from the last time she had visited.  Anne asked whether any spooky things had been happening over the last few years. Craig said that he always thought that there was something a little bit weird going on late at night. Over the last few months everything had changed as the Hotel had been very much affected by the COVID lock downs This was a huge hotel with quite an interesting history even though in the whole scheme of things the hotel was only

Lemon Tree Passage Ghost - Local legend is alive and well

Lemon Tree Passage  is a suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the end of the Tilligerry Peninsula and surrounded by the waters of beautiful Port Stephens .  Ever since I can remember there have been a few urban legends about a stretch of highway named Lemon Tree Passage Road. The story begins when a motor bike rider and his pillion passenger died after colliding with a four wheel drive killing both. This seems to be the source of the ghostly lights and apparition. These sort of events don't stay quiet in small townships. Stories spread fast often not ending up like they started. Every so often this urban legend makes a comeback with a number to people tempting fate and poking the ghost rider.             A memorial to Dale Dickens on the Lemon Tree Passage Road / Pic: Robert Mckell Source:The Daily Telegraph The  Lemon Tree Passage ghost  first made headlines in 2010 after drivers cau

Diary of a Ghost Hunter - Lochinvar House in the Hunter Valley NSW

 I have just spent a weekend at the historic homestead - Lochinvar House, just outside of Lochinvar in the NSW Hunter Valley. This was, for me, a team bonding opportunity and a chance to get away from worries associated with Covid. It was also where members of my ghost hunting volunteers got to head onto this site before we invited in the public, to check out the stories of ghosts and alleged hauntings. Now, as usual, not all historic houses are haunted. And even more intriguing, it seems that not all historic houses are haunted for all the families that live therein. Many times I have heard this - one family may experience seeing and hearing strange things happening at all hours of the day and night. Yet, another family will move in and.....nothing! And so it is.. Why is it like this? I don't know. Do the ghosts pick us? Lochinvar House was built back in the late 1820's by Leslie Duguid who was granted a enormous amount of land in 1822. He was one of the first land owners in N