Gladys Mary Farrell – the wife of an Isle of Wight man – was acquitted of manslaughter of her 9-month old daughter on 8th March 1950.
Mrs Farrell – who had pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge – was instead placed on probation for 3 years for wilful neglect. She was ordered to reside for the first 12 months of her probation at an approved training home.
The mother-of-10 had been described by her counsel as:
“like the woman who had so many children she did not know what to do.”
Prosecutors said that her child had died from malnutrition, toxic absorption from sores and bronchitis.
Mrs Farrell had had 10 children in 11 years, and her house had been found in an ‘appallingly filthy condition’.
On the day before the child’s death, the 32-year-old mother – then living in Southampton – had travelled to the Isle of Wight to collect money from her estranged husband. The court heard that there was no certainty her deceased child had been fed at all on that day.
Mr Seymour Collins, defending, claimed that Mrs Farrell had had a difficult time financially. She was fully occupied with her large family and was also aware that her husband had been associating with another woman.
Mr Collins said:
“The effect of all this was to reduce her to a state when she was almost past taking any real intelligent interest in what was going on.”
Mrs Farrell was now expecting a further child.
Judge Justice Lynakey said he was satisfied that Mrs Farrell had been as good a mother so far as her means would allow, but that the extra burden of the 10th child and the knowledge of her husband’s unfaithfulness had broken her spirit.
The case was adjourned to enable Mrs Farrell to find a place in a home, and she was allowed bail in the meantime.
Isn’t it a shame that the father wasn’t also hauled into court, as was the case in the 19th century, for failure to provide for the family he created, which led to the malnutrition. Worth remembering that in 1950 ‘conjugal rights’ often effectively meant rape, so 10 children in ten years against a wife’s will…but the responsibility for those children was solely hers. (Effective contraception and abortion didn’t land until the late 60s). Has much changed in who carries the can when a father swans off without a backward glance? Thankfully we now have a benefits system. And this ^^ is exactly why.
Great story.