File:Coroner's Inquest of Dorothy Carter (9071256804).jpg

This is the verdict of a Coroner's inquest into the death of Dorothy Edith Carter, one of three babies found on the property of 'baby-farmer' Minnie Dean in 1895. According to the Coroner, Carter had "met her death… through poison administered by Minnie Dean." Dean was subsequently tried for infanticide on 18 June, and despite the defence arguing Carter's death was accidental, on 21 June Dean was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. She was hanged at Invercargill gaol on 12 August 1895 - the first and only woman ever executed in New Zealand.

Dean had looked after children, for a fee, since the late 1880s at her rural Winton home. At a time when effective contraception was not widely available, abortion was dangerous, and unmarried mothers were ostracised, 'baby-farming' was seen as a necessary evil and many took up Minnie's offer of adopting infants. However, due to inadequate premises a number of these babies died, provoking the suspicion of police and surveillance of Dean's activities.

On 2 May 1895 Dean was seen boarding a train carrying a young baby and a hat-box, and disembarking later carrying only the hat-box. Police eventually unearthed the freshly buried bodies of two babies (including Carter) and the skeleton of an older boy in Dean's garden. As the record above shows, Dean was publicly branded a murderer by the coroner and later hung. Yet the case lead to major advances in New Zealand child welfare legislation, with the passing of the Infant Life Protection Act 1893 and Infant Protection Act 1896. Re-evaluations of the case have also appeared over time, including this award-winning TVNZ episode on Dean's barrister, Alf Hanlon: www.nzonscreen.com/title/hanlon-in-defence-of-minnie-dean...

Archives Reference: J1 1895/643