THE WINTON 'BABY-FARMING CASE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10360, 15 May 1895, Page 2

THE WINTON 'BABY-FARMING CASE.

THE INQUEST. (Bt Our Special Reporter.) Invercargill, May 14. An inquest in connection with the babyfarming case afc Winton was opened to-day at, the hospital, before Mr Coroner Rawson and the following jurymen:—Messrs J. W. Bain, (foreman), A. M'Ewan, A. A. Christophers, N. Johnson, D. Roche, and J. A. Lennie. Mr T.'-M. Mac Donald appeared on: behalf of the i Crown; Mr J. A. Hanan was present on j behalf of. Minnie and Charles Dean; and ■Inspector Bardy was also in attendance. | Mr Mac Donald intimated that the police ' were not at present prepared with evidence as to cause of deafeh, and the' inquiry was adjourned to Monday, 27ch insfc., at 10 30 a.m. On that date, the solicitor for the Crown mentioned, the police would be ia a position to proceed uninterruptedly with the evidence _ The following jury were then sworn in to inquire into the circumstances attending the death of an infant lreown as Dorothy Edith— Messrs W. H. Hall (foreman), J. E Wat=on R. Erskine, W. Searle, J. D. M'Gmer, and J. H. Kingsland. After the jury had viewed the body, this inquiry was also adjourned 'until the 29ch inst. , T A third icquest will in all probability ba held in connection with the skeleton which was found, bat no definite date has yet been fixed. POLICE SEARCHES.1 ; . ' The police vigorously continued their dieginp operations on Dean's land to-day, but did noo make any further discovery. They have up to the present confined their attention to thafc portion of the grouud in front of tne premises known as Mrs Dean's flower garden and the orchard, the .greater part of .which has be»n turned over. Ifc is thought very unlikely that any more bodies will: be found in that portion of the ground, as the part not bper*ted upon looks comparatively solid. The police, however, will resume digging again to-morrow, as it is desired to make the, search as thorough as possible, in case any more bodieis have been buried. .-■ . ■■ . V. - - ..y- ■-.. ... f THE DEANS' HOUSE. A photograph of the Deans' house has been taken, and-will probably be produced at the inquest. No adequate idea can, however, be obtained of the condition of the house without iseeing it. It is in truth a wretched hovel, and the former inmates have appa.ently'had little or no regard for cleanliness. The house is an unpai-tad weatherboard structure, measuring ISt't lOin by lift 3in, and with a small lean-to at th- back: The'walls are unpapsred and the flopc uhcarpeted, and in the room at the back in* which most of.'the children slept theground can be seen between the rough* bbarils of the flooring. There is very little furniture in the house, and the beds are of a very rough description, the bedding portion of which consists of old bags, is also far, from clean, and the whole surroundings are extremely wretched and squalid. The wonder indeed is how anyone could be content to live in such a place and in such'a state, and it is difficult to conceive how ahy mother with the tightest spark of feeling conld consent to her child being brought up in such an. euvironment if she once paid a visit to the" house. '■ - '..''-.-'• ■' ..- ff" ■■-- f •'"• The Deans have been kaowh in this district for many years. Mrs Dean is,said to be a native, of Scotland, and to have come to this colony from Tasmania in 1865. ShS then bore the uame.of Mrs fel'Cullougb, was supposed to be a widow, and had two daughters.* After her arrival, here Bhe was at the 'Half-way Bush Hotel in the employ of Mrs Howells, now a hotelkeeper in InvercargiU. She married her present husband' over 20 years ago, iand the pair forsome time afterwards, kept a hotel at Etal Creek, near- Otautau. Prior to being married Mrs Dean J, kept a small school in the south of Invercargill. . So far as can be ascertained the two daughters already referred to were her only children.- Some fcime'ago one of these, a j married woman, was found drowned with her infant in a,. well at Lohgbnsh-: The other daughter is at present living* with her husband ao Mataura. _ "■f _ M '-.-..•' -.' -.THE BABrJ FARMi Kf--"'' 7- - I Six years a go Mrs Dean appears to have started baby-farming at Winton.-'She'had than two children in her care, but subsequently she obtained possession of 13 children, ail of whom, with two ■ exceptions,: were infants, the ages of w_iioh ranged from four weeks -up -to **• nine months. -The exceptions, referred to are a young woman of. 20 and a girl of 15, both of whom were living with Mrs Dean up to the time of her arrest. The former of these states that she knew of 22 children who at one time or another were in Mrs Dean's'keeping. Of this number, 14- have been accounted foriiri some way or other, including the- children -whose bodies were found in the garden at The' Larches. One of the children, who died" on March 23, 1891, formed the subject oi a coroner's inquest, in connection with which it was thought advisable to have a post mortem examination of the body made before taking evidence. *: The jury also; visited the premises, and, after witne.S-3 had been examined, Mr -Coroner Rawson said he' V thought ' the jury would . find ho difficulty in arriving at a verdict, as -the ' doctor's evidence proved conclusively that the child died from natural .-causes.-'-.'He,, however, was of opinion that the house was too small for the number of children ifc contained.' If the jury had any recommendation to make with regard to giving the police more control oyer suoh establishments he would be happy to forward it to the Government. The inquiry resulted in the jury refaruing a verdict; of " Death from' natural causes,"- bufc.a rider was added to the verdict ■ recommending that something should be' done in the way of legiilstion to restrict '* persons who adopt such a means of living as Mrs Dean to a certain number of children, accordiug to the accommodation provided, and also that they should be under inspection. In, consequence of the re-omm-J.nda.ioi_ the Government p.sved "The Infant. Life' Protection Act 1894," which provides toe fche rar-istrafcion of premises where children under two years of age not belonging to the owner of the premises are kept. The condition of Mrs Dean's bouse, it may be stated, formed about the time of the inquiry the subject of a good deal of comment, and. the matter fouud its way into Home newspapers, a J paragraph about thei roaster appearing in the Yorkshire Weekly Post of dateMay3o,lß9l. Th» inquest had the effect : or causing one of the mothers of the children to -. withdraw her child from Mrs Dean's care, and 1 since then the children have gradually decreased in numbers until at the time of arrest there were only five children ia the houcs, besides the young woman of 20 and the girl of 15 already referred to. The former is usually away from borne in the day time, aud wns absent for about two months prior to Mrs ;D-&ns »,rresc, and 1 consequently kuew nothing whatever of the two children who.<e boaiej were found.. A GOOD WORD FOR THE DEANS. ' | Those who have come a good deal in contact with Mrs Dean ssty'that she'always appeared to have au affections t_ regardfor the childrea iv her car., and after the death of one ol them she had a memorial card printed, which was framed, and always stood ou the mantelpiece in fche principal room' of the house. The lines on the card are said to be of her own composition, aud read as follow:—"In loving memory of May; Ire_e_ Dean, died October 10, 1889, .ag-d six mouths. To those who mourn her here below fchis consolation's given : she's from a world of woe relieved, and blooms a rose in heaven." It may be mentioned that Mrs Dean received a premium of £30 with this child when ib wss five weeks, old. All of the. children who were iv her charge at thn time of her arieit are said to be well-u-Knnered, aud show signs of having I had some religiouH training. . 1