Amelia Dyer: Britain’s Baby Butcher, Part ll

“ A many years ago

When I was young and charming

As some of you may know

I practiced baby-farming.”

 --Buttercup from Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore, 1878

Bristol in 1850s.

Amelia Dyer was born in 1837, during the Victorian era, in Pyle March—a tiny village just east of Bristol. She was the youngest of five children.

Her father, Samuel Hobley was a shoe marker, so the family had means. He paid for Amelia to go to school in a time when only a quarter of children had this privilege.

Amelia loved literature and wrote poems, but at an early age, her world was shaken. Her mother, Sarah Weymouth Hobley became mentally ill after suffering from typhus fever.

Young Amelia watched her mother’s seizures and outbursts until her death in 1848. Her slow, horrific death had a long-lasting effect on Amelia—she was sometimes called upon to provide care for a mother that was slowly losing her mind.

This early trauma skewed Amelia’s emotional responses for the rest of her life.

After her mother’s death Amelia was sent to live with an aunt and started an apprenticeship with a corset maker, a job she did until her father’s death in 1859.

Two years later, at the age or 24, Amelia broke off all ties with her family and moved to Bristol where she married George Thomas who at the age of 59 was 35 years her senior.

After her marriage, Amelia trained as a nurse and midwife at Bristol Royal Infirmary. In this era, nurses were not prepared to be caring or merciful; instead, they were expected to be strong and “emotionless” with their patients.

Amelia was a natural. However, when she became pregnant, she was no longer allowed to work.

Bristol Royal Infirmary

At this time, Ellen Dane was a boarder in Amelia’s home. Dane was a midwife who was a baby farmer on the “shady side.” Amelia observed that it was a lucrative profession if done right.

Dane provided housing for women who became pregnant out of wedlock—she offered them a place to hide from societies’ eyes, which condemned them for immorality.

Baby farming.

She would then take a once-off fee from these women and either adopt out or kill their babies through malnutrition. Amelia being a midwife, felt this business was ideal, despite the risk. She thought it would be an easy way to make money.

Her husband George died in 1869 leaving her with a child to support. She made two cold decisions that changed the course of her life forever.

Dane under suspicion by the police fled to America and Amelia took over her business.

Amelia, like Dane, provided a place for unwed mothers when they began to show. Once they had their babies she then firmly took control.

Amelia plying her trade.

Her education and charm lulled these women into trusting her.

She like Dane demanded an upfront, once-off fee of  £5-10 to have the babies supposedly adopted out, which cut down on the number of mothers returning to check on their children.

She did this not for the child’s welfare but to secure more profit.

She began to advertise her services in newspapers.

Two advertisements Amelia placed in newspapers.

Amelia like many baby farmers subjected her charges to persistent underfeeding—for the fees she received rarely paid for ongoing food. This resulted in these babies starving to death.

Godfrey's Cordial

A common practice at the time was to use an over the counter medicine known as Godfrey’s Cordial, also known as Mother’s Friend. This syrup was given to children and infants in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries as a cure-all—that helped with colic, jaundice, and diarrhea.

It also helped with excessive crying. And hungry babies cried a lot, which made them difficult to handle. So Amelia like other farmers used this laudanum syrup that contained harmful opiates--to quiet the babies down.

Basically, it put them into a dull state where they felt no hunger. Many babies died from overdoses, but most died of starvation because this syrup was not a form of nourishment.

Coroners of the time noted in reports these deaths were due to “debility from birth,” “lack of breast milk,” or “starvation.”

Amelia quickly became used to making a tidy profit.

Ironically, Amelia became addicted to this laudanum syrup herself—which exasperated her mood swings and put her in deep depressions even when she was not on the opiate.

The other cold decision Amelia made at the time was to farm out her own daughter, Ellen Thomas. She didn’t want a child in her way as she traveled around to adopt babies and to avoid the authorities.

In Part lll of Amelia Dyer: Britain’s Baby Butcher this cold-hearted woman becomes even more prolific and the authorities miss their first opportunity.

Mexican Ghost Story: La Planchada

Leyenda de la Planchada (Legend of the ironed)

La Planchada in Spanish means “ironed lady.” 

The following is a well-known ghost legend in Mexico and the southwestern part of the U.S. It is a story of a ghostly nurse who is seen in hospitals in central Mexico in urban areas. 

This nurse is seen wearing an old-fashioned nurses uniform. There are several versions of this story. The following is one that has been told many times. This story is connected to the Hospital Juarez, located in Mexico City.

In the 1930s, a nurse by the name of Eulalia worked at the hospital. She always wore clean, crisp ironed uniforms. She was an excellent nurse, and her patients were lucky to be under her care. 

But this changed when a handsome young doctor joined the hospital’s staff. Eulalia and this doctor started to see each other socially. It was not long before Eulalia fell in love and the two were engaged.

Shortly after they became engaged, the doctor left to attend a medical seminar. To Eulalia’s surprise and concern, he did not return the following week. Then another week passed, and the doctor still did not respond. 

Eulalia was beside herself with worry. She felt that something terrible must have happened. It wasn’t until several weeks had passed that the hospital got word from the doctor—it seems he had met a woman in the town that hosted the seminar and the two had wed.

Heart-broken, Eulalia lapsed until a deep state of depression. She was so distracted by her sorrow that her work suffered. She started to neglect the patients that were under her care. 

One night one of her patients died as a direct result of her neglect. Realizing her terrible error, Eulalia became ill herself. Not having the will to fight for her own life, she died in the hospital where she worked.

After her death, strange things started to occur. Patients, nurses, and doctors began to see a nurse in the emergency room area. 

Some stories state that she appears to glow and floats instead of walks through the hospital corridors. Other witnesses say she seems to walk normally. But in all of these reports, it is stated her footsteps are not heard. 

Hospital staff started to call this ghostly nurse, “La Planchada” because she always appears wearing a clean, freshly pressed uniform.

The reports from patients are the most intriguing. This ghostly nurse not only appears but cares for patients in the emergency area of the hospital. * 

One photo of what is
believed to be La Planchada.

It is often reported that at night when some of the hospital staff neglect their patients, this nurse cares for them instead. In the morning, these patients are well enough to be moved to less intensive care rooms. When asked how they are feeling they reply, “a nurse came in and healed me.”

It is stated that Eulalia returns as a spirit nurse because of a sense of guilt. It seems she is forever doomed to pay for her mistake in life. 

As mentioned above, there are several versions of this story. In one version, it is stated that the nurse was a cruel person who mistreated her patients, so when she died, her punishment was to take care of patients for eternity. 

In another version Eulalia was never actually engaged to the young doctor, this version states he rejects her interest in him and marries a woman he is engaged to. She then takes her disappointment out on her patients. The result is several of them die.

Regardless of the story—several hospitals in Mexico lay claim to her ghost. Many witnesses state they have seen her or have been under her care at night.

*  It is sometimes stated that she specifically takes care of patients that stay in the room where she died.