Elizabeth Butchill ( ca. 1758–1780) was an English woman who was tried and executed for the murder of her illegitimate new-born child.

Life

Little of Butchill's early life is known except that she came from

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. Th ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. In about 1777, Butchill—unmarried—moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

to live with her uncle and aunt, William and Esther Hall. Like her aunt, she worked as a college bed maker at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. On 6 January 1780 Butchill spent the day in bed groaning and complaining of

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content ou ...

. She was tended to by her aunt in the morning and later in the evening. On 7 January the body of a new-born girl was found in the river near the Halls' home on the grounds of the college. At an

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...

, the coroner—Mr Bond—determined that the baby had died of a fractured skull. William Hall believed that the infant was Butchill's and arranged for a surgeon to examine her. On examination, she admitted that she had given birth to the baby. She said that the child was born alive and that she had thrown her down a "necessary" (toilet) into the river and buried the

placenta The placenta (: placentas or placentae) is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas, and waste exchange between ...

. Butchill was charged by the coroner's jury with wilful murder. Unusually for an unmarried woman, she was not charged as the mother, that is, under the Concealment of Birth of Bastards Act 1623 ( 21 Jas. 1. c. 27). Under this act, it was a capital offence for a mother to conceal the birth of a child. Butchill was simply tried for murder, and convicted. Despite pleading for mercy, she was sentenced to death and her body was to be anatomized. She was executed on 17 March 1780 at Cambridge. According to ''

The Newgate Calendar ''The Newgate Calendar'', subtitled ''The Malefactors' Bloody Register'', was a popular collection of moralising stories about sin, crime, and criminals who commit them in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. Originally a monthly bulletin of ...

'', on the day of her death, she was "firm, resigned, and exemplary ... reconciled to her fate".

References

1750s births 1780 deaths British female murderers English murderers of children English people convicted of murder English prisoners sentenced to death Executed English women Executed people from Essex Filicides in England People convicted of murder by England and Wales People executed by England and Wales by hanging People executed by the Kingdom of Great Britain British people executed for murder People from Saffron Walden {{England-crime-bio-stub