Eliza Fenning, The Woman Executed For 3 Murders Despite No Victims Or Evidence

Summary

Eliza Fenning, a 23-year-old cook, was wrongfully convicted and executed for attempted murder in 1815 London despite no evidence or victims, highlighting the injustices of the era's criminal justice system.

Abstract

In 1815, Eliza Fenning was employed as a cook for the Turner family in London. After a dinner where she and five others fell ill, allegedly from arsenic-laced dumplings, she was accused of attempted murder. Despite her own illness, testimony to her good character, and the lack of reliable evidence, Fenning was convicted and sentenced to death. The case, which drew significant public attention and outrage, exemplified the harsh realities of class disparity in the justice system of early 19th-century England, where the word of a doctor and societal status could outweigh factual evidence and due process. Fenning's execution, alongside two other criminals, was met with public shock and protests, including threats to the Turner family's home, reflecting the community's disbelief at the miscarriage of justice.

Opinions

The author suggests that the criminal justice system of the time was flawed, particularly in its treatment of the working class.
The conviction of Eliza Fenning was based on circumstantial evidence and the questionable testimony of a doctor, indicating a lack of rigorous scientific methods for evidence collection.
Public reaction to Fenning's conviction and execution was one of shock and disapproval, implying a belief in her innocence and a recognition of the injustice she suffered.
The case is presented as a stark example of the societal divide between the wealthy and the working class, where the latter was vulnerable to unfounded accusations without adequate legal representation.
The article implies that Fenning's fate was sealed not by evidence but by her social standing and the biases of the era, leading to a tragic and unjust outcome.

In 1815 London, a young servant was tried and convicted for a crime that didn’t even happen, which shocked those around the city

Murder cases are often sensational, as the criminal justice system seeks to find responsible parties and bring them to justice for horrid crimes. Although proceedings are meant to punish perpetrators due to incontrovertible evidence, that unfortunately doesn’t always happen. In the early 19th century, an English house servant was arrested, convicted and executed for the attempted murders of five members of the family she worked with; which came despite nobody’s death and no evidence that anything had occurred more than indigestion.

In 1815, Eliza Fenning served as a cook in the Turner family home in London. Sadly, this job led to her losing her life for crimes that almost certainly never happened.

The trouble came one evening when she prepared dinner for the family and herself, which included her homemade dumplings. Shortly thereafter, she and five of the Turners fell very ill, but all fortunately recovered to full health very quickly. For some reason, the family had a doctor do an investigation, and that physician claimed that he tested the dumplings and found that they contained arsenic. For him, somebody had obviously poisoned their meal. However, we know today that no testing existed at the time that would have been able to detect the arsenic like he claimed.

Despite having been one of the people who had been sickened, the 23-year-old Fenning was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted murder. Turner’s mother testified that the servant had also eaten the dumplings in question, and multiple witnesses spoke on her behalf vouching for her good character.

Unfortunately, the jury couldn’t seem to get by the claims of the doctor and the “fact” that Fenning knew where arsenic was kept inside the house. In short order she was found guilty and sentenced to hang; a decision that so shocked the convicted woman that she fainted dead away and had to be carried to her cell.

Once she was accused, she was essentially doomed. Not having the wherewithal to competently fight the case or have a lawyer do so on her behalf, she was at the mercy of those making the charges. Also, as a member of the working class, the decision of a well-off family to try and hold her responsible for an alleged crime that may have well been imagined was another enormous strike against her.

Fenning was hanged with two other criminals; a man convicted of child rape and another for sodomy. She was stalwart to the end, with her final words from the gallows being: “Before the just and almighty God, and by the faith of the holy sacrament I have taken, I am innocent of the offence with which I am charged.”

The case shocked many in the community, and it was reported that the young woman’s funeral drew some 10,000 attendees, with curious onlookers following the morbid proceedings from nearby windows and rooftops. A mob of around 1,000 people descended upon the Turner home and threatened to burn it down, but were able to be dispersed by police without inflicting any damage. However, angry groups continued to show up at the house for days afterwards, essentially forcing authorities to stand guard until they finally dissipated.

The Fenning case appears to have been an enormous travesty of justice that brought the full force of the law down on someone that neither had the wherewithal to adequately defend themselves, even though there was essentially a lack of victims and evidence. It has never been established why the family was so quick to believe that she had murderous intent. Ultimately, the death of the young woman may have done little more than to serve as a reminder that in that society of that time, there was a clear line of the haves and have nots, and what could happen if anyone tried to dispute that.