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John and Sarah Makin
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John and Sarah Makin
John Sidney Makin (14 February 1845 – 15 August 1893) and Sarah Jane Makin (20 December 1845 – 13 September 1918) were Australian 'baby farmers' who were convicted in New South Wales for the murder of infant Horace Murray. The couple answered a series of advertisements from unmarried mothers seeking adoption of their babies, taking on the care of the infants on payment of a "premium". The remains of fifteen infants were found by police buried in the yards of houses where the Makins had resided. The exact cause of death was not determined but, due to the bloodstains on the infants' clothing, it is believed they had been stabbed in the heart with a large needle, hence the name "Hatpin Murders".
The couple were tried and found guilty in March 1893 and both were sentenced to death, though Sarah Makin's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. After an unsuccessful appeal, which was confirmed by the Privy Council in Britain, John Makin was hanged on 15 August 1893. Sarah Makin served her sentence at Bathurst and Sydney. After eighteen and a half years, she was released in April 1911 when her daughters petitioned for her early release.
John Sidney Makin was born on 14 February 1845 at Dapto, near Wollongong, the son of an assigned convict, William Makin, and his wife Ellen (née Bolton). John was the fourth of eleven children born between 1838 and 1860.
Sarah Jane Sutcliffe was born on 20 December 1845 in Sussex Street, Sydney, the daughter of Emanuel Sutcliffe and Ellen (née Murphy). Her father was a miller and former convict. Sarah's first marriage was to a mariner, Charles Edwards, on 29 April 1865 in Sydney. She later married brewery drayman John Makin of Dapto, New South Wales, on 27 August 1871. John and Sarah Makin had at least ten children, five sons and five daughters.
In about 1881, John Makin was working as a drayman for a brewer. In November 1881 he was convicted of stealing and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. In 1885 Makin was employed as a driver of a green-grocer's van. In May 1886 a four-year-old child was knocked down by Makin's van while crossing Elizabeth Street. The child suffered concussion and was reported to be in "a precarious condition".
After John Makin was injured in an accident, as a source of income the couple turned to 'baby farming', the practice of taking on the care of illegitimate babies in exchange for payment. Makin was described as "by no means an industrious man," who in three of the four years prior to November 1892 had "not done much work." Makin's last-known employment was for Mr. R. Bedford of Great Buckingham Street, Redfern, a livery-stable proprietor and mail contractor. Bedford employed him as a driver in November 1891, "but the man never appeared to have much heart in his work", leaving suddenly after about six weeks. During the first few months of 1892, while living at Levey Street in Chippendale, he did no work and "was usually to be seen idling about in front of the house". Neighbours of the Makin family, at the many houses they had occupied, were in general agreement that John Makin "was fond of boasting that he was a person possessed of some private means". It was reported he was in receipt of one pound a week from a Wollongong property inherited from his mother, who had died in 1890. In spite of this the family "always seemed to be miserably poor".
By October 1892, when news broke about the discovery of the bodies of two infants buried in the yard of the house in Macdonaldtown, the Makin family were living at 6 Wells Street in Redfern. The household at this time was made up of John and Sarah Makin, their two-year-old son Cecil (known as 'Tommy'), and daughters, Blanche and Florence (aged 18 and 17). Two of their sons, William (aged 20) and Percy (aged 12), had been living in Wollongong "for some time past". Clarice, aged 16, was not living with the family; she had left the household to work as a domestic servant in early July 1892. Sarah Makin's daughter from her first marriage, Minnie, was married and had had "a quarrel with the Makins some time ago". Another daughter, Daisy, aged 11 years, also lived apart from the family.
Some of the Makins' baby-farming activities came to light at the inquests held in the Coroner's Court and subsequent trial on a murder charge:
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John and Sarah Makin
John Sidney Makin (14 February 1845 – 15 August 1893) and Sarah Jane Makin (20 December 1845 – 13 September 1918) were Australian 'baby farmers' who were convicted in New South Wales for the murder of infant Horace Murray. The couple answered a series of advertisements from unmarried mothers seeking adoption of their babies, taking on the care of the infants on payment of a "premium". The remains of fifteen infants were found by police buried in the yards of houses where the Makins had resided. The exact cause of death was not determined but, due to the bloodstains on the infants' clothing, it is believed they had been stabbed in the heart with a large needle, hence the name "Hatpin Murders".
The couple were tried and found guilty in March 1893 and both were sentenced to death, though Sarah Makin's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. After an unsuccessful appeal, which was confirmed by the Privy Council in Britain, John Makin was hanged on 15 August 1893. Sarah Makin served her sentence at Bathurst and Sydney. After eighteen and a half years, she was released in April 1911 when her daughters petitioned for her early release.
John Sidney Makin was born on 14 February 1845 at Dapto, near Wollongong, the son of an assigned convict, William Makin, and his wife Ellen (née Bolton). John was the fourth of eleven children born between 1838 and 1860.
Sarah Jane Sutcliffe was born on 20 December 1845 in Sussex Street, Sydney, the daughter of Emanuel Sutcliffe and Ellen (née Murphy). Her father was a miller and former convict. Sarah's first marriage was to a mariner, Charles Edwards, on 29 April 1865 in Sydney. She later married brewery drayman John Makin of Dapto, New South Wales, on 27 August 1871. John and Sarah Makin had at least ten children, five sons and five daughters.
In about 1881, John Makin was working as a drayman for a brewer. In November 1881 he was convicted of stealing and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. In 1885 Makin was employed as a driver of a green-grocer's van. In May 1886 a four-year-old child was knocked down by Makin's van while crossing Elizabeth Street. The child suffered concussion and was reported to be in "a precarious condition".
After John Makin was injured in an accident, as a source of income the couple turned to 'baby farming', the practice of taking on the care of illegitimate babies in exchange for payment. Makin was described as "by no means an industrious man," who in three of the four years prior to November 1892 had "not done much work." Makin's last-known employment was for Mr. R. Bedford of Great Buckingham Street, Redfern, a livery-stable proprietor and mail contractor. Bedford employed him as a driver in November 1891, "but the man never appeared to have much heart in his work", leaving suddenly after about six weeks. During the first few months of 1892, while living at Levey Street in Chippendale, he did no work and "was usually to be seen idling about in front of the house". Neighbours of the Makin family, at the many houses they had occupied, were in general agreement that John Makin "was fond of boasting that he was a person possessed of some private means". It was reported he was in receipt of one pound a week from a Wollongong property inherited from his mother, who had died in 1890. In spite of this the family "always seemed to be miserably poor".
By October 1892, when news broke about the discovery of the bodies of two infants buried in the yard of the house in Macdonaldtown, the Makin family were living at 6 Wells Street in Redfern. The household at this time was made up of John and Sarah Makin, their two-year-old son Cecil (known as 'Tommy'), and daughters, Blanche and Florence (aged 18 and 17). Two of their sons, William (aged 20) and Percy (aged 12), had been living in Wollongong "for some time past". Clarice, aged 16, was not living with the family; she had left the household to work as a domestic servant in early July 1892. Sarah Makin's daughter from her first marriage, Minnie, was married and had had "a quarrel with the Makins some time ago". Another daughter, Daisy, aged 11 years, also lived apart from the family.
Some of the Makins' baby-farming activities came to light at the inquests held in the Coroner's Court and subsequent trial on a murder charge:
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