Issue 20: Maria and Frederick Manning
Maria Manning (de Roux) was born in Switzerland. She had emigrated to Britain and worked in London, where she became a lady’s maid to the wealthy Lady Blantyre. She was the daughter of the Duchess of Sutherland. Because of her environment, Maria developed a liking for the finer things in life. She detested poverty and vowed not to become one of the people she looked down upon.
It was while travelling with her employer across the Channel that she met Patrick O’Connor. He was a 50-year-old Irishman who worked as a customs officer in London’s docks. He was a man who held his own and had his own source of wealth. This would have surely attracted Maria.
However, she found herself in a lover’s twist. At the time of meeting O’Connor she was also involved with Frederick Manning. He had a less lustrous job as a guard on the Great Western Railway. As both men proposed, Maria had to decide which suitor to accept. Mr O’Connor had made his money through investing in foreign railway stocks. Mr Manning had promised her that a large sum of money, through an inheritance, he would soon be in possession of. She chose to go with Fredrick and the two married in May 1847 in St James Church, Piccadilly.
They settled in Miniver Place, in London’s Bermondsey area along the River Thames. It was by this time that Maria had realised that Frederick was full of hot air. Instead of getting an inheritance, they were in fact getting nothing. Luckily she was still in contact with O’Connor, and there is all the possibility that she was having an affair. In fact the three of them were known to have dinner from time to time at the Manning’s house.
Murder
Maria wanted the best of both worlds, so she decided to hatch a plan with her husband to kill O’Connor and steal his money. It was originally going to take place on one of their regular dinner nights. The plan was thwarted however when O’Connor brought a friend with him. So, Maria invited him back the following night. It was on 9 August 1849 that Patrick O’Connor arrived, Maria suggested he wash his hands as dinner was nearly ready. It was at the basin that Maria shot him in the back of the head with a pistol. The wound was not fatal; however, Frederick stepped in to deliver the fatal blow. After bashing him across the head repeatedly with a crowbar, the couple buried the body in a pre-dug grave below the kitchen flagstones. Having already purchased quicklime, they poured it over the body and covered the hole.
The following day Maria headed to O’Connor’s place and talked her way into his room. Once inside she wasted no time in going through his possessions. She only took items that were of value. This included the share certificates that he had. The following day she returned to the house and paid to gain access a second time. This was to see whether she had missed anything in her first sweep of the place.
Two days later, 2 of O’Connor’s colleagues arrived to enquire about O’Connor. They related he had told them he was to dine that night at the Mannings for dinner. This was for the evening of the 9th. Maria told them that O’Connor had instead been there on the 8th and that she had not seen him since then. Satisfied with the answer, the colleagues left.
The visit from the colleagues that left both Maria and Fredrick unsettled, they were unsure whether they were actually O’Connor’s colleagues or actually detectives. This caused them to decide to leave London. Maria told Frederick to sell the furniture they had, in order to recoup funds to escape with. However, as soon as he left for town, Maria packed everything of value that she could carry. She ordered a cab to King’s Cross station, where she caught a train to Edinburgh. Returning and finding his wife had deserted him, Frederick cut his losses and left the country.
By this time, the colleagues had reported the disappearance to police. They visited Miniver Place again. Having found it abandoned, the police began a search. It was in the kitchen where they discovered a patch of the floor mortar was damp between two flagstones. The bricks were lifted, revealing the partially decomposing body of Patrick O’Connor.
A manhunt for the couple now began.
The cabbie who took Maria to the station came forward and gave vital information. From him the police were told where two trunks which had been discarded on the way to the railway station.
Superintendent Haynes, of Scotland Yard, found out that Maria had brought a ticket to Edinburgh. Being in charge of the investigation, he telegraphed the information to his Scottish counterparts. Haynes was surprised to discover that Maria had in fact already been arrested for trying to sell the stocks to people who knew it was stolen. She was brought back to London where she was charged with murder. They remanded her into custody to Horsemonger Lane Goal.
Frederick joined her a week later.
Trial
During the trial, they were moved from Horsemonger Lane to Newgate Prison. This is because the prison was positioned right next to the Old Bailey.
The trial began on 25th October 1849. It was overseen by Chief Justice Cresswell and lasted 2 days. Both Maria and Frederick were represented by separate counsel. A tactic that did not work as they may have expected was the game of ‘Pin the Crime on the Spouse’. It seemed that both Maria and Frederick had separately decided that it wouldn’t be them who would take the blame of the crime.
The jury took only 45 minutes to find both defendants guilty.
They were both executed by hanging on 13 November 1849. Their deaths attracted the largest crowd of public hangings that London had ever seen. It is estimated that between 30-50,000 people came to see it. To maintain order between 500-1,000 police were on hand.
One of the people who viewed the execution was the author, Charles Dickens. He was applauded by the behaviour of the crowds, he wrote to the Times,
Public hangings were finally abolished in 1868 with the help of Dickens campaigning against them.