Hanged for Murder

[My Good Babushka]

On April 17, 1847, Catherine Foster, age 18, was hanged for the murder of her husband. She poisoned him by putting arsenic on his dumplings. He was first believed to have died from cholera as he had sent for the doctor before he died and was treated for bowel complaint. Catherine Foster doomed herself when she dumped her husband's vomit into a ditch outside her home. All the chickens died after drinking from the ditch. This stirred up suspicion and the body was exhumed for more testing. A scraping of the inside of the intestines showed arsenic poisoning. The unhappy young bride was hanged before a crowd of 10,000 on the Market Hill at Bury. She gave a heart rending speech from the scaffold imploring other young women, who may be te'mpted as she was, not to follow her example, but to stand firm and stick to their marriage vows.


Catherine Foster's Cottage in Acton.

[frogmarch]

1. Who knows what evil lurks

in a Thomas Kinkade calendar cottage?

What a fascinating story! I wonder how old Catherine’s husband was, how long they were married, and why she poisoned him.

I enjoy all your posts, My Good Babushka.

[My Good Babushka]

2. Her husband

John Foster was 24 years old. She had known him for two or three years and married him to appease her mother, but was in love with another man. They were married in October and were married only three weeks before she murdered him.

I'm glad you enjoy my little tales!

[TeeYiYi]

4. I think this might be a clue...

re: "why she poisoned him.":

She gave a heart rending speech from the scaffold imploring other young women, who may be te'mpted as she was, not to follow her example, but to stand firm and stick to their marriage vows.

Sounds to me like she didn't enjoy the obligations of the marriage contract. Maybe he was a freak in bed.

TYY

[Wounded Bear]

3. Like an episode of Midsomer Murders....

[magical thyme]

5. damn. let that be a lesson in laziness.

Don't dump the vomit in a convenient ditch. Take it well away from the farm animals!

[In_The_Wind]

8. Indeed

and bury the vomit so that no other animals can be harmed.

[TuxedoKat]

6. I heard on a radio program

that murder by poisoning was pretty common up through the '20s or '30s of the last century and people got away with murder fairly often until forensic evidence came to be looked at more closely. I wish I could remember the name of the book that talked about this subject.

[Wounded Bear]

7. Uh, pretty much half of Agatha Christie's books...

Oh, you meant non-fiction, didn't you?

[TuxedoKat]

9. Yep

I used to love reading her books, Endless Night is a favorite.

This might be the book I was thinking about:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Poisoners-Handbook-Forensic-Medicine/dp/014311882X/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1393879843&sr=8-16&keywords=murder+by+poison

[Tom Ripley]

10. That' the book I was going to suggest.

[TuxedoKat]

11. Well

thanks anyway! Have you read it? It sounds very interesting.

[Tom Ripley]

12. Yes, I recommend it.