The Tragic Story of Fanny Adams | Victorian True Crime | Well, I Never

[Music] many brits are familiar with the phrase sweet fanny adams the saying has been used for over a century and there's nowadays often shortened to sweet fa meaning nothing or something worthless the fa also being swapped out for words that make a similar point over the decades the phrase has lived longer in our collective memories and the gruesome case that spawned it so who was the real fanny adams and why is her name still used over 150 years after her death today we'll find out [Music] it was april 30th 1859 when fanny adams was born to george and harriet adams she was a middle child with five siblings three sisters and two brothers the family lived here in this small market town this is alton and hampshire and the still today has a small population of just under 18 000. back then however there would have been far fewer people here but make no mistake every resident would have been very familiar with everyone else who lived here [Music] fanny and her family lived here ten house lane her immediate next door neighbors being her grandparents another close neighbor being her best friend minnie warner the girls of course spending much of their time together the town of alton has a long history with beer production and it's here in this meadow at the end of tan house lane the back then would have been surrounded by fields all producing hops for the brewery that fanny her siblings and her best friend minnie would often be found playing by those who knew her fanny was described as a tall comely and intelligent child who always looked happy and loved talking with people whenever possible the little girl stopped to have a conversation with those living in her town in 1867 fanny adams was a fun-loving eight-year-old girl living a simple but comfortable childhood in a safe community having no worries about tomorrow sadly that all changed one hot and stifling saturday that day august 24 1867 seemed like any other day in alton fanny was playing with minnie as usual along with her five-year-old sister lizzy the cheo had been spending most of their morning in the adam's garden but eventually wanted to change the scenery and so fanny asked her mother harriet for permission to go to play in the nearby flood meadow harriet who was busy with housework that day did not have any reason not to let the girls go after all fanny and her friends and siblings had been playing in the fields and meadows numerous times before without problems everyone in the town looked out for each other and the fields were a short distance away so what's the worst that could happen and so fanny and her sister lizzy and minnie set off for the flood meadow as they made their way in the three girls were suddenly approached by a man dressed in a black frock coat light waistcoat and trousers and a tall hat the man in question had lived in the town for just two months or so but fanny and the other two girls already knew him from church he was 29 year old frederick baker as the girls believed frederick to be a respectable man they did not mind stopping and having a chat with him however after some time frederick made a rather strange proposal he asked if fanny would accompany him on the walk to the neighboring village of sheldon understandably fannie wanted to stay with her little sister and her friend so she refused not taking no as an answer frederick then offered her one half penny if the young girl would walk with him but again fanny refused at this point baker turned his attention to minnie and lizzy to whom he now offered three half pennies to go and buy some sweets however they were determined to stay together with fanny realizing he was not able to trick the girls with money frederick forgot persuasion altogether and just used the evident advantage he had over the girls his size and strength and so frederick picked the helpless fanny up and carried her away quickly disappearing into the hops fields leaving minnie and lizzy in disbelief at what had just happened not knowing what to do the two girls ran as fast as they could to minnie's house to tell the story to minnie's mother martha warner however her reaction was not as you would expect there had been no crime in alton and martha's lifetime let alone child abduction so obviously her daughter was just joking around or playing some sort of game seeing her mother's calm reaction minnie herself eventually came to the conclusion that fanny was safe with frederick after all they had just been worried for nothing and so she and lizzie went back outside to play in the warner garden until lizzie had to head back home for dinner at around 5 p.m at this point fanny had been gone for more than three hours on her way home lizzie met one of the family neighbors mrs gardner who immediately asked the little girl where she had left her sister as lizzie told the story of what happened earlier mrs gardner immediately knew something was terribly wrong she took lizzie back home as quickly as she could where the five-year-old finally shared the information with her and fanny's mother harriet could not believe what she heard a man had forcibly taken her daughter extremely worried harriet and mrs gardner went out in search of funny while there were no signs of the eight-year-old they quickly came across somebody else frederick baker he was alone knowing that this man had been the last person to see fanny mrs gardner asked bluntly what frederick had done with the girl to which he answered claiming he had simply given her some money for sweets and left her at the gate of the town mrs gardner and harriet didn't believe a word frederick had said with mrs garden stating i have a great mind to give you in charge of the police baker replied telling her she could do what she liked as a solicitors clerk baker felt his social standing could easily deflect any accusations made by the two women as they had only the children's story to go by the pair returned to adam's home in the hope that fanny would return unharmed as hours began to pass with no sign of the little girl returning home a search party was put together several neighbors and other townspeople in addition to harriet followed the same route the three girls had taken earlier that day they searched the hollow a lane between the hops fields but fanny was not there next they went through the fields themselves but again no sign of the eight-year-old that was until labourer thomas gates a veteran of the crimean war came across a scene as gruesome as any he had seen on the battlefield in one of the fields there lay perched atop two hot poles the severed and mutilated head of a child hearing the news harriet became frantic in a town that small it was not possible the head belonged to anybody other than her daughter it had to be fanny heartbroken harriet tried to run to her husband who at that time was playing cricket but on her way there she collapsed overpowered by grief and exhaustion still the news of fanny's death found george who immediately returned home took his shotgun and headed out with the intention to find the person who had done this to his daughter his family and neighbors were able to disarm him and calm him down enough to prevent him from doing anything irrevocable when the details of what had happened to fanny began to be revealed nobody could really blame george for wanting to take the law into his own hands after searching the fields where fanny's head had been found police were left with a package labelled portions of a child there was no doubt they were investigating the most brutal crime in the living memory of the town it would take several days before all the parts of fanny's body were finally recovered they were initially brought here which back then would be the leathern bottle public house thereafter they were taken to the local police station where the body was reassembled by then of course her killer had already been apprehended after the discovery of fanny's remains on august 24th the police had gone to frederick baker's office around 9 p.m based on the eyewitness account of course frederick protested at first claiming he was innocent but as there were no other suspect he was arrested then and there at the station police found two small unstained knives in frederick's possession in addition to blood stains on his shirt and trousers at this point the case against frederick baker looked already quite solid but the final nail in the coffin was found the following day while searching the solicitor's office somewhere hidden in frederick's desk the police found a diary it contained a chilling entry 24th of august saturday killed a young girl it was fine and hot three days after fanny's death the inquest was held here which was then the duke's head in that was under the deputy coroner for hampshire as required by english law at the time it was concluded that fanny died between 1 30 and 3 30 pm although her cause of death was not impossible to say with any certainty as such fanny adams death certificate simply states the cause of death as being injuries inflicted by frederick baker murder during this initial inquest mrs gardner fannie's mother harriet and minnie warner were asked to give details of their story baker remained unfazed and even corrected many by stating he had given them three half pence instead of two the inquest found baker responsible for the murder but the trial still had to occur and so it began at winchester as sizes on december the 5th 1867 throughout his time in court frederick remained calm and collected denying he had anything to do with the murder of the eight-year-old yet his defense tried the criminally insane angle as frederick's family had a history of mental illness in the end the court decided that there was no evidence to support the claim but there was more than enough evidence against frederick including a new eyewitness a young boy had come forward saying he had seen frederick on the day of fanny's death covered in blood washing his hands and two small objects down the river there were not many questions left at this point and so after just 15 minutes of deliberation frederick baker was found guilty by the jury of the murder of fanny adams he was sentenced to death by hanging it is reported that before his death frederick wrote a letter to harriet and george adams expressing his remorse and seeking their forgiveness on christmas eve 1867 frederick baker was hanged at the winchester jail in front of over 5 000 people the majority of which were women and children little fanny adams was laid to rest at alton cemetery located near her home her headstone was erected by voluntary subscription as townspeople were determined not to let fanny's story be forgotten however nobody back then could have guessed the name of the brutally murdered girl would eventually morph into a phrase still used today the originators of the term sweet fanny adams were sailors in the british royal navy who came to use the expression to refer to their newly issued rations of tinder mutton they likened this unpleasant tinned meat to fanny adams remains and over time the term sweet fanny adams became slang for poor meat scarce leftovers and eventually nothing or things without worth this phrase and its meaning is in stark contrast to the life of the bright and friendly fanny adams whose life was tragically stolen on that fateful summer's day in 1867. so how do you feel about the phrase do you think we should stop using it or do you think its use has helped fanny's story persist all these years later let us know in the comments box below right then take care and i'll see you next time with another story to make you say well i never [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Well, I Never

Views: 2,797,275

Keywords: history, well i never, paul brodie, fun facts, True Crime, sweet fanny adams, The murder of sweet fanny adams, Victorian era crime, Edwardian Era Crime, Edwardian Crime, Alton Hampshire, true crime documentary, true crime documentaries full episodes, true crime documentary real stories, murder, true crime

Id: TWAwP2dAQKk

Length: 14min 57sec (897 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 11 2022