Sweet F.A

This episode covers the murder of Fanny Adams.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Laura and I'm Jel and this it's crack Divers.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hello everybody, Welcome to today's episode. Hello everyone, So today
we have a lot of sods we do. So we're
in the world, are we We're in the UK. Oh,
it's not very often Laura does ones.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
In the UK. I know we were just staying another
week on another episode that you tend to do more
UK ones than I do, and I don't do them
very often. But here we are. I've got a UK
one for you today. So what's it called. It's called
sweet f a Okay, so your title is either sweet Full,
which I'm kind of like, I don't think you would

(00:51):
use that as a title, or Sweet Farry Adams or
I was gonna say, or neither of them. Get blood wrong,
it's about sweet Fanny Adams. However, I will reference the
sweet fuck call later on. Well, I have heard of
Sweet Fanny Adams, as most people probably have. I don't
think a lot of people know where that actually comes from, though,

(01:13):
I will explain where it comes from. And you know,
my memory sucks, so I don't remember the story, so
you can refresh my memory. Yes, well, this is why
when it comes to cases that I know you may
have heard of. I would still do them because you
probably don't remember them. Okay, So it's like telling you
for the first time, isn't it. Okay, I'm just going
to knowing that I'm taking them. Mack out your memory.
Shall we dive in? Let's dive in? Okay. So. Fanny

(01:37):
Adams was born on the thirtieth of April eighteen fifty nine.
She lived in Tannhouse Lane on the northern side of Alton,
a market town in Hampshire, England. The eighteen sixty one
census shows that Fanny lived with her mother, father and
five siblings. There was also a George and an aunt
Adams who lived next door, and they were believed to

(01:58):
be Fanny's grandparents. Sham so Farry was described as being
a tall commonly don't know what common men's had to
look I was going to say, what's that nice to
look at? Okay, so a tall nice to look at,
an intelligent girl. She appeared older than her age, which

(02:18):
was eight years old. She was known locally for her
lively and cheerful disposition. So she was just a nice
little girl that everybody seemed to think quite a lot
of well Farry's best friend Minnie Warner, she loved a
couple of doors down from her in Tannhouse Lane. The
town of Alton was renowned for its supply of hops

(02:43):
No hops is don't, which led to many breweries opening
in the town and made hot picking an integral part
of its economy until the mid twentieth century. So to
the northern end of Tannhouse Lane there was a place
flood meadow and the surrounding river way which sometimes flooded

(03:04):
the area when there was a like heavy rain, and
there was also a large hop garden which was located
next to the meadow. So all in, you know, it
was a fairly quiet place, like it wasn't really somewhere where,
you know, a lot of things happened, and it actually

(03:25):
hadn't experienced a crime during the nineteenth century. Sadly, because
we're doing this case, that kind of means that that's
about to change. So in the afternoon of the twenty
fourth of August eighteen sixty seven, it had been reported
as a fine, sunny and hot day. So Fanny, along
with her sister Lizzie and her best friend Money, they

(03:47):
were out playing and they asked Harriet Adams, who was
Fanny's mum, if we could go out and play in
the nearby flood meadow. So Harriet, you know, she was
happy for them to go as it meant that she
could get some peace to get on with housework, because
they must have been just irritating her. So she was like, yeah, yeah,
if you go, you know, they leave me in peace.
And I mean I'm like that as well. You know

(04:07):
my daughter, I'm like, I can't do houseworker she's at home,
like I have to do it when she's at school.
I can't do with my husband's at home. But yeah,
I'm actually the same as that. Well, so I can
understand the shopause they wanted the piece of guire so
that she could. I don't know where another kids work,
but maybe everybody was playing as well. So yeah, so
she was happy for them to go. So if any
and local children they had often played in flood medals

(04:29):
as it was like I said, it was so close
to home, and the fact that there had been like
little crime within living memory. It was you know, it
was safe enough for the children to go and play,
and you know the parents were like yeah, if you go,
you know, and didn't really worry about their kids going
off and playing in nearby fields. I said, they thought
they thought it was safe. So so the girls set
off and as they were walking towards flood Meadow, they

(04:50):
met a man and he was twenty nine year old
Frederick Baker. He was a solicitor's clerk and he was
wearing a frock coat, light color trousers and a tall hat.
So Baker had moved from his former home in Guildford
to work and live in Autumn about twelve months ago.
So he was employed by a solicitor called mister Clements,

(05:11):
whose office was in Alton High Street. So Baker gave
money and Lizzy three halfpence of the old money. I
don't know, I don't know what that has equivalent to money?
Is that what it is? Well, we used to have
half pennies remember pennies? Yeah, I remember half pennies away

(05:35):
they get. He gave money and Lizzie half pence to
spend on sweets, and he gave Fay another half penny.
So the girls, you know, they had seen Baker before
at church meetings, so they didn't really question like taking
money off her. Yeah, I was just gonna say, like
why was he getting the money. But I suppose if
it's like, well, we know, yeah, they don't. I don't
know how well they knew him, but they obviously it
wasn't a no exactly, It wasn't a complete stranger, so

(05:57):
they were quite happy to take money from because I
suppose you know, well what sweets and stuff, doesn't they
so any normal kind of but yeah, get me Bundy exactly.
So you know, Baker then watched him run around and play,
and he watched as they ate their sweets, and he'd
also picked some blackberries for them, so he was, you know,
they were you knows as well. But an hour later,

(06:17):
Minny and Lizzie they had decided like they had enough.
They obviously want to go home. You know, they had
enough playing, so they were, you know, they're going to
get home. And at this point, Baker actually approached Fanny
and asked her to accompany him home. But you know,
Fanny refused, so Bakery basically abducted her and he literally
picked her up and they carried her into the nearby

(06:39):
hot garden. So I just picked her up and away
he went. Which I mean, she's not gonna be able
to fight that much, you know, so I mean, she's
you know, she's not gonna be any match for this man.
You know, clearly quite think quite strong, stronger than eight
your girl. So you know, Lizzie and Minnie and they

(06:59):
obviously this this. So I think they obviously just panicked
because they just ran back to Tannhouse Lane and they
ran straight to Martha Warner, who was Money's mom. Yeah,
but she just told ignore their story, like, she just
didn't really do anything. She just was like, I don't

(07:22):
really know I had to exactly what, but she just
basically wasn't taking it seriously, didn't really think. Well, did
you think they were maybe making up stories or something? Well,
I don't know if it's how the girls sort of
maybe told her, because apparently they just they had just
carry on playing and I didn't I did actually write like,
I don't think the girls actually realized the seriousness at
this point, And because Money's mother didn't seem too bothered,

(07:43):
I don't think they were either. So maybe there was
a bit of miscommunication or maybe how they put across
wasn't quite I'm just wondering if the way when he
picked her up then maybe she was wasn't screaming and shouting.
I there was no mention of her screaming us, So
the other kids haven't realized the seriousness of the situation. Yeah,

(08:05):
I mean it's obviously not right. But no, but I
mean we don't know how they've told that to Marrie's mum, So,
I mean her reaction might have been quite normal for
how they told it so long ago. Yeah, you don't
really know. So it wasn't until about five o'clock actually,

(08:25):
when it was time for dinner that a missus Gardener
who lived on Tanhouse Lane, she like the two girls,
Minnie and Lizzie, they had like wandered along, must have
been past her house or whatever, and she like wondered
where Fanny was because im assuming they must have. She
must have known her to be with them quite a
lot because she saw them when they were possibly. Yeah,

(08:48):
she basically had questioned where you know, Fanny was. So
the girls then they told missus Gardner about what had
happened earlier that day, and they said that Fanny had
been taken away by Baker. So fankly, missus Gardner totally,
you know, she took it must took quite seriously because
she went and told all the information straight to Fanny's mum, Harriet,

(09:11):
and the two women. They then set off themselves to
search for her. So obviously they went on their search
and they actually ran into Baker and a likely went
a short distance and they actually bumped into them basically,
and he was near a gate which was separating the
hot garden from flood metals. So missus Gardener she immediately asked, like,

(09:32):
you know what you've done with Fanny, like what we're
done her? And Baker assured her that he, you know,
often gave money to children so they, you know, could
buy sweets, and and you know, he was basically saying,
you know, that's it. I've just given them sweets. They
went out to play, that was it. So missus Gardener
actually replied, quote, I have a great mind to give
you up to the police unquote. So she obviously like, nah,

(09:54):
likes if the girls have said that's who you're with,
who she was last with, you know, something's happened. But
he was like, but basically Baker told her, you know,
like that's what you want to do, you know, go
for it. So Baker's position and TWN as a solicitor's clerk, initially,
I think it initially like deflected any suspicions to him
because they obviously thought he was a present, you know,

(10:15):
a well respected mad, he had a good job, etc.
So you know, they just sort of took his work basically.
Having so they both like they both went back home
believing that Farry was still playing in one of the
surrounding fields. So they just that was it, you know.
But well, I mean, like as you said, like this
is a place that hasn't had a crime. Yeah, in

(10:36):
the the nineteenth century. Yeah, so they probably would just think, yeah,
I mean like it's all very well us and in
the present day, Yeah, that just wouldn't happen, not like
you know, thinking back, it's a safe apparently it's a
safe place, and things like that just don't happen to
the people let their kids, yeah go on off, and

(11:01):
you know, maybe people do give the kids like money
to get us sweet and stuff someboby you know, thinking
about in our minds would be like well, right, okay,
because I mean I would like to, you know, if
my daughter was out playing, and I mean I think
maybe they were a complete stranger, but I still don't
think i'd be comfortable with they're taking money off them
to get sweet. But then you know, things are different

(11:22):
now and obviously when well exactly very different. So yeah,
so let's say they just thought, you know, she was
still somewhere playing in the fields. So sometime between seven
pm and eight pm, Fanny still hadn't returned home, which
prompted Harry and a group of neighbors to search for
Fanny again as the As the evening was setting, the

(11:45):
group began their search in the nearby hop garden. There
was a laborer called Thomas Gates. Sadly, he was about
to make a gruesome discovery. Oh yeah, I should have
really put a trigger war at the started this for
like child death and stuff. Almost forget that. But if
I'm just saying nothing, yeah, because I'm telling you forget,

(12:09):
I'm so bad for it. I know we're so bad
for it. I mean, we know it's it's because I
think it's just because it's a true crime podcast and
we're used to talking about grizzly stuff that we forget
that you know, people do have even though even though
people listen to true crime as a whole, you know,
there is certain maybe certain, but I don't want Yeah,
so yeah, I will put it in the show. I'm

(12:31):
going to be honest, it's you know, it's not a
good one. I mean, obviously, but this is extremely gruesome.
So he found Fanny's head stuck on two hot poles
while he was tending to the crops. I don't actually
think he was part of the search party from what Imerston.
I think he was just there the drops. I think

(12:53):
he separately had found he wasn't part of the search party.
So Fanny's ear had been severed from the head, which
had two large cuts from mouth to ear across the temple.
Further investigations discovered more of Fanny's remains. Her head, arms,
and legs had all been severed from her torso. There

(13:14):
were three incisions on the left side of her chest
and a deep cut on the left arm dividing her muscles.
Fanny's forearm was cut off at the elbow joint and
her left leg nearly severed off at the hit joint,
with her left foot cut off at the ankle point,
and her right leg was completely severed. The whole contents

(13:34):
of her pelvis and chest were removed, and five further
incisions had been made on the liver. Her heart had
been cut out and her vagina was missing. Both of
her eyes were cut out and found in the nearby
river way. That's awful. That's quite horrendous. Quite well, I
mean that is horrific. It's of all. Yeah, that's I

(13:56):
have to say, that's probably one of the We've had
a few gruesome ones over time, but that description of
how they've she's been fudous. Yeah, that description is of
and I think I think it always makes it worse
when it's a child. I mean, that would be grisome
for any anybody, but I think when it's just an
eight year old, it just seems it just seems so

(14:20):
much worse when it's just a child, doesn't it. And
it's just that's so brittle, like it is. It's bad
enough that she's obviously been killed, but the fact that
that's been done to her body is horrific, Like how
could I mean, it's just unnecessary. I mean, not that
it's necessary to kill, but if you're going to kill somebody,

(14:40):
you kill them and that's the job done, you know
what I mean. Like, but to go on and do that, it's, yeah,
why do you need to do any more? Yeah, I
mean it's bad enough that you've killed somebody why but obviously,
like what do you get out of that? Like we'll
obviously they get something out of it that we would
never understand. Yeah, So of course word had got out

(15:01):
to Harriott that obviously fine. So she was obviously overwhelmed
with grief. She basically collapsed on her way to tell
her husband, George, because he was away playing cricket at
this time. They didn't have phones and stuff, so she
was actually physically going find to tell them, but she
collapsed on the way, so like she she didn't actually

(15:21):
make it there, so word you know, was sent by
somebody else instead. Somebody else actually had to go really
the message. So when George was told the details, you know,
he basically came straight home and he went to get
your shotgun to go and find the culprit. But neighbors
actually stopped him from doing that because they were just like, like,
that's understandable. You know, it's you're obviously it's her reaction,

(15:41):
isn't it, because you're obviously, you know, so upset and angry,
and I think a lot of people would do the
same situation. Isn't the exactly But the neighbors were right
to go, oh yeah, definitely, because at the end of
the day, I mean sadly, nothing he was going to
do was going to change what happened. So the next day,
hundreds of people visited the hot garden to hell collect
Fanny's remains. That just sounds awful. The police tried unsuccessfully

(16:06):
to find the murder weapon or weapons, because we don't
know if it was one or one or more. At
this point, they did actually suspect that small knives were
used to commit the murder, but obviously at that point
they couldn't find anything. But they do think that it's
likely that the crowd of searchers they actually inadvertently trampled
down any clues left on the ground because again, back

(16:28):
in those days, I mean, crime scenes probably weren't as
I mean, when you're for somebody, and you wouldn't even
in this day, true, you wouldn't really think you Yeah,
they did recover all of Fanny's cut clothing scattered around
the field, with exception of our hat, and most of
Fanny's body parts were collected that day, but an arm,

(16:51):
foot and intestines were not found until the next morning.
One foot was still on a shoe and still clutched
in one of her hand was the money, some of
the money that Baker had given to Fanny, and the
breastbone was never found. So Fanny's remains were taken to

(17:12):
the doctor's surgery and her body parts were sewn back together,
and from there her body was taken to the local
police station, which sounds terrible as well as I was.
Back in those days, they probably didn't have what we
have now in terms of like what you would do
and take the body and stuff. A stone which still

(17:33):
had flesh and hair on it was handed to the
place's evidence as they thought that might have been the
actual murder weapon, but I don't think it was. It
was never confirmed that that was anything to do with it, really, So,
hearing that Baker had been seen with the children prior
to Fanny's death, placed Superintendent William Shane tracked him down
at his work, and Baker protested and claimed his innocence,

(17:57):
you know, despite being informed that he was the only
suspec But she was like, well, I'm arresting you basically,
you know, because because of that link, you know, knowing
that he was with the kids. He was like, I
need to arrest you. So he was arrested on the
suspicion of murder. So word must have got around like
quite quick because actually a large agitated crowd had gathered

(18:18):
outside the solicitor's office office where Baker was when he
was arrested, and that forced the police to smuggle Baker
out the back door for fear that the mob would
actually kill him. Yeah, because let's say, it must been
quite a small town because the word got around real
quick and they were all like just there, which is understandable.
I get that. So when Baker was searched at the

(18:41):
police station, he was found to be in possession of
two unstained small knives. Spots of blood were found on
both wristbands of his shirt, and his trousers had been
soaked to conceal the bloodstains. So after being questioned about
his appearance, Baker responded, quote, well, I don't see any
scratch or cut on my hands to account for the blood.

(19:02):
So basically they must have been asking him like, well,
have you got the blood there, and it's like, well,
I don't see. An there was just been like cocky
myway just like see anythings. So I don't know. But
Baker's conduct during his interrogation was described as cool, calm
and collected, so he was obviously quite yeah whatever, I
think clearly wasn't that bothered. So sometime after the arrest,

(19:28):
that was Superintendentiary searched Baker's desk back at the Solicitor's
office and he came across a diary. But then that
was it was sort of hidden in among sort of
like legal papers and stuff. It wasn't alviously visible, but
because he was searching, he must have searched the drawn
and come across it. So there obviously been you know,
many entries in it, but there was one entry that

(19:49):
stood out, which had been written on Saturday, the twenty
fourth of August, which said, quote, killed a young girl
it was fine and hot, which I think was yeah,
and that was it. That was it. Okay, that was
so investigators, you know, they continued, sorry, not investigations. So

(20:11):
he continued, and around October a young boy actually came
forward as an eye witness, and the boy said that
he saw Baker emerge from the hop garden at about
two pm on the day that Fanny was murdered, with
his hands and clothes saturated in blood. He said that
Baker then reportedly stooped down to the river and calmly

(20:32):
wiped himself with a handkerchief after he put a small
knife and another unidentified object in his jacket pocket. The
boy had had actually told his mumm at the time,
but she hadn't told anyone until two months later. So
I'm not sure why she took song. I don't know,
she just thought maybe it wasn't, maybe it wasn't. They
didn't realize it was him at the time. Where I

(20:53):
don't know, but she I'm exactly. So the police searched
the area for sixteen but no weapons were ever found.
So they never found the tenth and so they thought
that they had like discarded like the weapons or whatever
and the river but yeah, the river, yeah, but they couldn't.
They didn't find anything. So a forensic test of all

(21:13):
Baker's clothes was conducted, along with the two knives that
they did find on them, but a professor was able
to confirm that the blood on the knife was human.
He did say that he would have expected more blood
and signs of rust if they had been washed, So
if they had been the murther Weberon had washed them more.

(21:35):
A doctor Lewish Luish Lewis sorry Lewis Leslie thought that
Fan's ultimate cause of death was probably a blow to
the head with a stone, so it may have. I mean,
even I said they didn't didn't They never confirmed it. It
was that stone that they found that They said that
at that point they thought maybe that's what it was.
So doctor Lewis Leley speculated a larger instrument had been

(21:58):
used to cut the body, and also added this memberment
was achieved in less than an hour, so it was
obviously done very very quickly, then I suppose if but
you know when that was a few hours actually I
was going to say when the two women ran into
a baker, but that was actually a few hours later,
so I suppose he could have had enough time to
do that and then go and get changed or whatever.

(22:22):
So forensics indicated that the cuts had been made when
the body was still warm, and that Fanny had not
only been cut, but hacked and torn to pieces. That's
for rend us. So it was actually concluded that the
small nice found in Baker's possession would not have been
capable of several in Fanny's bodies, so another weapon had

(22:43):
to have been used to do that. So there was
an inquest which began on the twenty seventh of August
eighteen sixty seven. An English law at the time required
that in the case of a sudden death an a
media inquest had to be held under the duri jurisdiction
of a cor because I was like, oh, that's quite quick.
It was literally like what three days later they were

(23:04):
doing an inquest. So the first to give evidence was
Minny Warner, and that was Fanny's best friend, who told
the jury that Baker had given her money to run
with Fanny into a nearby field while he picked blackberries
for them. She was unable to identify him, but correctly
described what he was wearing when he murdered Fanny. Harry's mother,

(23:26):
Harriet was next to testify, and she recalls she met
Baker at the gate to the hop garden and that
he was heading towards the road to Basingstoke, which is
obviously when they bumped in him and asked him where
it was. And then missus Gardner gave evidence next, and
she was able to identify Baker. She said she asked
him of Fanny's whereabouts and he said he left her
playing at the gate and Baker was asked if he

(23:48):
wanted to cross question the witnesses, but he declined. The
inquest he declined, so that the inquest concluded that Baker
was responsible for the murder of Fanny Adams. So it
was sent to try so. Yeah, actually so on the
trail itself. That took place on the fifth of December.
So his defense they actually tried to claim in sanity,

(24:11):
but the jury just took They took fifteen minutes to
return a verdict of gilly. Yeah, they weren't interested in
his sanity. Yeah, So on the twenty fourth of December,
Baker was hanged outside Winchester Prison. Five thousand people attended
his execution, and this was the last public execution held

(24:33):
at that particular prison. Obviously was the last onever but yeah,
that particular prison, that was the last public one. So
before his death, Baker he did actually write a letter
to the Adams. He expressed his sorrow and he was
seeking their forgiveness, which no, sorry, now exactly I need

(24:57):
you forgive that exactly I was you whatever, So Baker
Baker's death mask was made and the following year, I
don't know if I've done a few of these, but
seems to be always a case. But the following year,
his full figure was placed as an exhibit in the
Chamber of Horrors Madam and London, Like why I get

(25:18):
that people like horror, but why not just do fictional characters?
And Madam two sords of horror? I know because I'm
like that. And that other one that was was was
it the Vampire of Dustled? Yeah? His face was like
fire in the Briley. But it's like, these people are murderers,

(25:42):
They're horrific murderers. Why on earth would you want to
display any part of them? But I don't know that one, yes,
so I couldn't. I tried to actually find out if
he was still there, but nothing would tell me that
it was. I couldn't. I kept, like, you know, type
it in the my Goggle searching, just none was giving

(26:04):
me any Answers just get to come up with like
lists of waxworks and stuff like that, and I'm like, well,
I know he was there, yeah, but I obviously couldn't
find if it was still there or not. So I
don't actually know on that one.

Speaker 3 (26:15):
If anybody does know, let us know, you know, we
know somethody might have been exactly so that is the case.
But as we side, no In eighteen sixty nine, new
rations of tinned mutton were introduced for British seamen. They
were unimpressed by it and suggested it might be the
butchered remains of Fanny Adams. What yeah, they obviously we're

(26:39):
taking the mick about it. So Fanny Adams became slang
for mediocre mutton, stew, scarce, leftovers, and then anything worthless.
The large, the large tins the mutton was delivered and
doubled as mess turns. These these or cooking pots were
still known as fannies.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
So the large tins that the mountain was in, or
the tins that they used to eat off, that's what
they called them. They call them fannies. And by the
mid twentieth century, many working class men were pretending to
their sons and social superiors that their own favored expression. Quote,

(27:21):
sweet FA stood for sweet Fanny Adams, with its meaning
being total in action or downtime. It also means sweet
fuck all, which is still used today. So that is
where But that's horrible. Oh no, like I don't actually
like that at all. I mean that's I think that's
totally discussing that they would even suggest that some kind

(27:45):
of meat was butchered remains of a poor innocent little
girl that's obviously been had a funeral and being buried
or cremated. However, you know, however they but sadly. I
mean I've used the term myself, sweet buckle, I mean
Fanny Adams. I'm not Faddy Adams, because I didn't actually
realize that was where that came from until I did
this case. All right, I knew that because I I've

(28:07):
heard it before. Yeah, I hadn't heard it before, so
I didn't know that. But now obviously I understand what
where it comes from. But yeah, it's a bit that's
disrespectful and it's disgusting, it really is. So her little girl,
let's say, all she wants to do was play about,
and it's man offered her money for sweets and that

(28:29):
ultimately to a really horrible death. I mean, I'm assuming
that she was already off, she was already dead before,
like she was cut up and stuff. But it's just yeah,
I know, I don't want to talk about anymore. Okay, Well,
thank you for listening, be back, said bye Tata Nat