John and Sarah Makin
Encyclopedia
John Makin and Sarah Jane Makin (20 December 1845 – 13 September 1918) were Australian baby farmers who were convicted in New South Wales
of the murder
of infant Horace Murray. Both were tried and found guilty in March 1893 and sentenced to death
. John was hanged
on 15 August 1893, but Sarah's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment
. On 29 April 1911, she was parole
d from State Reformatory for Women at Long Bay
in response to the petition of her daughters.
and former convict. Sarah was first married to sailor Charles Edwards on 29 April 1865 in Sydney
, Australia
. She later married brewery drayman
John Makin of Dapto
, New South Wales on 27 August 1871. John was the son of farmer William Samuel Makin and his wife Ellen Selena. John and Sarah eventually had five sons and five daughters. The couple turned to baby farming, the practice of caring for illegitimate babies in exchange for payment, as a source of income after John was injured in an accident.
s per week. Daughter Blanche Makin accepted an upfront payment of £
3 and picked up the child.
John Makin continued to collect child support payments from Amber Murray while responding with excuses to her requests to see Horace. When Murray visited an address near Sydney that was provided by the Makins, the family was nowhere to be found. They had already moved to Macdonaldtown
, New South Wales. Murray never saw her baby alive again.
in the backyard of a home in Burren Street, Macdonaldtown and found it blocked with the remains of two infant children. Investigators examined records to trace the Makins, who had moved again to Chippendale
. The Makins and four of their daughters were arrested, though only John and Sarah were charged. Police exhumed remains from the backyards of eleven homes that the Makins had occupied since 1890. A total of twelve dead infant bodies were recovered, though some sources count thirteen. Prosecutors believed the Makins sought to profit by taking in babies for child care payments, and found it easier to kill the children and deceive the parents to continue receiving money. One of their victims was Horace Murray, whose clothing would be identified by his mother Amber.
by the Supreme Court of New South Wales
at Sydney for the murder of Horace Murray, with a recommendation by the jury that Sarah Makin be spared the death penalty. Before sentencing the Makins, the judge in the case spoke out:
After two appeals and a plea for clemency were denied, John Makin was hanged in the gallows on 15 August 1893 at Darlinghurst Gaol
. Sarah's sentence was commuted
to life imprisonment
with hard labour at the State Reformatory for Women at Long Bay
. After her daughters campaigned for her release, Sarah was parole
d in 1911, having served 19 years in prison. According to court records, the Makins were not charged in any further criminal activity. On 13 September 1918, Sarah Makin died in Marrickville
, New South Wales; she was buried in Rookwood Cemetery
.
to initiate the Children’s Protection Act of 1892, to bring the care of orphaned and destitute children under state control.
, which played in Sydney and in New York City
. In 2009, it was nominated for three Sydney Theatre Awards and won one for best actress.
In August 2009, the Makin story was televised in the Discovery Channel
documentary
series Deadly Women
. According to the third season episode "Blood for Money", which featured reenactments with actress Pip Moore as Amber Murray, the Makins moved more than 25 times in a period of 18 years.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
of the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of infant Horace Murray. Both were tried and found guilty in March 1893 and sentenced to death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. John was hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
on 15 August 1893, but Sarah's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. On 29 April 1911, she was parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
d from State Reformatory for Women at Long Bay
Long Bay Correctional Centre
Long Bay Correctional Complex is located in the suburb of Malabar in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Long Bay comprises six institutions, four maximum security and two minimum security.-History:...
in response to the petition of her daughters.
Background
Sarah Jane Sutcliffe was born on 20 December 1845 to Ellen Murphy and Emanuel Sutcliffe; her father was a millerMiller
A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world...
and former convict. Sarah was first married to sailor Charles Edwards on 29 April 1865 in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. She later married brewery drayman
Drayman
A drayman was historically the driver of a dray, a low, flat-bed wagon without sides, pulled generally by horses or mules that were used for transport of all kinds of goods. Now the term is really only used for brewery delivery men, even though routine horse-drawn deliveries are almost entirely...
John Makin of Dapto
Dapto, New South Wales
Dapto is a southern suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size...
, New South Wales on 27 August 1871. John was the son of farmer William Samuel Makin and his wife Ellen Selena. John and Sarah eventually had five sons and five daughters. The couple turned to baby farming, the practice of caring for illegitimate babies in exchange for payment, as a source of income after John was injured in an accident.
Case of Horace Murray
In 1892, 18-year-old Amber Murray placed an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald in search of a mother to adopt a baby boy. Murray was unable to care for her illegitimate son Horace, born on 30 May of that year, and offered to cover child support expenses. The Makins replied that they were willing to take care of Horace in exchange for 10 shillingShilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s per week. Daughter Blanche Makin accepted an upfront payment of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
3 and picked up the child.
John Makin continued to collect child support payments from Amber Murray while responding with excuses to her requests to see Horace. When Murray visited an address near Sydney that was provided by the Makins, the family was nowhere to be found. They had already moved to Macdonaldtown
Macdonaldtown, New South Wales
Macdonaldtown is an urban locality in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Macdonaldtown is located 4 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, within the suburb of Newtown and adjacent to Erskineville. Macdonaldtown is part of the local government area of the...
, New South Wales. Murray never saw her baby alive again.
Discovery of bodies
The Makins came to police attention on 11 October 1892, when worker James Hanoney was clearing a clogged underground drainDrain (plumbing)
A drain is the primary vessel for unwanted water to be flumed away, either to a more useful area, funnelled into a receptacle, or run into the sewers as waste.-Waste versus re-circulated drains:...
in the backyard of a home in Burren Street, Macdonaldtown and found it blocked with the remains of two infant children. Investigators examined records to trace the Makins, who had moved again to Chippendale
Chippendale, New South Wales
Chippendale is a small inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Chippendale is located on the southern edge of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
. The Makins and four of their daughters were arrested, though only John and Sarah were charged. Police exhumed remains from the backyards of eleven homes that the Makins had occupied since 1890. A total of twelve dead infant bodies were recovered, though some sources count thirteen. Prosecutors believed the Makins sought to profit by taking in babies for child care payments, and found it easier to kill the children and deceive the parents to continue receiving money. One of their victims was Horace Murray, whose clothing would be identified by his mother Amber.
Trial
In March 1893, the Makins' own daughters testified against them in court. 16-year-old Clarice stated that she recognized clothing recovered from one of the dead babies that was previously in the custody of her mother. 11-year-old Daisy recalled that two young girls that followed them to Macdonaldtown, but not Horace. Another couple testified that they had also been paying the Makins 10 shillings per week for the temporary care of their illegitimate baby. However, they ended up paying the Makins £2 to cover funeral costs, as the child died within days. The Makins did not attend the funeral.Sentencing
Both Sarah and John Makin were sentenced to death by hangingHanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
by the Supreme Court of New South Wales
Supreme Court of New South Wales
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...
at Sydney for the murder of Horace Murray, with a recommendation by the jury that Sarah Makin be spared the death penalty. Before sentencing the Makins, the judge in the case spoke out:
After two appeals and a plea for clemency were denied, John Makin was hanged in the gallows on 15 August 1893 at Darlinghurst Gaol
Darlinghurst Gaol
Darlinghurst Gaol was an Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. The site is bordered by Victoria, Burton and Forbes streets, with entrances on Forbes and Burton Streets.-History:...
. Sarah's sentence was commuted
Commutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
with hard labour at the State Reformatory for Women at Long Bay
Long Bay Correctional Centre
Long Bay Correctional Complex is located in the suburb of Malabar in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Long Bay comprises six institutions, four maximum security and two minimum security.-History:...
. After her daughters campaigned for her release, Sarah was parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
d in 1911, having served 19 years in prison. According to court records, the Makins were not charged in any further criminal activity. On 13 September 1918, Sarah Makin died in Marrickville
Marrickville, New South Wales
Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney's Inner West is located 7 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia and is the largest suburb in the Marrickville Council local government area...
, New South Wales; she was buried in Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
.
Effect on legislation
The case of John and Sarah Makin raised awareness of the institution of baby farming and led the New South Wales Legislative AssemblyNew South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
to initiate the Children’s Protection Act of 1892, to bring the care of orphaned and destitute children under state control.
In media
The story of Amber Murray and the Makin family inspired the 2008 Australian theater production The HatpinThe Hatpin
The Hatpin is a musical theatre production inspired by the true story of Amber Murray who in 1892 gave up her son to the Makin family in Sydney, Australia. Written and developed in 2006–2007, by James Millar and Peter Rutherford , The Hatpin opened at the Seymour Centre in Sydney on 27 February...
, which played in Sydney and in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 2009, it was nominated for three Sydney Theatre Awards and won one for best actress.
In August 2009, the Makin story was televised in the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
series Deadly Women
Deadly Women
Deadly Women is a television series first aired in 2005 on the Discovery Channel, focusing on female killers. It was originally a mini-series consisting of three episodes: "Obsession," "Greed" and "Revenge". After a 2 year hiatus, the show resumed production in 2008 and began airing on the...
. According to the third season episode "Blood for Money", which featured reenactments with actress Pip Moore as Amber Murray, the Makins moved more than 25 times in a period of 18 years.
See also
- Amelia DyerAmelia DyerAmelia Elizabeth Dyer née Hobley was the most prolific baby farm murderer of Victorian England. She was tried and hanged for one murder, but there is little doubt she was responsible for many more similar deaths—possibly 400 or more—over a period of perhaps twenty years.-Background:Unlike many of...
- Amelia Sach and Annie WaltersAmelia Sach and Annie WaltersAmelia Sach and Annie Walters were two British serial killers better known as the Finchley baby farmers.-Crimes:...
- Capital punishment in AustraliaCapital punishment in AustraliaCapital punishment has been formally abolished in Australia. It was last used in 1967, when Ronald Ryan was hanged in Victoria. Ryan was the last of 114 people executed in the 20th century and prior to his execution Queensland and New South Wales had already abolished the death penalty for murder....
External links
- The Baby Farmers: John and Sarah Makin at truTV
- Makin, Sarah Jane (1845 - 1918) at the Australian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....