Arsenic poisoning.

In the early part of the reign of Queen Victoria murder by arsenic poisoning was epidemic in England.

White arsenic or arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃) is a metallic oxide that was widely used in the 19th century as a pesticide to kill vermin and insects and also as a herbicide, tonic and as a component in medicines, agriculture as a dip for sheep, and wallpaper. It was very cheap, freely available up to 1851 (see below) odourless, soluble in water and largely tasteless.

When taken in food the symptoms produced included vomiting, diarrhoea and severe stomach cramps which were not at all dissimilar to English Cholera and gastro-enteritis. Cholera epidemics were not uncommon at this time with major outbreaks in 1831/2, 1848/9, 1853/4 and 1866 which killed in total some 140,000 people.
When taken in small quantities arsenic is not lethal but its effects are cumulative, i.e. it builds up in the body. In large quantities it is lethal although not quick, death usually taking several hours. Where death occurred and there were no obvious suspicious circumstances doctors often certified the cause as Cholera and did not order an autopsy. Thus arsenic became the “weapon of choice” particularly among women who for two old pence (1p) could obtain enough of the substance to get rid of unwanted children, husbands and other relatives and often get away with it. It is impossible to know how many cases of arsenic poisoning went undetected.

Up to 1836 there was no reliable means of detecting arsenic. In this year James Marsh who was a chemist at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich published a paper giving a detailed methodology for testing for traces of arsenic and for measuring the actual quantity found. He had been involved with the case of James Boodle in 1832 and Boodle was acquitted due to lack of good forensic evidence, although he later admitted poisoning his grandfather’s coffee. There had been previous test methods, the earliest invented in 1775 by Carl Scheele and others devised by Johann Metzger, Valentin Rose and Samuel Harnemann, but these were not ideal. The Marsh Test soon became the standard forensic procedure and samples of food, drink, stomach contents and tissue were examined using it. The process was very sensitive and could detect as little as a fiftieth of a milligram of the substance.

In 1841 a German chemist named Hugo Reinsch published a description of a second method whereby metallic arsenic was deposited on copper foil from hydrochloric acid solution. The test was easier to perform than Marsh's, since it could be applied to a liquid containing organic matter.

Expertise at carrying out these tests built up in the newly opened teaching hospitals and there were soon a number of expert witnesses available to prosecutors. As often seems to be the case detection was more of a deterrent than punishment and the instances of arsenic poisoning began to diminish.

In the decade from 1843 to 1852, 22 women were hanged in England and Wales. 17 of these were arsenic poisoners as detailed below.

Date hanged	Name	Age	Place	Victims
06/05/1843	Betty Eccles	38	Liverpool	Murder of her stepson
05/08/1843	Sarah Dazley	24	Bedford	Murder of her husband
13/01/1844	Sarah Westwood	42	Stafford	Murder of her husband
02/08/1844	Eliza Joyce	31	Lincoln Castle	Murder of her stepson
28/12/1844	Mary Gallop	20	Chester	Murder of her father
11/01/1845	Mary Sheming	51	Ipswich	Murder of her son
23/04/1845	Sarah Freeman	28	Taunton	Murder of her brother
17/04/1847	Catherine Foster	18	Bury St Edmunds	Murder of her husband
30/07/1847	Mary Ann Milner	27	Lincoln Castle	Murder of sister in law
14/08/1848	Mary May	38	Chelmsford	Murder of her half brother
09/08/1849	Mary Ball	31	Coventry	Murder of her husband
21/08/1849	Mary Ann Geering	49	Lewes	Murder of her husband and 2 sons
23/08/1849	Rebecca Smith	44	Devizes	Murder of her infant son
13/04/1850	Mary Reeder	20	Cambridge	Murder of sister, Susan Lucas
25/03/1851	Sarah Chesham	42	Chelmsford	Attempted murder of husband
19/08/1851	Mary Cage	40	Ipswich	Murder of her husband
10/04/1852	Sarah Ann French	27	Lewes	Murder of her husband

Note : Mary Milner hanged herself on the eve of her execution but is included as no reprieve was forthcoming and all the preparations had been made for her execution.

Including Mary Milner there were 97 executions in England and Wales during the period and thus women represented 22.6% of the total, the highest proportion ever.

The activities of “Sally Arsenic” as Sarah Chesham was dubbed by the media together with other female poisoners, finally reached the notice of parliament. After sustained pressure in the press, the Earl of Carlisle introduced the Sale of Arsenic Regulation Bill in early 1851. This required the supplier to keep a register showing the name of the person making the purchase, the amount bought and the reason for buying it. The purchaser had to sign the register. The seller could only sell to persons they knew or if they didn’t know them to persons accompanied by a witness who could verify their identity and who had also to sign the register. From now on arsenic had to be coloured for normal sized purchases so that the defence that the poisoner had simply added it to food by mistake could not be used. Uncoloured (white) arsenic could only be bought in commercial amounts, a minimum quantity of 10 lbs being specified. The Bill received the approval of the House of Lords on the day before Sarah Chesham was hanged and was originally to have contained a clause banning women from purchasing the substance although this was later dropped.

Over the next few months this site will be looking at some of these cases in detail.

Back to Contents Page