Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries

  It's New Year's Eve so let's reflect on who has been revealed in Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries in 2023. The year has been filled with many published blogs about people who chose a life of service helping others as well as those who chose not to; tragedies that were heartbreaking and secrets and scandals that shocked us. A view of the Old Catholic section - author's own collection  My most popular blog was the one devoted to Lucy Farrow, mother of John Villiers Farrow, Hollywood producer and film maker and grandmother of Mia Farrow. The next most popular was that of the murder of Leticia Frances Cavanagh and followed by the Banka ferry disaster and slaughter of innocents. You also liked the story of the "bad" mother of Macdonaldtown, Sarah Makin. Henry Shiell, the City Coroner, was a popular read as was one about the secrets and scandals found in Section One of the Old Anglican Section. It seems I will need to find more titillating material to engage ...

 Part two of my blog regarding mothers relates to one whose crime during late Victorian times still sends shock waves through society. The crime itself was more widespread than ever reported due to its very nature. Welcome to the seedy world of "baby farming". The Baby Farmer - "The Crime Wire" - with thanks What was a woman, who was not supported by her family, to do with an unwanted child in that time when illegitimacy was a sin of considerable shame? There was infanticide, the workhouse or to pay a stranger, a 'baby farmer', to look after the baby for her in an unregulated "industry". The latter solution seemed the best one for many women and some disreputable people strapped for cash, particularly during the downturn in the 1890's saw an opportunity to gain some easy money. Before I introduce you to the mother, the subject of this blog, let it be known that most of us have skeletons in our family trees, people who led questionable lives tha...