Sarah Makin

Case identification

Sarah Makin was also known as Sarah Jane Makin.

STATUS and outcome

John Makin (14 February 1845 – 15 August 1893) and Sarah Jane Makin (20 December 1845 – 13 September 1918) were Australian baby farmers 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 by hanging. John Makin was hanged on 15 August 1893, while Sarah’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Sarah Makin was paroled on April 29, 1911 from State Reformatory for Women at Long Bay. Sarah Makin died on 13 September 1918 in Marrickville, New South Wales and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery.

Background

Sarah Jane Sutcliffe was born on 20 December 1845 to Ellen Murphy and Emanuel Sutcliffe; her father was a miller and former convict. Sarah was first married to sailor Charles Edwards on 29 April 1865 in Sydney, Australia. Sarah 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 as a source of income after John was injured in an accident.

The offence

Infant Horace Murray and the Makins’ alleged conduct

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 1892, and offered to cover child support expenses. The Makins replied that they were willing to take care of Horace in exchange for 10 shillings 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.

Additional victims recovered during the investigation

The Makins came to police attention on 11 October 1892, when worker James Hanoney was clearing a clogged underground drain 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.

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.

Investigation

Discovery and police tracing

On 11 October 1892, worker James Hanoney cleared an underground drain in the backyard of a home in Burren Street, Macdonaldtown and found remains of two infant children. Police uncovered decomposing remains of another five infants in various parts of the backyard. Through tenancy records, detectives traced the previous tenants of the cottage, John Makin and Sarah Makin, to a house in nearby Redfern where they uncovered buried remains of more babies. When police tracked the Makins down to their new family home in nearby Chippendale, they found more dead babies buried in the backyard, bringing the tally to 12.

Arrests and charges

The entire Makin family was placed under arrest: Sarah, John, and their four daughters Florence, 17, Clarice, 16, Blanche, 14, and Daisy, 11. John and Sarah Makin were charged with murder. The Makins and four of their daughters were arrested, though only John and Sarah were charged.

Coroners’ inquests and verdicts described

A coronial jury returned open verdicts in the early findings. Inquests into the causes of deaths of the infants proceeded in November 1892 in a blaze of publicity. Unable to identify bodies or establish causes of death—there was no evidence of violence or poison—on 28 November a jury returned open verdicts in four cases, but identified one body as that of the illegitimate child of Minnie Davis and Horace Bottamley and recommended a manslaughter charge against the Makins.

Inquests continued with deaths of four more of the infants, one of whom was Horace Murray, born on 30 May 1892, the illegitimate son of Amber Murray. After the Makins accepted £3, daughter Blanche collected the baby on 27 June, two days before the family departed suddenly for Burren Street. On 21 December a coronial jury returned a verdict of murder in the case of Amber Murray’s child.

Trial

March 1893 trial details

In March 1893, the Makins’ own daughters testified against them in court. Clarice, 16, stated that she recognized clothing recovered from one of the dead babies that was previously in the custody of her mother. Daisy, 11, 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.

Neither defendant took the stand. Disregarding testimony of disfiguring sores, the trial judge when addressing the jury spoke of a “healthy” infant dead within two days. The jury found both defendants guilty of murdering an unknown infant but recommended mercy for Sarah.

Evidence of reputation and appeals described during trial

An appeal included defence objection to wrongful admission of testimony from other mothers, which established the Makins’ reputation as “baby farmers”; this objection was dismissed on the grounds that it was impossible to suppose that such testimony had any influence on the verdict of the jury. An appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council also failed—the committee would not set aside a jury’s decision because the jury had had the “advantage” of seeing and hearing witnesses.

Trial court charge and sentencing remarks quote

“You took money from the mother of this child. You beguiled her with promises which you never meant to perform and which you never did perform having determined on the death of the child. You deceived her as to your address and you endeavoured to make it utterly fruitless that any search should be made and finally, in order to make detection impossible, as you thought, having bereft it of life, you buried this child in your yard as you would the carcase of a dog... No one who has heard the case but must believe that you were engaged in baby farming in its worst aspect. Three yards of houses in which you lived testify, with that ghastly evidence of these bodies, that you were carrying on this nefarious, this hellish business, of destroying the lives of these infants for the sake of gain.” —Justice Matthew Henry Stephen

The judge promised to pass on to the Executive Council of New South Wales the jury’s recommendation for mercy on Sarah Makin.

Sentencing

Sentences imposed

Both Sarah and John Makin were sentenced to death by hanging by the Supreme Court of New South Wales at Sydney for the murder of Horace Murray. The recommendation by the jury was that Sarah Makin be spared the death penalty.

Appeals and clemency

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.

John Makin statement described

Before sentencing the Makins, the judge in the case spoke out as quoted above. After the appeals and clemency were denied, John signed a statement that the body was not Amber Murray’s son, claiming that it “was buried in the yard four to five weeks before we got her child”.

Appeals

Two appeals and a plea for clemency were denied. An appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council also failed, with the committee refusing to set aside a jury’s decision because the jury had had the “advantage” of seeing and hearing witnesses.

Outcome

John Makin was hanged on 15 August 1893 at Sydney gaol. Sarah Makin’s sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life, and she served it at Bathurst and in Sydney.

Aftermath

Parole and later life

After her daughters campaigned for her release, Sarah was paroled in 1911, having served 19 years in prison. She was discharged on 29 April 1911 from the State Reformatory for Women at Long Bay to the care of her daughter Florence on the grounds of her great age and declining health.

Sarah nursed her eldest daughter through a fatal illness, then lived with her son-in-law. “Mother Makin,” as she had been known during her notoriety, died on 13 September 1918 at Marrickville and was buried with Anglican rites in Rookwood cemetery.

Children’s criminal record

Three sons and four daughters survived her. According to court records, the Makins were not charged in any further criminal activity.

Other details

Names, dates, and ages in the case narrative

John Makin was born on 14 February 1845 and died on 15 August 1893. Sarah Jane Makin was born on 20 December 1845 and died on 13 September 1918.

Clarice Makin was 16 years old. Daisy Makin was 11 years old. Florence Makin was 17 years old. Blanche Makin was 14 years old.

Amber Murray was 18 years old and gave birth to Horace in March 1892. Horace Murray was born on 30 May 1892.

Movements and locations described

The Makins moved to Macdonaldtown after a visit to an address near Sydney. The family later moved to Chippendale. A house in Burren Street, Macdonaldtown was excavated, and backyards of eleven homes were searched. Remains were also recovered connected to Redfern and George Street addresses. Sarah was paroled from State Reformatory for Women at Long Bay and later died in Marrickville, New South Wales.

Media and legislation described

The case raised awareness of baby farming and led the New South Wales Legislative Assembly to initiate the Children’s Protection Act of 1892 to bring the care of orphaned and destitute children under state control.

The story inspired the 2008 Australian theater production The Hatpin, 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. The third season episode “Blood for Money” featured reenactments with actress Pip Moore as Amber Murray and described the Makins moving more than 15 times in a period of 20 years.