Seven Dead Babies in Ten Years

Family history came into sharp focus for me last week when Kathleen Folbigg made the news again. In 2003 she was found guilty of the murder of three of her infant children and the manslaughter of a fourth, for which she is serving a sentence of 30 years imprisonment. Damning evidence against her claimed there had never been three or more infant deaths in the same family attributed to unidentified natural causes. Smothering was suspected. Following appeals by her legal team over the forensic evidence offered in her trial, the NSW Attorney-General has now ordered a judicial inquiry into her convictions.

History tells us that women can be serial killers and a long list of candidates has been compiled to prove it. Several books have been written about Kathleen's dastardly crimes, but is she Australia's worst female serial killer .... or not a serial killer at all? Have authorities in NSW considered the experience of Martha Nicholls, who lost seven infants in quick succession back in the 1880s and 1890s? If confronted by her maternal record today, what would the authorities do with poor Martha?

Martha Margaret Buttsworth was born at Wilberforce NSW on 15 January 1858. In 1883 she married her second cousin, local farmer George Nicholls of Freemans Reach. Their grandmothers were the sisters Margaret and Ann Forrester, the daughters of the First Fleeter, Robert Forrester and Isabella Ramsay, who died in her early-mid thirties after bearing nine children. Isabella's two full-sisters died in infancy in Workington, Cumberland, England, and only one of her four half-siblings lived long enough in England to marry and produce one child.

From information on the public record, here is the heart-breaking series of infant births and deaths for the children born to Martha and George Nicholls:

1. Ella May Nicholls was born in Mar 1884 and died on 24 Nov 1884, aged 8 months.
2. Arthur George Nicholls was born in Mar 1885 and died on 21 Apr 1885, aged 4 weeks, 2 days.
3. Martha Nicholls was born in Nov 1886 and died on 16 Nov 1886, aged 9 days.
4. Florrie Alice Nicholls was born in Feb 1888 and died on 6 Mar 1888, aged 1 month.
5. Minnie (or Millie) Myrtle Ridge Nicholls was born in Apr 1890 and died on 6 Aug 1890, aged 4 months.
6. Elsie Jane Nicholls was born in Apr 1892 and died on 16 May 1892, aged 5 weeks 4 days.
7. Alfred Ernest Nicholls was born in Mar 1894 and died on 7 Apr 1894, aged 3 weeks. His demise was the only reference made by the local paper to the extraordinary events in this family: "A child of Mr George Nicholls died last week. Mr and Mrs Nicholls are deeply sympathised with in their sad bereavement." ('Wilberforce', Windsor & Richmond Gazette, Sat 14 Apr 1894, p 10)
   
8. Martha’s eighth and youngest child survived her infancy and childhood. Essie Margaret Nicholls was born in 1896. She married Ernest Roy Rutter in 1921 at Rockdale in Sydney and they had three children, Eric, Ted and Marie. Essie died on 11 December 1988 and is buried with her husband Roy in the churchyard of St Matthew's Windsor.

Essie Rutter nee Nicholls, image by courtesy of Ian Nicholls

As part of their review of the Folbigg case, the NSW authorities would do well to examine the death certificates for the Nicholls babies. No suspicion surrounding these infant deaths seems to exist. All the babies were buried at the Wilberforce Cemetery, at the time a consecrated Church of England burial ground.  Their parents, who were second cousins, later joined them here. Ian Nicholls, a keen researcher of Hawkesbury history, spent his childhood on the farm next door to Essie and Roy Rutter and Ian says that the locals believed George and Martha Nicholls 'were too close genetically, not that this was stated openly'. What is not widely known, says Ian Nicholls, is George and Martha raised Evelyn Collison, born in 1894 to George's niece Louisa and her husband Andrew Collison, who was habitually drunk and abusive, causing Louisa to divorce him in 1902. Clearly George and Martha were trusted as parents. 

 

Headstone for the seven Nicholls children, Wilberforce Cemetery
Photo by courtesy of Ian Nicholls

Happily for her, Martha had become a grandmother when she herself died suddenly on 24 July 1929, aged 71. Excerpts from her obituary in the local paper indicate that she was well-regarded in her community:

Much sympathy was expressed throughout the Hawkesbury district when it became known on Wednesday that Mrs. Martha Margaret Nicholls, wife of Mr. George Nicholls, a well-known identity of Freeman's Reach, had passed away that morning. Apparently in good health, the late Mrs. Nicholls visited Windsor last week to make arrangements in connection with some property which she owned, and her sudden passing caused a shock in the community.
Born at Wilberforce, the deceased was a member of a well-known Hawkesbury family, the late William and Margaret Buttsworth. She was married in Sydney 46 years ago to Mr. George Nicholls, a well-known and highly respected Freeman's Reach farmer and one of the original members of the Hawkesbury District Agricultural Association. The issue of the marriage was eight children, only one of whom (Mrs. Roy Rutter, of Freeman's Reach) is living.
The late Mrs. Nicholls, who had reached the allotted span of three score years and ten, was beloved and respected by all who knew her. Possessing a quiet and unassuming disposition, she was a true Christian woman, and was a great help to her husband on the farm. We join with many friends in expressing heartfelt sympathy with the bereaved widower. ('Obituary',  Windsor & Richmond Gazette, Fri 26 Jul 1929, p 3)

George was also described as an exemplary citizen when he died in 1941. The first part of his lengthy obituary states:

Few there are whose public service and personal merit over a long period of years gains them such standing in their district as to cause their passing to be looked upon almost as the loss of a cherished institution, but such a one was George Nicholls, estimable district citizen and resident of Freeman's Reach, whose death in the Hawkesbury District Hospital on Tuesday of last week, at the age of 87 years, has since been the subject of general and sincere expressions of regret throughout the Hawkesbury.
One of that select band who are prepared unselfishly, to give up a great proportion of their time to the service of their fellow men without expectation of reward, and withal an exemplary neighbor and kindly and generous friend, the late Mr. Nicholls throughout his long lifetime set an example for all to emulate, and for few to excel. Himself the fortunate possessor of robust health and the capacity to overcome these difficulties which beset every path of human endeavor, his readiness at all times to extend a helping hand to those not so well endowed, earned him a circle of staunch friends such as is granted only to such personalities, and his memory will be cherished for many years to come in the district of which he was always so proud.
A son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Nicholls, of Freeman's Reach, where he was born and remained throughout his life, the deceased came of a sturdy pioneer stock whose influence was reflected in his character. Even as a young man he took a close interest in various public bodies in his own centre and the district generally, and throughout his more mature years a great deal of his leisure from the farming activities in which he was engaged throughout his life was devoted to the public duties which he voluntarily undertook from a sense of citizenship which was always one of his most prominent traits.
('Obituary', Windsor & Richmond Gazette, Fri 13 Jun 1941, p 4)

It's clear that the parents George and Martha Nicholls lived a normal lifespan, even if Martha died suddenly and unexpectedly. Her death certificate, as well as those for her babies, might throw possible light on what was wrong with the Nicholls children. Ian Nicholls says that Essie's sons Eric and Ted are both deceased but daughter Marie is believed to be living. The thought occurs that Marie's genes might reveal clues to the fate of her mother's siblings. Does this family history case offer fresh food for thought for Kathleen Folbigg's legal team?

P.S. This post was updated on 19 June 2022 using information kindly provided by Ian Nicholls in emails dated 6 & 18 June 2022.  Then the third paragraph of this post was updated on 13 February 2023 to make the genetic history of this couple a bit clearer. 

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