|
[infanticide - manslaughter - Castlereagh - convict service, assignment to spouse]
R. v. Macintosh
Supreme Court of New South Wales
Burton J., 1 August 1838
Source: Sydney Gazette, 4 August 1838[1]
(Before Mr. Justice Burton and a Military Jury.)
Ann Macintosh was indicted for the manslaughter of her infant child, on the 29th April last, at Castlereagh. The prisoner was an assigned servant[2] to a settler at that place and was in the family way. The day after her confinement she procured a bottle of rum which she drank and while in a state of intoxication the child was smothered by her. His Honor in putting the case to the jury, remarked, that although the prisoner had been morally guilty, no wilful act had been proved against her. Not Guilty.
Notes
[1]See also Sydney Herald, 6 August 1838; Australian, 3 August 1838. This case was also recorded in Burton, Notes of Criminal Cases, vol. 36, State Records of New South Wales, 2/2436, p. 70, Burton noting that she was a convict assigned to work for her husband.
[2]Convict assigned to a private master or mistress. |
