John Sidney Makin (14 February 1845 – 15 August 1893) and Sarah Jane Makin (20 December 1845 – 13 September 1918) were Australian 'baby farmers' who were convicted in New South Wales for the murder of infant Horace Murray. The couple answered a series of advertisements from unmarried mothers seeking adoption of their babies, taking on the care of the infants on payment of a "premium". The remains of fifteen infants were found by police buried in the yards of houses where the Makins had resided. The exact cause of death was not determined but, due to the bloodstains on the infants' clothing, it is believed they had been stabbed in the heart with a large needle, hence the name "Hatpin Murders".
The couple were tried and found guilty in March 1893 and both were sentenced to death, though Sarah Makin's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. After an unsuccessful appeal, which was confirmed by the Privy Council in Britain, John Makin was hanged on 15 August 1893. Sarah Makin served her sentence at Bathurst and Sydney. After eighteen and a half years, she was released in April 1911 when her daughters petitioned for her early release.
Background John Sidney Makin was born on 14 February 1845 at Dapto, near Wollongong, the son of an assigned convict, William Makin, and his wife Ellen (née Bolton).Makin's father had been court-martialed in London in February 1833 for desertion and sentenced to seven years' transportation, arriving in Sydney aboard the Lloyds in December 1833; William Makin received his Certificate of Freedom in December 1842 [Certificate of Freedom No. 42/2218; William Makin, Prisoner No. 33/3493; NSW State Archives, Series Number: NRS 12210; Archive Roll: 1013 (per Ancestry.com)]. John was the fourth of eleven children born between 1838 and 1860.
Sarah Jane Sutcliffe was born on 20 December 1845 in Sussex Street, Sydney, the daughter of Emanuel Sutcliffe and Ellen (née Murphy). Her father was a miller and former convict. Sarah's first marriage was to a mariner, Charles Edwards, on 29 April 1865 in Sydney. She later married brewery drayman John Makin of Dapto, New South Wales, on 27 August 1871. John and Sarah Makin had at least ten children, five sons and five daughters.Birth and death registrations of John and Sarah Makin's children are inconsistent; at least one (Harold, born and died in 1888) died as a child, but there may have been others (New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriage records).
In about 1881, John Makin was working as a drayman for a brewer.Another Dead Body Found , Sydney Morning Herald, 12 November 1892, p. 7. In November 1881 he was convicted of stealing and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. In 1885 Makin was employed as a driver of a green-grocer's van. In May 1886 a four-year-old child was knocked down by Makin's van while crossing Elizabeth Street. The child suffered concussion and was reported to be in "a precarious condition".Walter Edwards , Evening News (Sydney), 9 May 1885, p. 6.
After John Makin was injured in an accident, as a source of income the couple turned to 'baby farming', the practice of taking on the care of illegitimate babies in exchange for payment. Makin was described as "by no means an industrious man," who in three of the four years prior to November 1892 had "not done much work." Makin's last-known employment was for Mr. R. Bedford of Great Buckingham Street, Redfern, a livery-stable proprietor and mail contractor. Bedford employed him as a driver in November 1891, "but the man never appeared to have much heart in his work", leaving suddenly after about six weeks. During the first few months of 1892, while living at Levey Street in Chippendale, he did no work and "was usually to be seen idling about in front of the house". Neighbours of the Makin family, at the many houses they had occupied, were in general agreement that John Makin "was fond of boasting that he was a person possessed of some private means". It was reported he was in receipt of one pound a week from a Wollongong property inherited from his mother, who had died in 1890. In spite of this the family "always seemed to be miserably poor".The Mysterious Discoveries , Sydney Morning Herald, 14 November 1892, p. 5.
By October 1892, when news broke about the discovery of the bodies of two infants buried in the yard of the house in Macdonaldtown, the Makin family were living at 6 Wells Street in Redfern. The household at this time was made up of John and Sarah Makin, their two-year-old son Cecil (known as 'Tommy'), and daughters, Blanche and Florence (aged 18 and 17).Cossins (2013), p. 68. Two of their sons, William (aged 20) and Percy (aged 12), had been living in Wollongong "for some time past". Clarice, aged 16, was not living with the family; she had left the household to work as a domestic servant in early July 1892.The Macdonaldtown Discoveries , Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 17 November 1892, p. 5. Sarah Makin's daughter from her first marriage, Minnie, was married and had had "a quarrel with the Makins some time ago". Another daughter, Daisy, aged 11 years, also lived apart from the family.
Baby farming Some of the Makins' baby-farming activities came to light at the inquests held in the Coroner's Court and subsequent trial on a murder charge:
Charles Ward (infant son of Agnes Ward) On 12 February 1892 nineteen-year-old Miss Agnes Ward, a domestic servant living at Cook's River, gave birth to a male child at the residence of Mrs. Elizabeth Terry, a midwife, at Fleet Street, Summer Hill.The Great Baby Farming Case , Evening News (Sydney), 20 December 1892, p. 6. The birth was registered at Ashfield, with the child named Charles Ward.New South Wales birth registration: Charles Ward (Ashfield; reg. no. 4539/1892). On 27 April Ward inserted an advertisement in the Evening News for a "kind lady" to adopt her baby boy. The next day John and Sarah Makin and their daughter Daisy met with Ward at Mrs. Terry's residence. They agreed to adopt the infant for £5, and "promised to be very kind to it". John Makin claimed he was taking the child "to fill the gap" caused by the death of his own child named 'Johnny' and this child "would take the dead child's place". He said they were living in Kettle Street in Redfern, but were shortly to move "to take a 'piggery'". He promised to send their new address, so Agnes might have an opportunity of seeing the infant. The body marked 'C' found buried at 109 George Street, Redfern was provisionally determined to be Agnes Ward's male child.The Discoveries of Infants’ Remains , Sydney Morning Herald, 20 December 1892, p. 7.
Infant daughter of Clara Risby Clara Risby, a domestic servant residing at Woolloomooloo, gave birth to a baby girl on 15 April 1892 at the Benevolent Asylum.Baby-Farming case , Australian Star (Sydney), 7 March 1893, p. 5. On 4 May she placed an advertisement in the Evening News seeking a "kind person" to adopt a "baby girl for life", offering a 'premium' of £5. A letter was sent from the Makins (using the surname 'McLachlan'), then living at 16 East Street, Redfern. Risby and her married step-sister, Mary Sargent, took the baby to the Makins' house on 16 May, where the baby was handed over. Sarah Makin said she would look after the child "and 'fetch' it up as one of her own". John Makin told them he had money left to him and they were going to take a poultry farm at Rockdale; Mary Sargent left her address with Makin, who promised to let her know their new address.The Great Baby Farming Case , Evening News (Sydney), 16 December 1892, p. 6.Central Criminal Court – Tuesday , Sydney Morning Herald, 8 March 1893, p. 4. Clara Risby visited and saw the child on 18 May. On a subsequent visit she was told that "Mrs. McLachlan was out with the child". When she next visited, on 24 May, she found the house empty.The Discoveries of Infants' Bodies , Sydney Morning Herald, 15 December 1892, p. 4.
Infant daughter of Mary Stacey Miss Mary Stacey, a domestic servant residing at Petersham, gave birth to a baby girl on 17 April 1892. On 17 June she advertised for some person to adopt her child, and received a letter from the Makins (using the surname 'Ray') offering to take charge of the child for a payment (or "premium") of £3. Stacey visited the family at 109 George Street, Redfern where "all the Makins professed to take a great fancy to the baby, and kissed it affectionately". Sarah Makin consented to adopt the baby on payment of £2. Mary Stacey handed her infant over to Blanche and Clarice Makin when they visited her Petersham residence on 23 June. A few days later John Makin and Blanche called at her place with the child, and told her the family was going to live at Hurstville. Later Stacey visited 109 George Street, Redfern, which was empty, and then spent two days searching Hurstville for the family, but without success. She then informed the police that the 'Ray' family "had disappeared with the child".The Discoveries of Infants’ Bodies , Sydney Morning Herald, 16 December 1892, p. 3.
Elsie Todd (infant daughter of Agnes Todd) Agnes Todd, a domestic servant, gave birth to a baby girl in about December 1891, which she named Elsie.New South Wales birth registration: Elsie M. Todd (Redfern; reg. no. 30571/1892). From about March 1892 the child was cared for by Maria Sutherland, a married woman living in Alexandria. In June 1892 Agnes Todd paid John Makin £3 for him to take the child, whom he collected from Mrs. Sutherland on 28 June while the Makins were living at 109 George Street, Redfern (the day before they moved to Macdonaldtown). Makin told the child's mother "he would be a good father to the child".The Macdonaldtown Discoveries: The Inquest , Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 18 November 1892, p. 5.
Horace Murray (infant son of Amber Murray) On 30 May 1892 eighteen-year-old Miss Amber Murray gave birth to a baby boy she named Horace Amber Murray. On 24 June she placed an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald in search of a "motherly person" to adopt her baby boy, offering to pay "a small premium". On the day the advertisement appeared a letter was written by either John or Sarah Makin from 109 George Street, Redfern, expressing a willingness to adopt the child for a fee of about £2 10s or £3 and give him "a mother's love and attention". The letter, signed 'E. Hill', invited the advertiser to call at the address given if the proposal suited. When the Makins saw the child they told Miss Murray he was the kind they would like to have, "as they had lost a little boy of their own". Soon afterwards Amber Murray took the child to the Redfern address to hand him over, together with the payment of £3 and papers concerning the adoption of the child. Makin at first said he did not understand the papers, but then read through and signed them (first signed as 'John Leslie', which he then scratched out and signed his name as 'Hill'). As Miss Murray was leaving the child was brought out to see her, which was the last time she saw her son. Within a day or two the Makins had relocated to Burren Street in Macdonaldtown.Central Criminal Court – Monday , Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 1893, p. 3.Law Report , Sydney Morning Herald, 31 March 1893, p. 2.
Mignonette Bothamley (infant daughter of Minnie Davis and Horace Bothamley)