Dorothea Waddingham | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Dorothy Nancie Merelina Allan Chandler (1899-06-21)21 June 1899 Nottingham, England |
| Died | 16 April 1936(1936-04-16) (aged 36) HM Prison Birmingham, England |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Occupation | Nursing home matron |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Children | 5 |
| Conviction | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Dorothea Nancy Waddingham (21 June 1899 – 16 April 1936) was an Englishnursing home matron who was convicted of murder.
Dorothea Waddingham was born Dorothy Nancie Merelina Allan Chandler, with her parents marrying a year after her birth – Waddingham being her father's surname. Dorothea was born on a farm nearNottingham. She has been referred to as "Nurse" Waddingham because the two murders she was accused and convicted of were committed in a nursing home she ran nearNottingham in England. However, she was not a qualified nurse and the only medical training she received was as a ward-maid at an infirmary nearBurton-on-Trent. In 1925, under the name of Dorothea Nancy Waddingham, she married Thomas Willoughby Leech. He was twice her age and dying ofcancer. During their marriage, she served two prison terms forfraud and for theft.[1] The couple had three children. Leech died in 1933, at which time Waddingham was seeing another man named Ronald Joseph Sullivan. Sullivan had fought inWorld War I and had been awarded theMilitary Medal for gallantry and also served inIreland after the war.[2] Although they never married, they had two children.[3] Whilst living with Sullivan, she began to take in elderly and infirm patients and turned her home at 32 Devon Drive, Nottingham into a nursing home.
Mrs. Blagg, the Honorary Secretary of the County Nursing Association, approved of Waddingham's work and arranged for Mrs. Louisa Baguley, who was 88, and her daughter Ada, who hadmultiple sclerosis or "creeping paralysis" as it was known at the time, to become patients. In February 1935, another patient named Mrs. Kemp died from an illness that required large dosages ofmorphine and a quantity of the drug remained on the premises of Waddingham's nursing home after her death.
Ada Baguley had made a will leaving her estate of £1,600 in trust for her mother after her death with the rest to be divided between twocousins, Lawrence Baguley and Fred Gilbert, after her mother died. Ada had been informed that it was likely that she would precede her mothers' death. However, this will was destroyed by Ada in May 1935, and a new will drawn up that left all the money to Dorothea Waddingham and Ronald Sullivan when Ada and her mother both died (in recompense for the nurse's care of them). The elderly Mrs. Baguley died in the second week of May.
Ada lasted through the spring and summer of 1935. On September 10, 1935, Ada received a visit from a family friend, Alice Briggs, who spent an afternoon cheering her up. Briggs told Waddingham that she would have Ada over for tea at her home in a couple of days. The next day, Sullivan advised H. H. Mansfield that his patient Ada was in acoma. Mansfield came and found Ada dead. As this was expected, the doctor was not suspicious, and after gaining further details from Waddingham, he filled out adeath certificate stating Ada died ofcardiovascular degeneration.
Ada had left instructions to becremated, and if the cremation had gone through it is probable that Waddingham could not have been proved guilty of Ada's death. However, for a body to be cremated, two doctors were required to sign the death certificate, which could only be done after the family of the deceased was notified. Ada had noted in her will a request not to notify her relatives, and Waddingham said there were no relatives, which was a lie.
The man in charge of cremations was Cyril Banks, who was also theMedical Officer for Health for Nottingham. Banks had never thought highly of Waddingham's so-called "nursing home" and knew there was nostate registered nurse on the staff as there should have been. He became suspicious at the note from Ada Baguley that authorised cremation[4] and ordered apost-mortem. The post-mortem found no traces of anything connected to Ada's physical conditions that could have immediately caused death. This led to an analysis of the organs of the deceased by W. W. Taylor, Senior Assistant to the Nottingham Analyst, who found considerable traces of morphine (over threegrains) in herstomach,liver,kidneys, and heart.
Suspicions were now raised about the death of Mrs. Baguley and anexhumation was ordered by theHome Office. This was supervised by Dr.Roche Lynch, who found that Luisa Baguley had also died ofmorphine poisoning. This led to the arrest of Waddingham and Sullivan for the two murders.[5]
Waddingham's trial started on 4 February 1936 beforeJustice Rayner Goddard.[6] Her barrister was Mr. Eales,[7] with the prosecution byNorman Birkett (a rarity, for Birkett normally handled criminal defence). Birkett brought out much damaging testimony, including how Ada Baguley's last meal was heavy and rich for a woman in her condition: Waddingham admitted that she gave Ada pork, baked potatoes, kidney beans, and two portions of fruit pie. It was suggested as an effort to disguise the cause of death and showed a lack of concern for the patient's welfare.[8] The result was that Waddingham was convicted of using morphine to poison Mrs. Baguley and Ada. The purported motive behind the murders was to gain the Baguleys' estate. It was also revealed that Waddingham claimed that Dr. Mansfield gave her surplusmorphine tablets for Ada Baguley, which that doctor denied.[9] In trial, Sullivan was discharged for insufficient evidence, although the so-called note from Ada Baguley regarding cremation was written by him.[10]
Waddingham was found guilty on 27 February. Despite a recommendation of mercy due to her being a mother of several young children, she was hanged on 16 April 1936, having confessed to the crime shortly before her execution.[11] Her execution was carried out atWinson Green Prison and her hangman wasThomas Pierrepoint, assisted by his nephewAlbert Pierrepoint.
Waddingham was a mother of five and was stillbreastfeeding her 3-month old baby at the time of her execution. 10,000 people gathered outside thegaol to demonstrate against the execution, chanting "Stop this mother murder!".[11] The protests were led by the prominent abolitionistViolet Van der Elst.
The fiancé of Ada Baguley committedsuicide after her death.[11]
The execution is dramatised in the 2005 filmPierrepoint, in which Waddingham is played byElizabeth Hopley. Although the film showsTimothy Spall asAlbert Pierrepoint carrying out the execution, in fact the hangman wasThomas Pierrepoint (Albert's uncle); Albert acted as his uncle's assistant. Further, the execution took place atBirmingham'sWinson Green prison, notHolloway Prison inLondon as is implied in the film.[12] The film is also incorrect in that it depicts the execution taking place during the war years.
The case itself is also featured on theInvestigation Discovery programDeadly Women, appearing as the second of three cases in the tenth-season episode "Cash In".
Her case was examined inMurder, Mystery and My Family in 2019. A judge concluded that her conviction should be upheld.
The case was dramatised in the episode 'Nurse Waddingham' in the 1949-51 Radio SeriesSecrets of Scotland Yard.[13]