Phoebe Veitch

1883 The Whanganui River murder Flossy Veitch: On 26 February the body of four-year-old Phoebe (‘Flossy’) Veitch was found washed ashore at the mouth of the Whanganui River, which had been in flood. Her mother, Phoebe Veitch, was convicted of her murder. Phoebe’s death sentence was commuted when a Jury of Matrons found that she was pregnant. This was the only time such a Jury – a medieval innovation for testing women who ‘pleaded their belly’ – was impanelled in New Zealand.

Note: Phoebe was clearly not her mother's husband Robert's child, as she was half-Asian. Giving medical testimony, Dr Earle noted that the drowned child was the product of a cross-cultural relationship between persons of Chinese and European descent.

See Also:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_Veitch