Mother and Murderer: The Sad True Tale of Rebecca Smith
By Sally Hendry
Hobnob Press 2022
112 pages Softback AAA.921

Rebecca Smith was born in May 1840 and was the sixth child of William and Sarah Prior. William was a yeoman farmer and though not wealthy was able to comfortably raise his family. The title of yeoman farmer lets us know he was a land owner and when he died in 1830 he left land in Westbury and Bratton. All this indicates a good standard of living for young Rebecca and her siblings. The Prior family were members of Bratton Baptist Chapel and by all accounts Rebecca was a godly woman who attended chapel and said her prayers.

Life for Rebecca took a downward turn when she married Philip Smith, a known drunkard and ne’er do well. Rebecca’s family opposed the marriage but nevertheless it took place. Rebecca went on to have 11 babies but only her first-born survived infancy. This family lived in dire poverty though helped by Rebecca’s siblings.

The family moved to Westbury, but all was not well, and Rebecca was accused of murdering her 11th child, a son Richard, using rat poison. While in prison Rebecca confessed to killing another 7 of her babies. Why?

This book is well illustrated and researched and deals with every aspect of this crime. The author explores not only this sad case but the context of the times when it occurred. We are shown in detail and description of the lives women would have lived then and the difficulties with health, poverty and destitution. It also illustrates the effects that alcohol had on many a poor family.

Although a slim volume it is a full and rich story which leaves the reader to make up their own mind as to why Rebecca committed this terrible crime and became the last woman to be hanged in this country for the infanticide of her own child.

Sally Hendry’s Mother and Murderer is available to view at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre or borrow via your local Wiltshire library, reference AAA.921.

Eileen Sutherland
Community History Advisor