The Margate Free Press - March 30th 1878 Ramsgate The suspected murder of a child On Thursday morning considerable excitement was created in the town and neighbourhood owing to a rumour that the supposed murderess of a child which was found in a privy at Hereson on the Tuesday previous, had been apprehended and shortly before 11 O'clock the County brought a woman, with a child in her arms to the Police Station, her name being Clara BROCKMAN. It appears that the accused, last summer resided in one of Sackett's Cottages at Hereson, which had access to the privy where the body was found. In July last she was there with her child about eighteen months old. It was born in Minster Union, on 25th Feb 1876. The child disappeared somewhat suddenly, and in answer to the enquiries of the neighbours she made statements which were in variance with each other, and which caused considerable talk amongst them. Three months since she gave birth to another child in the Union, and which she now had with her. On arriving at the Station house she seemed considerably distressed and went into the hysterics several times. She appeared to be about 23 years of age, suffering from inflammation in one eye and of a somewhat idiotic countenance. At Twelve O'clock J M Levy ESQ and B Sicklemore ESQ attended at the Station House and decided to hear sufficient evidence in order to justify a remand without compelling the prisoner to appear in Court. P.S Cordery said he was Sergeant in the County Police. He attended an inquest at Hereson yesterday before T T Delasaux ESQ, coroner for the County of Kent, on the body of a child which had been found in a privy vault the night previous. The jury returned a verdict of 'found dead'. He had received information since that the prisoner was living in one of the cottages which had use of that privy. She resided there last summer. He has every reason to believe that the prisoner was mother of the child whose remains were found in the privy and he asked that she may be remanded in order that he might obtain necessary evidence. He apprehended the prisoner that morning at the Union House and he told her that she might be charged with causing the death of her child, SIDNEY HAROLD, at St Lawrence. She replied that Mrs Henry, a woman residing at Birchington and Margate, had taken the child, that she fetched it away one evening from her lodgings at Hereson, between eight and nine o'clock. A short time afterwards she received a letter from Mrs Henry that the child was dead. ( Prisoner here interrupted the witness, observing that she said the letter referred to the child being ill) Witness continued : She said she had no money which was the reason she did not go to see it. Prisoner afterwards said she went to Birchington but could not find out where Mrs Henry lived. That she never saw Mrs Henry neither before nor since the evening when she came to fetch the child away. In answer to whether she had anything to say against being remanded, prisoner replied that the first letter she received from Mrs Henry was to the effect that the child was ill, and that the second letter said it was dead. She had nothing further to say. The magistrates remanded her to Maidstone gaol until Friday. In 1873 the accused was sent to Sandwich gaol for 6 months for stealing a sovereign, and during her incarceration she gave birth to a son which is now in Minster Union. On the evening previous to the missing of the child which is the subject of the enquiry. she took it to a neighbours to bath it, telling the neighbour that it was going away to her aunt between Margate and Birchington. It had been in the habit of going to the infant school at the Trinity Infant School, and when a teacher from that school called to enquire the cause of the absence she said that it would not come any more as a person in London had taken it. Some of the neighbours taking compassion on her and she being very poor managed to get her a few mourning clothes when she told them of her childs death. While sitting one day in the next door neighbours house she said ' I have has such an uncomfortable night, I dreamt that I had murdered my little boy'. Will keep an eye out for follows up to this case if anyone is interested Suzannah