Trial & Execution of Mary Ann Geering
The (London) Times, 22 August 1849
Execution of Mary Ann Geering
Lewes, August 21
At 12 o'clock this day Mary Ann Geering, convicted
at the last assizes of the murder of her husband at Guestling,
underwent the extreme penalty of the law on a drop erected in
front of the county Goal.
On Monday evening she made a full confession of
her guilt in having poisoned her husband and two sons, and
attempted the life of her third son, Benjamin, who was the
principal witness against her on the trial; and her penitence
appeared to be so sincerely manifested that the chaplain did not
hesitate to administer to her the holy sacrament. Having thus
disburdened her mind, the culprit slept during the whole of Monday
night. She awoke early in the morning and was at once attended by
the Rev. B Burnett, the chaplain of the gaol, who remained with
her until the time of her execution.
The spectators were not numerous; not more than
between 3,000 and 4,000 made their appearance, and no feeling was
manifested when she mounted the scaffold. In about two minutes the
necessary arrangements were completed and the wretched criminal
ceased to exist.
The body, after hanging an hour, was cut down,
very few persons remaining till that time. It was buried in the
precincts of the gaol at 4 o'clock.
*****
The (London) Times, 7th May 1849
The Poisonings in Sussex
Hastings, Saturday May 5
Mary Ann Geering, who is suspected of having poisoned her
husband and three sons, underwent a lengthened examination this
day at the Town-hall before Mr Briscoe, Mr Staines, and other
county magistrates.
The bodies, which had been interred in the parish churchyard of
Guestling, were exhumed, and the contents of the stomaches sent to
Mr Taylor, of Guy's Hospital, for analysation. The analysis as yet
is not complete in all the cases. In two, however, arsenic has
been discovered in sufficient quantities to account for death.
The evidence, as far as it went, afforded strong grounds of
suspicion, and the proceedings having lasted till a late hour in
the day, the magistrate resolved to remand the prisoner.
The prisoner was then removed to the Hastings gaol.
*****
The (London) Times, 30 April 1849
Supposed Poisonings near Hastings
From the Hastings & St Leonard's News
Yesterday (Friday) afternoon a jury was summoned before Mr N.P.
Kell, coroner for the rape of Hastings, at the White Hart Inn,
Guestling, near Hastings, to inquire into the circumstances
attending the deaths of three persons suspected to have been
poisoned.
The circumstances of the case are as follows:-
On the 13th of September last a labouring man named Richard
Geering, aged 56, living with his wife, Mary Ann Geering, on the
Green, ar Guestling, after lingering some little while, died, but
no particular suspicion was entertained at the time, although the
body was observed to be in a very bad state after decease. On the
27th of December following a son named George, aged 21, living at
home, also died; and on the 6th ult, a second son living at home,
named James, aged 26, likewise died.
All three suffered from vomitings, and were
attended during their illness by Mr. J.I. Pocock. Latterly a third
son, of about 20 years of age named Benjamin, has been in a state
of ill health, accompanied with unnatural hunger and vomitings. Mr
Ticehurst, having occasion to attend the latter, was suspicious of
something wrong, and had the patient's diet consequently altered,
when he soon began to recover. This made the circumstances
attending the previous deaths look so suspicious that the coroner
issued a warrant for the exhumation of the bodies Richard, George,
and James Geering, which had been interred in Guestling
churchyard. Yesterday morning the coffins containing the bodies
were dug up and removed into the church to await the disposal of
the coroner.
The jury having been sworn, proceeded to the
churchyard. The three graves from which the bodies had been taken
were on the east side of the church, and were very watery. The
coffin containing the body of Richard Geering was first brought
out of the church and placed on a tombstone. The lid was then
unscrewed, and on its removal the body was found to be in an
advanced state of decomposition, except in the region of the
abdomen. The features of the deceased were too much impaired to be
recognized, but the identity of the coffin was vouched for by the
maker, who was also the sexton at the time of the interment. Mr.
Ticehurst, Mr. W. Duke and Mr. F. Duke, then proceeded to make a
post mortem examination of the body. The effluvium was dreadful,
and the body swimming in water. To remove the latter holes were
bored in the coffin. The whole of the deceased's intestines were
removed and placed in jars. The coffins containing the bodies of
the two sons were then brought out and opened. The face of George
was but little disfigured, while that of James was far gone. In
each case the inscription on the coffin lid was discernible. The
intestines of the two sons were also removed and take into the
possession of Mr. Ticehurst. In all the bodies it was found that
the stomach was in an unusually good state of preservation. From
the stomach of George Geering a small piece of white, gritty
matter, resembling arsenic, was produced, and gritty matter was
also observable in the case of the father. On the whole, the
appearances presented by the different bodies seemed to be
strongly indicative of death by poison. The examination being so
far concluded, the jury assembled in the church, where they were
addressed by the coroner, who stated that Mr. Ticehurst was of the
opinion that the analysis of the contents of the bodies could not
be complete until Thursday next, and perhaps would not be ready
even then.
The inquest therefore stood adjourned until the ensuing
Thursday, at 10 o'clock a.m., when the jury would be required to
give their attendance at the White Hart Inn, for which they were
required to enter into their own recognizances in the sum of 10
(?l) each.
The proceedings then terminated for the day.
At about 6 o'clock in the evening the woman Mary Ann Geering was
brought into Hastings in custody of the police, and lodged in
the watchhouse. One of the grounds of suspicion against her is
the alleged fact that her husband and sons were members of a
sick club. It has been stated that they were members of a burial
club, but this we believe is an error. Some of the matter
ejected from the stomach of Benjamin Geering has been reserved
for analysis.
Supposing the suspicions entertained in this case to prove well
founded, this will form one of the most appalling circumstances
that ever took place in this part of the country, and serve to
swell still more the already fearful catalogue of crimes which
has been presented to the public during the last few months.
The woman Geering was apprehended in the course of Thursday
morning at her house. She was brought into Hastings in a cart in
custody of Superintendent Thompson and police-constable Jeffery.
She will be brought up before the county magistrates at the
Clerk's-office this morning, at 11 o'clock.
Transcribed by Joanne Mays Becker -
Sussex-opc.org
Flagrant Case of Murder
The Patriot (London, England)
Aug. 6, 1849
At Lewes Assizes on Wednesday, Mary Anne
Geering, a woman of masculine and forbidding appearance, aged
forty-nine, was arraigned for the murder of her husband and two of
her sons, and for attempting to destroy a third son. The case with
which the Court proceeded was that of Richard Geering, the
husband, alleged to have been poisoned with arsenic by the
prisoner. The evidence was much the same as that given at the
sittings of the Coroner's jury. Fellow-labourers of Geering
described how he was taken ill twice immediately after dining.
Benjamin Geering, the young man whom it was alleged the mother had
attempted to poison, related the circumstances of his father's
death, and that of two of his brothers: the symptoms were those of
poisoning.
He also described his own illness: two doctors
attended him, and he was saved. His father and brother belonged to
a burial club; this society made a collection of a shilling from
each member for the burial of a deceased subscriber. A daughter
and two other sons of the accused were examined. They bad not
heard complaints that their house was troubled with rats, or that
it was necessary to have arsenic to destroy them; nor that arsenic
was required for the horses which James Geering, one of the
deceased, had charge of. Richard Geering had some money in the
savings-bank: he and his wife often quarreled about it; the woman
appears to have drawn most of it out on the death of her husband,
the prisoner attributed his death to a family complaint, disease
of the heart; the medical attendant was thus imposed on, and gave
a certificate accordingly: he had treated the deceased for a
bilious intermittent fever as the immediate disorder.
Mary Anne Geering had wished that her husband
was dead; after his decease she was auxiliary to have the coffin
screwed down quickly. Surgeons detailed the appearances presented
when the corpses were exhumed: the internal organs exhibited the
signs of an irritant poison. The viscera were sent to Professor
Taylor. A large pill, evidently made by an unprofessional person,
was discovered in a house. Dr. Taylor’s evidence was the most
important: he found that all the organs of Richard Geering – even
the centre of the heart – were impregnated with arsenic: he
collected a portion, no less than seven grains. In the remains of
George Geering he found no arsenic, but the appearances of an
inflammation were those of poison.
He discovered the mineral in the body of James
Geering. A portion of what Benjamin has ejected from his stomach
contained arsenic; and the large pill was composed of arsenic,
opium, and another ingredient. The chemists and a woman proved
that the prisoner had several times bought arsenic, on pretenses
which other witnesses had proved to be false. After a variety of
minor evidence, the case for the prosecution closed. Mr. Hust, who
had volunteered to act for the prisoner on her daughter’s begging
that she might have counsel, rested his defence mainly on the
absence of any strong motive for the crimes imputed: the money
obtained from the dab would be nearly swallowed up by the
burial-expenses. After an absence of ten minutes, the jury found a
verdict of "Guilty." Sentence of death was passed; which the
prisoner heard almost unmoved.
