Amelia Dyer: Baby Killers

An episode of the Gresham College Lectures podcast, hosted by Gresham College, titled "Amelia Dyer: Baby Killers" was published on January 14, 2021 and runs 52 minutes.

January 14, 2021 ·52m · Gresham College Lectures

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Summary

Amelia Dyer was one of the most prolific murderers in Victorian Britain. She made a living as a "baby farmer", or someone paid to care for unwanted or abandoned infants - except she killed around 400 of them. How could a mother and nurse murder so many defenceless babies? Was Dyer not only a baby-killer but also the real "Jack the Ripper" (as some sleuths have speculated)? Was she insane, or simply an "ogress" in feminine form? A lecture by Joanna Bourke 14 January The transcript and down...

Episode Description

Amelia Dyer was one of the most prolific murderers in Victorian Britain. She made a living as a "baby farmer", or someone paid to care for unwanted or abandoned infants - except she killed around 400 of them.

How could a mother and nurse murder so many defenceless babies? Was Dyer not only a baby-killer but also the real "Jack the Ripper" (as some sleuths have speculated)? Was she insane, or simply an "ogress" in feminine form?

A lecture by Joanna Bourke 14 January

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/amelia-dyer

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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