A warning that this story contains upsetting content relating to child death.

On Saturday 22nd April 1905, police revealed that they had detained Blantyre woman Jeannie Lyon on suspicion she had murdered her newborn baby. Jeannie was a domestic servant and had given birth on Wednesday 19th April that year. However, when the baby disappeared, suspicion arose quickly and police intervened. The Lyon family were well connected in Blantyre and the suggestion that this girl had done something sinister caused quite a sensation in the community.

Upon searching her address, they discovered the body of the baby under a mattress in her room, the remains of which were disfigured (which although the report was fairly detailed, we won’t go into such matters here). Dr Grant and Dr Devon of Glasgow were called took the infant away for a post mortem examination, concluding to police that foul play had taken place.

I cannot find Jeannie’s fate in any record, but it is telling she wasn’t in Blantyre in the 1911 census.

Picture: For illustration only