Early Life and Concealment at Maesllwch Castle
Mary Morgan was a sixteen-year-old under-cook and kitchen maid at the imposing Maesllwch Castle near Glasbury, the country seat of Walter Wilkins Esq., Member of Parliament for Radnorshire (now part of Powys in Wales).
She had become pregnant but desperately attempted to conceal her condition in order to keep her employment and retain her lodgings in the servants’ quarters of the castle.
On Sunday the 23rd of September 1804, she complained of violent stomach pains and went up to her attic bedroom.
The castle housekeeper brought warm wine to her bedside. Later that evening, she was visited by Elizabeth Evelyn, the head cook, who confronted Mary with having given birth.
Mary initially denied the accusation, but eventually broke down and confessed that she had delivered a female infant and killed it immediately by stabbing it in the throat with a kitchen penknife.
According to the testimony of Elizabeth Evelyn, Mary Morgan:
“owned that she had delivered herself of a child which was in the underbed cut open, amongst the feathers with the head nearly divided from the body supposed by a penknife which was found by the witness under the pillows of the same bed”.
The Coroner’s Inquest
An inquest was convened two days later on Tuesday the 25th of September 1804.
The coroner’s jury returned a formal verdict of wilful murder, recording:
“Mary Morgan, late of the Parish of Glazebury, a single woman on the 23rd day of September being big with child, afterward alone and secretly from her body did bring forth alive a female child, which by the laws and customs of this Kingdom was a bastard.
Mary Morgan moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil afterwards on the same day, feloniously, willfully and of her malice aforethought did make an assault with a certain penknife made of iron and steel of the value of sixpence, and gave the child one mortal wound of the length of three inches and the depth of one inch. The child instantly died.”
Mary was placed under arrest, but due to severe puerperal fever and weakness following the unassisted delivery, she could not be moved to Presteigne Gaol until the 6th of October.
The Great Sessions Trial at Presteigne
Mary remained imprisoned on remand for over six months awaiting the Lent Great Sessions for Radnorshire.
Her trial opened on Thursday the 11th of April 1805 before Mr. Justice George Hardinge.
When examined about her motive, Mary simply stated:
“I determined, therefore, to kill it, poor thing! Out of the way, being perfectly sure that I could not provide for it myself.”
The court convicted her of murder and Judge Hardinge donned the black cap to pronounce the death sentence.
Under the provisions of the Murder Act of 1751, capital sentences for murder required execution within 48 hours, followed by anatomical dissection of the body by surgeons.
Mary was returned to the condemned cell in Presteigne Gaol. On Friday night, warders discovered a clandestine plot organized by sympathizers to break her out of prison, prompting officials to transfer her into a more secure, heavily barred cell.
She was attended constantly during her final hours by the Reverend Mr. Scott, Mr. Davies (Under Sheriff of Radnorshire), and a local resident, Mr. John Brown.
Prior to her death, she made a full confession, stating that the father of the child was a fellow servant who worked as the castle waggoner.
Public Execution in Gallows Lane
Executions in the early 19th century were frequently conducted around midday to afford rural populations sufficient time to assemble.
Mary was hanged on Saturday the 13th of April 1805 at Gallows Lane in Presteigne, having been drawn from the gaol seated atop her own coffin in an open horse-drawn cart.
Contemporary witnesses noted that the terrified 16-year-old girl was semi-conscious from fright upon reaching the gallows and had to be physically supported by turnkeys.
She was executed from the back of the cart using the traditional short drop.
Following the execution, her body was not delivered to surgeons for dissection as mandated by statute; instead, she was buried later that afternoon in unconsecrated ground on the north side of St Andrew’s churchyard in Presteigne.
Folklore, Paternity Rumours, and Churchyard Gravestones
The tragic nature of the case spawned persistent local legends.
A popular local story claimed that an equestrian rider galloped to London to obtain a royal reprieve from the King, only to arrive back in Presteigne minutes too late because his horse went lame. Given that the return journey between Presteigne and London was over 320 miles across primitive Georgian turnpikes, completing the trip in under 48 hours was an impossibility.
Gossip also circulated regarding the child’s true paternity, with rumours suggesting the father was Walter Wilkins Junior—the MP’s son and Mary’s young master—or even one of the grand jurors who condemned her.
Judge George Hardinge later noted in his private memoirs that while Walter Wilkins Jr. had been “intrigued” with Mary, he was convinced that the castle waggoner named by Mary was the real father.
Public sympathy for Mary Morgan was so profound that two separate headstones were later erected over her grave in St Andrew’s churchyard:
- One stone was placed by Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury (a close personal friend of Judge Hardinge);
- A second stone was funded and raised by an anonymous local donor.
Historical Legal Context of Maternal Infanticide
While the violent death of a newborn strikes modern observers as appalling, it must be evaluated against the severe socio-economic realities faced by unmarried working-class domestic servants in Georgian Britain.
Discovery of an illegitimate pregnancy almost invariably resulted in summary dismissal without a reference, instant destitution, and severe social ostracism under the Poor Laws.
Between 1800 and 1827, fourteen women were executed in England and Wales for the murder of their newborn children, concluding with Sarah Jones at Usk Gaol in Monmouthshire in April 1827.
Where catastrophic violence could not be proven beyond doubt, juries routinely acquitted mothers of capital murder, opting instead to convict on the lesser misdemeanor of concealing a birth (punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment).
The capital liability of mothers was not officially ended until the passage of the Infanticide Act 1922 and Infanticide Act 1938, following the final British execution of a mother for infanticide, that of Rebecca Smith in 1849.
Only one further execution ever took place at Presteigne Gaol: that of Samuel Harley in 1822 for the murder of Arthur Bedward. Presteigne Gaol closed permanently in 1878.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Mary Morgan?
Mary Morgan was a 16-year-old under-cook employed at Maesllwch Castle in Radnorshire, Wales, who was convicted and executed in April 1805 for the infanticide of her newborn baby.
How was the infant murdered at Maesllwch Castle?
On 23 September 1804, Mary gave birth secretly in her servants’ quarters bedroom and immediately slit the child’s throat with a kitchen penknife, cutting through the carotid artery and jugular vein, before hiding the body inside the feathers of her mattress.
Why are there two separate gravestones for Mary Morgan in Presteigne?
Because of widespread public sympathy for her youth and desperate social plight, two distinct headstones were erected in St Andrew’s churchyard: one funded by Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Ailesbury, and another raised by an anonymous local benefactor.
Was the father of the child the son of Member of Parliament Walter Wilkins?
Local folklore persistent in Radnorshire claimed that young Walter Wilkins Jr. or a prominent juror fathered the baby. However, Mary Morgan confessed prior to her execution that the father was actually a fellow servant who worked as the estate waggoner at the castle.
Where and when was Mary Morgan executed?
She was hanged from a cart gallows in Gallows Lane, Presteigne, on Saturday, 13 April 1805, before being buried in unconsecrated ground in St Andrew’s churchyard.
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