Early Life in Potton and First Marriage
Sarah was born in 1819 as Sarah Reynolds in the village of Potton in Bedfordshire, the daughter of village barber Philip Reynolds.
Philip died when Sarah was seven years old, after which her mother embarked on a succession of relationships with other men.
Sarah grew up to be a tall, attractive young woman with auburn hair and large brown eyes.
By the age of nineteen, she had met and married a local man named Simeon Mead.
They lived in Potton for two years before relocating across the county boundary to Tadlow, Cambridgeshire, in 1840, an arrangement believed to have been made to curtail one of Sarah’s romantic entanglements.
In February 1840, Sarah gave birth to a son, Jonah. The boy was cherished by his father, but died suddenly at seven months old in September 1840.
A month later, in October, Simeon Mead also died unexpectedly, leaving the local rural community shocked.
Sarah displayed outward signs of grief for only a brief period before initiating a courtship with twenty-three-year-old labourer William Dazley, provoking widespread village gossip.
Second Marriage and Domestic Discord in Wrestlingworth
In February 1841, Sarah married William Dazley, and the couple settled in the village of Wrestlingworth, located six miles northeast of Biggleswade in Bedfordshire.
Sarah invited Ann Mead, Simeon’s teenage daughter from his earlier life, to reside with them as an unpaid domestic help.
Marital friction emerged early in the relationship. William began drinking heavily at the local public house, leading to bitter domestic arguments that culminated in William physically striking Sarah.
Sarah conducted concurrent liaisons with other men throughout both marriages. Following the assault, she confided to a male acquaintance, William Waldock, that she would kill any man who ever laid a hand on her.
Sarah also circulated exaggerated reports among neighbours regarding William’s drunkenness and domestic violence.
The Arsenic Poisoning of William Dazley
A few days later, William fell severely ill with violent stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting.
He was attended by village physician Dr. Sandell, who prescribed medicinal pills that brought about an initial stabilization under the nursing care of Ann Mead.
While William was confined to bed, Ann observed Sarah hand-rolling pills in the kitchen, without understanding the significance of what she saw.
Sarah subsequently informed a neighbour, Mrs. Carver, that she was dissatisfied with Dr. Sandell’s treatment and intended to substitute remedies obtained from a local herbal healer.
Mrs. Carver witnessed Sarah discarding Dr. Sandell’s pills from the official dispensary box and replacing them with her homemade substitutes.
When Sarah administered these pills to William, he immediately noticed the difference in color and texture and refused to swallow them.
Ann Mead, still unaware of the hazard, offered to swallow one of the pills herself to reassure him, after which William took his dose.
Both Ann and William collapsed shortly thereafter with severe gastrointestinal sickness.
William vomited in the farmyard; a domestic pig that consumed the vomit died during the night.
Sarah continued to administer the pills to her husband, claiming they were the doctor’s authentic prescription.
William deteriorated rapidly and died on the 30th of October 1842. Dr. Sandell certified the death as natural causes, and William was interred in Wrestlingworth churchyard without an autopsy.
Engagement, Village Suspicion, and Exhumations
Sarah quickly resumed her social life, entering into an open courtship with William Waldock.
By February 1843, Sarah pressed Waldock for marriage. However, Waldock’s friends intervened, warning him of the suspicious, rapid deaths of Sarah’s two successive husbands and her infant son. Waldock broke off the engagement and severed contact.
With village suspicions mounting, local residents petitioned the Bedfordshire coroner, Mr. Ezra Eagles.
Coroner Eagles issued an order for the exhumation of William Dazley’s body.
An inquest opened on Monday, 20 March 1843, at the Chequers Inn on Wrestlingworth High Street. Forensic chemical analysis confirmed significant quantities of arsenic in William’s viscera, prompting the issuance of an arrest warrant for wilful murder.
Anticipating arrest, Sarah fled to London and secured lodgings in Upper Wharf Street.
Superintendent Blunden of the Biggleswade constabulary traced her to the address and placed her in custody. Sarah protested complete innocence, claiming she had never possessed or handled poison.
During the overnight return journey to Bedford, Sarah was held at the Swan Inn in Biggleswade, where she shared a room with three female domestic staff. The maids reported that Sarah remained awake, anxiously questioning them regarding the procedure of capital trials and public hanging.
Coroner Eagles ordered the additional exhumations of Simeon Mead and infant Jonah Mead.
Jonah’s exhumed tissue yielded clear traces of arsenic, while Simeon’s remains were too decomposed to provide conclusive toxicological results.
On 24 March 1843, Sarah was committed to Bedford Gaol on capital murder warrants.
The Assize Trial at Bedford
Sarah was tried at the Bedfordshire Summer Assizes on Saturday, 22 July 1843, before Baron Alderson.
The Crown proceeded solely on the indictment for the murder of William Dazley, holding the indictment regarding Jonah Mead in reserve.
Two local chemists identified Sarah as having purchased white arsenic (arsenic trioxide) shortly before William’s illness.
Mrs. Carver and Ann Mead provided eyewitness accounts detailing Sarah’s tampering with the pillboxes and the administration of the replacement medication.
William Waldock testified regarding Sarah’s explicit threat to murder any man who struck her.
Forensic testimony confirmed that William’s organs were remarkably preserved—a recognized characteristic of lethal arsenic ingestion.
The prosecution utilized the Marsh test, an advanced chemical detection technique developed in 1836 by chemist James Marsh that reliably isolated metallic arsenic mirrors from human viscera.
Under the Prisoners’ Counsel Act 1836, felony defendants were entitled to full legal defense. Sarah was represented by Mr. O’Malley, who argued that William had ingested the poison accidentally.
The jury rejected the defence and returned a guilty verdict after thirty minutes of deliberation.
In pronouncing the sentence of death, Baron Alderson remarked that while poisoning a husband was an atrocious crime, the murder of her infant child showed total heartlessness, and directed her to seek spiritual mercy before sentencing her to be hanged.
Public Execution at Bedford Gaol
Under legal reforms enacted in 1836, the old requirement under the Murder Act 1751 mandating execution within two days was repealed, allowing a minimum statutory period of fourteen days between sentence and death.
The Home Secretary, Sir James Graham, declined to recommend royal clemency.
The execution was set for Saturday, 5 August 1843.
A crowd estimated between 7,000 and 12,000 spectators assembled along St. Loyes Street outside Bedford Gaol. Eyewitnesses noted that William Waldock was present among the crowd.
In the early morning hours, the prison erected the “New Drop” gallows on the flat roof of the prison gatehouse, guarded by javelin men.
London executioner William Calcraft arrived the day prior to conduct the hanging.
At 10:00 a.m., Sarah attended chapel for the last sacrament, was pinioned in the press room, and was escorted to the gatehouse roof by the governor and chaplain.
Declining to make a formal speech to the crowd, she asked Calcraft to be quick, murmuring:
“Lord have mercy on my soul.”
Calcraft secured her legs, pulled the white linen hood over her face, adjusted the hemp halter, and withdrew the bolt.
Sarah dropped eighteen inches under the short drop and became motionless after brief convulsions from carotid pressure.
After hanging for the statutory hour, her body was lowered and buried in an unmarked grave within the precincts of Bedford Gaol.
Sarah Dazley was the only woman ever publicly hanged at Bedford Gaol, and her execution was the first in the county since 1833. Only two subsequent public hangings occurred at Bedford before the abolition of public executions in 1868: Joseph Castle in 1860 and William Worsley in 1868.
Sarah Dazley was part of a broader wave of domestic arsenic cases that drew intense parliamentary scrutiny, culminating in the Arsenic Act 1851, and echoing similar mid-19th-century poisonings like those of Mary Ann Burdock and Rebecca Smith.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Sarah Dazley?
Sarah Dazley (born Sarah Reynolds) was a 24-year-old Bedfordshire woman convicted and publicly hanged in August 1843 for murdering her second husband, William Dazley, with arsenic.
How many people was Sarah Dazley suspected of poisoning?
In addition to William Dazley, she was strongly suspected of murdering her first husband, Simeon Mead, and her seven-month-old infant son, Jonah Mead. An exhumation of Jonah confirmed the presence of arsenic, although the formal murder indictment was held in reserve.
How was the poisoning detected?
Suspicious village rumors prompted Bedfordshire coroner Ezra Eagles to exhume William Dazley’s body. Surgeons and chemists utilized the Marsh test—the definitive toxicological test invented in 1836—to isolate lethal traces of white arsenic from his preserved organs.
Why was Sarah Dazley’s execution notable in Bedfordshire history?
She was the only woman ever publicly executed on the gatehouse roof of Bedford Gaol, and her execution was one of only three public hangings carried out in the county between 1833 and the end of public executions in 1868.
Where and when was Sarah Dazley executed?
She was publicly hanged on the gatehouse roof of Bedford Gaol on Saturday, 5 August 1843, by London executioner William Calcraft.
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