Minnie Dean: The Baby Killer And The Only Woman To Be Executed In The History Of New Zealand.

On the morning of 12 August 1895, at Invercargill Gaol, a woman walked with measured steps towards the gallows. She cast a glance at the executioner, her lips pressed together in quiet defiance. When asked if she had any last words, she simply declared, "I have nothing to express except my innocence." Moments later, the trapdoor beneath her feet opened, and Minnie Dean became the only woman ever executed in New Zealand.
But who was Minnie Dean? And how did she become the most infamous woman in the country?

Early Life: From Greenock to New Zealand
Williamina "Minnie" Dean was born on 2 September 1844 in Greenock, Scotland. Her father, John McCulloch, was a railway engineer, and her mother, Elizabeth Swan, died of cancer when Minnie was just 13 years old. Little is known about her early years, but by the 1860s, she had made her way to New Zealand.
She arrived in the town of Invercargill with two young children and claimed to be the widow of a Tasmanian doctor, though there was no record of a marriage. At this stage, she was still using her birth name, McCulloch. In 1872, she married Charles Dean, an innkeeper, and together they settled in Etal Creek, an important stop on the route from Riverton to the Otago goldfields.
However, when the gold rush faded, so too did their financial stability. The couple turned to farming, but they struggled to make ends meet. Eventually, they moved to Winton, where Charles took up pig farming while Minnie found a more lucrative trade: baby farming.

Baby Farming and the Death of Innocence
In the late 19th century, unmarried mothers faced extreme social stigma, and many found themselves in desperate situations. Adoption was unregulated, and without any state assistance, many women turned to baby farmers—women who took in unwanted infants for a fee, either temporarily or permanently.
Minnie Dean thrived in this trade. She advertised for children, accepting lump-sum payments or weekly fees, and at times cared for as many as nine infants. But concerns soon arose. Infant mortality rates in New Zealand were already high—approximately 80 to 100 deaths per 1,000 births—but children under Dean’s care seemed to vanish altogether.
In 1889, a six-month-old baby died of convulsions while in her care. In 1891, a six-week-old infant succumbed to respiratory and cardiovascular ailments. In 1894, a young boy allegedly drowned on her property, but she failed to report his death. Each time, coroners ruled that these were natural deaths, and no charges were laid. However, whispers of foul play spread throughout the community.
The case bore eerie similarities to baby farming scandals in the United Kingdom and Australia, particularly the crimes of Amelia Dyer in England and John and Sarah Makin in New South Wales. The newspapers of the time followed these cases closely, and the public was quick to draw parallels.
The Final Straw: The Disappearance of Eva Hornsby
On 2 May 1895, Minnie Dean was seen boarding a train carrying an infant and a hatbox. When she disembarked, she was no longer carrying the baby—only the hatbox, which, according to railway porters, appeared suspiciously heavy.
A woman named Jane Hornsby soon came forward, stating that she had entrusted her one-month-old granddaughter, Eva, to Dean. When police searched Dean’s home, they found clothing belonging to the child but no sign of Eva herself. Alarmed, authorities began digging up the garden at Dean’s residence, known as "The Larches."
What they uncovered was horrifying. Three small bodies were found buried in the soil: two infants and the skeleton of a boy estimated to be about three years old.

An inquest determined that one of the infants, Eva Hornsby, had died from suffocation. Another baby, later identified as one-year-old Dorothy Edith Carter, had perished from an overdose of laudanum, a common opiate given to sedate children. The cause of death for the third child remained unknown.
Trial and Execution
Minnie Dean was promptly arrested and charged with murder. Her trial at the Supreme Court drew intense public interest. Her defence lawyer, Alfred Hanlon, argued that the deaths were accidental and that Dean had simply concealed them to avoid scandal. However, the jury was unconvinced.
On 21 June 1895, Minnie Dean was found guilty of murdering Dorothy Carter. She was sentenced to death, making her the only woman in New Zealand’s history to be handed such a fate.

Between June and August 1895, while awaiting her execution, Dean wrote a 49-page account of her life. In it, she claimed to have cared for 28 children in total: five were alive when her home was raided, six had died under her care, and one had been reclaimed by their parents. However, by her own records, at least 14 children remained unaccounted for.
On the morning of 12 August, Minnie Dean was led to the gallows at Invercargill Gaol. The Otago Daily Times described her final moments:
"She walked straight on without a halt to the drop-door, gave a scrutinising glance, first at the gallows and its belongings, then at the half dozen people standing below, a contemptuous, loathing look at the hangman, and placed herself in a position to facilitate his work as much as possible."
She reportedly took several deep breaths as the rope was adjusted. When the sheriff asked if she had any final words, she simply stated, "I have nothing to express except my innocence." As the trapdoor opened, some claimed she uttered one last plea: "Oh God, spare me from suffering!"
Legacy and The Minnie Dean Hatbox
Minnie Dean was buried in Winton Cemetery. Years later, her husband Charles was interred beside her following his death in a house fire in 1908.
Her case had a lasting impact on child welfare in New Zealand. It led to the passing of the Infant Life Protection Act 1893 and the Infant Protection Act 1896, introducing greater scrutiny over informal adoptions and childcare arrangements.

However, in the public imagination, Minnie Dean became something of a bogeywoman. Tales of her crimes grew more exaggerated over time. Perhaps the most macabre sign of her infamy was the dolls in miniature hatboxes sold as souvenirs during her trial. The image of the "baby farmer and her hatbox" became an enduring part of New Zealand folklore.
Today, her name is synonymous with infanticide, though some historians argue that she was a scapegoat for broader societal failures. The lack of social support for single mothers, combined with the high mortality rates of the era, created an environment in which baby farming thrived—and, in some cases, turned deadly.
Whether she was a cold-blooded murderer or simply a woman caught in a broken system, the name Minnie Dean remains etched in history as New Zealand’s most infamous child-carer turned killer.
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