Dorothea Nancy Waddingham

Dorothea Waddingham murdered Louisa Baguley 89 and Ada Baguley 50 by poisoning them with morphine at 32 Devon Drive, Nottingham.

Dorothea Waddingham ran an unlicenced nursing home which she had converted from her own home and was not a qualified nurse although this was not illegal.

Louisa Baguley and her daughter Ada Baguley who had disseminated sclerosis were admited in February 1935. Ada Baguley had a will which left everything to her mother and 2 cousins but Dorothea Waddingham destroyed that will and wrote a new one leaving Ada Baguley's estate to herself and her husband supposedly because of all the good nursing she had recieved. She also made provision in the will that upon her death no relatives were to be informed of her death which was later to set suspisions off with the authorities.

In May 1935 Louisa Baguley died as expected and was buried and then on 11 September 1935 Ada Baguley died.  Ada Baguley's death was also expected and was signed off by the doctor as being the result of cardiovascular degeneration and Dorothea Waddingham's request that the body be cremated was accepted except for the fact that 2 doctors needed  to sign a death certificate for that and the second doctor was more suspiscious of the note requesting the cemation as he didnt like Dorothea Waddingham's unlicenced nursing home and her practices. He ordered a post mortem which revealed no natural cause of death but did reveal that her organs contained high levels of morphine, over 3 grains. After that they exhunmed Louisa Baguley's body and found that she too had been poisoned with morphine.

Dorothea Waddingham and her husband were arrested for murder and tried. The husband was aquitted although he had written the supposed note from Ada Baguley requesting being cremated. Dorothea Waddingham had 5 children and was still breast feeding a 3 month old child shortly before her execution.

Ada Baguley's fiance committed suicide shortly after her death.