Henry Young

16/05/1887 Henry Young 27 Dorset Dorchester Child

Young was hanged at Dorchester by James Berry on 16th May 1887. He was a 27-year-old one-legged cobbler who was married and who lived with his wife and one-month old son at Poole. Soon after his child’s death on 13th February 1887 he was telling people that he had attempted to poison the boy, Percival John Ings, with diluted caustic soda. The child had first fallen ill with a stomach complaint and the doctor had nursed him until he had recovered, four days later. The following day Young’s wife returned home to be told by her husband that the baby had died after a relapse. The doctor had certified the death as due to natural causes but after hearing of Young’s boasting, ordered a post-mortem. The baby had been strangled. Young confessed to the crime but claimed that his wife had been unfaithful to him and that the child was illegitimate. The jury at Dorset Assizes failed to feel any sympathy for Young and he was found guilty and sentenced to death.