minnie dean

Being a single mother is never easy. In the days before state benefits, life could be very tough. Women relied on their families and friends, church or community groups to help financially or to mind the children while they went out to work. Public disapproval was strong – society expected children to be born within marriage and raised by two parents.

The 'Winton baby-farmer'

Minnie Dean

In 1895 Southland's Williamina (Minnie) Dean became the first – and only – woman to be hanged in New Zealand. Her story exposed the stark realities of paid childcare and the lack of choice that many women faced in this period.

The notorious baby farmer Minnie Dean is photographed here at the time of her marriage in 1872 (when she was aged 28). Minnie's husband, Charles, was arrested along with her in 1895, but all charges against him were subsequently dropped.

Following Minnie Dean's arrest in May 1895, police undertook a search of her garden at The Larches, near Winton. They unearthed the recently buried bodies of two babies and the skeleton of an older boy (whom she later claimed had drowned).

More than a century after her murder case stunned the nation, the legend of Minnie Dean lives on in New Zealand's popular culture. This still image is taken from the music video to the song 'Minnie Dean' by Invercargill-born (but now Los Angeles-based) singer-songwriter Helen Henderson. An actor playing Dean can be seen walking down a supposed Southland railway line. While the scenery could pass for New Zealand, the video was actually filmed in Pasadena, California.

These newspaper reports cover the arrest and sensational murder trial of Minnie Dean in 1895. By the time of the second report, on 21 June, all of the charges against Minnie's husband, Charles Dean, had been dismissed.

Minnie Dean was executed on 12 August 1895. 

Newspaper report of the execution of Minnie Dean on 12 August 1895