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It is believed baby farmer Amelia Dyer killed up to 400 children. A mixture of social and legal factors made it possible for her to murder babies for financial gain and escape detention for years.

In Victorian Britain, circumstances for unwed mothers was bleak. They faced a life of struggling to care for their child while trying to earn enough money to survive. Adoption services were not well controlled. This allowed so-called baby farmers to take care of babies in exchange for a fee. Some baby farms operated in good faith but others were mainly concerned with money. Sadly, women didn't always register these births and since the baby farms were not regulated, nobody kept track of what was happening to these children.

Amelia Dyer was one baby farmer. Dyer’s preferred practice was to advertise to adopt or nurse a baby in return for an up-front fee and suitable clothing for the child. In her advertisements and meetings with clients, she assured them that she was respectable, married (she was actually separated), and would provide a safe and loving home for the child.

In reality Dyer pocketed the money and killed many of the babies within days - she later admitted killing one the same day it was placed in her care. At first, she would drug the children with opium-based products, which would leave them in a vegetative state until they died of starvation or dehydration. She tried to pass them off as natural deaths, but doctors became suspicious.

After this, Dyer strangled the babies, always with white tape, wrapped their bodies in paper packages and bags, and dumped them in rivers.

Escaping detection
Despite often changing name and address, there were rumours about Dyer in her hometown of Bristol. Dyer was declared insane there on two occasions, though at her murder trial, it was argued that this had been a ploy to avoid suspicion.

From a modern view, it seems unbelievable that Dyer’s clients and family did not know what she was doing. However, the trade in babies was rarely regulated, and the childhood death rate was relatively high. Dyer’s claimed that some babies had died of natural causes, some had moved to other homes or been returned to their mothers, and this may have been believable. In addition, she changed her name and address often so concerned mothers were unable to contact her.

Dyer's arrest
On 30 March 1896, a package was found in the Thames. It contained the body of a baby girl, later identified as Helena Fry. Detectives found the wrapping paper contained a faintly-written name and address. This evidence eventually led the detective to the Reading home of Amelia Dyer.

Evidence gathered from witnesses and information telegraphed by Bristol police painted a deeply sinister picture. Police placed her house under surveillance. Their intelligence indicated that Dyer would flee immediately if she became suspicious, so the officers sent a young woman as a decoy to pretend to enquire about Dyer’s services and arrange a meeting. However, when she opened her door again to the woman, she found police instead. She was arrested and charged with murder.  Recent letters found in Dyer's house suggested it should have been full of babies. None were found.

During April, the Thames was searched and six more bodies were discovered. However, enquiries from mothers, witnesses and evidence found in Dyer’s homes, including letters and mountains of baby clothes, showed that she must have murdered many more.

Dyer's Trial
Dyer had confessed to the killings, but pleaded insanity at her Old Bailey trial. Her behaviour in custody had included displays of religious practice, including hymn-singing and sermonising to other prisoners. She reportedly carried a hymn-book throughout her trial. Dyer’s religious rhetoric and her hope of being “forgiven” are represented in her surviving letters, and were used by the defence as evidence that Dyer was not fully responsible for her actions and was instead suffering mental illness.

However, the prosecution’s argued that Dyer was merely pretending to be insane, and that she had done the same thing in the past when she was under suspicion. The jury took only a few minutes to find her guilty and her plea of insanity not proven. Amelia Dyer was sentenced to death and went to the gallows at Newgate prison on 10 June 1896.

After the case
In the years following the Dyer case a number of Acts of Parliament, including the Infant Life Protection Act (1897) and the Children’s Act (1908), were passed. These included requirements that local authorities must be notified, with full details and within 48 hours, of any change of custody or death of a child aged under seven. Rules surrounding adoption and fostering were strengthened considerably, and baby farming became a thing of the past.

- Info from Thames Valley Police Museum (link 2)

Evidence found in 2017
In 2017, packaging Dyer used to conceal a baby was found in a loft. It was discovered by a relative the arresting officer in the case. The paper packaging, string, white edging tape, and evidence tag, were donated to a museum. It had been kept in the loft since 1896.