William was not unaware of how Louisa was being treated. Corpral punishment in the home was not a rarity in the 1860's, but the way Frances treated Louisa was extremly cruel. The lively girl went to be withdrawn and sullen in the next two years. Frances would beat her not just with her hands, but anything she could get her hands on. She would neglect the girl and make her wear rags, deprived her of food, and made her sleep in the cellar with old sacks for bedding.
It was so bad at one point their neighbor William Henniker reported William and Frances to the police. Frances would be charged with cruelty and fines. This would cause William and Frances to pay someone to act as gaurdian to Louisa. However the regular maitnance payments were not met and Louisa had to go back to that hell hole.
Frances's jealousy and hatred for Louisa grew after Louisa's return. The abuse resumed and the couple would argur over Louisa's treatment. At least once William threw Louisa out of the home.
On August 24, 1867 Frances would take Louisa and Emma to her parents home in New Romney. While there Frances would tell her paren' neighbor, Mrs. Evans, that she hated Louisa and intended to get rid of her. That the girl would not return to Hythe with Emma and Frances.
On August 25th Frances parents would invite her to go on a walk. Frances would decline saying she was ill. Once they left she would tell Louisa to change into her old clothes and they would go to a nearby fair. They would begin to walk to New Romney and when they got ot Cobb's Bridge.
Frances would grab Louisa and force her into the stream. She would hold her down as Louis drowned in less than a foot of water. While this is happening William would arrive at his In-Laws home to find neither Frances or Louisa there. He would go looking around for the two.
While William was out Frances returned alone her clothes soaked and covered in mud. William returned just after Frances and see Louisa was not with her. Frances was asked by her mother and William where Louisa was, but instead she ran upstairs to change clothes. Her father would discover that the clothes she arrived in was muddy and wet.
Frances would say nothing about Louisa. Knowing the violence and hatred that Frances had for the girl her father and William went to the police. Constable Aspinall returned to the home and took Frances into custody for suspicion of murder. When questioned by the constable Frances would only sat that Louisa had fallen into a ditch when passing horses spooked her near Cobb's Bridge. Louisa's body would be found.
Frances would be charged with murder. She would stay in custody until her trial at the Kent Spring Assize on March 12, 1868. Many witnesses including her parents and husband testified against her. It took only 12 minutes for the jury to return wth a guilty verdict. She would be set to be executed for the murder.
She would later admit she murdered the girl, but it wasn't premeditaited. While waiting for her execution she was frequently becoming hystarical. She was only visited by William twice. They argued both visits about his relationship with her younger sister. He denied it the first visit and admitted to it the second one. She was also visited by Emma and her parents.
On April 2, 1868 around 2,000 people, including William, came to watch her get executed at the Maidstone Gaol. Her body was left hanging for an hour before she was taken down and placed in an unmarked grave.
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