The Bermondsey Horror.

Map of Bermondsey. Image taken from: https://sorry.port.ac.uk/visionofbritain.org.uk_planned.html

One of the most sensational crime stories of the Victorian era, The Bermondsey Horror. The unhappy love triangle between the wealthy Patrick O'Connor and the drunkard Frederick Manning over the Swedish beauty. The horrific death of Patrick O'Connor on 9 August 1849 sent shockwaves through the capital and across the country. So who were these people and why was this particular crime so shocking?

The ill-fated love triangle. 

Image of Maria Manning: https://headstuff.org/culture/history/terrible-people-from-history/fred-maria-manning-victorian-murderers/

First, we need to look at the two perpetrators. Maria Manning née. La Roux was born in Switzerland in 1821. La Roux emigrated to England and began working as a lady's maid for Lady Blantyre. It was during this employment that she developed a taste for a more luxurious lifestyle. She began to dread the idea of poverty, which was a daily reality for most Victorians at the time, who had to rely on the charity of others or face the workhouse. When she went to Bolougne with her employer, she met the wealthy 50-year-old Mr Patrick O'Connor, to whom she was instantly attracted by his wealth.

However, she was already involved with Frederick George Manning, who was a guard on the Great Western Railway. Frederick had a chequered past, despite working for the railway, he was suspected of being involved in some robberies. However, when he proposed to Maria, he claimed that he had come into some money from his mother, which he may have exaggerated in order to convince Maria to marry him instead of O'Connor. While Patrick O'Connor was immediately wealthy, he worked as a customs officer, but was in his 50s and a heavy drinker.

When Frederick proposed in 1847, Maria accepted. Mainly because Frederick was her age and he promised that he was going to receive some money. When Maria found out that the money was a lie, she began sleeping with O'Connor, apparently with Frederick's blessing, as Patrick was often at the Mannings' home in Bermondsey.

The Murder.

Things came to a head in 1849 when both Mannings plotted to kill O'Connor. It is unclear what motivated them, but it seems that Maria did not want to marry O'Connor, but she did want his money. On 8 August 1849, Maria and Frederick bought a shovel and some lime and invited O'Connor to dine with them. It seems that their plan to murder him was foiled when O'Connor brought a friend. However, Maria was not deterred and wrote to Patrick again inviting him to dine with them the following evening. On the 9th of August 1849, O'Connor was shot at close range, and when this didn't kill him, it is believed that Frederick Manning beat O'Connor to death with a crowbar. He was then buried in a pre-dug grave in their kitchen. 

Image taken from: https://www.pinterest.com/issyxb/maria-manning/

The Escape

After the murder, Maria managed to sneak into O'Connor's house and loot his valuables. Unfortunately for the murderous couple, O'Connor was immediately missing from work and two friends went to the Mannings' house to ask where he was. This immediately frightened the couple, who believed the 'friends' to be undercover police. 

Maria told Frederick to sell the furniture, but managed to pack her belongings and take a trip to Scotland. But when Frederick returned to find Maria missing, he too packed up and moved to St Helier, Jersey. However, both were soon caught by the police, as Maria was caught trying to sell Patrick's belongings and Frederick's drunken behaviour led the authorities to suspect and arrest him.

Frederick and Maria Manning. Image taken from: https://southwarknews.co.uk/history/in-depth-history/bermondsey-horror-maria-manning-frederick/

Trial and Execution

The trial took place at the Old Bailey on 25 October 1849.  At the trial both Maria's and Frederick's lawyers tried to blame the other for the crime, Maria's lawyer even tried to have her tried separately from Frederick on the grounds that she was Swiss and not of English nationality. But the judge rejected this, arguing that Maria had married an Englishman. When the Manning's were asked if they had anything else to say, Frederick remained silent. While Maria, who exploded into a volatile tirade, is even quoted as saying at one point 'You have treated me like a wild beast of the forest', she even interrupted the judge as he sentenced them both to death. 

After the trial, Mary and Frederick were sent to Horsemonger Lane Gaol to await their execution. On the morning of 13 November 1849, Maria Manning is believed to have tried to take her own life, but was quickly stopped by the guards.

The hanging was one of the largest ever attended, with 30-50,000 people hoping to catch a glimpse of the murderous couple being hanged. The Manning's were executed by William Calcraft, and although the time of death was not recorded, it is thought to have taken between 5 and 15 minutes. It is said that Maria and Frederick actually made up on the scaffold, and she kissed him as a sign of forgiveness for letting her take all the blame. Maria Manning also made her mark on society by wearing black satin to her death. It is believed that the appetite for clothes had diminished as a result of her wearing it. Although largely disputed, she was dubbed 'the woman who killed black satin'. 

Charles Dickens, who was in favour of abolishing public executions altogether, said of the event that;

"I was a witness of the execution at Horsemonger Lane this morning" "I believe that a sight so inconceivably awful as the wickedness and levity of the crowd collected at that execution this morning." "When the two miserable creatures who attracted all this ghastly sight about them were turned quivering into the air there was no more emotion, no more pity, no more thought that two immortal souls had gone to judgement, than if the name of Christ had never been heard in this world."

It has to be said, however, that Dickens was more concerned about the attitude of the crowd than the heinous deed of the Mannings. And indeed, public executions were finally abolished in 1868. 

Frederick and Maria Manning are synonymous with the greed and desperation that pervaded Victorian life. The honest desire not to be trapped in the poverty that afflicted most of Victorian England was a daily reality. But although the blame has always seemed to rest with Maria Manning as the instigator, it must be said that Frederick played his own part in the murder. The Manning's remain one of England's most notorious couples, and the Bermondsey Horror still captures the public imagination.