The Strange Case of Baby Quinn

ADOPTED INFANTS DEATH
FOSTER-MOTHER’S STRANGE STORY

Coolgardie, December 17

The adjourned inquiry into the cause of fo death of ‘Winifred Mary PRIDMORE’, an infant about 6 months old, at Coolgardie on December 11th, was resumed today before Mr A. P. Wymond, J.P.Acting-Coroner.

Archibald Herron, a miner, residing at Coolgardie, said that he had lived with Mrs. Catherine Quinn as man and wife for about two years. Early last May Mrs. Quinn went to Perth to be confined, and he paid all her expenses. At the end of June, she returned to Coolgardie and brought with her a female child, of whom she said that he was the father. He saw the child every day and thought she was well cared for and attended to. For three months the child was well, and after that, she was taken to the hospital two or three times, and later to Dr. Ellis. Dr, Ellis was attending her when she died on December 14.

Last Monday Dr Ellis was told by Mrs. Quinn that the child was not hers or Herrons. Catherine Quinn said she was a married woman living apart from her husband. About May 4 last she went to Perth for a confinement but she did not give birth to a child. Before she went to Perth she was living as man and wife with Archibald Herron at Coolgardie.

When in Perth she had advertised in the “West Australian” for a child for adoption, and on May 24 visited Nurse Ryan’s hospital in order to adopt a child, as Nurse Ryan had replied to her advertisement. She saw a baby about eight days old and its mother, and she arranged to take it on the following Wednesday. She got no money for taking the child and was to receive nothing at any later time. She returned to Coolgardie and told Herron and others that the child was hers. She had conversed with the mother of the baby, who was herself but a child, and whose parents had no knowledge of her trouble, and she was glad to part with the child.

About three or four months after she returned to Coolgardie with the child an inspector from the State Children’s Department visited her. When the child was three or four months old she caught a cold, and was taken first to Dr Palmer, afterwards to Dr Mitchell, and finally to Dr Ellis. The child was well-fed and under medical attention. The child died on December 14. Dr Ellis had seen the child five times in all. When she went to Dr. Ellis she gave her name as Mrs. Herron.

Dr Mitchell, R.M.O. said that he saw the child on November 14 at the hospital. She was suffering from diarrhoea, which, he thought, was caused by improper and ignorant feeding, he did not necessarily mean wilful neglect. He lost sight of the case until on Sunday last he heard of the child’s death. He made a post-mortem examination of

the body, which was badly nourished and emaciated.

He was of the opinion that the condition, which was principally the cause of death arose through improper feeding of a naturally unhealthy child. Dr. Ellis said that he found that Mrs Quinn was not the child’s mother, and then refused to give a certificate, as he thought that the case should be looked into.

Sergeant Fee put in a letter which was read by the jury privately but at first, refused to the Press. The Coroner afterwards said that there could be no objection to the Press copying the letter, which was from Mr James Longmore, the Secretary of the State Children’s Department.

The letter referred to contained the following passages:
“To the officer of police in charge, Coolgardie. Re Mrs Quinn & baby. I am sorry to learn from your letter that the baby has died. I have interviewed Nurse Ryan and have ascertained that the infant is the illegitimate child of Jane Agnes Pridmore aged 17yrs, daughter of Henry Pridmore and Jane nee Farrell, who has been an inmate of the Home of the Good Shepherd.

The child was born on May 17th, and an advertisement from a person desirous of adopting a fair child was answered by Nurse Ryan on behalf of the mother. The person advertising turned out to be Mrs Quinn, who told the mother of the child that she wished to adopt it as her own and that she did not wish her husband to know, but that it was her own. She stated from the first that she wanted no money, and she only received a few clothes. It is our endeavour to have children adopted in this way. In this case I sent an inspectress from Perth on July 5. Mrs Quinn was not told of any visit likely to be paid her, and the inspectress reported that the child was thoroughly clean and looked well and that Mrs Quinn seemed very fond of it.

She volunteered a statement to the inspectress to the effect that she went to Perth thinking that she was to be confined but found that such was not the case and she took the child, informing her husband that it was her own. She gave this as a reason why she did not apply to have it legally adopted, as she did not want her husband to know it was not his child. Thus does the misery of one become the joy of another – A young mother was seeking to hide her shame – Another woman was seeking to make it her pride and joy and would doubtless have lavished love on it.

The Coroner, in summing up, said that Mrs Quinn had led Herron to believe that it was his child, and she must have had some motive for misleading him. It was their duty to find out how the child came to its death. VERDICT. The jury found that Winifred Mary Mary Pridmore came to her death on the 11th of December by natural causes.

Coolgardie Cemetery: PRIDMORE Winnifred Mary – Buried Coolgardie Cemetery – 12 Dec 1909 – Age 6 months – Roman Catholic – Grave E35 – Archie Heron was the witness at the burial.

Jane Agnes Pridmore on her marriage to William C Riddle – Photo Ancestry.com

Winnifred’s mother, Jane went on to marry William Cecil RIDDLE in the Murchison of WA in 1912, they had two daughters, Edith born in 1912 and Dulcie born in 1914. Jane’s husband died in Perth in 1918 and she re-married to John William BRACKEN in 1923. John also died in 1926 and Jane married for a third time to Daniel Arthur McGRATH – there were two children born to John and one to Daniel.