19 Facts About Frances Knorr

Frances Lydia Alice Knorr was an English serial killer known as the Baby Farming Murderess.

Frances Knorr was found guilty of strangling an infant and hanged on Monday 15 January 1894.

Frances Knorr was born as Minnie Thwaites in London, England on 10 December 1868.

Frances Knorr immigrated to Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales in 1887.

Frances Knorr's father was reportedly William Sutton Thwaites, a tailor from Chelsea.

Frances Knorr later had an affair with one Edward Thompson and moved to Melbourne; however, the short-lived affair was not successful and Knorr had to find a means to support herself and her daughter.

In February 1892, Victoria was in the midst of a depression and jobs were scarce when Rudolph Frances Knorr was sent to prison for selling furniture he had bought on hire purchase.

Pregnant and penniless, Frances Knorr decided to set up business as a child minder, and moved around Melbourne, frequently using both her maiden and married names.

Frances Knorr strangled some of the babies she could not place elsewhere or sell to childless couples.

The police soon traced them to Frances Knorr, who was ascertained to have moved to Sydney with her husband, and dug up the gardens of other properties around Melbourne where she had lived, finding the corpses of two boys buried in the yard at the Davis St house.

Frances Knorr was released from custody on the same day, as the Melbourne authorities indicated they were not investigating him at that time.

Shortly prior to her arrest, Frances Knorr had given birth to a daughter, known as Rita Daisy Frances Knorr, who ultimately was put into the care of the authorities of the Melbourne Gaol and later the Department of Neglected Children.

Frances Knorr was charged with having murdered the two other infants together with her husband, Rudolph.

Frances Knorr gave a statement from the witness box and admitted that she had buried the babies in Moreland Road, but claimed that the children had died of natural causes.

Frances Knorr, who had sobbed throughout the judge's address to her, collapsed and had to be carried out of the chamber to be transported to Old Melbourne Gaol to await execution.

Frances Knorr was described as a model and penitent prisoner in the condemned cell and spent her time singing hymns and praying.

Frances Knorr made a written confession on the Saturday before her execution, part of which was made public the day after her execution.

Frances Knorr's execution was at 10:00am on Monday 15 January 1894.

Frances Knorr had spent her last few hours singing hymns.