Minnie Clarke. Source: SGCT.
Minnie Clarke’s story was presented by the local newspaper as a ’sensational Sheffield crime’. It centred on the tragic death of Minnie’s five month old son Kenneth. In September 1917 his badly decomposed body was discovered in the cellar of a house in Ashdell Road. Minnie was an immediate suspect as she was a servant in the house who had given birth in January but whose baby hadn’t been seen since June.
Minnie’s reputation was sullied by the information that she was ‘fond of the company of soldiers and may frequent the vicinity of barracks’. Minnie had registered her baby as the son of a soldier and believed that she was married though the marriage was in fact bigamous.
Minnie and her mother argued in court as to who had been responsible for looking after the baby. Minnie denied murder and claimed that Kenneth had died in bed with her. The coroner returned an open verdict as it was not possible to determine the cause of death.
Kenneth was buried in plot T 77, an unmarked public grave behind the Samuel Worth Chapel. We have been unable to discover any more about Minnie’s life and would love to hear from you if you have more information.
You can read more about the lives of women buried in the Cemetery in the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust’s publication A Woman’s Place.