HER husband was a much respected man, holding the prestigious job of coachman to Admiral Robert Coote, who in his illustrious career commanded HMS Victory, HMS Gibraltar and HMS Arethusa, ending up as commander-in-chief at the China Station.

But privately, John Ahern was in despair.

No man could have been more overjoyed when his wife Honora gave birth to their son. But tragically, the child was sickly from the moment he took his first breath and it preyed heavily on her, physically and emotionally.

Eventually it would lead to murder “She was a considerable sufferer,” Mr Justice Hawkins conceded, addressing the Grand Jury at the opening of the Hampshire Lent Assizes of 1877.

”It is quite clear that in the three months before the child was killed that her state had caused much anxiety to her husband, so much so that he implored a neighbour to look after her.”

But all to no avail.

Left alone in her manic state, she throttled the youngster in their bedroom. Then she dumped his corpse into a well – from where the body was recovered – adjacent to their home in Bitterne, Southampton.

“There is no doubt she committed the murder,” the judge declared. “If you are of the opinion that she did it, it will be your duty to return a verdict of wilful murder against her.”

However he chided them: “It is obvious that the real ground of the defence will be that the poor woman, at the time she committed the act, did not understand what she was about and she did not know the crime she was committing, would render her amendable to the criminal law.

“Should that be the case, it is very probable that she might to be acquitted on the grounds of insanity. But it is a matter that might not command your attention.”

And so it proved.

The following day, when the case was called, Ahern did not appear.

Instead the court heard from Superintendent Stannard, chief medical officer at Knowle lunatic asylum near Fareham, who reported she had been confined in the institution as a patient. “I have not the slightest doubt she is insane.”

The case was adjourned indefinitely.