24. Frances Kidder - Wicked Stepmother

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

BBC

Personal Journals, True Crime, History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 908 Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Lucy Worsley travels back in time to revisit the unthinkable crimes of 19th century murderesses from the UK, Australia and North America.

In this episode, Lucy is joined by Dr Gwen Adshead, for many years a consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Broadmoor Hospital.

They investigate the case of Frances Kidder, a 25-year-old woman unhappily married to a much older man, who is accused of murdering her stepdaughter Louisa in Kent in 1867.

We all know the stories of Cinderella and Snow White – evil stepmothers badly treating their innocent stepdaughters. So when, one evening in August 1867, Louisa Kidder fails to return from a walk with her stepmother Frances across the lonely wetlands of Romney Marsh, Frances has some explaining to do.

Lucy is also joined by historian Rosalind Crone, Professor of History at the Open University. She has uncovered numerous reports from local magistrates’ courts which reveal the violence and discord of the Kidder household. Lucy and Rosalind travel to Hythe in Kent where Frances married her violent husband, to Romney Marsh where Louisa disappeared, and to Maidstone Gaol where Frances awaited trial.

Lucy wants to know what actually happened to Louisa on that August evening. Is Frances a wicked stepmother or herself the victim of a troubled and violent home? What does her case tell us about family breakdown in the 19th century, and how much has changed today?

Produced in partnership with the Open University

Producer: Jane Greenwood Readers: Clare Corbett, Jonathan Keeble and Ruth Sillers Sound design: Chris Maclean Series Producer: Julia Hayball

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4

New episodes will be released on Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, listen to the latest full series of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds - Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley - Available Episodes: http://bbc.in/3M2pT0K

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Before this BBC podcast kicks off, I'd like to tell you about some others you might enjoy.
0:05.0	My name's Will Wilkin and I Commission Music Podcast for the BBC.
0:08.0	It's a really cool job, but every day we get to tell the incredible stories behind songs, moments and movements,
0:14.7	stories of struggle and success, rises and falls, the funny, the ridiculous.
0:19.1	And the BBC's position at the heart of British music means we can tell those stories like no one else.
0:24.6	We were, are and always will be right there at the center of the narrative.
0:28.6	So whether you want an insightful take on music right now or a nostalgic deep dive into some of the most famous
0:34.9	and infamous moments in music check out the music podcasts on BBC Sounds.
0:38.6	BBC Sounds music radio podcasts.
0:44.0	Welcome to Lady Killers with me Lucy Worsley from BBC Radio 4. I'm joined by an amazing all-female team of detectives on an historical adventure to solve crime. We're traveling back in time and across the
1:05.8	world to Australia, the US and Britain to reinvestigate the crimes of
1:11.0	murder-resses from the 19th and 20th centuries.
1:15.0	This episode contains material that some listeners might find distressing.
1:20.0	We all know the stories of Cinderella and Snow White, evil stepmothers, badly treating their
1:29.8	innocent step-daughters. So in August, 1867 in Kent in the southeast of England,
1:37.0	when an 11-year-old girl fails to return from an evening walk with her stepmother across the lonely wetlands of Romney Marsh.
1:47.0	The stepmother has some explaining to do.
1:50.8	The child ran along the bank and fell in. I heard a go in and I then jumped in to try to save her.
1:56.0	I screamed for help, but no one came.
2:00.0	The water in the ditch was only a foot deep. A child of the age of the deceased would have no difficulty in getting out of the water.
2:08.0	She told me, I wish to get rid of the child before I get home. I hate the very sight of her
2:15.0	this is lady killers where we re-examined the wild and unthinkable
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.