The Shocking Case of Fred & Marie Manning: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, and Murder

Just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, November 13, 1849. Two figures could be seen silhouetted against the sky above a Horsemonger Lane gaol, which once stood on this land. Beside the two figures on the roof of the squat building was scaffolding. Those about to meet their destiny were husband and wife, Frederick and Marie Manning. The two had gotten married just a couple of years earlier, becoming engaged until death do us part. They could not imagine that the death that would lead to their final separation was that of the victim who fell prey to her insatiable greed. Marie Manning was born Marie de Roux in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1821.

Her parents were fervent Catholics who believed that her daughter's future lay in a convent. However, she Marie thought otherwise and a way out presented herself in the form of a bandit named Montano. He whisked young Marie away to her gang's abandoned mansion in the Swiss Alps, where the couple lived a life of crime. Well not exactly. While some stories about this

case

include this story of Marie's early life, these wild stories were probably invented later by overzealous writers such as Robert Huish, who was described as an unscrupulous scribbler. In reality, not much is known about Marie's early life in Switzerland.

What we do know is that her parents died when she was a teenager and she emigrated to England to find work in Devon as a maid to Lady Anna Palk, the wife of MP Sir Lawrence Palk. She later moved to London and worked for the Duchess of Sutherland's daughter, Lady Blantyre, here at her luxurious home, Stafford House. Living and working amidst such elegance and frivolity soon imparted to Marie a taste for the finer things in life. Returning to the relative misery of her early life was unthinkable. In addition to her taste for luxury, Marie or Maria, as she was sometimes known, was described as a charismatic young woman, with a magnetic personality and good looks.

She definitely had no shortage of admirers. This initially flattering situation eventually turned deadly. In 1846, it was claimed that Marie was planning to meet her

love

r in Boulogne, France. While she was on board a cross-channel ship she met Irishman Patrick O'Connor. There were immediate sparks between the two, even though O'Connor was about 20 years older than her. Patrick was his own man, a corrupt customs inspector who combined smuggling and money lending to make a huge fortune. This excited the young servant. In the end, Patrick promised Marie that he would ask her out as soon as she returned to London.

Other Times reports claim that Patrick and Marie were already well acquainted at the time and that the couple had an on-again, off-again romance. What is certain, however, is that Patrick had a rival for Marie's affections. A man named Frederick Manning. He was a native of London and closer to the age of his mistress. And while he worked as a guard for a railroad company, he would inherit a fortune from his mother. It is likely that the couple also met during Marie's travels with her

love

r. Both men often gloated to their friends that they were going to meet her lover at the prestigious Stafford House.

Among many other dignitaries, Queen Victoria herself was a regular visitor to the stately home. However, Fred and Patrick's visits were strictly limited to the servants' quarters. Marie knew that her situation with her lovers couldn't last forever and she wanted to settle down with the man who would keep her living the lifestyle she had become accustomed to. She believed Patrick was that man, although her letters to him showed her growing frustration that she had not yet proposed to him. In 1847, while Patrick was entertained, Fred took the opportunity and popped the question himself. He assured Marie that he would inherit a fortune upon her mother's death, enough for the couple to live very comfortably.

With this assurance, Marie accepted the proposal and the couple married at St James's Church in Piccadilly. Patrick understandably did not attend the wedding, although he did send a letter to the blushing bride shortly after the ceremony. In it, he declared his undying love for her and claimed that he had been on the verge of proposing to her before she said yes to Fred. Of course we don't know if Patrick was telling the truth, but his words didn't help the new union. Maybe that had been the point. The newlyweds suffered a further setback when Frederick lost his job at Great Western.

While we don't know exactly why he was kicked out, it seems there were suspicions that he may have been involved in a robbery. Although insufficient evidence was found to charge him with the crime, he was released. Marie would have believed that the couple would have already settled down and started a family by this stage. Instead, they were now looking for a way to make a living. They eventually decided that the best option was to return to Taunton, Fred's hometown, where they used their savings to buy the White Hart Pub. This was a far cry from the lifestyle Marie had envisioned for herself.

And things got worse when rumors began to circulate around town that Fred had been dating other women. Apparently, she had also seen Patrick staying with him on several occasions. Whatever the status of the Mannings' relationship, in early 1849 it came under greater strain. There had been two train robberies on the Great Western Line between Plymouth and London. The perpetrators were two men, Henry Poole and Edward Nightingale. Poole was a good friend of Frederick and it was discovered that he and Nightingale had stayed at the White Hart the night before work. While the investigation found that the Mannings played no role in the crime, some newspapers claimed that the police had received a tip about the robberies.

The finger was pointed firmly in Marie's direction, as she was thought to have sought Poole's arrest as revenge for Fred's infidelities. The pub's connection to crime and rumors that Marie was a snitch led to a decline in business at the White Hart. Because of this, the couple would eventually return to London, where for a time they would run a pub called the King John's Head. Although this would also be fruitless. The couple eventually made their home at 3 Miniver Place, Bermondsey, south-east London. There they rented rooms to make ends meet. By then, Marie had realized that Fred had been lying to her about her inheritance, specifically about how much money she had.

Not as much as she had told Marie. That was for sure. Patrick regularly visited Miniver house number three and occasionally stayed there. By this time, Frederick had become a heavy drinker and O'Connor feared that one day he would return home drunk and confront him. This turbulent love triangle between Marie and her lovers would come to its tragic conclusion in August 1849. Despite his flirtation with smuggling and extortion, Patrick O'Connor was rarely absent from his daily work in the London docks. Then, when he didn't show up two days in a row, alarm bells started ringing. Even more so for one man in particular, his cousin and co-worker, William Flynn.

After finishing his duties, William decided to investigate. He spoke to two of Patrick's friends at his lodging. They explained that they last saw Patrick on Thursday when he told them that he was having dinner with his girlfriend, Marie. William then spoke to the landlady, who told him that Marie Manning had visited Patrick's apartment on Thursday and Friday nights, but that he had not seen Patrick with her. William didn't need to hear more. He was sure something had happened and contacted the police. Authorities arrived at Manning's residence the next day. They found Marie alone at home. She told them that Patrick had never come to dinner on Thursday and that she had only visited him that night and on Friday to see if he was sick.

When the police asked about Fred Marie's whereabouts she said that her husband was at church and added that they had plans that night for the house to be empty if the police decided to make another visit. However, three days after Patrick disappeared, William arrived at the Manning home with a police officer there. Marie told him the same story. She hadn't seen Patrick. William didn't buy it. Even more convinced that something terrible had happened to his cousin, he began handing out leaflets promising a £10 reward for any information. Still, it wasn't until he searched Patrick's apartment that he began to fear the worst.

There he discovered that securities and cash that he knew Patrick had on hand were missing. He believed Marie was somehow involved. But before they could interrogate her further, he fled her Miniver Place home with his luggage in tow. The contents of the house were also sold. A chase ensued and at the same time the police decided to take another look at Manning's house. Although the initial search had yielded no results, they dug in the backyard but returned empty-handed. However, on Friday someone noticed that the kitchen tiles were clean. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that they had been recently reunited.

They decided to remove the stones and dig in the removed earth. They didn't have to dig far and about a foot down they discovered the naked body of Patrick O'Connor covered in quicklime. He had been shot and beaten. What exactly had happened on the afternoon of August 9 was known only to those present at the time, Patrick Marie and Fred. But in an alleged confession, Frederick would later claim that Marie had been behind the

murder

. He claims she was angry at O'Connor because he owed her money for three weeks of accommodation. It had also apparently been the main reason she had decided to take on the King John's Head pub, which had lost the couple's roughly £100.

That's equivalent to £16,000 today. She wanted money and revenge from him. Marie then began regularly inviting O'Connor to dinner and drinks and visiting him on weekends so that they appeared to be on good terms. During the many visits he said that, O'Connor commented on the hole he was gradually digging for himself in the kitchen, but was told it was simply a plumbing job. The night of the

murder

, she arrived at the Manning home, as she had done many times before. Marie claimed they were expecting guests and told O'Connor to wash his hands. He initially refused, but she insisted as he stood at the sink, put one hand on his shoulder and with the other pointed a gun at his head before pulling the trigger.

Frederick goes on to say that she ran up to him and said, quote, end of date. When Fred went to see what his wife had done, he apparently found O'Connor still alive, moaning on the floor. It appears that either not enough gunpowder was used or the caliber was too small because while the bullet had fractured O'Connor's skull, it had not pierced it. Instead, he had slid up under his eyebrow. Mr. Manning then claims that he grabbed a crowbar and finished him off. The couple then stripped and buried the body under the kitchen floor. It is debatable how much truth can be found in Fred's confession.

Still, it is true that Marie went to Patrick's house over the next two days and collected his railroad stock certificates, cash, and other valuables. Despite having it all, they desired the severity of their actions and the position they now found themselves in began to weigh heavily on the murderous couple. What was left of their relationship quickly evaporated as each became suspicious of the other. When the police started snooping around, the pressure became too much and Marie fled to Scotland with most of the stolen goods. Soon after, Fred realized that she had been left behind and sold all the furniture in her house before fleeing to Jersey.

Marie was the first of the couple to be captured. During her escape he had left several boxes at London Bridge station. These contained blood-stained clothing, along with letters sent between her and Patrick. Keeping a low profile did not come naturally to Marie, and she soon discovered that she had purchased first class tickets to Edinburgh. London police quickly alerted their counterparts in Scotland by telegraph. Authorities already had their eye on the fugitive, as she had been trying to convert some of the stock that had been reported stolen into cash. A week after her escape, Marie Manning was arrested.

It took Fred a little longer to locate him. Although he had traveled to Jersey with plans to move to France. Instead, he had begun to drown his sorrows on the island. An acquaintance on the trip recognized him and informed police of his location after learning of Patrick's death. On August 30, Frederick Manning was arrested and immediately blamed his wife, saying he was completely innocent. By now the newspapers had abandoned the

case

, the Bermondsey Horror, and delighted in thinking how many issues the story of a murderess with links to the aristocracy would sell. The initial investigation of the events revealed that Fred had had disturbing conversations with a medical student who was staying at his house.

During these, he asked about theeffects of chloroform and whether a drugged person could sign a check if asked. It was also shown that Mrs Manning had purchased lime and a shovel. At that time, a wife could not be accused of being an accessory to murders committed by her husband. As wives they were obligated to loyally follow their spouses. However, if she had been involved in the planning or participated, that is a different story. Manning's trial took place at the Old Bailey on 25 and 26 October. It was initially argued that the jury should be made up of people of French or Swiss descent to be fair to Marie.

This idea was discarded because it was said that her marriage to Fred made her an English citizen. Ultimately, it would take these jurors 45 minutes to find Frederick and Marie Manning guilty of murder. Before handing down the sentence, the judge asked the two if they had anything to say. Fred remained silent, but Marie, normally calm and collected, launched into a tirade stating that there is no justice for a foreigner's issue in this country. She continued to plead innocence as the judge handed down the inevitable death sentence. The former maid even tried to use her connections to get a royal pardon.

But the letters she sent went unanswered. After the trial, the murderous couple would stay apart, although they exchanged several letters, each pleading with the other to confess. In the end, neither of them backed down from their version of events. And on November 13, 1849, they met for the last time in the Horsemonger Lane Gaol Chapel. The condemned couple shared a few words, kissed and hugged. They were then led to the roof where the scaffolding had been erected. The newspapers claimed that some 30,000 people had come to see the spectacle. Among them was Charles Dickens, who had appeared to survey the crowd.

He would later write about the barbaric nature of those present. While Fred looked away from these onlookers while she was under her rope, Marie opted to be blindfolded as she was led to her destination. Moments later, the pair fell through the trapdoor, separated by death. Thanks for watching. At that very moment. Take care and we'll see you next time with another story to make you say: Well, never have I.