CONTENT WARNING
THIS STORY CONTAINS DISCUSSIONS OF CHILD HARM AND INFANTICIDE RELATED TO SEVERE MATERNAL MENTAL ILLNESS
READER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED.
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In September of 1918 Miss Dorothy May Dobson, aged 32, and Mr Alfred Perrin, aged 52, got married. There was no notice in the newspaper announcing their marriage but neighbours and friends described them as a happy couple.
They celebrated the birth of their first child together on the 13th of July 1919 a baby boy whom they named Roy. In 1920 they had their first daughter Peggy, followed by Francis in 1923, Phyllis in 1924 and finally Betty in 1926
Alfred worked as a carpenter and joiner in the Petone and Lower Hutt region while Dorothy stayed at home and tended the children. In the afternoon on Saturday the 11th of September 1926 Alfred left to visit a friend in Lower Hutt. He took their oldest son Roy aged 7 with him and left Dorothy at home with the other four children. As he left, Dorothy asked him ‘Don’t be too long’ When he left she seemed to be in her usual health and spirit, although she had been in indifferent health for some time, having been a victim of influenza.
Alfred and Roy returned home at 6:40pm and found the house in total darkness and all the doors locked. Roy managed to climb in through a window and opened a door for his father. Alfred entered the house and heard splashing from the bathroom. The door was locked so he called out and Dorothy came out, soaking wet and only wearing a singlet and bodice. Alfred told her to find some dry clothes and asked her where the children were. She said they were all asleep.
Alfred said he could see something was wrong as Dorothy's eyes were fixed and her behaviour was strange. She told him not to go into the bathroom. He went in anyway.
Inside he found Peggy (aged 6) and Francis (aged 3) in the bath and Phyllis (aged 2) and Betty (6 months) on the bathroom floor. They were all dead.
He first found Peggy floating in the bath and when he picked her up Francis came floating to the surface from underneath her. He then discovered Phyllis and Betty on the bathroom floor covered in Dorothy’s clothing. Dorothy told Alfred ‘Don’t worry they are in heaven’ Alfred moved the children's bodies into the dining room and called for the local doctor in Petone.
The doctor arrived at roughly 7:10pm who examined the children and pronounced life extinct almost immediately. He believed they had been dead for at least one hour. Upon arrival Dorothy had dressed the children and put the older three on the couch and put the baby in the pram. The doctor asked her why she did it. She told him she did it to save them from suffering so she sent them all to heaven. She also said that if Roy had been home, she would have done the same to him. She mentioned the neighbours were all against her and thought that she was untidy. She was speaking in quite a mechanical and dazed way. The doctor thought her quite insane.
The police were informed and duly arrived on the scene. Dorothy was said to be ghostly in appearance with disheveled hair. She said to one of the officers ‘Look at them. Don’t they look lovely. They’re asleep but I must wake them up soon and give them their tea’ While saying this to the officer she was wiping one of their faces with a towel. The policeman who she spoke to said that she seemed very peculiar in her manner and did not seem to realise what she had done. The police took her away to Wellington where she was placed in custody and formally charged with murder.
Alfred told the police that she had never before been affected mentally, nor had she given him any reason to believe that she would take the lives of their children. During the events of that tragic night Dorothy told Alfred that the neighbours had been knocking at the door that afternoon and had said to her ‘Anyway we can always get Roy at any time’ she had also told him that there was a smell of fish in the pantry (there was no fish in the pantry at all) Alfred discovered an old photo of a friend of his on the bed. Dorothy told him that the neighbours had placed it there.
Alfred went on to tell the police that they had a very happy marriage and not a cross word was said between them. They were about to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Dorothy was said to be very attached to their children but she was also worried about the family's financial situation which was not good as Alfred had only been receiving half his usual pay and with seven mouths to feed this was naturally a concern.
The doctor who had attended also came forward and said that he had visited the house on previous occasions but on his last visit in August Dorothy had seemed especially concerned about her children's health. He said that she did not seem very strong but did not exhibit any signs of mental weakness. She had also mentioned on this visit that the neighbours were all against her.
The coroner concluded in his report that the four children had died by drowning in a bath at their home in Petone by their mother who was at the time suffering from mental depression. He went on to say that the doctor stated that in his opinion, she did not understand actually what had happened nor was she able to converse at all coherently.
Dororthy was brought to the magistrates court on the 13th of September 1926 on four charges of murder. The newspapers described her as a thin, frail looking little woman who had to be assisted into the dock and spoke no word but looked about her with frightened eyes. The case was remanded a few times while Dorothy was being held under observation at the mental hospital.
A few more remands would happen which put extreme strain and stress on 60 year old Alfred who was also fighting to keep his son Roy. On the 6th of October the murder charges were temporarily withdrawn pending Dorothy's release from the mental hospital. Dorothy's lawyer said that she was still in the mental hospital and it might be some time before she was discharged, if at all. It was decided and deemed necessary proceedings could be re-instituted if and when Dorothy was released from the mental hospital.
Dorothy spent the remaining years of her life at Wellington mental hospital (I’m assuming this was Porirua mental hospital but I could be wrong) she passed away on the 28th of September 1944 aged 57 or 58 She is buried with her four children who she drowned, Peggy, Francis, Phyllis and Betty at Karori Cemetery.
Under Dorothy's headstone it says 'Peace. Perfect Peace'
Alfred never remarried and lived the last few years of his life moving around Petone. He passed away on the 14th of September in1948 and is also buried at Karori Cemetery but he is buried with his first wife Amy Ellen (she passed away from a long illness in 1915)
Roy, the only remaining child of Alfred and Dorothy, grew up and got married in 1940 In 1945 unfortunately a stillborn baby boy was born. Roy and his wife separated in roughly 1960 Roy never got married again or had any more children. He passed away in 1990 in Auckland.
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