Why it took 14 murder trials to bring down Elizabeth Downey

A code of silence among desperate victims enabled the Melbourne nurse to repeatedly get away with murder.

Melbourne abortionist Elizabeth Downey

As abortionists operated in the shadows of early Melbourne society, little is known about their illegal and often-deadly practices – with one notable exception.

Nurse-turned-abortionist Elizabeth Downey’s story can be traced in detail because she faced an astonishing 14 murder trials in 14 years, beating the charges time after time.

Her story is told in the 201st episode of the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters:

Today’s guest is historian Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, where Downey’s harrowing tale features in the Lost Jobs exhibition.

Abortionists were good at covering their tracks.

The desperate victims almost always maintained a code of silence even while undergoing agonising deaths, because they too had committed a crime.

Ms Anderson says Downey first faced court in 1897, when Mary Henry, a 24-year-old married woman, died after a procedure with an instrument.

When a doctor treated Mrs Henry, she blamed her illness on “working a sewing machine”.

But with little evidence the jury found Downey not guilty, a scenario repeated regularly over the next 14 years.

After one death in 1900, Downey faced four consecutive murder trials – a legal record – over seven months before her eventual acquittal.

“Apparently she went straight back to practice,” Ms Anderson says.

“It may be that literally she was destitute and so she didn’t have much choice but, even so, it takes a pretty advanced nerve, doesn’t it, to go straight back to practice after an experience like that.”

In 1910, Downey’s long and lucrative career was finally brought undone after domestic servant Isabel McCallum died while still on Downey’s premises.

Isabel was four months’ pregnant to her “sweetheart” and turned to Downey after a herbal concoction failed to cause a miscarriage.

Downey and two other women were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.

The police, perhaps frustrated after years of watching Downey evade the law, didn’t hold back when asked to write a report.

“Not withstanding it has cost her upwards of £2000 during the past 10 years in defending herself on criminal charges … she has purchased valuable land, a farm at Bunyip, and the whole of this money is the result of her abominable traffic,” police wrote.

“She has a husband, a big worthless fellow … two married daughters, and a son, all a worthless lot.

“She is a notorious criminal abortionist and … one of the most callous type.”

To find out more, listen to the interview with Ms Anderson in the free In Black and White podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper Monday to Friday for more stories and photos from Victoria’s past.