Ada Chard Williams (c. 1875–1900)[1] was a baby farmer who was convicted of strangling to death 21-month-old Selina Ellen Jones in Barnes in London in September 1899.
[2][3][4][5] Florence Jones, a young unmarried mother, had read an advert in the local newspaper which offered to find homes for unwanted children.
She agreed to pay £5 to a Mrs Hewetson (Ada Chard Williams) but could only give her £3 on the day.
[3][4] Braxton Hicks, the coroner who carried out the subsequent inquest, pointed out that the knots in the cord, a "fisherman's bend", had been found on three other dead bodies of children.
However, it was suggested that she might not have been the one who murdered the children as it was clear that she and her husband were both involved in the active fraud that surrounded their lives and the baby farming.