Sheffield Daily Telegraph – Thursday 26 January 1928

Children Neglected.

A Darfield Widow Sent to Prison.

For neglecting her four children, whose ages ranged from four to nine years, Elizabeth Burton, widow, of Darfield, was yesterday at Barnsley sent to prison for two months, with hard labour.

Superintendent Blacker said that about weeks ago the woman took a house at prior to which she had been living in Barnsley. The case came to the notice of the police owing to the intervention of Mr. E. Wrowe of  Wombwell, the owner of the house at Darfield.

The woman was in receipt of 25s. per week from the Guardians. That was not much for the maintenance of family and rent. There was no need for children to have been allowed to get in such a filthy state.

Dr. Dunbar said the children had been neglected and were suffering.

Defendant said she got 25s. per week, and the children had food while it lasted. Then they had to have what they could catch. She declared that the house was in a dirty condition when she took it.

Superintendent Blacker informed the Bench that the woman had lost two husbands.

The Chairman (Mr. T. Norton) said the Bench quite understood the woman s difficulty in keeping her family on 25s. per week, but she could have kept the children clean. The children would remain in the workhouse. The woman sobbed bitterly on hearing the sentence.