HERSTORY: Anne Greene: the woman who survived execution and dissection

When you think you cant possibly hear a more disturbing and crazy story about women’s history, life throws one like THIS at you….and it covers all bases: Sexual violence? Check. Childbirth and still birth? Check, Criminal injustice? Check. Physical violence? Check.. Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the horrendous and baffling case of Anne Greene, the subject of this month’s herstory. (Spoiler, in case you’re thinking - no I don't want to be depressed further - it ends well for her…!) 

A contemporary woodcut of the case, 1651.

Seduced and Punished

In the 1640s teenaged Anne Greene, who’d been born in 1628 in Steeple Barton, Oxfordshire, went to work as a scullery maid in a grand home in the village of Duns Tew.  Her master was a former High Sheriff named Sir Thomas Reade. In 1650, after she’d been working there for a few years, Greene was ‘seduced’ by Reade’s grandson - a heavy-set 16 year old boy named Geoffrey.  Greene, 22, became pregnant, which she did her best to conceal from her Masters. A pregnant maid would almost certainly be dismissed from service, regardless of whether she’d been raped or not. Rape at this time was extremely hard to prove anyway. Servants were often abused and taken advantage of by their masters, and there was little they could do about it. Misogyny at the time also meant that  women, particularly of lower classes, were very rarely believed anyway. We don't know how far Greene consented to Geoffrey’s advances, but it's unlikely that she would have very much say in the matter as a servant. 

Four- six months into her pregnancy (depending on what source you read) Anne gave birth prematurely outside, and the baby was born dead. Terrified, she hurriedly buried the infant with the help of other female servants nearby, but clearly not properly. The body was discovered by the Reades.  Instead of taking pity on Anne or trying to understand what had happened and why she’d done this, Sir Thomas Reade had her arrested and taken to Oxford Gaol. 

At the time, concealing the death of a ‘bastard’ (illegitimate infant) was punishable by death under a 1624 act issued by King James I. It was considered infanticide, unless a reliable witness (usually a male physician or someone of note) at the birth could testify that the baby had been born dead. Of course this wasn't the case for Anne, who’d given birth alone, in the company of other women like her,  and in secret. 

Anne was put on trial under these charges and found guilty. On 14 December 1650 she was taken to the gallows. She had nothing to lose at this point so she protested the “lewdness” of the Reade family - in a desperate attempt I’d imagine to decry her rapist - and then was hanged. 

A depiction of the execution of Rebecca Smith- last woman to be hanged for infanticide. (Wikicommons)

At this point in English law we had the ‘short drop’ method of hanging. This meant that a short piece of rope was used, the victim stood on a platform or a cart drawn by horses, and the platform/cart was moved away to suspend the unfortunate and slowly strangle them to death. Later on, we brought in the long drop gallows which was (in theory) more humane and a quicker method of execution. The rope was longer, the distance dropped was farther, so the idea was the neck would snap from the force of gravity upon being ‘dropped’ and death would be instant. 

But for poor Anne Greene, death was not instant. People knew this and often arranged for friends and family to tug on their legs to hasten their deaths. Anne’s friends duly did this, but it took 30 mins for Anne to finally be cut down and pronounced dead. 

It is unclear what exactly happened next and in what order. Either at the gallows site, after she was cut down, it was noticed by her hangman and the servants that she was still breathing, albeit very faintly, and,  wanting to put her out of her misery -  the men decided to stamp on her chest and throat to see her off. Other reports state that this horrific act happened at the autopsy table. But what we know for sure is that Anne was stamped on, then sent for dissection.

William Petty, by Isaac Fuller, 1650.

She's Alive!

Her body was sent to William Petty, an anatomist from Oxford University. He had been granted permission along with several other anatomists to dissect Anne’s body. Oxford University was the most prestigious and foremost experimental anatomy centre in the country at the time. The law granted that only executed criminals could be dissected, and as women were in fewer supply than men, the opportunity to get their hands on a young female corpse was highly coveted by anatomy students and researchers. 

Anne’s body was stored in a ‘cold house’ for two days until she was brought to the slab- which was like an early form of a morgue freezer I suppose. 

The men laid her out on the table and prepared their scalpels. But just as they were about to cut into her, they heard a faint crackling sound from her throat. She was trying to breathe. She was still alive! 

Shocked, the men felt for her pulse and it was there. They fed her some alcohol, and began massaging her limbs and chest to get the blood circulating, she was even given an enema and had some blood letted. Within 24 hours, she could speak and eat and drink a little.  

It was seen as a divine miracle that she had survived, clearly she wasn't meant to die for a reason - and this was why she was revived and saved. The case was reported upon immediately as a medical miracle from God, and her father managed to raise funds to pay for her medical treatment and full recovery. 

A contemporary 'propaganda' Pamphlet from the case.

"Foul Humours" of the Uterus

How could she have survived though? Well modern scientists and doctors theorise that  being stamped on the chest might have conversely ‘reactivated’ her heart, and being kept in a cold house, at hypothermic temperatures, had somehow slowed her heartbeat and preserved the body. There are cases of people surviving extremely low temperatures and extreme trauma in similar ways. 

She may have recovered, but there was still the question of her guilt. She was a convicted criminal, after all - she’d murdered her baby! But attitudes changed after her miraculous survival. A pardon was petitioned for her, led by William Petty the anatomist. 

Female servants who were not taken seriously in her first trial were now brought forward to support the case for her pardon, testifying that they witnessed the baby being stillborn but also that Anne had had health problems in the weeks leading up to the baby’s arrival - which lent support to her claim that the baby was born dead. There was even doubt that Anne had known she was pregnant at all, because her periods hadn’t stopped for very long, and theories at the time stipulated that menstrual disturbances were very common in women and caused by ‘foul humours’ of the uterus. Ironically, it seemed that misogynistic and wacky ideas about women’s bodies was to save Anne after all! 

What also helped Anne was that Thomas Reade, her former master and prosecutor, had died in the intervening months. So he couldn't raise a case against her again or use his influence. 

The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Willem van der Meer in Delft - Pieter van Miereveld

Thankfully, Anne was ultimately pardoned and went onto live a normal life, marrying and having children back in Steeple Chase. She reportedly took her ‘coffin’ as a souvenir!

Her extraordinary case was immortalised and sensationalised in woodcuts and pamphlets. In hindsight, and because of the sensationalism, and varying facts attributed to that case, its often been suspected that Anne Greene was a actually a work of fiction - did she exist at all or was she an amalgamation of popular stories of miraculous survivals?

Surviving hanging wasn’t new, and in such superstitious times, was seen as some sort of intervention from God. What is suspect about Anne’s case is that she was pardoned. A very similar case took place some 7 years later in Oxfordshire to another servant called Elizabeth Russell. She was also hanged for infanticide, taken for dissection, found to be alive, revived by the surgeons. But unlike Anne she was taken by magistrates to be ‘properly hanged’ afterward from a nearby tree. No pardon for her!

All Hail The Marvels of Medicine Men

Whether it's fiction or not,  we can glean a lot about 17th Century attitudes towards women and their bodies from the propaganda around this case. Anne is treated as little more than a medical curiosity who was miraculously ‘saved' by God and the hands of her anatomists, who revived her. Had it not been for the anatomists confirming that she was alive, its unlikely that she would've been spared from the Law or even that her case was re-examined. She was just a servant girl after all - a lewd woman who had become pregnant out of wedlock and committed the mortal sin of not seeing her child survive. The fact that she was raped was never mentioned in her favour, - it was almost like it wasn't a concept that mattered at all at the time. Unsurprising, considering that the crime of ‘petty treason’ covered servants committing harm against their masters, but not vice versa. 

The case of Anne Greene arose amid a long legacy of misogyny and class-based injustice entrenched in society. Archaic infanticide laws and brutal punishments for women who are the victims of assault may have changed, but how much have our psychologies around these issues? As we watch women’s reproductive rights and abortion laws being rolled back, increasingly sexist rhetoric around women and women’s bodies, and predatory men being exposed pretty much every day - the case of Anne Greene shows us that there is NO resting on our laurels in the fight against misogyny, race, sex and class based abuse. 

If you fancy learning more about the treatment of women in the historic criminal justice system, I am re-launching my tour Jail Birds of Old London in June, trialling it for one night only. Read more and book here. 

130 High St, Oxford. The location of the anatomy dissection room, where Anne was 'revived'. Built in 1637, Now a Thai restaurant! (The Oxford sausage blog)