Bridgett Devitt:
Unearthing her story
It’s uncertain when and where Bridget was born, she was properly born in Ireland, c. 1825.
We do know that Bridget lived at Thomas Street, in Liverpool, and had limited, if any, formal education and was illiterate.
Her primary occupations were prostitution and theft. She frequently operated outside the law, accumulating fifteen summary convictions for offenses including drunkenness, assault, and theft.
Catherine Flynn and Bridget Devitt were charged by William Simon or Stone a watchmaker living on Egypt Street, with robbing him of his watch. Simon stated that he went into Mr. Lamb’s public house, at South John Street, Liverpool, on Monday evening the 31st of October 1853, rather the worse for liquor. The two women were there and sat down near to him. He felt a hand about his person, and directly after missed his watch, as soon as he gave an alarm the women ran off. He did not see them again until the 3rd of November when the two women were in custody, and he identified them.
In-between her whoring, thieving, and doing time away, she found time to have a baby, yes! On the 2nd of October 1855, at Thomas Street in Liverpool, Bridget gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, she named Catharine.
Catherine birth certificate, Author's collection.
However, having a baby didn't slow Bridget down or prevent her from breaking into people's houses and shops; not at all. For on the 7th of April 1856, at Liverpool, she was sentenced to 12 months for breaking and entering a shop belonging to James Burke and stealing therein six pairs of trousers, two coats, one vest, one quilt and other goods belonging to the said James Burke.
Bridget was released in March 1857 and went straight back to her old ways.
On the 20th of August 1857, an inquest was held upon the body of Catherine Devitt aged twenty-two months, the daughter of Bridget, a single woman, residing in 13 Court, Thomas Street, Liverpool.
Bridget statement was that about four months ago she came out of gaol, where she had been confined for twelve months, when the child was healthy, and continued so until Tuesday afternoon the 18th of August, when she took her to Mr. Jones a druggist, in Paradise Street, who considered her in a dying state and after administering a simple draught he recommended the mother to get the advice of a surgeon. After having the draught, the child was able to walk but died about six o’clock the same evening.
Surgeon Wilson, made a postmortem examination and described the cause of death to be from a rupture of the liver, arising from violence. There being several marks of violence upon the head and body of the deceased.
The Jury returned a verdict of “Died from a rupture of the liver but how caused no evidence.”
Catherine’s death certificate.
She and her family were very lucky not to have been convicted of the murder of Catherine.
Bridget was again in Court, when on the 7th of December 1857, at Liverpool, she was convicted of housebreaking. Bridget a known female burglar, along with Catherine Costello, was charged with having broken into a cellar at Duke Street, in Liverpool, and stolen a quantity of wearing apparel, belonging to the occupant Patrick Brennan. Both were appended by a police officer leaving the cellar with the goods in a bag.
Found Guilty and sentenced to 10 years penal servitude, she was removed the next day to Brixton Prison in the County of Surrey (South London.)
In March 1859, the surgeons of Brixton Prison found her to be insane. Bridgett was admitted into the Fisherton House Lunatic Asylum, in Wiltshire, on the 21st of April 1859.
Transferred to Broadmoor the first criminal lunatic asylum in Berkshire, on the 23rd of June 1863, removed unsound on the 14th day of April 1868, to the Rainhill Asylum in Lancashire.
Bridget was removed for the last time on the 10th of March 1874, transferred to the Whittington Asylum, in Lancashire, where she died on the 10th of July 1889, aged 64.
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