Ratbags & Roustabouts
Ratbags & Roustabouts tells the extraordinary histories of ordinary people. We dig around in the ancestry archive and dive into the genealogical gene pool to uncover the most incredible, never-before-told stories of seemingly common folk from our past.
Ratbags & Roustabouts
Baby Farmers: The Makin murderers of Macdonaldtown
In 1892, two plumbers unearthed a grisly secret while laying pipes in a Sydney backyard — they found the bodies of two babies. Soon suspicion fell on John and Sarah Makin, who made a living out of raising other people’s infants. But how many more bodies would police find?
In all, 15 babies all aged under six months old were dug up from backyards around Sydney’s inner suburbs — all houses where the Makin family had lived.
John and Sarah were arrested, along with their teenage daughters Blanche and Florence, but they denied any wrongdoing throughout the sensational trial.
Yet a stream of young mothers, who had had little choice but to give up their illegitimate children, told a strikingly similar story. One of false names, lies and deceipt.
Hear the tale of one of Australia’s worst cases of baby murder — and find out what happened to John and Sarah Makin in the end.
02.07 Bodies discovered
08.00 Investigation begins
11.39 Suspicion falls on Makin family
14.52 Makins’ modus operandi
25.16 Makin children testify
30.18 Verdict returned
32.40 Lessons to learn
Hosted by Marion Langford. Follow on Instagram or check out the website at ratbagsandroustabouts.com. Do you know a story that the history books forgot? Let us know about it!
