John Makin - An Australian Baby Farmer. 48 year old John Makin and his wife, Sarah Jane, also 48, were baby farmers in and around Sydney, Australia. In all the police found the remains of fifteen infants in the various places that the Makin’s had lived at between 1888 and 1892. The Makin’s came to trial at the Central Criminal Court on the 6th of March 1893, before Mr. Justice Stephen. They were charged with having, on the 29th of June 1892 at Redfern, "feloniously and maliciously" murdering Horace Amber Murray. Horace was the infant son of 18 year old Amber Murray and had been born on the 30th of May 1892. On the 24th of June she placed an advert in the Sydney Morning Herald, offering the child for adoption in return for “a small premium”. She paid the Makin’s £3 to adopt Horace. Both John and Sarah were convicted and sentenced to death. The jury made a recommendation to mercy in respect of Sarah. Their appeals were heard on the 23rd of March before the Su...