The Potton Poisoner

Sarah Reynolds was born in the village of Potton, Bedfordshire in 1819.  She was the daughter of the local barber, Phillip Reynolds, and although Phillip worked hard, he fell into debt and in 1825 he was imprisoned at Bedford Prison.  Having been released in 1826 he fell ill and subsequently died.  The grieving widow however wasn’t lacking in shoulders to cry on and it appeared that, even before Phillip had died, Sarah’s mother had received visits from several male ‘friends’ and it’s suspected that Phillip knew his wife had been playing away throughout their marriage but had turned a blind eye in order to maintain peace and harmony in the Reynolds household.

Following her father’s death, Sarah then discovered she had several ‘uncles’ but eventually her mother decided to remarry.  Sarah wasn’t an unattractive girl; auburn haired, brown eyed, tall and elegant so it wasn’t beyond the wit of man that she, like her mother, attracted more than her fair share of male admirers.

In 1838 Sarah married a local man, Simeon Mead and the young couple remained in Potton for two years and then moved out to Tadlow.  Although it’s never been confirmed, it’s understood that Simeon discovered Sarah had been having an affair and he decided it’d be better to move her away from temptation.  Whatever the reason, it seemed that Simeon and Sarah had a happy marriage and shortly after their move, they had a son, Jonah.  Sadly, Jonah died when he was just seven months old and friends and neighbours rallied round the grieving couple but it seemed that, behind closed doors, the marriage wasn’t quite as lovey-dovey as the neighbours thought.  Sarah obviously had more than her fair share of her mother’s genes and the couple were constantly at each other’s throats due to Sarah’s male visitors.  But things changed drastically when, just a couple of months after Jonah’s death, Simeon died.  Obviously this rocked the local community as Simeon appeared to be fairly hale and hearty and the local populace rallied forth and offered Sarah their condolences.  Not only had she lost her baby boy but within such a short time, had also lost a young and apparently much loved husband.

However, their opinion of the young woman soon changed when, within a few weeks after her husband’s death, Sarah began a relationship with another man – a 23 year old labourer by the name of William Dazley and in February 1841, about four months after her husband’s death, the couple married.  Not unnaturally tongues began to wag in the village so the young couple moved to a cottage in Wrestlingworth, just a couple of miles from Sarah’s birthplace of Potton.