Sweet Fanny Adams: Forgotten Victim of a Gruesome Victorian Murder
How a Girl Went from Murder Victim to Navy Slang
You may have heard the slang expression “sweet Fanny Adams” or “sweet F.A.” Few know it originated from a gruesome murder of a little girl in the town of Alton in the coastal county of Hampshire, England.
Alton is part of “Jane Austen country.” It’s near Chawton, the village where Jane Austen lived and wrote her books. Not the sort of place you would associate with a notorious murder.
Content Warning: This article refers to the gruesome and violent murder of a young child.
Who Was Fanny Adams?
Fanny Adams was just eight years old when she was murdered. According to an account on the Hampshire Genealogical Society site by a modern-day distant relative, Fanny seemed tall for her age and was “of a lively and cheerful disposition.”
Fanny lived on Tanhouse Lane with her bricklayer father George; her mother Harriet; and five siblings. It’s believed that her grandparents lived right next door. Tanhouse Lane was close to a hop garden as well as woods, meadows, and the River Wey.
Alton has a long history. The First Battle of Alton dates back to 1001. By Victorian times, the town was a stranger to such violence. Parents saw no danger in…
