In 1890 a young servent girl Sarah Ann Thomas was charged with poisoning her master and his infant son using strychnine - a poison which causes a very painful death with the victim often frothing at the mouth and experiencing severe muscle spasms and cramps.

Poisons were easily available at this time as they were commonly found in everyday items; cyanide was found in wallpaper and paints, arsenic was used in flypaper, cosmetics (to give pure white skin) and food colourings while strychnine found medicinal uses as well as being an effective rat poison. Being so common so it was relatively easy to obtain poisons at that time, especially in the Sarah Thomas case where her employer was a vetinary surgeon and kept strychnine on the premises.

You can read a report of the trial here.