“Despite their desperate efforts to persuade the Home Secretary to issue a reprieve, the family members did Louise and her son a great disservice by shutting their doors on Manfred instead of helping Louise to overcome her evident despair at her situation. Had the family been less judgemental – if they had welcomed Manfred, instead of rejecting him – this murder might never have happened. Yet, because of their small mindedness over Manfred’s birth, their shame was to be compounded a hundredfold by Louise’s infamous death at Newgate.” Illegitimacy Book:Trial of Louise Masset: Source: Trial of Louise Masset: