The Authentic Eclectic
How the Cruel Murder of a Little Girl Became a Joke
Remembering Fanny Adams
Have you ever heard English people use the expression “Sweet Fanny Adams” as a euphemism for “f*** all”?
“What did you do today?”
“Sweet Fanny Adams.”
Until recently, I didn’t know that Fanny Adams was a real person, an eight-year-old girl who was cruelly murdered in 1867. Now that I know her story, whenever I think about Fanny Adams I feel like crying. Not just because an innocent child was killed, but also because a couple of years after her death her name became synonymous with a joke.
Who was Fanny Adams?
Fanny Adams was born on 30 April 1859 in Alton, in Hampshire, southeast England. Alton was a pretty market town surrounded by breweries and hop fields. Earlier in the century, Jane Austen lived nearby.
Fanny was the daughter of agricultural worker George Adams and his wife Harriet. She was a sister to Ellen, George, Walter, Lizzie and Lillie Ada. The family weren’t rich, but the children were well-clothed, fed and housed. They didn’t suffer from poverty.
The Adams family were well-regarded within their community. They possibly lived next door to Fanny’s…
