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Story: Child abuse

Death through abuse

Image
A run-down house with a child at a window with a woman reaching up to him.

This is the house lived in by seven-year-old Henry Wain, who died in 1883 through a combination of parental abuse and neglect. His father and stepmother were convicted of his manslaughter. In this recreated scene a woman is handing bread through a window to a fictitious Henry Wain, watched by another concerned woman at the fence on the right.

Using this item

Toitū Otago Settlers Museum

Permission of Toitū Otago Settlers Museum must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Bronwyn Dalley, Child abuse – Rates of child abuse, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/30525/death-through-abuse (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Bronwyn Dalley, published 26 April 2011.