The False Baby’s Paternity
The LuminariesThis thread traces conflicting accounts of Anna’s pregnancy and reveals how shame, protection, and revenge shape what different witnesses claim.
increasing
Bearing strength in each event
decreasing
Bearing strength in each eventdecreasingA Pregnancy Begins in Dunedin
A Pregnancy Begins in Dunedin
A child is conceived
Anna becomes pregnant while under Lydia’s care. The father is never publicly established at the time, and the subject remains guarded.
An uncertain future follows her west
Anna travels to Hokitika while pregnant. Her livelihood, dependence, and limited choices make the pregnancy increasingly precarious.
The Assault and Miscarriage
The Assault and Miscarriage
Anna is injured
Anna is found badly bruised after an encounter with Carver. Her child does not survive, and she later says Carver caused the loss.
Witnesses interpret the event
Clinch and Löwenthal accept Anna’s account, while Carver later admits only to slapping her. The precise sequence remains disputed.
Staines Offers the Fortune
Staines Offers the Fortune
A gift is intended
After hearing that the child has died, Staines tells Wells he wants Anna to receive half the hidden gold. Wells writes a deed to record the promise.
Carver’s paternity is uncertain
The document names Staines as donor, but does not establish the child’s father. The distinction becomes important when Carver denies that the baby was his.
Carver Denies Fatherhood
Carver Denies Fatherhood
Löwenthal confronts him
Löwenthal accuses Carver of killing his child. Carver says Anna carried no child of his and claims she deserved the violence.
Doubt unsettles the witnesses
The denial forces others to reconsider what they accepted from Anna. It does not prove Carver’s account, but exposes the gap between testimony and certainty.
Anna’s Story in Court
Anna’s Story in Court
The relationship is disclosed
Anna testifies that she loved Staines and had no plan to continue prostitution after their night together. She confirms her grief and prior despair.
The court separates proof from scandal
Moody keeps the questions focused on evidence rather than sexual judgment. Anna is acquitted, though the paternity question remains unresolved.
Before Anna’s departure for Hokitika
11 October 1865
Night of 11 October 1865
18 February 1866
27 April 1866
