tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post7388471715900972087..comments2024-02-20T07:57:47.756-08:00Comments on Carol Hedges: 'Suffering little children': the Victorian Crime of Baby-FarmingCarol Hedgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-350968690490373982016-07-27T09:00:14.014-07:002016-07-27T09:00:14.014-07:00I'm glad to hear the hero successfully deals w...I'm glad to hear the hero successfully deals with it. As you say, though, it is so sad that it took longer to tackle in real life.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17768940440480346757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-65190641064540044262016-07-26T12:51:25.598-07:002016-07-26T12:51:25.598-07:00Yes, we're so much more civilized. We just sto...Yes, we're so much more civilized. We just stop the beating heart of the unwanted ones before they ever have a chance to breathe air. And lie to mothers about the nature of the baby & its development.Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06515091383481646816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-31993746865693519042016-07-24T06:57:41.110-07:002016-07-24T06:57:41.110-07:00Staggering how long it took. Mind, I think 'ch...Staggering how long it took. Mind, I think 'childhood' was a rarely recognised concept..the Victorians 'invented' it, but blithely ignored the thousands of barefoot destitute families they rode past in the street every day. The concept that it was 'their' fault' still pervades government thinking today.Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-43321313792010292652016-07-24T06:48:32.926-07:002016-07-24T06:48:32.926-07:00Only the 1908 Children's Act finally took some...Only the 1908 Children's Act finally took some action on behalf of the children.Lizanne Lloydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10929383263680527758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-49063480312912955742016-07-24T04:43:24.460-07:002016-07-24T04:43:24.460-07:00Apologies! as you saw, from my historical commenta...Apologies! as you saw, from my historical commentator, it was an ongoing problem. Luckily, my 'hero' sorts it out! What amazed me was the reluctance of Parliament to amend the laws..classic phallocentric government"Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-61785077788913626172016-07-24T02:30:02.416-07:002016-07-24T02:30:02.416-07:00This is so horrific that it made me feel sick. How...This is so horrific that it made me feel sick. How could any human do that to any other human, never mind small babies. I am continually appalled at the depths to which human nature can sink.Rosalind Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05363027308436257933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-31391465944764007112016-07-23T11:44:24.684-07:002016-07-23T11:44:24.684-07:00Yep. Nothing changes..one thinks of FGM ...imagine...Yep. Nothing changes..one thinks of FGM ...imagine if that was done to men?Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-84746591834844552382016-07-23T11:43:46.053-07:002016-07-23T11:43:46.053-07:00I think having little ones in my life again brough...I think having little ones in my life again brought it home ..Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-61183548629336096132016-07-23T11:37:53.700-07:002016-07-23T11:37:53.700-07:00It is amazing how long it takes for some legislatu...It is amazing how long it takes for some legislatures to work. They knew of the abuses for a hundred years before anything was done. Just as they knew that not all husbands were kind and protective of their wives before they gave the wives any protection. Yet, let something happen that threatens the men or their sources of money and a bill will be passed within months.Regencyresearcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10828749339318882968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-73693125078141865042016-07-23T11:00:02.318-07:002016-07-23T11:00:02.318-07:00Fascinating, I have head of this but never read so...Fascinating, I have head of this but never read so much about it. Thanks so much. Really revealing.Jane Risdon Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10979772710340659886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-53134800420791160922016-07-23T10:51:39.128-07:002016-07-23T10:51:39.128-07:00It was definitely a darker part of their time. Luc...It was definitely a darker part of their time. Luckily, in the book, my hero sorts it! Sadly, in real life, it took a lot longer!Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-73083569432307984652016-07-23T10:41:14.084-07:002016-07-23T10:41:14.084-07:00Words are beyond me. Disgust isn't. No wonder ...Words are beyond me. Disgust isn't. No wonder you were in tears!Vallypeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08309284606572565277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-17653342663106002842016-07-23T06:50:05.824-07:002016-07-23T06:50:05.824-07:00That is shocking and horrifying. How awful for tho...That is shocking and horrifying. How awful for those poor defenseless babies! I can't blame you for feeling tearful about it Yet in another way, it's strangely not all that surprising. For all their much-vaunted moralism, the Victorians could be an awful bunch of hypocrites with some very skewed priorities. Another example that still causes a certain amount of bad feeling in the Far East are the Opium Wars with China.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17768940440480346757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-59376366767633928052016-07-22T08:05:53.932-07:002016-07-22T08:05:53.932-07:00Exactly. The 'innocent' adverts in the new...Exactly. The 'innocent' adverts in the newspapers of the time sent a coded message to mothers. What I found hard to cope with was that I was caring for my own small grandchild while writing - it broke my heart to think of a little one like her discarded for whatever reason and allowed to perish. Thanks for your input, BTW.Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-78530852381105772602016-07-22T07:56:39.740-07:002016-07-22T07:56:39.740-07:00For many years the argument was that parents had t...For many years the argument was that parents had the right to place their children with what ever caretakers they favored.There wasn't much protection for infants . Infanticide charges were brought against single women who bore a child later found dead but only under clandestine birth statutes . Women who couldn't afford a baby farm dropped them down the privy , smothered them or abandoned them under a hedgerow. Some actually applauded the baby farms for trying to rescue some of the babies from death not knowing that most in in the business of disposing of unwanted infants. There were more rules for the protection of gam birds than infants because the children belonged to the father ( if legit ) and mother , if illegit. Of course, these parents didn't want the child to die when put out to nurse or to be cared for until weaned, but children died-- or so the argument went that defeated the bill. Not all the children sent to baby farms were illegitimate. A small number were legitimate but just another unwanted mouth to feed. In ether case , by sending the child to the baby farm no one had to admit they wanted the child dead but didn't want to do it themselves. Regencyresearcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10828749339318882968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-79707531305466933562016-07-22T07:46:21.684-07:002016-07-22T07:46:21.684-07:00Many of the pregnant women in Victorian times were...Many of the pregnant women in Victorian times were not allowed to enter the workhouse, such was the stigma. The Foundling Hospital was a wonderful opportunity - though I gather so great was the clamour for places that they had to ballot. The 1833 Poor Law Commission report on Bastardy (is this what you mean?) recommended that relief was stopped and young men should not be forced into unsuitable marriages which were 'detrimental to the country'. Thus the 1834 Bastardy Clause to the New Poor Law that decreed that mothers of bastard children now had to support themselves, as widows did. The huge urbanisation of Victorian cities especially London,together with the focus on the sanctity of marriage and the family, made life insupportable for so many more young girls.Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-47144796466511094412016-07-22T07:38:17.153-07:002016-07-22T07:38:17.153-07:00No, though I have come across her case in my resea...No, though I have come across her case in my research. She was notorious ..and there were others also. What interested me was the complete indifference of the government to the actual plight of the children - it was all concern for the 'morality' of the poor women. And all 'their fault'.Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-2883097753912692812016-07-22T06:33:33.558-07:002016-07-22T06:33:33.558-07:00Baby farming had been going on for decades and pro...Baby farming had been going on for decades and probably centuries. It was a flourishing business in the early part of the 19th century. The Foundling Hospital was established as an alternate to infanticide and baby farming. The authorities turned a blind eye even when an establishment reported a dozen deaths-- infants did die. The fault was always laid on the female. Even when a putative father could be named, he was seldom made to pay. the rate payers blamed the woman and she was judged immoral with no guilt to the adulterous philandering husband or vile seducer. A very sorry picture in many ways throughout the ages. Of course the harsh laws didn't decrease the number of babies born out of wedlock any more than executions decreased the amount of crime. I think a law was passed in the 1830's requiring more investigation of the number of deaths -- not clear on that. Not clear from the article whether the babies were buried clandestinely or routinely after the required authorities had signed the certificate.Regencyresearcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10828749339318882968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-10045351483577086632016-07-22T05:53:58.161-07:002016-07-22T05:53:58.161-07:00Have you read Angela Buckley's book about Amel...Have you read Angela Buckley's book about Amelia Dyer? https://lizannelloyd.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/amelia-dyer-and-the-baby-farm-murders-by-angela-buckley/Lizanne Lloydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10929383263680527758noreply@blogger.com