'baby farming' in victorian england

[amy_2]

has anyone heard of baby farming, hard to beleive this is what used to happen to so many babies in the 1800's. If a woman had an illegitemate baby or couldn't look after her baby it was 'farmed' off to another woman claiming to be a nurse, for a set price these women would take the baby off the hands of the mother, but the mother would be allowed to visit the baby if she wanted. These women were called 'baby farmers'. They often had large numbers of babies in their care and neglected them, murdered them or sold them off.

Sometimes mass graves of babies were found at the homes of baby farmers who had murdered the babies in their care because it was much easier for them to kill the baby than continue feeding and looking after them. They then made excuses to the mother as to why she couldn't visit her baby. Usually none of the mothers would come forward to the police if this happened for fear of being exposed as a single mum, and besides infant mortality was extremly high anyway. Times have changed dramatically, thank god.

https://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/babyfarm.html


A child's life saved: before (left) and after (right) removal from a baby farm, 1917

 

[bathbabe]

iv just read that article. The whole thing. How disgusting! Murdering babies! They deserved to of been hanged.

 

[lozzy21]

They were extreemly rare. More often they were ether adopted by rich couples who couldent have children or sent to the workhouse. Or the woman moved to another area and claimed to be a widow.

If the woman came from a wealthy family the baby was usualy raised by a relative who passed the baby off as her own.

 

[winegums]

i agree it really was rare, many prostitutes also had their babies taken away but for the majority they were brought up by very well off decent members of the community

 

[Catalyst]

Rare or not some of them killed as mutch as 20 babys.. even more. some of the women mentioned in that aricle threw them in Times.. how many more did that and were never cought? It make my heart ache.

Amy, where did you get these pics of a child saved from baby farm? Was there an article with it?

I have been reading other articles on this site and omg. Hangin 11 year old for setting 2 buildings on fire, other teens for burglar, shoplifting and so on!

In another article so many teen girls were sentenced for killing their babys :s it is sooo sad! I have never understood how some one can kill their own baby..

 

[Lara310809]

From my family tree research, I know that in the Victorian times it was a shameful thing to have a baby out of wedlock, or to have the baby of a married man, so I know a lot of women would give birth to their babies ont he quiet, and give them up for unpaid adoption, or simply dump them in bins etc But life was so different back then, and I assume these women were desperate to have abandoned their babies, who I'm sure they loved dearly.

I'm just thankful things have changed now, and if you want to have a baby out of wedlock, you're free to do so. I had no idea about the farms though; that makes me sad. Why did they take the babies if they couldn't afford to care for them? I'm sure there were plenty of childless couples that would have been screaming out for a baby to raise, especially since there was no fertility treatment back then. If I had ever been in that situation, I would have given my baby in to a hospital or a church; and hopefully they could find a nice home for it. I couldn't bear the idea of a baby being left in a place like that.

 

[KA92]

 

[Hayley90]

thats so sad. those pictures are amazing though, what a lucky little bubba.
Im so glad things are different now, i dont think i could live in a world like that

 

[sleepinbeauty]

I never heard of this before. Disgusting.

 

[amy_2]

From my family tree research, I know that in the Victorian times it was a shameful thing to have a baby out of wedlock, or to have the baby of a married man, so I know a lot of women would give birth to their babies ont he quiet, and give them up for unpaid adoption, or simply dump them in bins etc But life was so different back then, and I assume these women were desperate to have abandoned their babies, who I'm sure they loved dearly.

I'm just thankful things have changed now, and if you want to have a baby out of wedlock, you're free to do so. I had no idea about the farms though; that makes me sad. Why did they take the babies if they couldn't afford to care for them? I'm sure there were plenty of childless couples that would have been screaming out for a baby to raise, especially since there was no fertility treatment back then. If I had ever been in that situation, I would have given my baby in to a hospital or a church; and hopefully they could find a nice home for it. I couldn't bear the idea of a baby being left in a place like that.

Thanks, yes I am glad times have changed, but with the erasal of the stigma of sex outside of marriage, it has also lead to what many people call the "break down" of the family (nuclar family). With increasing 'casual' sex there are more babies conceived outside marriage and ending up in single parent families/blended families. So increased contraception (I beleive) lead to the demise of the nuclear family. Contraception also lead to a radical drop in the birth rate. Abortion was also illegal in the past that's why there were so many unwanted babies which had to be 'shoved under the carpet' or rehomed so to speak. Abortion was also very dangerous, and apparently my great grandma died from complications of an illegal abortion.

 

[libbymarks198]

wow thats discusting, the poor mothers who had to do that to their children just because they were unmarried