Genealogy Chat

see below

I've just finished reading 'The cruel mother' by Sian Busby. Her great-grandmother drowned twin daughters in 1919 and the book is about the family history, specifically the great-grandmother Beth and the effect her actions had on the rest of the family. It does give some interesting info though on the changes in England during the period of Beth's life (1878-1957) and about infanticide. In 1624 there was the Act to Prevent the Destroying and Murthering of Bastard Children. Illegitimate children were killed so that their mothers could avoid shame. The penalty was death unless the mother could prove with another witness that the child was born dead. But women continued to kill unwanted babies through the 17th and 18th centuries. 1803 the 1624 Act was repealed, although women continued to be hanged for killing their babies. In the 19th century babies made up more than 60% of homicide victims in Britain and there are some estimates that the unofficial record was probably 10 times higher. 1922 Infanticide Act created a separate crime of infanticide, defined as the killing of a newly born child by its mother. It carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, but most women convicted under the act have not received a custodial sentence. Previously, women accused of killing their babies were tried for murder. Between 1849-1900 30 women were found guilty of the murder of their babies, and although later reprieved, were initially sentenced to be hanged. In 1900 there were 120 women in Broadmoor who had been convicted of murdering their child/ren. nell

Very interesting but very sad Nell! Can you read something more cheerful next time?! Helen :-)

Nell Your interesting post runs parallel to my current book which concerns poisoning in 19th century and earlier. It contains the same info has you have given above. However, did you know that the death of a bastard child was, until 1803, the only type of death which required an Inquest to be held by law - all other suspicious deaths were only investigated at the whim of the local Coroner, who was constrained by financial considerations - he was paid by the JP, who often withheld payment if he thought an inquest had been frivolously held. An Inquest, in the broader, legal sense, originally meant the examining of a deceased person's assets etc - thus we look for early Inquests to tell us what someone had, instead of a Will. A cause of death had to be determined by the Coroner, because there were different types of taxes to be paid to the Crown, depending on the cause of Death. Suicides had their goods and chattels forfeited to the Crown up to the year 1899 (whether or not the suicide was successful - it was a crime until 1961). Murder victims could posthumously claim (the Coroner did it for them) that the Perpetrator paid a 'Deodand' (literally a Gift to God); this was originally done by giving the murder weapon to the Church (thus saving the immortal soul of the murder weapon). Eventually the Deodand was paid to the Crown. Gosh, could go on for ever - this book explains so many peculiarities of English Law and the sometimes unexpected outcomes of trials. That many many murders, both of children and adults, went unnoticed is certain. Marjorie

Marjorie conversely, many infanticides may have been sudden infant death syndrome babies, with their mothers wrongly accused. Better access to and information about contraception and abortion have altered the statistics. The book I just read had a lot of info about 'medicines' to keep women 'regular' and 'remove blockages'. The wording seems to imply encouraging regular periods, or dealing with constipation, but was actually coded language for bringing on a miscarriage. nell