Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 28th May 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 6, OBSERVATIONS ON ILLEGITIMACY

Page 6
Page 6
6 of 28

On this page

  • Text (2)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      The Court.— The Princo And Princess Gcor...

      was - , great arm was by attack ; she is , however , again convalescent . It is hardly-necessary to add that she was visited by all the royal family as soon as they heard of her indisposition . The New Parliament . — The following circular has been issued to the supporters of the present Government : — " Members are most particulary requested to make their arrangements so as to admit e > f'their being sworn ¦ . at the table of the House of Commons not later than the 6 th of June . It is fully expected that an amendment will be proposed upon the address in answer to the Queen ' s speech on Tuesday , June 7 , and it is of the utmost importance that every vote should be available on that day . — Treasury , May 23 . "

      Condition ojf Gbkejtwich ;—A meeting of the inhabitants was held on Tuesday to consider the ' ? depressed " state of the borough , owing , it is said , to the abolition of the fair and the filthy state of the liver . It was stated that the South-Eastern Bailway and the Commissioners Of Greenwich Hospital had promised to provide military bands and other attractions for visitors . Alderman Salomons said that many plans might be adopted for the benefit of the district ; and although he could not condemn in toto the well-known game of «» kiss-in-the-ring" in the park , he would suggest that bands should not be engaged to play on Sundays , and he thought some first-rate regattas would prove an attraction . A resolution was adopted strongly condemning any plan for having the outfall for sewage at Deptfordcreek . The Yeomen of the Guard . —The annual din-: ner of this corps took place at the Admiral Keppel Tavern , jFulham-road , on Tuesday . The chair was filled by Sergeant ^ Major Forge , and around him ivere assembled some sixty members of the corps . After the usual routine of loyal health drinking , came the memory of Roger Monk , who some years ago left to his brother exons , by bequest , the sum of 201 ., to be expended annually , to perpetuate his name , and to keep his comrades together , and when they should meet to dine at his expense . Due observance was paid to this toast ;

      Dyckmans , of Antwerp , y belonging o Leopold Redpath , and sold with his effects and paintings at Christie ' s ; and bequeaths to the British Museum a vase by Benyenuto Cellini . ¦ Election Petitions ;*—It appears that a petition is to be presented on the . meeting of Parliament against the return of ILord Bury and Mr . Schneider for Norwich . The petition originates with the Conservatives . The friends of Mr . Calcutt , the defeated candidate for Clare County , are collecting subscriptions and making the other necessary preparations for a petition against the late return . Which of the sitting members is to be petitioned against is not stated . Westminster Improvement Bonds . —At the meeting of the Bondholders , held on Wednesday , the bill introduced into Parliament by the committee , " for the purpose of giving the bondholders control over the powers and property of the Commission , " was approved of , and a sum of" 2371 . was raised in order to defray the expenses incidental to its progress . All Saints . Church , Margaret-street . —Mr . Beresford Hope writes to the Daily News , to deny that he is the donor of 30 , 0002 . to that work . He adds : —" ¦ I much regret that his modesty prevents my publishing his name . The whole cost of the church , though very considerable , falls much short of 10 , 0000 / . "

      Mr . H . B . 'Sheridan . —A demonstration to celebrate the return of H . B . Sheridan , Esq ., as member for Dudley , took place on Tuesday . Large crowds of people assembled on a piece of waste ground , where a large ox was roasted and distributed to the poor of the parish , several sheep were also roasted m various parts of the town . About . six dinners were given at various inns , and a grand banquet took place at the Dudley Arms Hotel . The hon . member ' s health having been proposed , he congratulated the borough on having asserted its independence .

      CfcTY Setters . *— The Commissioners met at the Guildhall on Tuesday . Deputy Unwin called attention to the great fire at Messrs . Hubbuck ' s , in Xiraestreet , on whose premises he had been told there were not less than 250 barrels of turpentine and other combustibles at the time . The neighbourhood had teen- greatly alarmed at the circumstance , and he wished to know whether the court haa power to deal with such a matter . Mr . Daw said the court could not do so ; but the neighbours might proceed by indictment , if they thought there was danger . Some ' conversation took place on tho subject , and it was then dropped . A report from the general purppses committee was agreed to , recommending the erection of a public drinking fountain in front of the' Royal Exchange .

      Public Health . — -The health of the metropolis , wov are happy to see by the Registrar General ' s returns , is still very good . The 1 deaths last week amounted to 1 , 057 , being 88 less than tho average . There , was a slight decrease in the deaths from scarlatina , but no diminution in these from diphtheria . The total number of births was 1 , 609 . Tim Proposed Great Exhibition ,- —To the other results of tho war we have to add tho abandonment , of the proposed Great Exhibition of 1861 . The promoters appear to bo of i opinion that tho state of affairs on the Continent will not warrant tho prosecution of tho scheme , as the co-operation of other nations is indispensable to its

      success . , Wills . —William James Chaplin , Esq ., of 2 , Hyde Park Gardens : The < porsonalty sworn under 180 , 000 * . Ho has left his property to his widow , eight sons , and six daughters . The testator had a fourth share in the oxtensivo business of tho firm of Ohnplin and Horno , railway carriers , tho value of Which constitutes part of tho residue , as also his interest and share In tho businoa of a , brewer at Stock \ r < jll , as partner with his son Horaco , of the value of 12 , aoQ /; r ~ MiH 9 Jano Clarke , Court milliner , of a 70 / Regent-st reet ; The effects were , sworn under 46 , 0002 . 'J'ho charltablo bequests amount to 1 , 700 f t Thei greater part of tho remainder of hop property is * left to her sister ; her nieces , and / great nephews nndinioces / ' Bequeaths tot ho National Gallery nn < origination , painting , " The . Blind . Beggar / ' by

      Taken Illand Al Caused Her Formerl T The...

      taken illand al caused her formerl t the hardshi 66 &; THE LEAKER : . . ^ TNw ^

      Observations On Illegitimacy

      agree on p of this course vet i « + 1 , " present state of the bastardy law , there fs no ^ lter " native , and it is only by the preceding eumbS £ S machinery that a seducer can be reached . a ^ I then , after all , the regular paymentof 35 " weeMv allowance is by no means secured to the woman b ? this plan , . as no security is taken for it . The msnf if so disposed , can walk away , < adopt a -new hxSl place , and set the unfortunate at defiance ^ rL ' mother may . it is true , again appeal to the maJS trate ; and he , after swearing her that she ishot married , that the father has not paid the sum mdered , and that the child is still alive , may on t £ payment of an additional sum to cover new expenses issue his warrant for the apprehension of tho ' recusant . But , asks the author , can the maioritv of mothers be expected to undergo the expenses of this ordeal ? * l

      The practical working of the present bastardy law is to force the mother xipon the parish for relief Mr . Tubb says : There are now eighty-five persons re ceivhig the weekly pittance of Is . each from the parish of St . Marylebone , because they have not taken the necessary steps , or , having taken them have failed to recover from the father of their bastards . Moreover , on the 1 st of January , 1858 no less than 14 , 427 children were charged under similar circumstances upon the parochial rates , in 629 unions and single parishes in England and Wales , out of the

      existing large population of 16 , 628 , 399 souls Shamefully small as is the pittance referred to now doled out to the bastard mothers of the metropolis can anything be more oppressive than that the expense of it should fall at all upon the ratepayers ? Can anything be more iniquitous towards the unfortunate women than tliis system ? Should not the Act , which alike debars the relieving officer from assisting the mother , and from procuring the reimbursement of the charges the parish has been put to , be at once repealed ? The author suggests that parishes should have the same power given them of

      recover-OBSERVATIONS ON ILLEGITIMACY IN THE LONDON PARISHES OF ST . MARYLEBOXE , ST . PANCRAS , AiCD ST . GEORGE ' S , SOUTirWAKK , DURING THE YEAR 1857 . DEDUCED FROM THE RETURNS OF THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL . by William acton , m . e . c . s . / There are questions , and illegitimacy is one of them , Yrom the consideration of which—whatever of disagreeable or repulsive the task may involve—the advocates of social progress must no longer shrink . Social evils claim as urgently to be investigated and discussed as physical plague-spots . No social evil more constantly and obtrusively presents itself before us than illegitimacy ; yet , it has no literature . The lately published catalogue of the library of the Statistical and other societies make no mention of the word . v In the year 1856 , according to the Registrar-General ' s statistics , 42 , 651 illegitimate children were born in England and Wales , exclusive of Scotland ; and in the latter country 2 , 761 illegitimate children came into the world during the year 1858 .

      In speaking of the occupation of the mother , Mr . Acton showed that domestic servants figure most largely , for they amount , in his tables to 194 . As regards the occupation of the fathers , it appears from the returns of the Marylebone workhouse , that no less than twenty persons coming under the denomination of labourers were the alleged fathers of illegitimate children , which favours the position that the promiscuous herding . of the lower classes contributes largely to corrupt the morals of the female poor . Male domestics next appear as the mo ? t numerous class of fathers . Bearing in mind what , had been shown in a preceding table , that 194 mothers were themselves domestics , it would appear as though the present system of keeping a large number of single men and women in households is productive of a large proportion of illegitimate children .

      The authoi' next states that thirteen women could not name the father of the child . Tho author then entered upon the subject of difficulties of affiliating the child . His hearers might suppose , that a relieving officer would be enabled to assist a large portion of these 170 women to recover from the fathers of their offspring the usual Is . 6 d . or 2 s . 6 d . a week for the support of the children , as well as some pecuniary compensation towards the expenses of tho parish , on account of tho lying-in . Such an officer will , however ( turning to the Act of Parliament ) , inform tho ratepayers that ho is expressly forbidden to interfere in this mattor . Debarred , ' then , from legal assistance from the parish during her lifetime , the mothor ' s usual course is to apply to a magistrate , who , on the payment of 2 s .,

      will grant nor a summons to be served on tho putative father , if he can bo found . This is , howover , no easy task , particularly in cases whore such father ( as often happens ) has changed his place of abode , and has obtained employment in some distant part of the country , with a view to conceal his whereabouts . Bo it moreover understood that the female must deposit In tho hands of the summoning 1 officer" a sum to cover tho expense of making these distant inquiries . 33 ut supposing tho summons served and thoputative father present , the magistrate—providing tho mother ' s statements can be corroborated \ oy othet testimony in some material particular—con only adjudge him to pay 1 any sum not exceeding- 2 s . 6 d . a weolc towards tho maintenance of the child ; until it attain its thirteenth year . Magistrates arid roliovlng officers all

      ing the sums they have expended from tho fathers of illegitimate children as they now have from . the fathers of legitimate ones . Such an enactment would have a healthy tendency in checking seduction and relieving the rates , while at the same time it would remove one of the most crying evils of the present poor-law . From the judicial statistics for England , in 1857 , it appears that 5 , 816 men were taken into custody for disobeying bastardy orders in the year 1857 . The author stated that he could not leave

      this part of the subject without recommending the re-enactment of a -very beneficial section of the old poor-law , as it stood before its revision in 1834 . It was in those days possible , if a pregnant girl came before the parochial aiithorities declaring the father of her child , for the parish to take steps that her accouchement and the rearing of the child did not fall upon the parish , the latter having power to recover from , the father . Mr . Acton successively gave the ages of the mothers , as well as the causes of infant bastard mortality , forming a sad death-list indeed . He told the society how many deaths took place in workhouses , as well as the number of inquests which are held on the bodies of illegitimate children . He then entered at considerable length into the question of that

      verdicts that had been brought in , and shoved judges , juries , and secretaries of state show an equal disinclination to carry out the law of infanticide , in consequence of tlio extenuating drcuinstimces the evidence closes—viz ., the great temptations placed in the path of woman—the destitution she hns been oxposcd to from the neglect of the rail or supposed father—the fear of degradation thnt follows tuc public exposure of her shame—and the almost impossibility of supporting herself and infant . in alluding to the recent cases of women convicted on the clearest evidence of child-murder , ho showed , by the returns of tho criminal statistics , that such murderesses wqre confined only ns criminal lunatics . The author sought his remedies , not nHoffOther in tho better education of tho niovo exposed class ox womon , or in higher wages ; these will nut P ™ , " seduction . To cut off the supply of harlotry , tW

      demand , ho argued , must bo checked by ™ "* greater precautions than wo now do to maKO wiy seducer suffer either in person or in purse . We P ° " posed tho establishment of a Government board , or other compotont authority , whoso duty it ohouM w to tako charge of tho pregnant woman thwffn OUJ of a situation j tlion to afford her work und assist oncauntil confinement } thon to see to nor lywg-in , and then to take stops to recover damages wiuw name of injured and outraged virtuo M " * oo | ety from the father of tho child . In doing this xt y ouw be obviously necessary , as at present , to Jju wu against affiliating tho child on the wrong poison , mid to see tlint the mother did not profit by tixo

      money so obtniuod ) for this wore no ^ . V fi mdo opening a regular and profitable market for lemwu honour . Tho toard suggested sllouk V ?? nVof funds so aocruing for the keep and education ot illegitimate children .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 28, 1859, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28051859/page/6/