Ancestry UK

Bastardy

Between 1732 and 1744 a number of changes took place in how the law treated the responsibility for illegitimate children:

  • In 1732-3, a woman pregnant with a bastard was required to declare the fact and to name the father.
  • In 1733, the putative father became responsible for maintaining his illegitimate child; failing to do so could result in gaol. The parish would then support the mother and child, until the father agreed to do so, whereupon he would reimburse the parish — although this rarely happened.
  • In 1743-4, a bastard born to a women convicted of vagrancy was to have the settlement of its mother, regardless of where the child was actually born. The mother was to be publicly whipped.

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