Unmarried Motherhood in the Metropolis, 1700–1850, 1st ed. 2018 Pregnancy, the Poor Law and Provision

In this book Samantha Williams examines illegitimacy, unmarried parenthood and the old and new poor laws in a period of rising illegitimacy and poor relief expenditure. In doing so, she explores the experience of being an unmarried mother from courtship and conception, through the discovery of pregnancy, and the birth of the child in lodgings or one of the new parish workhouses. Although fathers were generally held to be financially responsible for their illegitimate children, the recovery of these costs was particularly low in London, leaving the parish ratepayers to meet the cost. Unmarried parenthood was associated with shame and men and women could also be subject to punishment, although this was generally infrequent in the capital. Illegitimacy and the poor law were interdependent and this book charts the experience of unmarried motherhood and the making of metropolitan bastardy.

1. Introduction: illegitimacy in London .- 2. Shame.- 3. Pregnant and birthing bodies.- 4. The workhouse.- 5. Maintenance.- 6. Punishment.- 7. Conclusion.- Notes.- Bibliography.-Index.

Samantha Williams is Senior Lecturer in Local and Regional History at the University of Cambridge, UK. She has published widely on the history of poverty and the poor law, including Poverty, Gender and Life-Cycle under the English Poor Law, 1760-1834 (2011) and Illegitimacy in Britain, 1700-1920 (2005) which she co-edited with Alysa Levene and Thomas Nutt. 

Assesses the economic and emotional experience of unmarried mothers in London from 1700 to 1850 Considers the delivery of poor relief and the system of affiliation which held parents responsible for the maintenance of their illegitimate children Examines the extent to which unmarried parents were shamed by their situation and how this changed over time