On average, 6000 children under the age of five died each year in the New South Wales colony and while some of those deaths can be attributed to the common disease that plagued the population, like Scarlet Fever, Syphilis and Measles, “So frequent was infanticide that The Evening News carried a weekly column entitled ‘How The Babies Go’ which reported on the number of dead babies found in the city each week.” (p75) The bodies of many more babies were likely never discovered. Some risked backyard abortion services but many simple concealed their pregnancies as best they could, gave birth alone in their rooms, or in stables or in nearby bush and then abandoned the infants to the elements. Prevailing morality condemned them no matter their circumstances, and keeping the child with them was usually impossible. In The Baby Farmers, Annie Cossins examines in detail the investigation and trial of Sarah and John Makin, who in 1892 stood accused of the murder of 13 infants found buried in their backyard.Ī hundred years ago, women who fell pregnant out of wedlock had very few choices. Status: Read from June 05 to 06, 2013 - I own a copy
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |