Genealogy Chat

Hi, If you do a search for Baby Farmer on the tips board it will take you to a local newspaper report that you may find interesting. Bye Paul

Ironically I was listening to the Robert Elms show today which mentioned baby farming. It is true to say most of these babys died. Apparently 800 dead babies were found in one area in a whole year. Doesn't bear thinking about. The lucky few would have been taken to a foundling home but most were murdered. Such a shocking history. Donna

Id never heard of that expression before! Kids were farmed out but normally to relatives or neighbours. Or taken on as a child by the grandparents. But I never knew that there were actually these sort of baby homes. How horrendous. I know when we were little, dad and mum would go down to visit relatives doing hopping in Kent. They used to chuck all the little kids into the hopping nets (the nets were hung between the hops and the heads of the hops thrown in as they were picked). Very quickly all us little kids would be 'soundo' due to the intoxication of the hops.

Baby farms were notorious as many of the children died - most children dumped there were unwanted. 3rd Feb 1902 Mrs Sach and Mrs Walters, who ran a baby farm, were executed for murder of babies left in their care. I think it more likely that your child wasn't sent to a baby farm but just left with someone who was paid to look after him/her, probably an informal childcare arrangement. nell

Hi oc roll on the 1911 census then ,if I am still around. what a sad life but I know she enjoyed her latter years having died when she was 94. Margaret x

Margaret When she said she was farmed out, she probably meant she was dumped on a non-relative. I think it would be quite difficult to trace the 'baby farm' because of course, the woman running it wouldn't have been known to the Authorities. Small comfort for you to know that it was very common for children from all walks of life to be given 'something to keep them quiet' - gin, often, or Gregory's Teething Powders, which contained morphine, laudanum etc. Mothers did this, as well as childminders. OC

Still can't get in Elaine and oc. the lady in qestion used to say she was farmed out and she remembered being given stuff to drink to keep them quite,sadly the lady is no longer here Margaret

I think Baby Farms had died out by the 1900s, really. Her parents, or other relatives could have brought the child up. Or she could have fostered the child out to someone she knew, or placed the child in an Orphanage or Children's Home. A Baby Farm was the last resort of the utterly desperate mother but as I say, they had really died out by the 1900s, due to much bad publicity and not a few murder cases in the late 1800s. OC

Thankyou Elaine but I am not sure how to get that Margaret

When a woman had a baby but did not have it adopted but had the baby farmed out and then had the child back at a later age what sort of places did they go to. I know of someone whom was born in 1908 to an umarried mother she did not bring the child up but later had her to work with her. Anyone any ideas please. Margaret