A baby has been left outside the town-house of an old bachelor, and a young woman watches from the corner of the street. Engraving, 1794.

Six vignettes on a design for a fan illustrating how to lead a moral and happy life. Stipple engraving, 1797.

A physician examining a urine specimen in which a faint figure of a baby is visible, a female patient is crying and being shouted at by her angry mother, indicating that she is pregnant. Watercolour by I.T., 1826.

Bridewell Hospital, London: the interior of the pass-room with women and children, some lying on palliasses. Coloured aquatint by J. Hill after A. C. Pugin and T. Rowlandson.

Unmarried mothers being brought before a court hearing and judged severely. Woodcut.

A courtroom hearing a paternity suite: a lawyer pleads for his client before the bench. Engraving by P. Tanjé, 1752/1761, after C. Troost.

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An episode in the play Beslikte Swaantje, en Drooge Fobert; of de boere rechtbank, by Abraham Alewijn, act III. Swaantje (right) is pregnant by the son of the Lord of Puijteveen, but Fobert (weeping on the left) is mistakenly accused of the paternity: he is defended by his lawyer

1 print : engraving ; image 24.3 x 35.7 cm

1 print : aquatint, with watercolour ; image 19.7 x 25.8 cm

A man is visible through an open door, perhaps the father of the child

The action takes place at night: the watch is present with his lantern. The bachelor and his servants have come to the door. The implication is that the bachelor is the baby's father, and the young woman watching from the street corner is the mother, who has left the baby outside his front door, where it has been discovered by the watch. The house is in the street called Providence Row, which is in Bethnal Green, London

1 print : engraving ; image 16.6 x 22.8 cm

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Unmarried mothers

Images

Works

A courtroom hearing a paternity suite: a lawyer pleads for his client before the bench. Engraving by P. Tanjé, 1752/1761, after C. Troost.

Bridewell Hospital, London: the interior of the pass-room with women and children, some lying on palliasses. Coloured aquatint by J. Hill after A. C. Pugin and T. Rowlandson.

A physician examining a urine specimen in which a faint figure of a baby is visible, a female patient is crying and being shouted at by her angry mother, indicating that she is pregnant. Watercolour by I.T., 1826.

A baby has been left outside the town-house of an old bachelor, and a young woman watches from the corner of the street. Engraving, 1794.

Studies in the social services / by Sheila Ferguson and Hilde Fitzgerald.

Today’s opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Unmarried mothers

Images

Works

A courtroom hearing a paternity suite: a lawyer pleads for his client before the bench. Engraving by P. Tanjé, 1752/1761, after C. Troost.

Bridewell Hospital, London: the interior of the pass-room with women and children, some lying on palliasses. Coloured aquatint by J. Hill after A. C. Pugin and T. Rowlandson.

A physician examining a urine specimen in which a faint figure of a baby is visible, a female patient is crying and being shouted at by her angry mother, indicating that she is pregnant. Watercolour by I.T., 1826.

A baby has been left outside the town-house of an old bachelor, and a young woman watches from the corner of the street. Engraving, 1794.

Studies in the social services / by Sheila Ferguson and Hilde Fitzgerald.

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times