A study of the lives of Britain's children who were looked after by the government during the main period of the Poor Law Amendment Act from 1834 to 1929.
For centuries, there have been children who have not lived with their birth parents for a range of reasons and have been taken into the care of the state, voluntary societies, other families or employers, temporarily or permanently.
The origins of this book lie in Rosemary Steer's study of the lives of over 300 children who came into the care of a charity in the village of Dickleburgh in Norfolk started in the 1870s by the Rector's wife, Mrs. Louisa Brandreth. This book extends the study of children in care across the country to cover the main period of the Poor Law Amendment Act (the "new poor law") from 1834 to 1929. Using a wide range of sources including contemporary social commentaries and inquiries, poor law records, charity case files, court records, newspapers, parliamentary inquiries, census returns,...