Episode 31 - Amelia Dyer Part One: The Barbaric, Booming Baby-Farming Business

With the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 having essentially lifted any financial obligation from the father, single mothers in Victorian England often turned to baby farmers. These agents would put their babies up for fostering or adoption for a fee. While some truly helped the children that came into their care, others realized that murder was the best way to maximize their profits. One such baby farmer was a nurse named Amelia Dyer. In part one, we’ll see how despite her short stints in prison and the workhouse, with her many moves and stays in the asylum, time and time again, Amelia was able to return to the business of baby farming.  Sources: https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/police-forces/thames-valley-police/areas/au/about-us/thames-valley-police-museum/the-baby-farmer/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGkqFun-xxo&t=53s https://abortionrights.org.uk/history-of-abortion-law-in-the-uk/ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-39330793https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-berkshire-39308448 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-39186837  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/amelia-dyer-the-woman-who-murdered-300-babies-8507570.htmlhttps://www.cheminst.ca/magazine/article/opium-and-laudanum-historys-wonder-drugs/ https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/discover-your-ancestors/periodical/39/the-forgotten-carers-5396/https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t18960518-451  https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/amelia-dyer https://core.ac.uk/download/492499909.pdf  https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/19/victorian-women-forced-to-give-up-their-babies-new-exhibitionhttps://glastonbury.nub.news/news/local-news/from-asylum-to-atrocity-amelia-dyers-somerset-connection-to-one-of-britains-darkest-crimes-263737 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSsgjz45I0E https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/146642403305400803?download=true https://thetcj.org/child-care-history-policy/%E2%80%98the-hope-is-in-children-the-times-671908 https://livingwithdying.leeds.ac.uk/2022/11/01/unloved-and-undisciplined-nineteenth-century-baby-farming-and-the-demonisation-of-working-class-mothers-across-the-ages/ https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/v/object-718109/confession-execution-of-m-waters-the-baby-farmer-at-horsemonger-lane-gaol-on-tuesday-october-11th/ https://academic.oup.com/jvc/article/18/1/17/4102742 https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/victorian-daily-life-working-class-what-like/ https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/victorian/daily-life/ https://www.royal.uk/royal-residences-buckingham-palace http://burrows.com/lacequotes.html https://www.etymonline.com/word/Polly https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/morphinomania-in-the-19th-century