Abandoned in Brussels, delivered in Paris: long-distance transports of unwanted children in the eighteenth century.
The study uses examinations and other documents produced in the course of a large-scale investigation undertaken by the central authorities of the Austrian Netherlands in the 1760s on the transportation of about thirty children from Brussels to the Parisian foundling house by a Brussels shoemaker and his wife. It combines the rich archival evidence with sparse indications in the literature to demonstrate that long-distance transports of abandoned children were a common but historiographically neglected by-product of the ambiguities of foundling policies in eighteenth-century Europe and provides insight into the functioning of the associated networks and the motives of parents, doctors, midwives, transporters, and local officials involved.
Winter
Anne
A
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
D001530:Belgium / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D002655:Child Custody / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D002670:Child, Abandoned / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002676:Child, Unwanted / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D009111:Local Government / Q000266:history; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D019372:Orphanages / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D010297:Paris / Q000208:ethnology; D011640:Public Policy / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012923:Social Class / Q000266:history; D012924:Social Conditions / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016387:Women's Health / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history; D014933:Women's Rights / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence