Throughout history, illegitimate children have been subject to stigma, with the mothers often left to struggle to support their offspring. The introduction of the New Poor Law in 1834 meant that mothers of illegitimate children could no longer apply for relief from their parish, but they could try to get financial maintenance from the father through the local court of petty sessions. Carmarthenshire Archives holds an item that is known colloquially as the ‘Book of Bastards' and lists some of these cases from 1877–1889, as archives assistant JennaMarie Heard explains.
WHAT IS THE ‘BOOK OF BASTARDS'?
