Running to Freedom: The Flight of the Fathers of Illegitimate Children to the Colonies of the British Empire, 1875-1901
Through the close study of private correspondence extracts and first-hand testimonies found in the London Foundling Hospital archives, this paper will analyse the phenomenon of the flight towards the colonies of the British Empire in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In the archives of thi...
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| Format: | Article |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2016-05-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2497 |
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| author | Florence Pellegry |
| author_facet | Florence Pellegry |
| author_sort | Florence Pellegry |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Through the close study of private correspondence extracts and first-hand testimonies found in the London Foundling Hospital archives, this paper will analyse the phenomenon of the flight towards the colonies of the British Empire in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In the archives of this charitable institute dedicated to the reception of abandoned and illegitimate children since 1739, distant southern colonies such as Australia, New Zealand, Southern Africa, but also India are omnipresent through recurrent references to the attempted flight of the fathers of illegitimate children. These remote places came to represent the possibility of starting over, of erasing one’s mistakes but also and most especially, in our case study, of distancing oneself from the mother of one’s illegitimate child and the related unwanted responsibilities. Through an examination of the correspondence between the men and the pregnant women they are abandoning, this paper will strive to better understand the conditions under which they chose to depart and the reasons why they did so in such an abrupt manner, ultimately focusing on male attitudes and behaviour regarding illegitimacy in late Victorian Britain. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2808b062174349f194ff8293a544c490 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-05-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj-art-2808b062174349f194ff8293a544c4902025-01-30T10:21:37ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492016-05-018310.4000/cve.2497Running to Freedom: The Flight of the Fathers of Illegitimate Children to the Colonies of the British Empire, 1875-1901Florence PellegryThrough the close study of private correspondence extracts and first-hand testimonies found in the London Foundling Hospital archives, this paper will analyse the phenomenon of the flight towards the colonies of the British Empire in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In the archives of this charitable institute dedicated to the reception of abandoned and illegitimate children since 1739, distant southern colonies such as Australia, New Zealand, Southern Africa, but also India are omnipresent through recurrent references to the attempted flight of the fathers of illegitimate children. These remote places came to represent the possibility of starting over, of erasing one’s mistakes but also and most especially, in our case study, of distancing oneself from the mother of one’s illegitimate child and the related unwanted responsibilities. Through an examination of the correspondence between the men and the pregnant women they are abandoning, this paper will strive to better understand the conditions under which they chose to depart and the reasons why they did so in such an abrupt manner, ultimately focusing on male attitudes and behaviour regarding illegitimacy in late Victorian Britain.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2497marriagecoloniesemigrationillegitimacyreputationpremarital sex |
| spellingShingle | Florence Pellegry Running to Freedom: The Flight of the Fathers of Illegitimate Children to the Colonies of the British Empire, 1875-1901 Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens marriage colonies emigration illegitimacy reputation premarital sex |
| title | Running to Freedom: The Flight of the Fathers of Illegitimate Children to the Colonies of the British Empire, 1875-1901 |
| title_full | Running to Freedom: The Flight of the Fathers of Illegitimate Children to the Colonies of the British Empire, 1875-1901 |
| title_fullStr | Running to Freedom: The Flight of the Fathers of Illegitimate Children to the Colonies of the British Empire, 1875-1901 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Running to Freedom: The Flight of the Fathers of Illegitimate Children to the Colonies of the British Empire, 1875-1901 |
| title_short | Running to Freedom: The Flight of the Fathers of Illegitimate Children to the Colonies of the British Empire, 1875-1901 |
| title_sort | running to freedom the flight of the fathers of illegitimate children to the colonies of the british empire 1875 1901 |
| topic | marriage colonies emigration illegitimacy reputation premarital sex |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2497 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT florencepellegry runningtofreedomtheflightofthefathersofillegitimatechildrentothecoloniesofthebritishempire18751901 |