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This is a slim book, but it packs in a great deal of information and research. It starts with a somewhat bland introduction that leaves one unsure, but then the first chapter is at once interesting and captures the attention. In this first chapter, Prophecy Coles explores three adoptions: Moses adopted by an Egyptian princess, knowing he was an Israelite; Ion abandoned by his mother and given to a couple who raised him not knowing his parentage; and then Oedipus and the unfolding story of his realization of his parentage and the implications of this. These three stories set the scene nicely for the psychoanalytic exploration of the complexity of adoption.
However, the author, before elaborating these, takes us on a journey from the sixteenth century in the UK, to reflect on what became of illegitimate children and their mothers. Adoption, if it occurred at all, was unregulated, very much a matter of chance. Prior to this in feudal England, they were taken into the community on the land where they lived and were expected to work.
In the sixteenth century when there was migration to the towns, mothers and their babies were left to flounder. In 1572 there was the first poor law, but unmarried mothers and their babies were not included in this provision. Mothers had to work and had to leave their babies, mainly in the workhouses where most of them died. This arrangement persisted for about three centuries. The author questions and explains that society feared ‘bastards’ (illegitimate children) would contaminate society introducing ‘bad blood’, and should be excluded or punished. Also, there was a belief that society should not interfere in the care of children in case the family were undermined. Those children that survived the workhouses were sold to work in the mines and factories.
Dr Barnardo then became involved. He started in the cities in the UK rescuing street children, setting up homes for orphans. Later in 1882, 150,000 were sent to the colonies, some as young as