Category: Wayward Women

In late 1893 Frances Knorr was convicted of the murder of an infant in her care. She was sentenced to hang. The sentence followed a public outcry after the bodies of several infants were found buried in the back yards of houses she had rented.  Two had been murdered. There was widespread outrage that many so-called 'baby farmers' continued to ply their trade, despite attempts at regulation. But official refusal to establish a foundling hospital meant that poor women had few alternatives. Photograph of Frances Knorr, taken from her prison register, 1893 Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 516/P0, Central Register of Female Prisoners, 5926-6415 Baby farming In nineteenth-century Melbourne poor women who had to work had few childcare options. There were licensed nursing homes for babies, but they could only meet a small fraction of the demand. Unmarried women were especially badly off. Almost all jobs required women to work long hours and provided no childcare. Even live-in domestic positions were rarely prepared to...