Charlotte: After the Surrender of Her Daughter

Charlotte, effectively homeless after she left the workhouse with Lily Maud, fortunately found herself described as"'respectable and well-disposed" by the midwife who delivered her baby and was recommended as a wet nurse to Mrs Rickett of Benleigh House, Park Hill Road, Croydon.                .

Here she stayed for 12 months, nursing her own Lily Maud and other babies "sent to nurse".  Given bed and board for her time spent there, she fed babes round the clock, on demand and as required.

Until Lily Maud was old enough to be weaned.  This point was reached in late 1882, once Lily had reached the age of 12 months. Charlotte began the process for petitioning the Foundling Hospital for the admission of her baby shortly afterwards as it must have been suggested to her that it would be the best thing for Lily Maud to be raised there.

She would have first attended upon the gatekeeper at the entrance to the Foundling Hospital to obtain the form of petition necessary to apply for the admission of a foundling.  This attendance was in itself important; the impression an applicant or a person obtaining a form on their behalf made upon the gatekeeper was noted by him and passed on to those who made the decision to admit or not, as the Foundling Hospital was interested only in mothers who were "respectable."

"Well dressed man" or "respectable looking woman" were a couple of the descriptions recorded by the gatekeeper in his logbook in respect of those who requested a form of petition.  The judging of respectability, and suitability started here.

Charlotte returned to the Hospital to partake in an interview with the admission panel towards the end of 1882. "Is this your first child?"  "Where did you make the acquaintance of the father?"  "Where did you reside when you met the father?" "What led to your seduction?" "Was the criminal intercourse repeated?" "Should you be relieved of your child, what do you intend to do to obtain a livelihood?" were the questions she would have been asked by those in authority.

Having obtained a situation with Mrs Webber at The Herne, Beddington Lane, Mitcham, Charlotte perhaps left Lily Maud with her mother Ellen who lived in Islington with her blind street musician husband and their young children during the petitioning process in order to work for her new employer.  

And so Charlotte, "violently seduced" as indicated on her petition and in today's terms "raped," came to undertake the journey many "fallen women" before her had taken - giving up her baby so it could have a better chance in life.  And, if in doing so a relinquishing mother was able to secure a livelihood, she may have a chance at reclaiming her child in the future.

The actual relinquishment was swift.  A small group of mothers with their babies were ushered into a room at the Foundling Hospital.  Several girls in Foundling Hospital uniform entered and took the babies into their arms.  Before the mothers knew it, the girls and babies were gone.

The mothers left with a small piece of paper containing a drawing of a lamb with a sprig of thyme in its mouth, the date on which their child was "received" and an admission number.  No name, not the child's birth name, or the one allocated by the Hospital to the child was indicated.

Charlotte thus left the Hospital with this "note of admission" and a chance to redeem her respectability; her ability to earn a living restored.  She had already set about doing this with her new situation, but soon found herself involved with another man, this time one who was not marriage shy.  She became pregnant in early 1884, wedding "William Henry Crust, Painter," on 4 August 1884 at the Church of All Saints, Upper Norwood, Surrey.  Charlotte indicated her father as "John Boyt, Sawyer" on their certificate of marriage, notwithstanding that no man bearing this name existed; illegitimate status was not to be publicised.

Charlotte Marian, her second daughter was born on 14 December 1884.  William was a widower, with the care of two young sons when he remarried.  The couple, stepchildren and new baby lived at 3 Byrnes Road, Croydon where William became a casualty of 1880s Britain; unemployed, or at best, sporadically employed.  Charlotte's situation had only marginally improved - she no longer had to live in her employer's house as a servant, with all the accompanying restrictions, but she had less income and the responsibility of caring for two young children as a stepmother in addition to a young baby.  Not an uncommon situation for the time, but one that for her was to lead to unhappy and wretched circumstances.