Les mères accusées d'infanticide dans le district judiciaire de Montréal 1798-1850

During the nineteenth century, illegitimate birth was a major transgression. Abandoned by their lovers, feeling shamed and in constant fear of being repudiated by their families and communities, some unmarried women could not bear the burden of pregnancy. In the face of ineffective contraceptive methods as well as unreliable abortion technics, unable to sue for paternity or unaware that orphanages and maternities offered them alternatives, these women began to hide their pregnancies and resolved to kill their children almost immediately after birth. The discovery of a new-born corpse started a formal investigation, and some women were dragged to court. The author focuses on the individual and social issues surrounding twenty-seven mothers who committed infanticide during the period under review, fourteen Francophone women and thirteen Anglophone women. She attempts to understand the circumstances that led these women to murder their own children.

Master's Thesis

Université de Montréal

Montréal

2013

fr