Grapevine

Early foster care gave poor women power, 17th-century records reveal

A rare collection of 300-year-old petitions gives voice to the forgotten women who cared for England's most vulnerable children while battling their local authorities.

Today, the UK faces a major retention and recruitment crisis in foster care, and caregivers in different parts of the country continue to campaign for higher funding. In September 2024, Northumberland County Council confirmed it was reviewing payments to foster caregivers, which have been frozen for over 10 years, following calls from campaigners (Hexham Courant report).

Having studied the experiences of foster caregivers in the 17th century, University of Cambridge historian Emily Rhodes argues that these struggles have a long history and that England's early foster caregivers had more authority than we might expect.

Rhodes, a researcher at Christ's College, Cambridge, studied a rare collection of surviving petitions submitted to the Lancashire quarter sessions courts between 1660 and 1720.

In a study published in The History of the Family journal, Rhodes reveals the experiences of 38 women who cared for non-kin children for their parish. Traditionally, this work has been called 'boarding' or 'tabling' but Rhodes says, "There are very clear similarities between then and now and we should view these women as early foster caregivers.