ABSTRACT
Punishment for bastardy fell heavily on the woman. Even though maintenance of the base child was more evenly shared by both parents, the mother’s role remained substantial. Three-quarters of the gentry to be subjected to a bastardy order were examined during the Protectorate. The ‘curved’ pattern was evident in the proportion of orders giving the local officers and the girl a choice between keeping and paying. Parishes made special arrangements to obtain at least a pittance from people, often outside a formal bastardy order. Numerous ploys were used to escape the requirements of a bastardy order. The legal method of disputing a bastardy order was to appeal. To analyse the bastardy orders with reference to different areas of the county is a potentially fruitful but often frustrating enterprise. The small Somerset sample of bastardy orders suggest that with the development of computerised historical investigation a massive and detailed analysis of all extant orders is possible and potentially fruitful.
