Degrees of Guilt: Infanticide in England, 1860-1960

What is the most just way for the state to deal with the killing of a baby? Between 1860 and 1960 in England, a consensus was gradually reached by both expert commentators and the lay public not only that infanticide was a ‘special’ crime demanding unique treatment by the criminal justice system and set apart from other homicides, but one requiring special legislation. The Infanticide Act 1938 still governs these cases today, despite periodic criticisms its premise is outdated. Combining the analysis of archival material and published sources with generating new community-produced oral histories of infanticide and its legacy for local ‘dark heritage’, the project will chart new avenues of inquiry, aiming to develop public engagement with and understanding of the treatment of infanticide. It will use public memory to stimulate interest by illuminating the history of this distressing crime for general as well as professional audiences.