From the loft

Photographed 10 January 1924 at the State Reformatory for Women, Long Bay, NSW

During the early 20th century many unmarried or widowed women with children lived in circumstances of abject poverty. Unable to work during a time when there were no welfare payments, they were often driven to commit desperate acts. Whole columns of the Police Gazette were dedicated to tracing the parents of abandoned children. A typical example being:

A woman who can only be described as of medium height and build, and fair complexion, called on Bella Leek, residing at 182 Underwood-street, Paddington, and asked her to hold her male infant, about 2 months old, for a few minutes, but failed to return. The child has since been admitted to the Scarba Home for Infants, Bondi.
New South Wales Police Gazette, 19 December 1923, p.659

Other women, like Sarah Boyd, went further and killed their baby. In November 1923 a group of children visiting the seaside discovered a suitcase containing the remains of a baby girl, who had been strangled. Police investigations led back to 39-year-old Boyd who had been seduced and abandoned by her lover. Boyd had a young son from a previous relationship and, due to ill health, she was unable to maintain steady employment. She was struggling financially and her situation became dire in the months leading up to the birth of her daughter. In her statement to police she said “I was desperate – I strangled it…I had no money and I had not got any word from its father”. Boyd then asked a friend, Jean Olliver, to help dispose of the body. They wrapped it, placed it in a suitcase and threw it from a Harbour ferry. The court found both women guilty and sentenced Olliver to 12 months gaol and Boyd to death with a recommendation of mercy. In 1927, after many sympathetic public petitions, Boyd was released from prison and reunited with her son.