Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Not a story, but...

Sometimes you find things doing research that you hadn't really expected. Maybe it's not something you can use to start a story, but information you can use in another, or in some way.

Today's case is, alas, one of many I've come across on Old Bailey Online. A woman is charged with killing her bastard child. In this case, the woman nearly died and the body of the child was found in the toilet (or, I suppose, the cess pit beneath the seat).

Now, one could use this in a romance, but I probably wouldn't. It's too grim for me. Note I'm not saying I'd never use it. One thing I've learned over the years is never say never when it comes to writing. And there's no reason somebody else couldn't write an intensely emotional story based on this.

Still, there are a few points of interest for me here:

1. The woman had a common-law husband who was apparently a "wicked base Rogue of a Husband." Not just a rogue. A wicked base rogue. Yikes.

2. The woman was acquitted, and this doesn't seem to be unusual in such cases. The juries (all men) were clearly not without sympathy for a woman in a difficult situation.

3. The midwife's name was Elizabeth Taylor!

4. The different names for the outhouse. (I say outhouse, but I think the actual place might have been in the cellar or attached to the house, although it wasn't easy for the mother of the child to be heard.) It's called House of Office and, most often, the vault.

So while I don't think I'd make a story from this, there are some interesting points to ponder, and perhaps use in another story.

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