Bastard Bond (1781) 2

Creator

Preview

Creation Date

1781

Description

Brothers are bound to pay the cost of raising a child. This bond was used to ensure that a child born out of wedlock would not become a public burden. The obligation portion states that Thomas Gallon and John Gallon (the suspected father or fathers) are firmly bound to the churchwardens and overseers of the poor in the sum of one hundred pounds. The condition recites that one Dorothy Gardner, spinster, is "big and pregnant with Child which is likely to be born a Bastard and to be Chargeable to the said parish" and that if the Gallons at all times indemnify the parish for all Costs and Charges by reason of the Birth, Education, and Maintenance of said child, the obligation will become void. (In plain English, if they don't pay for the child's upbringing, they will have to pay the hundred pounds). Image 2 of 2.