Parish of Addingham, Penrith One-Place Study

My book, The Illegitimate Thread is a detailed examination, covers about 125 years, of illegitimacy in four Cumbrian townships: Gamblesby, Glassonby, Little Salkeld and Hunsonby with Winskill. Together they make up the parish of Addingham in the Eden Valley, east of Penrith. It is based upon a broad and deep investigation of a multitude of records, the majority in the public domain, with an emphasis upon the personal stories of the women, children and men. What came before the birth of the illegitimate child, what happened after to the mothers and children – was the ‘poor seduced one…harshly turned adrift’ as the local paper feared? And what can be established about the fathers? Quite a lot, as it turned out.