Marginación y pobreza desde la cuna. El niño expósito en el Concejo de Siero, Asturias (1850-1936)

Resumo

On discovering that Siero was a �Concejo encabezado�; that is to say it enjoyed the privilege of being permitted to send certain unwanted infants to the Hospice, we decided to investigate the whole question in greater depth. The result of our research is this article which covers the period between 1800 and 1936. We examined the existing bibliography and made a meticulous study of the primary sources consulted in the archives. We successfully identified 58 foundlings and were able to determine their gender and the date when they were abandoned. Other aspects that were evaluated were the conditions for admission into the Hospice, recovery of children that had previously been abandoned, fostering, paid wet-nursing and the alms granted to poor couples to enable them to maintain their children. The number of foundlings from Siero admitted to the Provincial Hospice was 397. Nonetheless, the number of children in care was 5 times greater. What stands out from the research, is the very low number of children that were reclaimed by their families and the paucity of fostering. It should be noted, however, that if we make a comparison with other places in Spain, it is possible to appreciate the good fortune of the children attended by families in Siero, since their level of mortality was commendably low.