baby-farmer

Such children were nearly all illegitimate, and in these cases it was to the pecuniary advantage of the baby-farmer to hasten the death of the child.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" Various

Old Kaddy was a baby-farmer, and one day she went to the woods to gather sticks for her fire, and whilst she was gathering the sticks she found a piece of gold, and took it home; but she never told anyone she had found the money, for she always pretended to be very poor.

Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories P. H. [Editor] Emerson

Amelia Dyer, the baby-farmer, also strangled her charges.

She Stands Accused 1935

She told him the story of the baby-farmer and he listened kindly, and she thought the necessary miracle was about to happen.

Esther Waters 1892

The baby-farmer says, 'Give me five pounds and I'll find a good woman who wants a little one, and you shall hear no more about it.'

Esther Waters 1892

She did not desire her baby's death, but she could not forget what the baby-farmer had told her -- the burden would not become lighter, it would become heavier and heavier.

Esther Waters 1892

The prisoners were Sharkey, the keeper of the gambling house, and his wife the baby-farmer.

The Christian A Story Hall Caine 1892

Gaol admitting me to the private execution of Margaret Waters, the notorious baby-farmer.

Mystic London: or, Phases of occult life in the metropolis Charles Maurice Davies 1869

They will leave roots exposed to sun and wind -- in brief, pay no more attention to them than a baby-farmer would bestow on an infant's appetite; and then, when convenient, thrust them into a hole scarcely large enough for a post.

The Home Acre Edward Payson Roe 1863

If he had been aware that Mrs. Sowler's occupation at the time was the occupation of a "baby-farmer," and that she had many other deserted children pining under her charge, he might have easily understood that she was the last person in the world to trouble herself with a minute examination of any one of the unfortunate little creatures abandoned to her drunken and merciless neglect.

The Fallen Leaves Wilkie Collins 1856