10 Laslett reports the following illegitimacy ratios (that is, bastards as a percent of baptisms) by English region in the period of American colonization:
Region |
1581-1640 |
1661-1720 |
Eastern Counties |
1.2 |
1.0 |
Southern Counties |
2.1 |
1.4 |
Midland Counties |
1.6 |
1.3 |
West and Northwest |
3.6 |
1.4 |
Northern Counties |
2.9 |
1.3 |
Source: Peter Laslett, “Long-term Trends in Bastardy in Britain,” in Family Life and Illicit Love in Earlier Generations (Cambridge, 1977), 137-42.
11 Ulrich, Good Wives, 99.