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Parishes would always refuse to accept responsibility for outsiders, and as for those for whom they were responsible, they often worked hard to pass the buck. People who were old, sick and poor were driven out. Officials were known to push unmarried women in labour over the parish boundary so they'd give birth on someone else's patch and the illegitimate babies would be another parish's worry.
Thousands of children were abandoned every year, and they were supposed to be cared for by the parish where they were found. But care was the one thing they did not receive in the poorhouses or workhouses where they would end up. As a result, their lives were usually very short indeed.
The government of the day ignored the despair of mothers who were driven to abandon their children. However, there were those among the newly rich who were driven to put a stop to this waste of human life and potential.