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The merchant Jonas Hanway (1712-86) was one. For five years, he methodically collected statistics to prove what was happening to these babies. He found, for example, that the poorhouse in St Luke's parish in London had received 53 children between 1750 and 1755. By 1755, all of them had died. This pattern was repeated all over the city. Infant mortality was very high in London in general – more than 74% of children died before they were five – but in the poorhouse and workhouse, this rate rose to over 90%.
Those who did survive could be bound as apprentices from the age of seven until they were 24 if they were boys, 21 if they were girls. They were often cruelly treated by their masters and were virtual prisoners.