Vital role looking after destitute children gave these women unusual degree of power for the time, say researchers

In June 1697, at a sitting of the quarter session court in Preston, Lancashire, a widow called Alice Brewer submitted a petition in which she demanded to be paid her due.

Brewer, described as “very poor, old and necessitous”, had been caring for 12 years for a “poor distressed child” called Anne Helme, which entitled her to a small annual payment from the local parish authorities. But the promised 40 shillings a year had dwindled as Anne grew older and had now stopped altogether.