Under 7 & 8 Vict. cap.101, s.11 (1844), mothers of illegitimate children could cause the putative father to be summoned before Petty Sessions where an order might be made for maintenance and costs. There was a right of appeal from Petty Sessions to Quarter Sessions. Annual returns of summonses issued, applications heard and orders made were to be sent by the clerks to the justices in Petty Sessions to the clerk of the peace whose job it was to transmit the returns to the secretary of state, with a return of the appeals made to quarter sessions. The legislation was repealed by 21 & 22 Vict cap.67 (1858).

These returns, sent in annually, to the Epiphany sessions, (for the year ending 31 Dec) from the various Police Courts and Petty Sessional Divisions, are arranged under the following headings: name of mother of bastard child; date of the issue of the summons; date of petty sessions; result of the application (e.g. maintenance order); name of putative father. Occasionally some of the information is left blank.