Genealogy Chat

It was very common for an unmarried mother c.1908 to have her child fostered out whilst she went to work. Many of the charities working with unmarried mothers at this time strongly believed that unmarried mothers should keep their children, as it was found time and time again that unmarried mothers who gave up their children quickly had a "second fall". However, by "keep" they meant go to work whilst the child stayed with a foster mother. The natural mother usually paid the foster mother about 5s a week to keep the child and was able to visit her child regularly. The unmarried mother was able to take her child back at some point in the future, if for example she married and her new husband was willing to take the child on or she had a job she could bring her child to. Sometimes the children became part of their foster family and never saw much of their natural mother, and in other cases the child always considered their natural mother the main figure in their life.

Thank yopu for the information the girls name was niot changed and I beleive she went to work with her mother once she was old enough but I don't beleive the firl really ever lived with her mother although the girl in her older years used to visit her with her own children so sad

Margaret

Legal adoptions didn't come in until 1927, before that they were just taken in & changed there names.

Why would an umarried woman aged 26 have a child and have it fostered out and not adopted she had no other children she was working. thank you this was in 1908

Margaret