Genealogy Chat

Got the 2nd cert of twins today :o))) Rose and Violet with times of birth also. 1889. It made me sad to read on the 2nd one that the Mother gave her 'mark' an X!! I know they were illiterate in those days but still came as a shock when I saw it. So what did the kids do in those days before they were sent out to work? Gerri

Its a case of adopted, fosterd or another relle. Hope they made it to haveing there own children Sadly meny did not.

Gerri The kids went out to work from age five onwards! Actually, don't always assume that your ancestor couldnt write just because they made their mark. People were a lot more obedient in those days and if some haughty registrar told her to make her mark, she probably wouldnt have had the nerve to say 'I am quite capable of signing my name, you arrogant prat'. Marjorie

After giving birth to twins she probably had barely enough strength to hold a pen, let alone write, poor woman. I bet it was a long journey to the register office too. As to what children did in those days, they may have gone to a school run by a charity, but a lot of children were yanked out of school to help at home/in the fields or whatever. I expect they had lots of time off sick too with all the childhood diseases which we can now avoid by immunisation - mumps, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, typhoid, etc not to mention common-or-garden complaints we now treat with antibiotics. nell