General Chat

One of my grannys had a large family. Two of her daughters had children during ww2 out of wedlock. The babies were kept in the family, both became millionaires one in Oz. Granny herself never married her husband!

Attitudes varied a lot. Many families rich and poor just rallied round rather than point a finger of blame.

When researching a tree and you find a woman in her late 40s even 50+ with a v young daut. the chances are that the true mother is an unmarried daughter.

My aunt had a baby and her married sister brought her up as her own with her own two sons.

There were Canadians billetted in the village during the war and there are one or two people around the village we know to be half Canadian.

I think it was fairly usual for unmarried girls to keep their babies locally.

Is this the great aunt who had the baby you are looking for or the baby ?

If you have some idea of when the child was born the GRO record will show mmn which will be the same surname

Edit I see you have created another message of find ancestors so best to delete this one ,
I have replied too on the other thread

My Great Aunt was send away off her farm to Sheffield to her Aunt and Uncle who had a grocers shop to have the Baby. The Aunt and Uncle wanted to adopt the baby themselves but the rest of the family intervened. The baby was born in Sheffield hospital and adopted by the Doctor that was caring for my Great Aunt.
I really want to find my Aunt but i dont live in the area and dont know where to start. Would it have her Birth Mothers name on her Birth Certificate.?

Many thanks everyone who has taken the trouble to reply. That's really helpful.

Best wishes

Sue

I think mostly the Mothers were put in Mother and baby homes and in many cases the mothers had to give up their babies for adoption almost immediately after birth. Even in the late 60s when we were foster parents parents had the say as to whether or not a child was kept or adopted. One of our foster babies had a sixteen year old Mother who had not wanted to have him adopted but her parents insisted. Poor girl used to visit him at our house until he was adopted, she would bring him presents of new clothes as well. He was five days old when we had him and only weighed 5 pounds. Can you imagine having your baby taken from you while you still had the pain of the milk?

Ann
Glos

My late fil fathered a child when he was 19, in 1929.
They lived in a village, so most people knew each other.
The mother of the baby was a divorcee, looked down upon, and much older than him.
Fil left the village and went to sea. The woman moved to a neighbouring village.
I don't think Fil's mother knew what he had done, but his father used to visit the woman every fortnight and give her money.
My fil went on to marry and have children in his late 30's. When he retired, he went back to live in the village, and wanted to see the child (now a man of 50), his spinster sister knew where he was, but wouldn't tell fil - he died without ever seeing him.
My ex and I found out where he lived about 2 months after Fil's death, tentatively visited him - and found out his real wish in life was to know who his father was- but was really pleased to meet his half brother.
Ex hubby and his brother now keep in touch with this lovely man

maggie

apart from the old joke on my part( i must have been mental to have kids) it was tough on the girls and the poor lady that was in the mental home, feel so sorry for her and the many others it happened to

The Law up to 1959, said that girls under the age of 16, who became pregnant, could be put in a Mental Institution. This Law was repealed in 1959. But in 1991, there was still a mother in a Mental Home for this very reason.

Lindy

It was certainly treated as the girls fault, there seems to be no records of errant fathers or making the men pay for taking advantage of the poor girls..
Sex education was unheard of, sex wasnt spoken about and most girls didnt know how babies were made.The poor babies were disposed of to well meaning childless couples in the hopes that they would have a better life
Not that things have progressed much, our boards are filled with heart-breaking pleas for adoptive searches,

We had a unmarried mothers hostel in oxford all girls were threatened with thats where u will go if you get pregnant, this was in the 50s/60s Found out my gran had was unmattied mother in 1913 but looks like she was allowed to stay at home and she kept her baby, she married my gramp when child was 3 !! didnt have an easy life though

My half brother was born in 1943. Our mother was sent to a mother-and-baby home some 20 miles from home, but she ran away and went back home, where my grandfather persuaded my grandmother to let her stay.

After my brother was born my mother would take him to a nursery on her way to work, and collect him afterwards. One day after work she went to collect him, but my grandmother had arranged for him to be adopted and he wasn't there. The mothers had little if any say in what happened to their babies.

Fate stepped in though - the potential adoptive mother died and my brother ended up in an orphanage some 150 miles from home. The nuns there wrote to my mum, who by this time had met my dad, so my brother returned to his family.

This may not answer your question Ian, but is just an illustration of how difficult it was to be an unmarried mum in those times.

cheers Whirls

It'll be good to hear from you.

Lol Sue

No probs Sue,,,,,,,,,Hi hun, long time no speak,,,,,,yes will pm you..xx

hug(((((hug)))))))

Thanks Abigail.

As I suspected.


Cheers Sue

Hello there!

Apparently in Lancaster there is a house on Queen Street at number 7 where they were sent to have their babies.

It was not run by churches but all denominations subscribed to it.

Nasty place by all the anecdotal accounts I can find but the official accounts are of course not available at the registry office accross the road!

Hi Whirls

good to hear from you again.

Yes, it would be helpful if you don't mind.

Do it privately if that's more appropriate.

Lol Sue

Hi Sue.mwaoh........

my half brother was born 1946...his Mum was sent away from London to have him.....can send you the info of where to. if it helps....

Whirley

Can anyone help me to understand how unmarried mums were treated in the 1940s? I don't mean whether they were ostracised or such - I'm interested in any arrangements that may have existed for them to have their children away from their families. Were there any societies active in this area of work? Were adoptions organised by local authorities or societies, and if the latter, which ones?

Just to put anyone's mind at rest, I'm not looking to trace anyone in particular, but my interest has been piqued in the subject generally.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Lol Sue