From Edinburgh, the North British Railway ran to Kingkettle and Ladybank.
There are still trains between Ladybank and Edinburgh - it takes about an hour.
The current fare is £12.80, which for 37 miles is 34p per mile. 34p is 6s 10d in old money. So one mile today costs more than the whole journey when it was 1d per mile, not taking into consideration the fall in the value of money.
However £12.80 today, according to one online conversion web site, would have been worth 11p in 1911. 11p is 2s 2d in old money, so in relative terms it is cheaper today.
However the value of money is only relevant if you have some. As Maria was in the workhouse, she did not have spare cash available for travel and the parochial board would not have paid for her to go and visit her children.
I see that she died in 1917, aged just 36. To be admitted to the workhouse before the age of 30 she was almost certainly in very poor health, which was why she could not support her children in the first place.
I'm not sure exactly why Maria entered the workhouse, except that her 2nd husband had died in 1910, when she had 1 child by him and would have been carrying a 2nd. (my Dad's half-sisters). She is listed as a 'nurse' in the 1911 census, so I think she was probably working her keep there, rather than having been admitted with ill health as such. Both the children by her second husband sadly died in infancy in Seafield workhouse.
I don't exactly how or when Maria left the workhouse, if anyone knows how I could find out, I would be grateful for the info.
I expect it would be sometime between 1912 following the death of the 2nd child, and 1915 when she married for a third time, to her sister's brother-in-law. Maria actually died in the City Fever Hospital, Colinton in 1917, not Seafield Workhouse.
Given that she at least had a short period outside the workhouse while her first 2 children were growing up, I'd like to think she did get to see them at some point (not an objective attitude, but its not always easy to totally objective is it?)
My Dad did mention her to my Mum, and I got the impression that he did have some contact, but I can't be certain Unfortunately, there is no one to ask now.
One reason why I think there was some contact, is that I have evidence that my Dad's sister lived with her stepfather - the 3rd husband - and did not move in with him until she was an adult and after her Mum had died, so I suspect they had some contact as a family before this.
Thank you for your interest, and if anyone can give me any information about Seafield Workhouse, or the Fever Hospital at Colinton, I'd be grateful.
Just as a side point, my Dad never mentioned the two baby girls, so I can't help wonder if he ever even knew about them?
Thank you so much,
