RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Essnell on Monday 01 April 19 00:03 BST (UK)
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Hi Everyone,
I have just been reading a topic on Adoption in England. So thought I would ask my question here as it is similar but not relevant to that topic.
I would like to know if children were Privately Fostered through church facilities back around 1900 - 1910.
Could people do this and pay the foster parent/s for their keep etc?
any info here would be appreciated.
Regards, Essnell
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Yes, but not just through church facilities. Sometimes a family member or neighbour would take in a child.
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Hi Craclyn,
Thankyou. Would the churches have kept records of such.?
Essnell
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I would like to know if children were Privately Fostered through church facilities back around 1900 - 1910.
Could people do this and pay the foster parent/s for their keep etc?
Do you have any info. for the chid/children from the census records?
What makes you think they were 'Fostered', do any records state so?
Had either/both parents died/emigrated or other?
There are many reasons for what was known in Scotland as 'Homers' which was another name for fostered.
Fostered children could also be with family members as well as strangers.
Annie
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I have no idea what records the churches might have kept. Probably not consistent. Also be aware that in that period children were being sent off to other countries on their own. An example being the British Home Children being sent to Canada, etc.
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An example being the British Home Children being sent to Canada, etc.
I think this is where the tag of 'Homer' originated although not all 'Homers' were sent abroad?
I had someone contact me (recommended) a while ago as their ancestor had been a 'Homer' in an area I do a lot of research in i.e. have a lot of records & experience in the area & basically it was child exploitation & their ancestor had had a very sad life unfortunately although not all children did but a lot did.
This person was deeply affected by the stories from their ancestor (a grandparent) although by then deceased but it was heartbreaking (truly)!
I had a distant relative who took in a 'Homer' who was unofficially 'Adopted' as their own who was well treated & went on to inherit my relatives estate etc.
Essnell, I think you need to give a bit more info. to determine possibilities as you haven't given any reference as to your thoughts on your initial post i.e. without any info. anyone reading can only speculate without knowing anything about previous family life regarding where parents were/area etc. at the time of the child/children being 'Fostered'?
Annie
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Many children,especially boys were taken from the deepest slum in Manchester to Canada via a Society which “ rescued” such boys.
There were connections to Dwight Moody of Sankey and Moody fame , hymn writers.
The life would be better in some ways but was really as has been mentioned child labour as what happened to them in many cases was exploitation.
My maternal grandmother took in four children of a neighbour.
Grandma was with the woman when she was dying and begged grandma to look after the children as the father had disappeared.
Grandma did,informally.
A couple I lived with during the war as an evacuee had adopted a boy through the Methodist church,but later when adoption was more regulated they were informed they must go through a long process of legalising it which they never did,not realising the long term implications which were that the boy ,although nurtured by them and who shared their estate with their daughter ,when he died the daughter who he saw as his sister did not inherit from him as he had left no will.
It was grossly unfair ,but legal.
There were many societies that took children in and transported them to “ better lives” which to be fair were in many ways but they were institutionalised,uniformed and farmed out with no safeguards as to their treatment thereafter.
I recommend “Angels from the Meadow” by James Stanhope -Brown
I S B N 0-9515652-1-4.
The Meadow being Angel Meadow ,the worst slum in Manchester as described by Friedrich Engels.
Hope this helps.
Viktoria.
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Hi Essnell
Yes, there was something like this in place. However it was not done through any church or organisation as far as I know. It was a private arrangement between individuals. The best I can figure out is that these individuals must have been known about by 'word of mouth' or maybe even advertised in a local paper??. One such case I came across the boy was 'fostered' his whole life. The mother (a single mother) paid for the boy's board and care. He knew the people he lived with were not his parents and saw his birth mother from time to time.
CD
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I have an instance of this in a Scottish family named Topp. The 1891 census shows 3 boarders, little boys aged 4, 2 and 1 month all with the same surname of Hay. In the 1901 census the 2 year old is listed with the Topp surname. I have managed to trace two of the boys, both birth records show them as illegitimate, though later records state their mother to be Topp. I can't find any formal fostering or adoption records so I assume these boys were taken in initially for the income & later took their 'foster parents' surname
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Hi RootsChatters replying here.
Thankyou very much for all the ideas.
CD I think that what I am looking at is very much like what you are describing. I was wondering if that ever took place.
Now this is scenario.
this is relatively distant relatives but locks into my family tree.
I have a male born in England, marries, goes to Ireland. he has 10 children there all fine.
Now there is this child I find as an adult, well 15 yrs old The background is:
Seems her mother, one of the 'males' children has an illegitimate child born in England. I have found a birth cert for [ possibly] as it fits both date, place and surname of mother, although not stated. the reg. surname is the mother's surname.
I have also found this child on the 1911 register as Fostered aged 5 still with the birth names etc.
Now this child appears to have known her grandmother but seems to have been led to believe this was her mother. She gives as her mother, the grandmother's name, on her marriage cert in another country. On her entry papers she also names various family members .
The grandmother's family had sufficient funds to pay for a private fostering until old enough to be included. This little one was fostered by a widow with 3 little boys. This lady worked as a Chapel Keeper.
My thinking is that G-mother, 'Males' wife, went to a lot of trouble to protect her daughter and the family, but kept the child hidden but well looked after, possibly visiting often.
I am "fairly" convinced this is the scenario. The major family was in a position to do this...... if a feasible option. interestingly the marriage cert also gives the father's name but so far that eludes me and others as to his background.
The first name given the child is a shortened Nickname for the name she uses as an adult which only seems to deepen the conviction.
One other piece is that the brother to the little girl's mother lived in the selfsame neck of the woods as the place given on the child's birth cert. in England.
I am quite concerned about naming names and giving dates at this point.
So back to wondering if this foster mother would have been recommended by the Local Church. If there were records they may be able to verify the fostering .. not just me assuming. As to the father's name I don't quite believe what is on the Marriage cert. first name possibly but not his surname..it would be a fluke to be identical to her mother's. ... .but possible
I hope you all will understand as this is not yet quite proven.
Regards and thanks for everything above.
Essnell
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Hello Essnell, it’s an interesting tale although I’m struggling to take in the detail - still a bit early for me ::)
Did Mr Males marry in England then go over to Ireland with his wife and have 10 children there? Was it one of their daughters who came back to England to have a baby? Then Mr Males’ wife paid for the child to be fostered and the child believed Mrs Males was her mother, not her grandmother?
Sorry if I’m being slow here.
Added: did the real mother's brother come back to England - and did the real mother stay in England as well?
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Hi Flemming,
Thanks for asking.
You have it in a nutshell. That is the scenario { as i see it from documents I have been able to find on line} Only proving it is difficult but I think I have found most of it. The missing father is also proving difficult
Yes! The real mother's brother did return to England and the real mother stayed in England. She died there, some years later. The grandmother also seems to have stayed for some time too, but returned to Ireland.
I believe she made frequent trips over to see the child. That I cannot prove but is seems so.
Unfortunately for us today, their movements do not coincide with Census records.
Hope the above is helpful and helps the slowness. :) :)
Essnell
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Hello essnell, thanks for the aid to slowness ;)
A couple of random thoughts. If the foster parent was a chapel keeper, that implies Methodist, or at least protestant. Do you know if the family were RC or protestant? If the former, it might make it less likely that the church was the route to finding foster parents.
Also, given the care the grandmother took to be discreet, I wonder if approaching any church with the conundrum might be a bit too out in the open. Is it possible one of the grandparents knew the foster mother before they went to Ireland? Did she live in the same place the grandparents came from, or were married in, or departed from when going to Ireland? Is she a distant relative or, if the family were well-off, an old family servant (housekeeper, nurse?).
As for records, the Adoption Act 1926 (England/Wales) didn’t come into force until 1927 and, I presume, the little girl would have been 21 by this time. Foster care started to become more formalised in the early 1900s but, again, given the level of discretion you describe, I wonder if this official route would have been too out in the open.
From the information you have, it sounds like a private arrangement with someone the family already knew, or knew of, and whose discretion they could trust.
You made me smile about the census records not obliging with their movements. I also have this challenge with some ancestors with a few being recorded twice in places hundreds of miles apart.
Good luck with your quest,
Flemming.
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HI Flemming,
Thanks for the reply.
I did wonder if the foster person may have been known to the family.
Oddly since I posted this, I have found family actually living on the outskirts of the town where the foster parent was.
They were in a village a mile or so out of town. Fairly easy to keep in contact. Back then the town would have been much smaller but still a major one. And amazingly the street is still there. I googled it. There was also easy sea access across to Ireland.
The family were for the most part C of E or C of I. Occasionally Presby. or Methodist. Usually from marriage.
The questions you posed about the foster person I had toyed with but now think it worth looking into. I shall give it a go.
Thanks again for the thoughts, suggestions and ideas.
Essnell
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Hi
I have found a place that fostered out children from before 1900 and up until now. I contacted them and ended up at Nottingham archives. They suggest this:
"Unfortunately there were very few papers created in the early 20th century for children being fostered as it was usually undertaken privately. Occasionally ‘boarding out’ was undertaken by the local Poor Law Union. The following documents relate to the Mansfield Poor Law Union and there is a slim possibility that they may assist your research:-
SO/PU/O/1/1/25-26 Guardians’ meetings minutes, 1905 – 1909
The only surviving boarded-out children’s records for this union date from 1924 to 1929 only. "
Is this of any value to follow up?
Am I right in thinking that the Poor Law Union was administered by the church?
Thanks for any ideas
Essnell