RootsChat.Com
Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Lanarkshire => Topic started by: lydiaann on Tuesday 18 May 21 14:26 BST (UK)
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What would happen to an illegitimate child born in a Poorhouse? I have checked with the mothers' siblings and she does not appear anywhere within their families and I have no idea who the father was (left blank on the birth registration - she was registered by the Poorhouse); her mother died 24 hours after giving birth to her. Would she have been kept in the Poorhouse; 'adopted' into another family; maybe raised by the staff and then put to work?? A very common name - Mary Sutherland - and many, many Mary S's born at the same time throughout Lanarkshire and Scotland and I am finding it difficult to know where to go. She is not in the 'direct' line that I am following, but it would still be interesting to know how to go about it.
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I confess I'm not sure what the Poorhouse policy would be in this situation .
I assume the first thing they would need to do would be to find a wet nurse ( possibly among the other inmates).
Sadly I would've thought the baby's chances of survival were greatly reduced when her mother died so soon after birth.
Have you looked at infant deaths?
You didn't specify a year but infant mortality was high in Glasgow in the mid 1800s.
Looby :)
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This should give you some informtion about the workhouse/children http://www.workhouses.org.uk/education/
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Have you tried the Mitchell Library Glasgow to see if there is any records for the mother being admitted .
Rosie
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How awful! I knew that conditions were dreadful in most places (Southwell seems to have been quite the exception) and that children were beaten but not that such terrible, terrible abuse happened in some places. Thank you for the link, anyway. I'm actually hoping that poor little Mary somehow found a miracle 'mother' (or even Warden of the House) but, if not, that she never survived to live in such conditions. I'll just have to keep looking.
Thanks for the tip about the Library, Rosie :-*
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Remember that poorhouses (they were not called workhouses in Scotland) sometimes had a ordinary hospital attached.
However assuming that the mother was actually an inmate of the poorhouse for whatever reason, the Parochial Board would have kept detailed records of her case, and of the orphaned child, which would be the responsibility of the Parochial Board until she was old enough to earn her own living.
The question is, which Parochial Board?
It was quite usual for several Parochial Boards to get together and build one poorhouse to serve all of them rather than building separate poorhouses in every parish.
So the essential bit of information is which parish the mother belonged to. Normally she would apply to the parish where she had 'settlement', which was either the parish where she was born or the parish where she had most recently lived for a specified period. If she lived in a parish that was not her parish of birth, but not long enough to acquire 'settlement' in that parish, she would normally apply to the parish where she was living, and they would deal with her initially and then refer to her parish of settlement.
So the answer to your question will depend on which workhouse and when.
Not all Parochial Board records have survived. If the birth and death took place in Glasgow, there will be records, but if it was in another parish you will need to find out where the records of that Parochial Board are.
The Glasgow City Archives in the Mitchell Library are a good starting point because they will know which Parochial Board records ahev survived and where they are held.
It would have been much easier and less long-winded to answer this if you had said which poorhouse and which year to start with :)
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Forfarian: Thanks for the details - it seems as though bureaucracy was rife back then too! I didn't give specific details because it was really a general question of what happens to illegitimate children born in a poorhouse. It was not a question that I wouldn't do the research and expect others to do it for me and I'm sorry if I gave that impression. My information is sketchy, but I do know it was in Govan. How long she had been there, I don't know. She died 24 hours after the birth, in Sep 1872; she had been a boarder at a place in Tradeston for the census in 1871, she was a dressmaker. I had looked at her family but they all (6 siblings) seem to have been quite 'poor'. A brother also claimed poor relief (but in 1890) and his "wife" had claimed relief when he deserted her and 2 infants back in 1867 (they did get back together but it appeared they led an itinerant lifestyle and he was described by another sister on his Relief application as being "ill-behaved"). I suppose this is why poor Penelope could only resort to the Poorhouse at the very end.
I will start with the Mitchell Library later this week. I am grateful for all the help and tips you have given me, Chatters.
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Hi,
These are the records held by Glasgow City Archives, filmed by family search, however not available to view on their site at present.
Should give you good idea of which volume you need
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1021018?availability=Family%20History%20Library
Spendlove
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Thank you, spendlove. I'll 'archive' the website/link and have a go at my next research session !! How you people manage to know all these things/where to look etc. amazes me...thanks so much :-*
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I found poor Mary. She survived in this world for just 6 days and I now have her death registration which follows immediately on from her mother's. I wonder if any of the rest of the family knew of their sister's and niece's deaths and the circumstances; doesn't bear thinking about that, if they didn't, did anyone mourn these 2 souls? It makes me happy that Himself's family did eventually become 'better off' and they are now all happily in touch and aware of the ups and downs of one another's lives. Thanks again.
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Well done in finding the death for the baby and so sad only surviving a few days :'(
Rosie
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I had a feeling this might be the fate for poor wee Mary. :'(
Pleased you have found her.
Looby :)