The Stigma of being illegitimate & female in 1800

[Foresthamlet]

I was wondering if the Stigma of being illegitimate followed a person through life.. Being an illegitimate female in a countryside town in 1800, could there be an embarrassment when getting married, if no father was known?

[LoneyBones]

Probably not. It would depend a lot on the strata of society she was from and where she lived.
A housemaid who got married would likely be a lot less concerned than maybe a schoolteacher's daughter. The daughter of a gentry household might be concerned, but not  the daughter in a farm house family.
I think from my history and sociology reading, people were a lot less worried about that sort of thing than some people nowdays think they would have been.

Leonie.

[LizzieW]

My gran was 6 months pregnant when she married in 1896, her eldest sister already had a 1 year old when she married in 1892 (she did marry the father of the child, but left her behind with her grandparents!), so I don't think it was that unusual then to be pregnant before marriage.   

I didn't tell my mother about her mother (and I don't think she knew as her parents had been married years when she was born and then her father died when she was 12, so no wedding anniversaries to let the cat out of the back), nor did I tell her that her father's g.grandmother never married, so that her maiden name had actually come down to her via an unmarried mother

Going further back in my tree to the early 1800s/late 1700s there were lots of them who were already pregnant when they married. 

Lizzie

[Jeuel]

I think attitudes in the country were more lax.  It was only people who had a position to maintain and neighbours to impress who worried about such things.

I've got quite a few illegitimate rellies in my tree.  My gt grandmother Ruth Barnes, was illegitimate, born in a Norfolk village in 1846.  On her marriage cert it states "illegitimate daughter of Susanna Barnes".  Susanna died when Ruth was 5 and she was brought up by Susanna's parents. 

I think Ruth wasn't fazed by her illegitimacy at all.  She worked as an assistant school mistress before marrying and having 10 children, one of whom she gave Barnes as a middle name.  Allegedly she knew her Bible inside out (many of her children - including my grandfather Jeuel - had obscure Biblical names) and she would correct the vicar if he misquoted during his sermons!

[Jeuel]

It's also true that in rural communities where there were farms to inherit, the potential bride's virginity wasn't as important as her ability to have babies!

[Jeuel]

On the other hand, I found a Gloucestershire family in one census, where a couple were looking after their illegitimate grandson.  In the occupation column it simply says "bastard" which I think is probably a bit of spite!

[coombs]

Jeuel I take it you never found even a hint to the possible father of Ruth Barnes?

[Sloe Gin]

It's also true that in rural communities where there were farms to inherit, the potential bride's virginity wasn't as important as her ability to have babies!

Indeed; and also, in the days before pensions and benefits, the working class people needed to have children in the hope that there would be someone to support them in their old age.  People had a practical attitude towards these things.

[coombs]

My 3xgreat grandmother had a illegitimate baby in 1863 in a village in Sussex. The mothers father was a village wheelwright. He was quite a successful businessman.