Any explanations (apart from the obvious).

[Grangreet]

Hi
Help please. I have an Ancestor who was born in 1848 in Berkshire.(Burghfield ,although  she didnt grow up there)  Between the years of 1867 and 1892 she had 9 children  she was not married at all.
We have a birth certificate for 1 of them and the fathers name is blank as it is on some of the other certificates
Any ideas about this would be good,
We were thinking maybe she fostered them, but what about the birth certificate, would she then register
 the child in her name?
Its a mystery
Grangreet

[hugatree]

Hi Grangreet

I assume you have her on the census returns, with all those children how was the family supported?  Could she be taking in foundlings?  The poor law and workhouse records might be a good source of information, if she doesn't appear to have any financial support.

Are you prepared to share any details with us, the clever chatters on here (and I don't count myself amongst them  ) might come up with a fair few answers between them.

Hugs

[mofid42]

That's a very good question Grangreet

I was thinking along the same lines as Hugatree about foundlings or abandoned babies.

There were no formal laws on adoption or fostering until the 1920's so I'm not sure how the births of foundlings or abandoned babies may have been registered if someone was willing to take them in.

I have seen baptisms in parish registers that state a child was as a foundling. They were often given surnames that reflected the area they were found.

I am not sure if there were any laws or rules in place at that time which enabled someone who 'fostered'  a child to have their birth registered or be baptised by the foster mother/parents

[mofid42]

Another thought....you say you have a birth certificate for one of the children.....have you seen any of the others?

In order to keep the cost down of buying all nine certificates ,it may be worth your while seeking out any baptisms for all of the children to see if they might give you a clue or two, although buying all the certicates might be your best option.

Did your ancestor have any kind of profession on census entries such as a nurse that might point to her taking in abandoned children?

Is there any clues in the childrens names that might point in the direction of a possible father for any of them?

Also have you seen any marriage certicates for any or all of the children.....who did they put as their father?

[Grangreet]

Thanks for the replies.
The only occupation she stated was washer woman. Another relative has birth certificates and again no fathers for the children. On all the census we have she declares she is unmarried.
I will check a marriage certificate to see if the father is named on there.
I am trying to be kind to her  reputation. 
Greta

[mofid42]

Its all too easy to fall into the trap of putting modern day values on what happened in the past.

What ever the truth may really be, whether she adopted the children, or she was in a long term relationship with a man who wouldn't or couldn't marry her, or, in a time when there was no benefit system as there is today,  she was simply doing what ever it took to get by, I would still be inclined to congratulate her for raising nine healthy children on her own during a time when infant mortality was very high.....I would certainly call her a survivor.

[Grangreet]

Hi Mofid42
Thank you for your last message. That is a lovely way of thinking of her, and  one I  hadnt given much thought  to.
Indeed it must have been a hard life for her.

Thanks I value your comments,
Greta