children boarded out

[jessienicolson]

My great aunt died in 1921 in Aberdeen, and left a 2 year old illegitimate child, who was then boarded out to a couple in Inverness.  Was this common practice to send a child so far away from other members of the family in Aberdeen who obviously were not able to bring him up.
Many thanks.

[Flattybasher9]

Lucky child, OR slave labour??

Malky

[jessienicolson]

Apparently he had a lovely upbringing with a lovely couple.  Still trying to determine if this was a distant family member or not.

[RJ_Paton]

Sending children out to foster carers was fairly common as the authorities found it cheaper than paying for "in house" care. What makes your instance unusual is that the child was sent out from the local authority area to another area entirely.
Your theory about a distant family connection may be correct. (adoption as we know it today did not come into force in Scotland until 1930 and prior to that the majority of "adoptions" tended to be within the extended family)

[jessienicolson]

Thank you.  Looking forward to the 1921 Scotland census, which I understand was taken in June instead of April.