Bridal pregnancies?

[Viktoria]

Oh ,how true,Igor,
As the man on TV  recently said about the RC Church’s attitude in Ireland,girls were locked in nunneries and their babies taken away, but the priest whilst condemning the girls never sought out the men!

And we could ask ,what might he himself have been up to!
Viktoria.

[DianaCanada]

Let’s refer to the females as women or young women, not girls.  The men involved are not called boys, even if they were teenagers. 
Viktoria, not picking on you in particular, its use is ubiquitous, it’s just that words do make a difference in how we think of things.
Women are much more than breeders, having a lot of children might have been a boon to a husband,  but for women it meant long months of pregnancy, nursing, risking her life in childbirth, and running a household that likely wore her out. 
Like many of us here, many of my female ancestors bore many children, and I am thankful to have been born into a time where childbearing was a choice, and modern conveniences and a modern husband meant I could actually enjoy being a mother.

[IgorStrav]

As I said, Diana -

History is not so much 'facts' as 'what you say about it'

One of the huge benefits of family history research is that it gives you the opportunity to 'stand in someone else's shoes' and see what happened from another point of view.

[DianaCanada]

As I said, Diana -

History is not so much 'facts' as 'what you say about it'

One of the huge benefits of family history research is that it gives you the opportunity to 'stand in someone else's shoes' and see what happened from another point of view.

You are absolutely right!  Family history can teach us many things.

I know it was hard work for men in the past too, but they could at least go to the pub and cut loose once in a while!  Women were generally judged more harshly.

[Rena]

As I said, Diana -

History is not so much 'facts' as 'what you say about it'

One of the huge benefits of family history research is that it gives you the opportunity to 'stand in someone else's shoes' and see what happened from another point of view.

You are absolutely right!  Family history can teach us many things.

I know it was hard work for men in the past too, but they could at least go to the pub and cut loose once in a while!  Women were generally judged more harshly.

When I first started to research my ancestry I was lucky enough to find an online mention of a female's name that I was looking for.
It was an entry in a parish register that she should marry forthwith for "fornication.  No mention of the other participant.

The most children being born to one couple in my OH's ancestry was eighteen living children.  I don't look upon them as a burden to either the mother or father because there was no state pension at that time and children's wages in later years were the couple's pension pot.

[Viktoria]

Let’s refer to the females as women or young women, not girls.  The men involved are not called boys, even if they were teenagers. 
Viktoria, not picking on you in particular, its use is ubiquitous, it’s just that words do make a difference in how we think of things.
Women are much more than breeders, having a lot of children might have been a boon to a husband,  but for women it meant long months of pregnancy, nursing, risking her life in childbirth, and running a household that likely wore her out. 
Like many of us here, many of my female ancestors bore many children, and I am thankful to have been born into a time where childbearing was a choice, and modern conveniences and a modern husband meant I could actually enjoy being a mother.

It depends on ages, but I was quoting the man ,who born to a young woman,a girl really ,and was taken from her at days old to be adopted.
They were his wordsI quoted,” but the priests never went after the men”.
Viktoria.

[DianaCanada]

Let’s refer to the females as women or young women, not girls.  The men involved are not called boys, even if they were teenagers. 
Viktoria, not picking on you in particular, its use is ubiquitous, it’s just that words do make a difference in how we think of things.
Women are much more than breeders, having a lot of children might have been a boon to a husband,  but for women it meant long months of pregnancy, nursing, risking her life in childbirth, and running a household that likely wore her out. 
Like many of us here, many of my female ancestors bore many children, and I am thankful to have been born into a time where childbearing was a choice, and modern conveniences and a modern husband meant I could actually enjoy being a mother.

It depends on ages, but I was quoting the man ,who born to a young woman,a girl really ,and was taken from her at days old to be adopted.
They were his wordsI quoted,” but the priests never went after the men”.
Viktoria.

That makes sense in reference to what you were talking about.  Some of the single mothers were girls, of course, 16 or even 15.  My grandmother was 19, borderline, but I think of her as a young woman.  My mother of course was affected by the norms of the time and probably one reason she was happy to emigrate.  Not that it was much different here, but she did not share the information.

[coombs]

Let’s refer to the females as women or young women, not girls.  The men involved are not called boys, even if they were teenagers. 
Viktoria, not picking on you in particular, its use is ubiquitous, it’s just that words do make a difference in how we think of things.
Women are much more than breeders, having a lot of children might have been a boon to a husband,  but for women it meant long months of pregnancy, nursing, risking her life in childbirth, and running a household that likely wore her out. 
Like many of us here, many of my female ancestors bore many children, and I am thankful to have been born into a time where childbearing was a choice, and modern conveniences and a modern husband meant I could actually enjoy being a mother.

Hear, hear.

Our ancestors did have it really hard, women especially. If she was expecting again, she still had to run the house while the husband went out to work, I guess the older children started to help around the house aged 5 or 6, or earlier, to ease the pressure.

The bridal pregnancy in our ancestors days tells a story, that sex before marriage was rife, and probably not as condemned as perceived to be.

[dowdstree]

Not all the women stayed at home after they married and had a family.

Two of my great grandmothers had large families, kept the house and worked in the Jute Mills in Dundee in the late 1800's. It must have been an extremely hard life for them. Both of them helped in their later years to look after grandchildren to allow their mothers to work. One in particular looked after her bedridden daughter and her two children after the husband was killed in WW1. At the same time she took in another grandson after his father was killed in WW1 and the mother deserted the boy. I have a great deal of admiration for her. She is the lady in my Avator.

Dorrie