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can anyone explain how an unmarried mother would earn a living before and after her child was born (c1915) the child was given up for adoption but the mother reg him and kept him for a while,ive employed a researcher from the liverpool records who looked through the poor law records,plus the workhouse records but to no avail,i can only find the mother on the 1901 census age2yrs,nothing more has been found.xx

Doing any work she could - working in a factory/childminding/taking in washing/making clothes/domestic service. No different from any work any other woman would do. People generally take the work that's on offer for which they are qualifed.

Many girls went home to their parents (or were sent if they were in service). When you say adopted, do you mean brought up by other members of the extended family, as legal adoption was not until the 1920's. Before then, it was a private or unofficial arrangement. Most Mums went back to work after the birth of their child, to support the child and themselves. The child was either minded by granparents, relative or someone else. Jay

i believe that in 1915 a woman couldnt work once her pregnancy became visable,my question was how would she survive ,in which ways could she get money for food(it was before the dole) and has she had no living close reletives how did she feed and clothe the baby before it was adopted?

Well most unmarried mothers, or even widowed mothers took in work such as sewing etc. There was no such law to say that as soon as your pregnacy showed you weren't allowed to work. Perhaps even the father helped out a bit, or other members of the family. Alex

Leaving your job because you were pregnant would depend on where you worked - if you were in service with a respectable family then you would probably have to leave, but not if you worked in a laundry or sweatshop. Does the birth certificate give any clues? - where was the child born? Jay

my ancestor was a servent,she was unmarried 17yr old, babys father unknown, parents dead,mother died of consumption in 1905 and father in 1908.

Well my great grandmother had three children out of wedlock before she married and she was down as a domestic servant on the birth certificates - so it just depends on who these girls/women worked for as to whether they were happy for them to stay working while they were pregnant - and what particular jobs they did as servants. Just because there is no fathers name on the birth certificate, doesn't mean that he wasn't around to help out - he could have given her a bit of money from time to time - or perhaps if her employer was the father he might have given her a bit of hush money or something. Alex

I don't know about 'not allowed to work'. Domestic servants would often be thrown out if their employers found out, but much would depend on the employer. It is also quite possible - I have this from a doctor who worked in a very poor area with high illegitimacy rates - for a woman to conceal her pregnancy until the time of her childbirth (and possibly after). There's a well-known story about a servant girl for the Victorian writer Thomas Carlyle, who actually gave birth in a small room off the dining room whilst he was in the dining room entertaining!

How do you know she kept him for a while? And how long is a while?

Can you find out who lived at the address where the birth took place (unless it was the Workhouse)? And then work backwards, to see if there is some sort of blood tie with the Mum? It would be very unusual for someone not to have a Granny, aunt, great-aunt. I have recently discovered an elderly rellie in 1901 census with a 1yr old child - different surname. The baby was actually the old ladies great-niece, the mother is back in service in the same village. I had no idea she had had a child until I found the census entry. Jay

Can you look fot the address in Street Directory or similar-to give a clue as to who she was with? Was she living at her employment when the baby born?

she was living in the home of a nurse,i tried to find out if it was a mother and baby home,but was told by the researcher that it was a private house,nothing can be found of her after the baby(my grandfather)was born.

Don't forget this is during WW1, when suddenly there were plenty of opportunities for women to work, which included doing former 'men's 'jobs. Father could have been away at the Front when the child was born and unable to marry her. it is possible his family took her in. Jay

Did the nurse keep the baby? Or perhaps arrange for the child to be placed? If so it could well have been a private arrangement, with the mother staying there until the child was nursed and a suitable age to be taken over by prospective parents. In situations like this, the prospective parents usually paid for the upkeep of mother and child and then the mother had to make her own way in the world. Or possibly the father, or father's family arranged this, if they were the employers. jay

i have checked out the nurses name and cant find any conection to my family,my ggrandmother was the eldest child and was born in scotland and brought over by her parents sometime in 1899,she had a younger sister born 1901, both parents where dead by 1908, my grandfathers adopted mother used to call him a little b------ which i throught was a rather strange thing for a adopted mother to say,(maybe the adoptive father was the real father,and took the child in and made his wife look after it?these things went on a lot then,i have tried everyway to trace the mother but to no avail,all i know is her age and name,and have traced her in 1901 after that noone can find her..but the idea that the nurse kept her and the baby until the baby was placed is a good one as i believe my adoptive ggrandmother was some kind of untrained nurses help

Its funny as I was entertaining the thought that the father was married and then took the child and brought him up much to his wifes annoyance - perhaps his wife couldn't have children and so took the opportunity to at least have a child, but it probably still didnt lessen her bad feelings towards the child. Its a possiblity that the nurse was a friend if she was an untrained nurses help, if it was at a private house, perhaps the owner of the house was the father but ensured that someone else adopted the child - either relatives or friends who couldn't have their own children? There are so many possibilities. Have you tried to find the mother on any Scottish censuses prior to 1901? Alex

no his wife couldnt have children