General Chat

My great gran was illegitimate and there are a few stories about as to who the father was etc.
Her mother Rose Knox became pregnant at 15 and had my nan Olive at 16. I recently heard from a family member that they were told she was taken advantage of on a train (she apparently used the trains regularly, perhaps for school) I did wonder by "taken advantage" of they meant raped? So i wondered if there would be a police record of this if it was reported and how would i find it?

It might be worth trying the local newspapers for that time. It occurs to me that, if she was legally a minor, her parents may possibly have brought legal proceedings against the man in question - but I suppose that would depend on whether she (or they) knew who he was. (And that assumes that the story about her being "taken advantage of" was accurate - I would reckon it's reasonable to suppose that she might have been forced into it against her will.)

I could imagine that there may just be some kind of newspaper report about it, if it happened. The local libraries sometimes have newspapers on microfilm, I think - if you know what area you're looking at, I would try them.

Where about in Staffordshire - any idea?

She lived in the Stoke-on-Trent area

There is the possibility that she may have been raped?
And yet, she would still have a birth certificate which branded her child for the rest of her life!!
What a dreadful thing for the poor girl, and no doubt ' fine upstanding members of the community' would look down their noses at her. poor girl... both girls in fact.
Deanna X

One story is that the father was a friend of Rose's brother and that he was about 20 when she was 15.
My great nan says she was told her fathers name was Norcup and that he was blonde.
I dont know whether the 2 storyts link and the person that took advantage of her on the train was her brothers friend. It may have been rape i dont know. Thats why i thought there would be a record if it was.

Tom

n

n?

Don't worry Tom, N means nudge.....they are just nudging or bumping up the thread so more people can see it.

I suppose you could check if there were any male Norcup living nearby in 1911
NORCUP FREDERICK WILLIAM M 1896 15 Stoke upon Trent Staffordshire
HOUSEHOLD NORCUP HORACE GODFREY M 1894 17 Stoke upon Trent Staffordshire

Sorry Tom, I was the n person.

Wanted to try and see if I could find anything online and if so wanted to be able to find your thread easily.
Besides putting your thread back to the top of the page, it also list it in "my threads" making it easy to find.

Didn't manage to find anything, but if the father was known, it is possible that he had an order (court order?) to pay for the upkeep of his child.

I can't remember what this is called so can't start looking for one.
Perhaps someone else has an idea (possibly paternity order?).

I hope that yyou do get more info and will put my thinking cap on (when I find it!)

Tess

Ive looked for all the Norcups in the area that are possibilities in 1901 census. A Harold Norcop seemed like a possibility.

I think you can find out parentage by looking at poor law records. They had a early form of child support. Wouldnt know where to find them though and sadly dont have time to got the stoke records office