Victorian Lifestyles

[Procat]

Hi Pam,

I have ag labourers where this appears to have happened though there seems to be no hard and fast rules.

I suspect it was more to do with availability and distance away of relatives outside the home, age of older children who could look after the younger children while Mum was close to and giving birth and so on.

[Ladkyis]

It was the same with deaths, the children would be farmed out to neighbours and relatives while the deceased was laid out in the parlour. The menfolk would attend the burial while the women were left to grieve at home.
I can remember even in the 1950s we, the children of the street, were all taken to one of the bigger houses where there was a garden with fruit bushes and we all had to pick the fruit. It wasn't until I was eavesdropping on my parents later that night - as all children do - that I discovered that Dad had been to the funeral of my friend's big brother. We had wondered where he was!
Ann

[Pam Downes]

I have ag labourers where this appears to have happened though there seems to be no hard and fast rules.

I suspect it was more to do with availability and distance away of relatives outside the home, age of older children who could look after the younger children while Mum was close to and giving birth and so on.

Thanks Procat.
I have to say that I was quite surprised when I read that children were 'farmed out' when mum was pregnant as I'd always assumed that once the big 'uns reached the age of about 5 or 6 then they looked after the little 'uns.
As (to the best of my recall) I have yet to find any ancestor who had a servant I confess that I hadn't really thought about the lifestyles of the 'higher' classes.

Pam Downes

[Pam Downes]

It was the same with deaths, the children would be farmed out to neighbours and relatives while the deceased was laid out in the parlour. The menfolk would attend the burial while the women were left to grieve at home.
I can remember even in the 1950s we, the children of the street, were all taken to one of the bigger houses where there was a garden with fruit bushes and we all had to pick the fruit. It wasn't until I was eavesdropping on my parents later that night - as all children do - that I discovered that Dad had been to the funeral of my friend's big brother. We had wondered where he was!
Ann

I'm sorry Ann but I just have to ask which 'he' you're referring to in your final sentence. Please don't tell me that you mean your friend's brother.

Pam Downes

[timelord]

not a bad site, but nothing about the moral double standards of men during the victorian period, or the child prostitution that was rife at the time. to name but two topics not mentioned

[Ladkyis]

Sorry Pam but I do mean just that, we didn't know that her brother had died - she didn't know that her brother had died. Her parents must have told her fairly soon though, although they did take her away for a while to visit grandma in north Wales I think and when she came back she knew but that's how death and children were dealt with by some people
Ann

[Pam Downes]

Hi Ann,
I suppose the grief of the parents blinded them to anything else at the time, especially given the attitude to life in general. Stiff-upper lip, not in front of the children, etc.
Even though life and attitudes today are very far from perfect it has to be a good thing that we are more open to children about subjects such as birth and death.
Though looking back to my childhood and reading some of the Victorian lifestyle, I'm sure that my childhood was closer to that of the Victorian with regards to attitude and upbringing - don't speak till you're spoken to, how you addressed your parents' friends, etc - than it is to the present day, even though the time lapse is much greater.

(And if I'd had a pound for everytime I was told 'look where you're going'.... )

Pam Downes

[Sheila Griffiths]

Wonderful site. A pleasure to look at and imagine how life was then.

[Phil]

I have been on this excellent site before and now it looks like a big success as it is busy at present. Must be a source of info for homework!

Phil

[Ladkyis]

It could just be that everyone who reads this thread is going to the site and then telling people about it. It could be as a result of the BBC "Who do you think you are?" which is having a huge effect on the population. I read somewhere that the Scottish people website thingy has seen an increase of over 90% of users since the series started. If that's true every site with anything remotely family history oriented will be overwhelmed.
Ann