http://astranavigo.blogspot.com/2009/06/some-more-observations-on-dating.html
The experience women have in the pass few decades is completely changed for large sections of society.
Even up until the 1970's some children in the UK were still seen as economic resource's and when a child got a job all the money went to the mother and they would have to ask if they needed money for something. This would last until they got married. It took wealth to bring this tradition to an end in the UK but most poorer countries in the world this still would be normal life experience.
A painting of a working woman by Van Gogh shows a harder life than is experienced by most women especially in the wealthier countries.
I remember Beth's blogs about the loss of her granddaughter and how devastated she was. What a contrast to how a victorian farm labouring woman would have viewed this situation. Just like the woman in the painting.
Life was so hard for the poor that the birth of a child could only be viewed though the eyes of economics and practical living. Affection and natural instincts where beaten out of their lives, though 'rude labour' exposure to the cold/heat or the elements, coarse food and lack of money.
The farmer would ask his labourer how did the birth of your child go? If the child was a girl the reply would be '' Aw, sir, a' be main weak and picked, an' like to go back - thank God! basically the labourer is saying the child is weak and wasted and hopes it will die soon - because it is a girl!
Why did they want boys so much. Its because they could earn money from a young age starting work as young as 8 but the girls were seen as poor workers and a burden for many years to come. If the girl had an illegitimate child it could be very hard for her, first she would be placed in the local work house if she was lucky, it was not unknown for the daughter to die from exposure after being thrown out of the family home.
A girl in the poor house was my great-great-great grandmother Sarah Emmans. Was she thrown out of the house by her family? probably yes. All we know was that her child grew up in the poor house and she managed to find work somewhere and some speculate it could have been America.
Sarah was born in 1821 and 17 years old when she had Robert in 1839. She must have had an extremely harsh existence and probably was uneducated, crude, and a very unpleasant person generally.
How did she get pregnant? one way a girl got pregnant was visiting the annual fair and maybe experiencing drink for the first time lost her way with a local boy who was probably equally drunk. Another way would be a reckless employer taking advantage of her, a sort of economic rape. It is possible Sarah got pregnant by being raped in horrible circumstances? The average girl at that time would not be stupid enough to have sex with a poor labourer even though there may be plenty of opportunities to do so. If the girl was suffering manic depression or major personality disorder or was mentally backwards she would be as risk and maybe Sarah was unstable in some way?
It is also possible she thought she had a viable mate but when she got pregnant, thinking marriage was the next step, only to find the man disappear without a trace. During this time most teenage marriages resulted in a baby being born 3 months later. In fact the vicars wife would offer prizes of furniture to the first couple to have a child after 9 months of marriage!
Robert got a break in life joining the navy and he eventually started a family of his own with a degree of success. The family story goes he joined the navy under 5 foot tall and grew to be 6 foot 4 inches and a big frame!
Check out Sarah here:
http://www.myheritage.com/site-724942/emmans-family-website
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