Hi Roslyn Apart from the circumstances mentioned by Anne where it was organised by the Parish often when the child was parentless There was no official system of fostering or adoption until 1930 in Scotland The majority of these foster like arrangements were done within the family, childless couples in the family or close friends would take on the child whose parents were unable to care for them for many different reasons If a man was made a widower with small children there were only a few options he had , give up work and beg and scrape an existance if he could or give the children up to either the Parish or other family members or he could pay someone to look after the child or children, often a family member but there were people who did it for a living There are some harsh tales about some of them Good luck in your search Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Hello. > > I wondered if anyone knows what the process would have been in the early > 1900's (although again with another ancestor in the 1830's) for placing an > ifant (illegitimate) in foster care with someone else to bring up? > > Two instances - Matilda Webster whose father was John Webster, and mother of > a rather prominent family - Elizabeth Largie of Benholm. Matilda's birth > doesn't seem to be registered - though there is another a few years later. I > find her in the 1841 census with a Low family along with two other little

Or, Nivard, they might re-marry to get a built-in babysitter. At least that's what they often did in the colonies but maybe we folk over here were a bit more imaginative than back there . . . <grin> On 7/31/2011 6:10 PM, Nivard Ovington wrote: > If a man was made a widower with small children there were only a few options he had , give up work > and beg and scrape an existance if he could or give the children up to either the Parish or other > family members or he could pay someone to look after the child or children, often a family member > but there were people who did it for a living

Hi Wallace You are quite correct, I had limited time on my PC yesterday and ended some mails rather abruptly :-( Yes many men remarried in quick time, quite often to a widow in the local area in similar circumstances as he or even to the wifes sister Many of these arrangements appear to have worked very well with them carrying on to have more children and stay together for many years Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On Sun, Jul 31, 2011 at 11:44 PM, Wallace Fullerton <[email protected]> wrote: > Or, Nivard, they might re-marry to get a built-in babysitter.  At least > that's what they often did in the colonies but maybe we folk over here > were a bit more imaginative than back there  . . . <grin> > > On 7/31/2011 6:10 PM, Nivard Ovington wrote: >> If a man was made a widower with small children there were only a few options he had , give up work >> and beg and scrape an existance if he could or give the children up to either the Parish or other >> family members or he could pay someone to look after the child or children, often a family member >> but there were people who did it for a living