< I have a niece that from at least the age of 12, lives with her aunt and uncle who are childless, until her marriage. I have had some young females living with elderly grandmother maybe to look after them. The niece I have just found, parents were alive and well and the remainder of her siblings lived with the parents.> Hi Debbie, I can't comment on patterns/behaviours of "the time" (you didn't specify a period), however I don't believe such situations are necessarily peculiar to a particular time or place. For example, my mother was raised by her grandmother even though she was the elder of only two children of the marriage. The reason in this instance evolved over time as her younger sister needed regular trips to hospital for therapy (she'll be 85 in March and still going strong). Anyway, mum's grandmother assumed her care in this difficult period. By the time my grandmother was in a position to resume full responsibility my great-grandmother had become so attached to my mother she would not let her go! Other contemporary examples I have noted include the placing of a "difficult" or talented child with an obliging childless couple or "empty nesters" with the time available to provide extra supervision/guidance, the "adoption" of an illegitimate child by childless family members or whose own children had died in infancy. Companion and helpmate to elderly grandparents or ailing relative is also a common theme. The possibilities are endless and not confined by social class. I bet those relatives had no idea how fascinating and sometimes frustrating their particular domestic arrangments would be to their descendants. I hope you sort it out. Cheers, Babs O'Connor Penrith, Australia P.S. How are the mice?