There was a big change among (nominally) Protestant working class women at the beginning of the 20th century. My grandmother had eight children, 3 boys and 5 girls including my mother (born 1915--she had her 99th birthday this week). All the girls were brought up knowing that sex before marriage was utterly wrong, and all of them followed that advice. But Grandma hadn't. And nor had her mother. Or her grandmother. Or her great-grandmother. I see that pattern followed in most branches of my tree. I have often wondered where the change came from; I suspect that earlier generations operated along the lines still followed in parts of India: If I don't know this man/woman can give me children, how can I know there'll be someone to look after us when we're too old to work? But perhaps they were just uncontrollably randy. My Paddy ancestors were different. When my grandfather Lynch--born in England--married a Proddy Bedfordshire girl because she said she was pregnant (she may have thought she was, but no child appeared until they'd been married two years) he was cut off by his family and the rift was never mended. Of course, that could have been because the woman he married was as nutty as a fruitcake. And not in a nice way. John Lynch -----Original Message----- From: lancsgen-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:lancsgen-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Vern Prescott Sent: 13 February 2014 16:31 To: lancsgen@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [LAN] Family history My mother told me that when she and my father were courting, they once stayed overnight at Dad's granny's in Liverpool. In the morning, Dad was about to go out somewhere, and stepped into the room where mother was still in bed to inform her of his plans. Granny saw him and she was not amused!! She gave Dad a stern lecture about how he was not to set foot in the bedroom of an unmarried woman. This was probably about 1927. In 1971, the last of granny's children died, and it was then discovered that granny had never married! She had given birth to 6 children, all illegitimate!!! Mother was quite surprised, in light of the lecture that Dad had received.

Hi, John, I recognise your story, but I cannot offer any explanation. My paternal grandmother was known to my generation after she had died as being hard on her children about sex before marriage. But, she had a son by her husband to be and was pregnant with her second child when they were married. On the other side, my mother's elder sister was unbelieving when her daughter pointed out that she must have been conceived before her parents were married. The first was a Proddy lady (I am not sure that is strictly acceptable today but ...) and the other was a Cat-olic I warn people searching the Censuses, etc., not to judge people, but to determine the facts. The stories have been interesting and confirm (to me, at least) the advice I offer. Thanks to all, Jim Lancaster (Bury, Lancs.) -----Original Message----- From: John Lynch Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 8:24 PM To: lancsgen@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [LAN] Family history