Workhouse pregnancies (General)

by biokmst , Canton, Ohio USA, Thursday, February 26, 2015, 13:56 (3570 days ago) @ D I Elsmore

Hi Ivan,

You present a very good point. My Grxgrandmother Elizabeth Boughton had given birth to my grandXfather James Boughton in the Workhouse. She had spent time being accused of stealing a sheep from a competitor's property. Her father, John, was a butcher which colored her charges. Subsequently it appears that charges were dropped against her.

She gave my Grandfather James her father's name as he lists "John" as his father on other documents. But, immediately after her release, she married a man with the last name of Meek and had several other children. To this day, I consider descendents of this family my cousins and those I've communicated with (and my Da visited) were fantastic people.

I do not think Mr. Meek was the father of my Grandfather. If so, he would have the name of Meek and listed Mr. Meek on his marriage application license instead of John Boughton. I pray to God that there was no incestual crap going on...I really don't want to know this if is may be true. Or it could be that this young woman fell in love and became pregnant before she went to the Workhouse. He could have been Boughton also. The name is popular in the Ruardean and Mitcheldean areas.

I just would like to know who James's real father is.

Once I looked onto the baptismal registry trying to gain any additional information, I was surprised by the number of single mothers here and questioned the purpose of the Workhouse. It sounds a little communal, but the number of single-mother births in this place is concerning to me.

Thanks for your response! Have a great day,

Cindy Boughton James