Temaet for i år er Resilience som teamet har valgt, og jeg har valgt undertemaet Blomster, træer og forfædre, så lad os se, hvad der falder mig ind til det tema.
A - Z
Every day at noon (except Sundays) a new A-Z post goes live - or no post today.
The theme for this year is Resilience as given by the team, with my subtitle Flowers, Trees and Ancestors.
Q for Quinder og Børn / Women and CHildren
Nogle af mine forfædre havde ikke så mange børn, some overleveren Karen eller høkeren og Stine, der kun fik tre børn hver.
Andre havde mange, som for eksempel den stakkels Dorthe, der mistede sin Hans Christian i mergelgraven ved Fensmark Maren Kirstine havde mange børn.
Maren Kirstine Andersdatter og Hans Christian Larsen blev gift den 27 december 1839
Og så kom børnene:
Q
Some of my ancestors had only three or four children - like Karen and like the Grocer, but most had many, like the poor Dorthe who lost her husband digging for merl in Fensmark.
Maren Kirstine is one of those who had many.
Maren Kirstine Andersdatter and Hans Christian Larsen (naming children after their grandparents makes for many of the samen name in the family) were married December 27, 1839.
Then the children arrived:
But as most people married in their late twenties, and stopped childbearing in their early fourties (the age of the mother is noted in many registers), six or seven children was the average. A total of nine or ten children is not that uncommon, though. What is more uncommon is that so many of my ancestors' children lived through their first five years. So far I only found four children dying before reaching adulthood. And if we disregard the survivor Karens siblings (the suspected rhesus syndrome), I have yet to find a single stillbirth, which abounds in the church registers (around one in fifteen).
I folketællingen 1870 har de endnu et barn:
- Ane Sofie Hansen 26/3 1868 Slægtning
men det er deres ældste datter, Karen Maries uægte datter. Barnet boede hos dem et uvist antal år, og nok i hvert fald indtil Karen Marie i 1871 giftede sig med Hans Hansen, der altså ikke var far til Ane Sophie.
- Ane Sofie Hansen 26/3 1868 - Related.
But she is the daughter of their oldest, Karen Marie, born out of wedlock. I think she stayed in the family at least until 1871, when Karen Marie married Hans Hansen, who was not the father of Ane Sophie.
Maren Kirstine is one of those who had many.
Maren Kirstine Andersdatter and Hans Christian Larsen (naming children after their grandparents makes for many of the samen name in the family) were married December 27, 1839.
Then the children arrived:
- Niels 31/3 1840
- Karen Marie 4/1 1842
- Ole 19/4 1844
- Jens 15/11 1846
- Kirstine 18/3 1849
- Marie 3/6 1851
- Sine 18/11 1853
- Anders 19/12 1855
- Trine 8/3 1858
- Hanne 8/3 1858
Q
4 boys and 6 girls in 18 years - cheating a bit by ending with having twins, but at that time a child every second year was quite normal. I see the same names repeating near my ancestors' in all the birth registers. But as most people married in their late twenties, and stopped childbearing in their early fourties (the age of the mother is noted in many registers), six or seven children was the average. A total of nine or ten children is not that uncommon, though. What is more uncommon is that so many of my ancestors' children lived through their first five years. So far I only found four children dying before reaching adulthood. And if we disregard the survivor Karens siblings (the suspected rhesus syndrome), I have yet to find a single stillbirth, which abounds in the church registers (around one in fifteen).
Q ~ Quinder og børn
I folketællingen 1870 har de endnu et barn:
- Ane Sofie Hansen 26/3 1868 Slægtning
men det er deres ældste datter, Karen Maries uægte datter. Barnet boede hos dem et uvist antal år, og nok i hvert fald indtil Karen Marie i 1871 giftede sig med Hans Hansen, der altså ikke var far til Ane Sophie.
Q
In the 1870 census there's one more child in the family. - Ane Sofie Hansen 26/3 1868 - Related.
But she is the daughter of their oldest, Karen Marie, born out of wedlock. I think she stayed in the family at least until 1871, when Karen Marie married Hans Hansen, who was not the father of Ane Sophie.
Q ~ Quinder og børn
Jeg mangler stadig at finde noget som helst om at Maren Kirstine var klog kone, men jeg leder videre.
Q
I still have not found the newspaper with the wise woman Maren Kirstine. I'll keep looking.
Families were much bigger when I was a child. Six children was not uncommon. I suspect that religion, the absence of reliable contraception and sheer practicality (many hands to work) all had a part to play. I do feel for the mothers though, many of whom must have been almost always pregnant or with young children to care for and a LOT of work to do.
SvarSletIt's a dilemma. Many hands make work easier, but make more mouths to feed. Trying to find the break even point is not easy.
SletAs a mom of six myself, I would not find the pregnant/childbearing part the worst, but the uncertainty of having the children survive. My last three were born just like those babies back then - with two years' spacing ;) It was hard, but not as hard as the first two (4 years between). Routines and knowledge make for ease of mind.
Your explanations about numbers of children in families makes excellent sense.
SvarSletThank you. I'm trying to make my family's story more general. Also because I do know so very little.
SletIt is unusual to have so many surviving, perhaps your family has excellent genetic material.
SvarSletI had my last two four years between and found it easier because the first two were in school and the third in kindergarten when the fourth was born, so I had plenty of time to give him and the older ones could help out when they got home from school each day.
SvarSlet