Hello
An interesting subject that does make you think twice about Victorian straight laced myths
And, yes, I too have quite a few
suspect births in my tree
Although research is scant (and difficult to verify because of 'late' baptisms) it has been estimated that in the 18th Century pre-nuptial pregnancy occurred in approximately 30% of marriages. In the first half of the 19th Century it was estimated that in smaller towns around 40% of brides were pregnant at the time of marriage and increased to approximately 50% at mid-century.
The generally touted figure is that between a third and a half of brides were pregnant in the mid-19th century.
If accurate, quite startling really.
Cheers
Biker
