Woman's firtility 1780 - 1790

[mikehardy]

I have found this info on the net to support my view that it was highly unlikely that women in the 1780's could have regular births at 2 year intervals between the ages 40 - 50.

[Annette7]

Personally, I believe that the marriage you have is the right one - they married in Thetford and appear to have had at least 5 children there:

William (bc.1766-1768) bur.13/6/1768
Isaac bp.21/5/1769 bur.11/8/1770
John bp.27/12/1771, bur.1775
Isaac Joseph bp.10/5/1775
John bp.16/3/1777

then we have the 4 children baptised at Saham-Toney which states Ann's maiden name of Everett.

Ages given at burials can be notoriously inaccurate - I note from their burials at Saham-Toney that Isaac bc.1740 bur.7/6/1825

and

Ann Hardy bc.1742 bur.21/7/1801

If she was born just a few years later, say circa 1746, she'd have been 45 when youngest born which is perfectly feasible bearing in mind she'd been having children from ca.1767 every 2/3 years.   Just a gap between 1778 and 1782 - having said that there is a George Hardy bp.26/8/1781 at Saham-Toney shown with parents Isaac and Elizabeth!!   This couple don't seem to have had any other children and wondering whether 'Elizabeth' should actually be Ann.

Annette

[bykerlads]

Could it be that the children belonged to a relaitve who was unmarried and the older couple passed them off as being theirs?
I know this used to happen a lot-  if a teenage daughter had a baby, her mother would say it was hers and the child would grow up thinking grandma was her mother. I guess the same would have happened with nieces, cousins etc especially if there was a childless couple in the family.

[Guyana]

Perhaps they tried an old farming remedy to the childlesssness,  - changed the bull.

[Shirleyjjj]

hi ive just been sorting out a similar ptoblem for a friend and said she would eb pushing it a 46 and the last child had she got married at 16 but then found their marriage - which was a little bit earlier than we thought so she was 54 when she had the last child - just send the msge to my frined now get this name and
 Marriage: 9 May 1776 St Bartholomew, Great Harwood, Lancashire, England
John Wolstanholme & Betty Baron

last child born 1814 Baron she certainly wasnt !!

I told my friend who Im trying to help that i THINK its the offspring of a daughter and they hid it (seen this before in family trees)

Baptism: 21 Aug 1814 St Bartholomew, Great Harwood, Lancashire, England
Jonathan Wolstenholme - Son of John Wolstenholme & Betty

So, im sort of thinking up to 46 is ok then that the full stop so you have to think about if its a child of a daughter and they tried to cover it up
hope that helps
Andrea

[jc26red]

no that is not always the case...my own gr grandmother had 3 children after the age of 40, the last one being when she was 49, there was a 4 year gap between each of them.

[Shirleyjjj]

yes, i believe womens fertility varies - my mums friend had twins at 55 after being told she couldnt get pregnant again after a 10 yr gap -

the older days i guess women were physically leaner ate less sugary foods - maybe more active - not sure why chart would be different that todays figures but I guess people drink and smoke more so that kids of has an effect on fertility ( as well as mans fertility there you go )

but anything is possible - just because someone reaches a certain age it doesnt mean they cant concieve - these days people are generally warned of the dangers of concieving later in life - and the risk of miscarriage ect 

I would say anything is possible dont rule anything out

 

[youngtug]

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy_over_age_50

[bykerlads]

Not sure of the medical facts here but I seem to recall that there was/is a sexually transmitted disease, maybe syphilis, which initially causes babies to be lost but which eventually works its way out of the parents' system, leaving them to produce healthy offspring.
Have I remembered correctly?