Description:Unmarried women who fell pregnant in the 1830s found it difficult to gain acceptance in the community.
Though this remained a taboo subject for many years, some limited support was available from the parish via the workhouse.
Amounts varied from 3 to 4 shillings per fortnight. However, three mothers had died recently, while two were admitted to the workhouse - a last resort for the poor.
This page records the names of some of the mothers in 1831, and the sums paid out, mostly to support one child.
Mayfield, Ann;
Morris, Eve, of Stoke;
Napper, Barbara, of Chell, 2 children;
Napper, Barbara, Ditto;
Nixon, Sarah, of Tunstall;
Oakes, Mary, of Chell;
Oakes, Ann, of Mow;
Oakes, Elizabeth, of Burslem;
Oakes, Ann, of Chell;
Proudlove, Ann, of Tunstall;
Pepper, Sarah, of High Lane, 2 children;
Pepper, Sarah, Ditto;
Rowley, Ann, of Apedale;
Ray, Sarah, of Wolstanton;
Rushton, Sarah, of Tunstall;
Rowlason, Ann, of Kidsgrove;
Roylance, Sarah, of Tunstall;
Rushton, Sarah, Ditto;
Sale, Ellen, of Chesterton;
Sutton, Ann, of Goldenhill, 2 children;
Salt, Catharine, of Ashton-under-Lyne;
Sutton, Sarah, of Brieryhurst, 2 children;
Smith, Sarah, of Tunstall;
Sutton, Ann, of Goldenhill;
Sutton, Sarah, of Brieryhurst;
Simcock, Elizabeth, of Tunstall;
Stanaway, Ann, of May Bank;
Stanaway, Harriet, Ditto;
Stanior, Elizabeth, of Mow;
Turner, Sarah, of Tunstall;
Taylor, Ann, of Congleton, 2 children;
Tunstall, Ann, of Chell;
Taylor, Ann, of Congleton;
Turner, Hannah, of Burslem;
Venables, Hannah of Redstreet;
Williams, Maria, of Tunstall;
Wakefield, Elizabeth, Ditto;
Wilkinson, Ann, of Tunstall;
Ware, Mary, of Knutton;
Washington, Sarah, of Newcastle.
About this document
Pottery manufacturer Enoch Wood kept this document, which is now among the collections of Stoke-on-Trent Museums.