It was normal to be pregnant at 18 in the 70s, but girls wait now
I had nine kids and no washing machine or fridge but we got by
AGED from almost one to 81, the five generations of Seddon family females each have a different take on what it is to be a woman.
And to mark International Women’s Day today, this girl power clan from Merseyside share their stories.
The head of the family, Christina grew up during the Second World War and lived through Beatlemania, the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin I was born in December 1937, and life in postwar Liverpool for a young girl like me was brilliant. I have had a lovely life.
I was one of nine children, and we had a really close, extended family.
My first job was at the Williams Toffee factory and I worked in pubs and as a cleaner while raising my children.
I got married when I was
19 and had nine children with my husband George, who worked at the Albert
Docks. We had a lovely, fivebedroom house.
In the 50s, it was nice to have all these children. Every one of them was perfect. I loved being a mum.
But, of course, it wasn’t all easy for women. We didn’t have a washing Christina’s daughter Wall. She was one of nine children and had nine herself to add to the incredible family tree.
Now Christina, daughter Christine, granddaughter Sarah, great-granddaughter Lois, and great-great-grand daughter Aliyza live within two miles of each other in the Bootle and Walton areas of Liverpool.
But they have all had very different experiences of life as a woman in the 20th and
21st centuries. machine or a fridge, and I would wash the clothes in the baby’s bath and peg them up in front of the fire. We got by. Sadly, George died 15 years ago, and I don’t go out as much as I used to. But I still love dancing and will still have a little dance at the pub if I go out.
Me and George used to like going dancing. I used to love wearing those 50s glamorous dresses and the swing skirts.
I do feel like we live in a very different world today. There doesn’t seem to be as much innocence and the streets don’t seem like a safe place. I see my grandchildren all the time. It’s so nice to keep connected with the younger generations and keep busy – it keeps me young, along with the dancing. CUTE Tot Christina
It was fantastic being a teenage girl in the 70s, the best time to be a teenager.
I was born in 1957 and, as the eldest of nine, I always had someone to play with.
One of my memories is of dressing up my eldest brother, Tony, in girls’ clothes.
I left school at 16, met the kids’ dad David at 17 – we divorced in 1995 – and was pregnant by the age of 18.
It was the norm for me to follow that path, and I now have four children.
I think women now handle things in a better way, and don’t automatically rush into having babies. They focus on their careers more. But I never look back. I have worked all my life and do part-time work as a barmaid at the moment.
One of the amazing things about being in my 60s in 2019 is I feel like I am in my 40s. I think women have outgrown men nowadays and have got a bit more of a voice – which can only be a good thing. Independence goes a long way.